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Debt Rattle March 5 2026

Mar 052026
 
 March 5, 2026  Posted by at 10:23 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,  80 Responses »


“Flora” (Roman Goddess of Spring), Villa di Arianna, Pompei 1st Century A.D.


• Keir Starmer Takes Cowardice to New Lows (Tim O’Brien)
• Jeffrey Sachs: ‘Trump Is An Utter Disgrace To Our Nation – He Lied To Us’ (ZH)
• Iran Conflict – Oil Disruption Hits Key BRICS Members Hard (CTH)
• Fetterman Chooses Country Over Party After Iran Operation (David Manney)
• Trump: US Insurance for “All Maritime Trade Flowing Through the Gulf”
• US Sub Sinks Iranian Warship, First Such Hit Since WWII (Catherine Salgado)
• Trump Denies Israel ‘Forced His Hand.’ (Salgado)
• NY AG James Orders Hospital to Resume Gender-Transition for Minors (Turley)
• Trump’s 15% Global Tariff Will Take Effect This Week: Bessent (ET)
• Bessent Outlines U.S. Financial/Economic Stabilization Plan (CTH)
• Walz, Ellison Knew About Minnesota Fraud ‘for Years,’ House Report (DS)
• Minnesota Sues Federal Government Over Medicaid Funding Freeze (Aldgra Fredly)
• SCOTUS Decision Highlights Problems with Parents in Blue States (Turley)
• Ukraine Blocks EU Mission To Inspect Russian Oil Pipeline – FT (RT)

 


 

https://twitter.com/ivan_8848/status/2029139145168183437?s=20 https://twitter.com/GreereMedeea/status/2028870849718108499?s=20

 


 

 


 


They sold Britain. It is no longer a Christian nation. Prepare your kids.

• Keir Starmer Takes Cowardice to New Lows (Tim O’Brien)

To borrow a phrase from Foghorn Leghorn, when describing UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, that boy is softer than a pound of wet leather, and he’s about as sharp as a bowling ball. Whether you agree strategically with the preemptive strikes against Iran by the U.S. and Israel, the reactions of the other developed nations have been a study in intelligence and loyalty on the part of their leaders. My colleague Catherine Salgado addressed this in her piece that focused on the reactions of Spain and Portugal reaction to the strikes: While Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was the most explicitly condemnatory, and forbade use of joint bases for the operation, Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Radman, French President Emmanuel Macron, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and the Slovenian government all more or less criticized the United States and Israel.


Times like this, you learn who your friends are and who isn’t bright enough to act in their countries’ best interests. Even if they’re still stinging from President Donald Trump’s tariffs—and in some cases, his public beatdowns—smart leaders know how to rise above all of that in this new context. A quick victory and resolution to the war with Iran can serve the West’s best interests on a number of levels, if handled right. Instead, we have a group of largely beta males who partly fear backlash from the Islamic populations in their countries, along with backlash from the Never Trumpers around the world. Some people will do anything to see Trump fail even if it means defending by default the evil and ruthless regime that has run Iran for the past 46 years.

Keir Starmer stands out as a beta male’s beta male. He exudes cowardice—from that chronic deer-in-the-headlights look of fear, to his voice and its trademark trepidation, to a physical presence best described in one word: gooey. When G. Michael Hopf penned his novel Those Who Remain, it seems that he knew that a day would come when Starmer & Co. would arrive on the world stage when he wrote, “Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, weak men create hard times.” This week, we’re at the last phase of that sentence. Weak men like Starmer do create hard times.

If the U.S. and Israel are successful, now that hostilities are under way, the world has a chance to benefit by putting an end to the proxy wars and terrorism Iran has funded and orchestrated for decades, killing thousands of Americans. If Trump does what he said he’ll do, he’ll deal a final blow to Iran’s campaign to possess nuclear arms and the weaponry to strike the West with them. In that scenario, the whole world benefits. If that’s all Trump achieves, it’s a win. Smart world leaders can see that and will want to position themselves to be in Trump’s good graces if he succeeds. Leaders who aren’t too bright, or who act out of fear, will lose if he succeeds. This is Starmer’s “courageous” stand on the matter of deciding not to support the U.S. Speaking in Parliament, he called Trump’s efforts to prevent Iran from having nukes an “unlawful action.”

https://twitter.com/g_gosden/status/2028519334612529596


In his first official statement after the strikes against Iran, Starmer practically ran to the nearest podium and microphone to make it clear that he and his government “played no role in these strikes.”

https://twitter.com/naijaamebonews/status/2027836993275576472


A real man in charge of a country like the UK would either openly support the U.S. in a situation like this or, if he disagreed with it, stay quiet while the situation is most volatile and give his ally a chance to take care of business. Instead, what Starmer did was to make sure the people he fears know that he’s not just distancing himself from the fighting, but running away from it. In doing this, he undermined the U.S, his supposed ally.He made it clear that he did not support any UK involvement in the attacks on Iran. He made it clear that his military would focus on defending itself and British installations.

He decided on Sunday, the day after hostilities started, to give the U.S. permission to use its bases for certain operations. This was a change of course after it was reported that, prior to the operation, the UK had denied America’s request to use British bases in its Operation Epic Fury. In reaction to Starmer, Trump told the news media, “This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with.” He said he was not happy with the Starmer, even though he eventually allowed the U.S. access to the base at Diego Garcia to mount strikes against Iranian missile facilities.

In a 24-hour period, Trump took the opportunity to let the world and Starmer know three times that Starmer’s initial rejection of American requests to use certain facilities had dealt a serious blow to U.S.-UK relations. Trump told the Sun that the “relationship is obviously not what it was,” and then he told the Telegraph that Starmer delayed giving the U.S. permission beyond what would have been reasonable. Trump suspects what everyone does at this point – that Starmer fears the Islamic community and is pandering to it, as he did here.

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Now, now, Jeff!!

• Jeffrey Sachs: ‘Trump Is An Utter Disgrace To Our Nation – He Lied To Us’ (ZH)

Columbia University economics professor Jeffrey D. Sachs appeared on Judge Napolitano’s ‘Judging Freedom’ podcast Monday, where he railed against the US-Israeli attack on Iran and the ‘CIA-led security state,’ calling President Donald Trump a ‘disgrace to our nation’ because ‘he lied to us.’



Sachs, a longtime critic of U.S. foreign policy, described the recent escalation as the continuation of a decades-old strategy he linked to Israeli and U.S. intelligence objectives dating back to 1996. “This is a long-term plan. This is a Mossad CIA plan for American control of the Middle East and Israeli military hegemony in the Middle East that has been underway since 1996,” Sachs said. “This is madness. This is murderous delusion.” The professor pointed to a series of U.S.-backed or U.S.-involved conflicts across the region, from Libya and Sudan to Somalia and the ongoing crisis in Gaza, as evidence of a consistent pattern aimed ultimately at confronting Iran.

“It has involved wars across the Middle East. It has left rivers of blood from Libya to Sudan, Somalia, the genocide in Gaza,” he said, adding that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s goal since the mid-1990s has been “the destruction of Iran.”= Sachs reserved some of his strongest language for Trump, whom he said reversed course on key foreign-policy pledges after taking office. “Trump… is an utter disgrace to our nation. Utter disgrace. He lied to us. Every word about America first… And he did exactly the opposite of what he said,” Sachs stated. The economist also criticized Washington’s approach to diplomacy more broadly, arguing that the United States has abandoned genuine negotiation in favor of coercive tactics. “The United States does not negotiate. It cheats… Now they kill you because if you negotiate, it means you’re weak,” he said.

On the domestic front, Sachs connected the country’s infrastructure challenges to the enormous costs of overseas military engagements.“Why do the roads not work and the bridges not work in the United States?… It’s because we spend trillions of dollars in war,” he said. “China just completed its 50,000th kilometer of fast rail because China doesn’t go to war.” Sachs concluded by expressing deep skepticism about the current state of American governance. “We’re in the hands of gangsters. We’re not in the hands of a constitutional system,” he said, noting that only a handful of lawmakers – citing Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) as one example – have pushed back.

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OK for now.

• Iran Conflict – Oil Disruption Hits Key BRICS Members Hard (CTH)

• First blow, the Trump tariffs hit Beijing hardest. • Second blow, the Beijing tentacle on the Panama Canal is severed. • Third blow, global tariff threats changed the risk dynamic for southeast Asia countries who acted as transnational shippers for China. • Fourth blow, cheap sanctioned oil from Venezuela was cut-off. • Now, the fifth blow; cheap, sanctioned Iranian oil is disrupted.


As noted by Politico: Following USA military strikes, “ships have begun to avoid the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Iran — a critical shipping lane for Gulf nations to export oil to Asia. China in 2025 received about half of its imported oil from the six Gulf countries that rely on the strait. Other large crude oil producers in the region — including Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates — transport almost all their crude exports through the geographic bottleneck.”


It’s not just a factor of oil flow, but also the price that China will ultimately end up having to pay. Beijing was buying oil from Venezuela, Iran and Russia at steep discounts because their purchases were skirting western sanctions. With Iranian oil production now no longer a market option, China will seek to replace their needs with more Russian alternative. However, that diversion means the oil India was purchasing from Russia will come at a higher price, and the refined final product that was exported by India will arrive to the European Union carrying an additional cost. Simultaneously, Vladimir Putin was asked about Russia’s lack of military support to Iran in response to the U.S. military action, to wit the Russian president noted the technical terms of their joint military agreements did not include Russia’s immediate involvement. In shorthand, Russia is busy and is not getting involved.

Russia was/is partially dependent on receiving military supplies from Iran in exchange for oil transfers. The military component is reported to include drones from Iran for use in the Ukraine conflict. Now that exchange profile is shuttered. Taking Iran’s malign influence off the geopolitical chessboard is beginning to surface in major challenges to the BRICS assembly (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa). Russia, China and India are impacted directly. The BRICS nations were skirting western oil sanctions by trading the commodity outside the petrodollar structure. However, President Trump now controls the flow of oil from Venezuela, and his administration controls the currency in which it is sold.

With Iranian oil removed from the non-petro supply chain, the only remaining non-petro oil producer is Russia – who is simultaneously hit with a loss in military hardware support. China may end up as a larger oil customer to Russia, but at what price and in what payment structure. With global oil supplies in a state of flux, and with the USA in control of the oil flow from Venezuela, North America is certainly in the best position for minimal energy disruption. Asia is heavily dependent on oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, and the majority of Europe has already shut themselves off from Russian oil production, putting themselves in a position of dependency to the global markets. The short-term ramifications of this oil disruption hit China, Southeast Asia, Japan and Europe particularly hard.

“OPEC+ countries affirmed on Sunday that they would boost oil production starting in April by 206,000 barrels daily — a modest increase intended to dampen the war’s effect on prices down the road. The majority of the increase would come from Saudi Arabia and Russia.” {SOURCE}

All of a sudden, this happens: Zelenskyy not to be trusted? “Ukraine is under pressure to let the EU inspect a damaged pipeline carrying Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia, as the two pro-Kremlin countries accuse Kyiv of overstating the impact of an attack by Moscow — despite what Ukrainian officials say is evidence of extensive destruction,” the report said. According to five diplomats and EU officials who spoke to the FT, even pro- Ukrainian governments within the European Union and the European Commission have also asked Ukraine to permit a delegation to inspect the pipeline. Two sources told the newspaper that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen requested access for EU experts during her visit to Kyiv on Feb. 24, the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion. The request, according to the sources, was refused.

As tensions escalated, the EU’s ambassador to Ukraine, Katarina Mathernova, reportedly asked through the presidential office for permission to inspect the damaged pipeline herself or to allow visits by other EU diplomats. Those requests were denied for security reasons, the sources said.”

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John Fetterman thinks for himself. Works for me.

• Fetterman Chooses Country Over Party After Iran Operation (David Manney)

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) backed the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran without hesitation, calling Operation Epic Fury entirely appropriate, and said eliminating Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the un-alived supreme leader of Iran, removed one of the most dangerous figures in modern history.


President Donald Trump confirmed the mission targeted senior regime leadership gathered in Tehran, with early reports stating roughly 40 to 50 of the top Iranian officials were killed in the attack’s early wave. Fetterman didn’t hedge, asking why anybody would grieve leaders of a regime tied to terror networks and decades of repression. He said that Americans should recognize the strategic impact of removing the head of a government that funds violence across the world.


Fetterman’s stance again puts him at odds with several Democratic colleagues who questioned the legality and timing of the strikes. He described their reactions as bizarre. He pointed to the regime’s record, including the 1988 mass executions of political prisoners that killed an estimated 30,000 dissidents under orders tied to regime leadership, making clear the target wasn’t the Iranian people, just the regime. Vice President JD Vance stated that the administration’s objectives remain preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Fetterman said he’d oppose efforts to restrict the president’s authority under the War Powers Resolution.

Because Fetterman’s policy beliefs keep him planted firmly on the left, Fetterman won’t switch parties. But when national security comes into focus, he regularly breaks from progressive orthodoxy and takes a position rooted in deterrence and strength. In a chamber full of Congresscritters using scripted responses, his statements read as uncommon steadiness. Critics raised legal concerns, questioning whether the threshold for immediate military action had been met, while others argued Congress should’ve been consulted before the strike. Raise of hands: who envisions Schiff, Jeffries, and Swalwell would keep their pie holes shut?

Fetterman countered that Iran’s nuclear development and missile expansion represent a continuing threat, even if not tied to a single launch window, saying that waiting for perfect conditions invites greater danger.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu led his country’s role in the coordinated strike, and Fetterman defended both Netanyahu and Trump against critics who labeled the attack as reckless. Fetterman argued that removing senior regime leadership weakens proxy forces such as Hezbollah. His position exposed a visible split inside his party, particularly among lawmakers who reflexively oppose any military action.

The broader debate now turns on escalation and authority. President Trump said the objective remains stopping Iran’s nuclear ambitions and restoring deterrence in the region. Lawmakers continue to argue over oversight and limits, but Fetterman’s remarks show that support for the strikes crosses party lines, even if only in narrow lanes. The result of Operation Epic Fury and how it will reshape the relations between the U.S. and Iran remains to be seen. What’s clear is that one Democrat senator chose to defend a strike he believes strengthens American and Israeli security, even when doing so separates him from much of his caucus. National security debates test whether lawmakers follow party currents or independent judgment. Fetterman, thankfully, chose judgment.

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This will solve the economy at home. You just wait.

• Trump: US Insurance for “All Maritime Trade Flowing Through the Gulf”

This is a remarkable position for President Trump to take. Optimal Solutions: (President Trump) – “Effective IMMEDIATELY, I have ordered the United States Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to provide, at a very reasonable price, political risk insurance and guarantees for the Financial Security of ALL Maritime Trade, especially Energy, traveling through the Gulf. This will be available to all Shipping Lines.


If necessary, the United States Navy will begin escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, as soon as possible. No matter what, the United States will ensure the FREE FLOW of ENERGY to the WORLD. The United States’ ECONOMIC and MILITARY MIGHT is the GREATEST ON EARTH — More actions to come. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP“

President Trump will use the full weight of the U.S. military to change behavior in Iran. Not just to change the regime per se’, but to change the behavior of whoever surfaces to represent the interests of the people. The change in behavior is the goal. While this forced shift is underway, the full weight of the USA will also seek to mitigate any collateral economic damage to well behaved economic partners. Forceful action, optimal stewardship.

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“.. the first kill by a U.S. submarine since World War II. “

• US Sub Sinks Iranian Warship, First Such Hit Since WWII (Catherine Salgado)

A United States submarine successfully sank an Iranian regime warship, according to a Wednesday morning update from the secretary of war.The American submarine using a torpedo to sink an Iranian ship is particularly historic because, according to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, this is the first such sinking of a ship since World War II. And just as the USA demanded unconditional surrender during World War II, Hegseth emphasized, now the U.S. is in it to win it again. The U.S.-Israeli joint Operation Epic Fury continues to claim prizes, including a warship named for the terrorist Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) leader (Qasem Soleimani) whom Donald Trump eliminated during his first term and on behalf of whom the likewise assassinated Ayatollah Khamenei repeatedly vowed to assassinate President Donald Trump.


“The Iranian Navy rests at the bottom of the Persian Gulf,” Hegseth confidently announced. “[It’s] combat ineffective, decimated, destroyed, defeated, pick your adjective. In fact, last night, we sunk their prize ship, the ‘Soleimani’.” Soleimani was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Americans and the wounding of thousands more. Not only is he dead thanks to the first Trump administration, but the second Trump administration even took out the ship named for him. As Hegseth joked, “Looks like POTUS got him twice.”

Hegseth assured America and the world that the Iranian regime’s “navy is not a factor. Pick your adjective, it is no more.” He continued, “In fact, yesterday, in the Indian Ocean, and we’ll play it on the screen there, an American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters. Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo, quiet death.” That is particularly impressive because it represents the U.S. Navy’s “first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War II. Like in that war, back when we were still the War Department, we are fighting to win,” Hegseth declared.

Trump insisted on restoring the name of the War Department to the Defense Department, and from Venezuela to Iran to Ecuador, the U.S. military has been pulling off spectacular operations ever since. What’s in a name? The difference between weakness and strength, it seems. The Iranian regime had assassins in the United States attempting to kill President Trump even before he came to office again, as they seemed to understand that his return to power would spell disaster for them, as it did. But Hegseth noted, “Also, yesterday, the leader of the unit who attempted to assassinate President Trump has been hunted down and killed. Iran tried to kill President Trump, and President Trump got the last laugh.”

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Yeah yeah. Sure.

• Trump Denies Israel ‘Forced His Hand.’ (Salgado)

President Donald Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth summarily demolished the argument from Jew-haters that the Israeli government forced the USA into a joint strike on Iran’s regime. Despite what Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, Megyn Kelly, and the rest of the Jihad Squad claim, Israel didn’t strong-arm the United States into Operation Epic Fury. The Iranian terrorist regime brought it all upon themselves.The fact is that the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and co. were treating this administration the way they have treated almost every U.S. administration over decades. They defied the U.S., funded the terrorists who attacked our troops and our allies, screamed “death to America” over and over, and demanded we lie down and take it.


But this time, it didn’t turn out the way it usually does. Unlike Barack Obama or Joe Biden, who rewarded Iranian jihad, Donald Trump grew tired of being pushed around. A reporter asked Trump during a press conference if Israel “forced” his hand on the Operation Epic Fury strikes. Trump coolly replied, “No, I might have forced their hand. You see, we were having negotiations with these lunatics, and it was my opinion that they were going to attack first. They were going to attack. If we didn’t do it, they were going to attack first. I felt strongly about that.”

Trump’s first priority and duty is to the American people. Democrats think we should always prioritize foreign terrorists, tyrants, and dictators, and that’s why they’re furious about this. Think of how much American money went to the Ayatollah’s regime through the hands of Democrats. At a certain point, America has to face reality about Islamic dictatorships and acknowledge that Muslim sacred texts have been commanding jihad against non-Muslims for some 1,400 years, and that the endless violence and conflict is not going to stop because of diplomacy. We have been at war with Iran’s regime for half a century, and eventually one government or the other must concede defeat.

Hence Trump observed, “And we have great negotiators, great people, people that do this very successfully, and have done it all their lives — very successful — and based on the way the negotiation was going, I think they were going to attack first. And I didn’t want that to happen.” Trump therefore preempted them with Operation Epic Fury, as Hegseth confirmed. “So if anything, I might have forced Israel’s hand,” Trump added. “But Israel was ready, and we were ready, and we’ve had a — a very, very powerful impact.”

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Letitia, where did we go wrong?

• NY AG James Orders Hospital to Resume Gender-Transition for Minors (Turley)

In a rare and controversial move, New York Attorney General Letitia James has ordered a Manhattan hospital to resume offering gender-transition treatment to transgender youth. NYU Langone had discontinued such treatments after funding threats from the Trump administration. It is now caught between the proverbial rock (HHS) and a hard place (NYAG). Last year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order entitled “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” seeking to restrict gender-transition treatment for people under 19. HHS then threatened hospitals with a cut off of federal Medicaid and Medicare funding for continuing such treatment for children.


Various European countries have also halted certain procedures after countervailing studies suggesting that the risks are too high. England’s National Health Service 2024 report on the subject, known as the Cass Report, found concerning evidence of harm for minors and inconclusive benefits. James threatened “further action” if NYU Langone does not defy the Trump Administration, declaring that the cessation of its Transgender Youth Health Program violates New York anti-discrimination law by “jeopardizing access to medically necessary healthcare for some of the most vulnerable New Yorkers.” NYU Langone had previously declared that it would no longer provide certain gender-transition treatments for patients under the age of 19.

James’s move could trigger a fascinating challenge. In the Feb. 25 letter signed by the attorney general’s health care bureau chief, Darsana Srinivasan, the state said that the federal regulatory change did not affect a “medical institution’s existing duties and obligations under New York law.” That raises an interesting conflict between state and federal regulations.The letter gives the hospital until March 11 to comply and resume these treatments. Effectively, James is ordering the hospital to defy the federal government. However, the hospital, not James or the state, would bear the financial and regulatory consequences.

While James does not state how she will penalize the hospital, the letter is likely sufficient to challenge the move. The question is whether the political costs for the NYU hospital are prohibitive. There is also the question of whether the HHS has standing or interest in challenging the move as a direct threat to federal authority. The problem with a federal challenge is that nothing in the New York threat prevents the federal government from carrying out its intent to cut off funding. Hospitals would have to choose between penalties in New York or loss of funding in Washington. Nevertheless, New York’s move is a direct attack on the enforcement of federal policy by state hospitals.

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The first ever openly gay Treasury Secretary is loyal to a T. He’s also very good at what he does.

• Trump’s 15% Global Tariff Will Take Effect This Week: Bessent (ET)

President Donald Trump’s 15 percent global tariff will take effect sometime this week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. Following the Supreme Court’s rebuke of the president’s signature economic policy last month, Trump imposed a 10 percent global tariff, invoking Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. A day later, Trump pledged to raise the rate to 15 percent. In an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on March 4, Bessent confirmed that the new rate would be introduced sometime this week and remain in place for 150 days. He also anticipates tariff rates would return to the levels that were in place before the high court’s decision. “It’s my strong belief that the tariff rates will be back to their old rate within five months,” Bessent said.


“They have survived more than 4000 legal challenges. They are more slow moving, but they are more robust.” Bessent’s comments come two days after a U.S. federal appeals court rejected the president’s effort to postpone legal proceedings connected to tariff refunds, sending the battle to a lower court. Estimates suggest the federal government’s tariff refunds could total $175 billion. Fiscal year-to-date, the administration’s tariffs have generated more than $150 billion, according to Treasury data as of March 2. Global energy markets have been highly volatile since the Iran War, with crude oil and natural gas prices rocketing on fears of supply disruptions.

The president calmed down the oil market on March 3. In a Truth Social post, Trump said the White House would offer naval escorts and guarantee political risk insurance for commercial oil and gas tankers traveling through the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz is a vital global chokepoint that handles approximately 20 million barrels of oil and petroleum products per day. It has effectively been shuttered as insurance companies canceled coverage or dramatically raised premiums. But the administration will make additional announcements to help stabilize prices, Bessent said. n“We have a series of announcements that we’re going to be making,” Bessent stated.

“We began yesterday with the announcement that [Development Finance Corporation] will provide the insurance for both the crude carriers and the cargo ships operating in around the Gulf over the weekend.” He shrugged off a possible energy shock as the Middle East conflict intensified, saying that the United States and the global marketplace maintain ample supplies. “This was a well telegraphed geopolitical event. The crude market had already moved substantially over the past two months. The crude markets are very well supplied,” Bessent said. A barrel of West Texas Intermediate—the U.S. benchmark for oil prices—fell by about 0.5 percent in pre-market trading to around $74 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent—the international benchmark—was little changed at slightly above $81 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange. “Oil prices retreated after news the U.S. will ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, easing fears of a major global supply shock,” Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist for LPL Financial, said in a note emailed to The Epoch Times. “Softer oil prices are also helping cool inflation concerns and pull interest rates lower.” Market watchers had warned that the risk of oil prices reaching $100 were high if the narrow waterway were closed for an extended period. U.S. stocks also rebounded midweek, with the leading benchmark averages in the green prior to the opening bell.

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… the 3:00 minute mark of the video

• Bessent Outlines U.S. Financial/Economic Stabilization Plan (CTH)

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appears on CNBC to discuss the Trump administration policies that were proactively deployed during Operation Epic Fury. The goal of global financial stabilization is actually part of the strategic planning within the White House, including Treasury, Energy and Interior in alignment with the State Dept., Pentagon and national security agencies. Part of that plan was the announcement for the U.S. to underwrite maritime insurance to ensure a minimal disruption to the global energy markets. Secretary Bessent discusses the insurance facet at the 3:00 minute mark of the video below.
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Wasn’t this Walz figure part of the Kamala cloud posse in the 1800s? Losers cling together, right?

• Walz, Ellison Knew About Minnesota Fraud ‘for Years,’ House Report (DS)

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was aware of the widespread welfare fraud in his state “for years” and “repeatedly failed to act,” alleges a congressional report released on Wednesday. Walz and the state’s Attorney General Keith Ellison are set to testify Wednesday about the $9 billion scandal before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The report, which also alleges that Ellison knew of the welfare fraud in Minnesota, draws from interviews with state employees and whistleblowers. “Senior officials in the governor’s office and Attorney General Ellison’s office were aware of credible fraud concerns in Minnesota’s social services programs as early as 2019 within the Department of Human Services (DHS) and by April 2020 within the Department of Education (MDE), despite later public statements by Governor Walz suggesting otherwise,” the report says.


The committee and staff conducted transcribed interviews with nine key current and former Minnesota state officials. The investigation focuses on alleged money laundering and fraud in Minnesota’s social services programs, uncovered by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota. The report, titled “The Cost of Doing Nothing,” further alleges retaliation against whistleblowers, including surveillance, and quotes some officials as not acting against suspected fraud out of fear of being labeled a racist. “As a result, potentially billions of American taxpayer dollars were allowed to flow to fraudulent actors, while vulnerable populations were harmed and whistleblowers were ignored, sidelined, and retaliated against,” the House report says.

This led to about $300 million in federal child nutrition funds and potentially $9 billion in Medicaid-related funds lost or placed at significant risk, according to the report. “Testimony obtained by the committee reveals that Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison were aware of widespread fraud in social service programs, lied about their knowledge of the fraud, and retaliated against employees who dared to raise concerns,” House Oversight Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said in a statement. The report also alleges whistleblower retaliation against state employees who raised red flags at the Minnesota Department of Human Services.

“Whistleblowers within the DHS have alleged that Governor Walz not only knew about this fraud, but that he retaliated against whistleblowers, ‘spen[ding] millions on surveilling staff and hiring private investigator (sic) or law firms to silence staff,’” the report says. The agency’s then-temporary commissioner confirmed to investigators that the agency “used outside entities” to investigate its own staff, according to the report. “Instead of protecting vulnerable Americans, they handed over billions in taxpayer dollars to fraudsters and threw their own state employees under the bus,” Comer added. “Governor Walz and Attorney General Ellison are appearing before the committee because the American people deserve clear answers about how this rampant fraud was allowed to flourish under their watch.”

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“The state accused the government of weaponizing the Medicaid program as ‘political punishment.’”

• Minnesota Sues Federal Government Over Medicaid Funding Freeze (Aldgra Fredly)

Minnesota filed a lawsuit on March 2 to block the federal government from withholding $243 million in Medicaid funds, saying the freeze could lead to potential cuts in medical services for low-income individuals. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) last month temporarily deferred $259 million in Medicaid funds to Minnesota over alleged fraud in the state’s program, according to the court filing. The lawsuit, filed by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and the state’s Human Services Department, asked the court to block the withholding of $243 million of those funds that were tied to 14 services the government identified as “high-risk” and subject to “noncompliance action.”


“These cuts are the latest in a long series of efforts to go around the law to punish Minnesotans — but just as we fought back and won when they illegally tried to cut funding for childcare, hungry families, and our schools, we are suing them again today to make them follow the law,” Ellison said in a statement. The suit called the funding freeze unlawful, alleging that the government used the program as “political punishment” against the state, citing its previous attempts to withhold other funding from the state, including funds tied to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). According to the lawsuit, the federal government announced in January that it would freeze more than $2 billion in annual Medicaid funding to Minnesota over allegations of noncompliance.

The state appealed but said the federal government has not clarified the alleged conduct it deemed noncompliant or how Minnesota can remedy the issue. n “Impatient that it cannot withhold the $2 billion until Minnesota is provided a hearing and other due process, the administration ‘deferred’ $243 million from the state on February 25, 2026,” it stated.The lawsuit is seeking a temporary restraining order to block the funding freeze, saying the withholding of funds would affect more than 1 million Minnesota residents enrolled in Medicaid.

“Unless the deferral is quickly reversed, the state will be irreparably harmed. The administration has already stated that the deferral will recur every quarter, crippling the state budget,” it stated. The lawsuit names the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, as well as Dr. Mehmet Oz, in his official capacity as CMS administrator, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in his official capacity as health secretary.

Read more …

Problems? You suck!

• SCOTUS Decision Highlights Problems with Parents in Blue States (Turley)

In the law, the concept of In loco parentis refers to those who act in the place of parents. The problem is when that authority is taken rather than granted. It is a growing problem in blue states as parents push back on Democratic measures stripping them of notice or consent over their children in public schools. In the last few months, Democrats have been buoyed by protests over immigration enforcement. Many politicians have fueled a wave of rage sweeping major cities before the midterm elections, denouncing law enforcement as “Gestapo” and “Nazis.”


However, a Supreme Court decision this week may lay bare an even greater threat to Democratic aspirations over parental rights. For many parents, blue states are attacking the most fundamental right of citizens in raising their own children. This week, the Supreme Court granted an emergency appeal filed on behalf of Catholic parents in California. The order in Mirabelli v. Bonta proved a decisive victory for parental rights and an equally notable defeat for California democrats.

The action, filed by the Thomas More Society, challenged a policy under a state law, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2024, that prevented teachers from notifying parents of their children’s gender identity changes. The law was heralded as a protection against the “outing” of transgender students. Some of us have been following the litigation since the original filing and heralded the decision of District Court Judge Roger Benitez, who wrote a powerful opinion in support of the rights of all parents. However, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit stayed his injunction.In issuing the order on its “shadow docket,” the Court delivered a key win for parental rights that many of us have been seeking for years.

Blue state legislators and educators have been waging a war on parental rights, particularly in the area of transgender policies. Recently, in Michigan, parents sued to defend their rights after the Rockford Public School District refused to inform them of gender identity changes in their children. Last year, I wrote about a startling decision in Foote v. Feliciano in which the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled against Massachusetts parents Marissa Silvestri and Stephen Foote seeking such notice. As in the California case, they learned that school administrators did not inform them that their 11-year-old child had self-declared as “genderqueer” and that teachers and staff were using a new name and new pronouns for the student.

The First Circuit dismissed the right of parents over their own children in the case, holding that “as per our understanding of Supreme Court precedent, our pluralistic society assigns those curricular and administrative decisions to the expertise of school officials, charged with the responsibility of educating children.” Foote was a chilling decision that reflected the view of state officials that parents give up their rights over their children when enrolling them in public schools. That view was evident in the comment of State Rep. Lee Snodgrass (D-Wis.), who once tweeted: “If parents want to ‘have a say’ in their child’s education, they should home school or pay for private school tuition out of their family budget.” [..]

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4 years of nothing.

• Ukraine Blocks EU Mission To Inspect Russian Oil Pipeline – FT (RT)

Ukraine has rejected a proposed EU mission to inspect the Soviet-era pipeline that transports Russian oil through Ukrainian territory to Central Europe, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing diplomats and officials. Hungary and Slovakia have accused Ukraine of deliberately blocking the flow through the Druzhba pipeline, while Ukraine said the infrastructure was damaged by Russian strikes in January. The EU is pressuring Ukraine to restore the operation of the Soviet-era pipeline that transports Russian oil through Ukrainian territory to Central Europe, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing diplomats and officials.


Hungary and Slovakia have accused Ukraine of deliberately blocking the flow through the Druzhba pipeline, while Ukraine claimed the infrastructure was damaged by Russian strikes in January. According to FT, some pro-Ukrainian EU member states and the European Commission are now asking Kiev to allow a visit to demonstrate that it is working to restore oil flows. Last week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa personally requested access to the pipeline for inspection but were denied, FT said.One of the newspaper’s sources argued that by blocking the inspection, Ukraine scored an “own goal” and gave Hungary an excuse to veto the planned $106 billion emergency loan for Ukraine and the EU’s 20th round of sanctions against Russia.

In a post on X on Tuesday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he had sent a letter to von der Leyen calling for enforcement of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, which “obliges Ukraine to allow oil shipments to Hungary.” “As confirmed by recently published satellite evidence, there is no technical or operational reason preventing the pipeline from reverting to normal operations immediately,” Orban stated. nmOrban said that Hungary and Slovakia had proposed dispatching a “fact-finding mission” to inspect the pipeline, but their “efforts were rejected.”

In August, Hungary imposed sanctions on Ukraine’s top drone commander Robert Brovdi after attacks on sections of the Druzhba pipeline in Russia. Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has called on Hungary to stop purchasing energy from Russia. Reuters reported on Tuesday that some EU members, including France and Germany, oppose the idea of granting Ukraine fast-tracked accession to the bloc, citing “rampant corruption.”

Read more …

 

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/Juliedonuts/status/2029187803414671858?s=20 https://twitter.com/AstronomyVibes/status/2029110904508547240?s=20

 

 

 

 

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How America Became Unburdened By What Has Been

Nov 062024
 
 November 6, 2024  Posted by at 12:19 pm Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,  20 Responses »


Emil Nolde Zwei Schwimmer1914

 

 

We’ll see many articles on Trump’s clean sweep win in the days to come. Here’s Andrew Korybko’s interpretation of events:

 

 

Andrew Korybko: :

 

How America Became Unburdened By What Has Been

Trump just beat Kamala despite the formidable odds that were against him. He survived two assassination attempts, withstood the government’s lawfare, and is on track to secure the popular vote even though the legacy media was fully in support of his opponent. Speaking of her, she’s infamous for repeating her phrase about America becoming “unburdened by what has been”, which means moving past the Trump era. Ironically, the country just moved past her, and here’s how it happened:

———-

1. “It’s The Economy, Stupid!”

Democrat consultant James Carville famously coined the abovementioned phrase in reference to the most important electoral issue for most Americans. It still rings true to this day since the majority of the country is worse off after four years of the Biden-Harris Administration than it was after Trump’s first term. It doesn’t matter what the reasons for that are since such developments strongly work against incumbents. Americans accordingly voted to bring back the golden economy that Trump ushered in.

2. Immigration, Both Legal & Illegal, Is Out Of Control

Immigration is always a hot button issue, but it was even more so during this election due to the unprecedented influx of illegal immigrants that invaded the country under Biden and viral reports of legal Haitian immigrants brought in by the government eating people’s pets in Ohio. Trump pledged to crack down on the illegal component and more properly vet those who come into the country via legal channels to ensure that they’ll assimilate and integrate. This approach is wildly popular with Americans.

3. Folks Are Afraid Of World War III

Americans have never been as afraid of World War III as they are now. The NATO-Russian proxy war in Ukraine and the back-and-forth Israeli-Iranian strikes, each of which have the potential to spiral into the apocalypse in the worst-case scenario, were unthinkable under Trump. He promised to do his utmost to bring peace to Europe and the Mideast if he’s re-elected while Kamala promised more of the same policies that brought the world to the brink of war. A vote for Trump therefore became a vote for peace.

4. The Media’s Smears Against Trump No Longer Work

The past eight and a half years of the legacy media’s smears against Trump no longer have the effect that they used to in manipulating voters’ perceptions of him and have even become counterproductive. The more that they accuse Trump of being a “Nazi” or whatever else, the less that people care. Their celebrity surrogates are just as bad, and some like Mark Cuban dealt a powerful blow to their cause by viciously attacking Trump’s female supporters in what can be seen as this year’s “October Surprise”.

5. Musk Restored Freedom Of Speech Online

The preceding points are all important, but they wouldn’t have led to Trump’s victory had Elon Musk not restored freedom of speech online by buying Twitter. Americans were then able to share news about the election without fear of censorship, which showed them that they weren’t alone in questioning the Biden Administration and legacy media’s false claims. Those two were also debunked in real time. Had it not been for Musk, then their lies would have proliferated unchallenged, likely reshaping the election.

6. Musk, RFK, & Tulsi Made It Cool To Defect From The Democrats

Musk, RFK, and Tulsi Gabbard are former Democrats who defected from the party in protest of what it’d become, namely a radical liberal–globalist ideological movement that totally severed its perceived roots with the working class. They all eventually rallied behind Trump, which made it cool for other Democrats to defect from the party too and helped win him some of the Independent vote that took him over the edge in key swing states. He couldn’t have won had it not been for this unity coalition.

7. The Amish & Poles Helped Trump Pull Ahead In Pennsylvania

The Keystone State became the key to Trump’s victory this time around, and he has the Amish and Poles to thank for that. Scott Presler, the one-time chairman of Gays for Trump, played an indispensable role in mobilizing the first while the Posobiec Brothers (popular conservative commentator Jack and his brother Kevin) recruited their fellow co-ethnics from the second in their home state. The combination of these two, both groups and activists, guaranteed Trump’s victory there.

8. The Republicans’ GOTV Campaign Made All The Difference

The Republicans were determined to make Trump’s lead “too big to rig” after being convinced that he was defrauded out of his rightful second term during the last election. To that end, they embraced early voting and harvested ballots as enthusiastically as their Democrat rivals did four years ago, knowing that literally every vote counts and not wanting to miss a single one. This made all the difference by preemptively averting speculative scenarios by which Trump could have been defrauded yet again.

9. Abortion Is No Longer An Issue In Presidential Elections

The Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe vs. Wade in mid-2022 made abortion a states’ rights issue, which took the wind out of its former sails as a federal one and thus made it much more difficult for the Democrats to turn women against Republican presidential candidates like before. Try as they did, they couldn’t pull it off anymore, and this helped Trump come out ahead. The party relied on abortion for so long that they don’t know what to do now that it’s no longer relevant at the presidential level.

10. Walz Was One Of The Worst VP Picks Imaginable

Kamala might have had a chance if she picked Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro as her running mate instead of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, but the former is Jewish and has ties to the IDF, so she feared that she’d lose the Midwest’s Muslim vote if she chose him. That was a mistake since Walz was one of the worst VP picks imaginable and JD Vance made mincemeat out of him during their debate. Most Americans didn’t want Walz one heartbeat away from the presidency after that.

———-

Trump’s political comeback story is one for the history books after the seemingly insurmountable odds that he overcame. A mix of masterful campaigning, Musk’s purchase of Twitter, and arguably a stroke of divine providence over the summer came together to make this possible. America is now truly unburdened by what has been after decisively rejecting the past four years in full defiance of the Democrats. It’s now up to Trump to deliver on his ultimate promise to “Make America Great Again”.

 

 

 

 

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Debt Rattle October 5 2024

Oct 052024
 
 October 5, 2024  Posted by at 8:43 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,  57 Responses »


Francisco Goya Witches’ Sabbath 1797-98

 

• Musk Says FEMA ‘Blocking’ Delivery Of More Starlinks In Devastated Areas (JTN)
• The Regime Wants Appalachia To Suffer (Bishop)
• October Surprise (Kunstler)
• The Reprehensible Audacity Of FEMA Being Broke (QTR)
• Elon Musk to Attend Trump Rally at Site of Attempted Assassination (ET)
• Donald Trump Takes His Biggest Lead Yet In Daily Mail Election Model (DM)
• Walz Makes the Case for the Most Anti-Free Speech Ticket in History (Turley)
• There Is Only One Important Decision Waiting to be Made (Paul Craig Roberts)
• Ukraine’s Mobilization Campaign ‘Gets Dirty’ – The Times (RT)
• They lie. They cheat. They steal. They bomb. And they spin (Pepe Escobar)
• Biden on Israel Response to Iranian Attack: ‘That’s Between Me and Them’ (Sp.)
• US, UK Digging Their Grave In Catastrophic War In The Middle East (SCF)
• US, Israel Reportedly Downplay Level of Destruction by Iran (Sp.)
• US Secret Service Struggling To Keep Staff – NYT (RT)
• New NATO Arctic Group is No Match for Russo-Chinese Cooperation (Sp.)

 

 

 

 

Alina: It’s called desperation

 

 

 

 

 

 


https://twitter.com/i/status/1841955852825063617

 

 

OMG

Line in the Sand

 

 

Assange

 

 

Presler

 

 

 

 

$42 billion, zero people connected. And then this.

• Musk Says FEMA ‘Blocking’ Delivery Of More Starlinks In Devastated Areas (JTN)

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk accused the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) of blocking the delivery of additional Starlink units to help residents in areas devastated by Hurricane Helene to stay connected to the Internet. “FEMA is not merely failing to adequately help people in trouble, but is actively blocking citizens who try to help!” Musk wrote Friday in a post on X which included the following note he received from a SpaceX engineer on the ground in North Carolina. “Hey Elon, update here on site of Asheville, NC. We have powered up two large operating bases for choppers to deliver goods into hands. We’ve deployed 300+ starlinks and outpour is it has saved many lives,” the engineer wrote.

“The big issue is FEMA is actively blocking shipments and seizing goods and services locally and locking them away to state they are their own. It’s very real and scary how much they have taken control to stop people helping. We are blocked now on the shipments of new starlinks coming in until we get an escort from the fire dept. but that may not be enough,” he added.

A text message Musk revealed in a second post said that the Federal Aviation Administration is throttling private flights in the North Carolina airspace which has made it harder to keep delivering more Starlink units and other emergency supplies. Former first daughter Ivanka Trump handed out Starlinks, hot meals and critical supplies in North Carolina on Wednesday. According to the texts from Musk’s team on the ground, FEMA showed up there and “starting blocking us.” The text message is consistent with comments made by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg regarding “temporary flight restrictions” that have been imposed on private flights and drones over areas damaged by the storm.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1841946537170972786

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“The counties most impacted by the storm disproportionately vote in ways the current regime does not like.”

• The Regime Wants Appalachia To Suffer (Bishop)

Americans from Florida to North Carolina continue to deal with the devastating consequences of Hurricane Helene, now the deadliest hurricane to hit the US since Katrina. The stories emerging from the region are heart breaking. The economic damage to property and the infrastructure will take years to recover from. Large parts of the area will never return to what they were. Many Americans may be unaware of the extent of the damage. Unlike Hurricane Katrina, which received non-stop coverage on cable news for weeks, with primetime anchors like Anderson Cooper visiting on location covering stories of human tragedy and government incompetent, Helene’s aftermath has received far less coverage. It is on social media platforms like X where folks will find horrifying stories of the stench of death still strong in difficult to reach areas, the lack of government assistance for those in need, and the courage of private efforts serving the area.

Some of this is explained by the time period we are living in. Escalation in the Middle East. A national election is on the horizon. A court decision releasing documents that allows the salivating press to re-litigate the events of January 6th, 2020 yet again. What cannot be ignored, however, is the extent to which the open hostility to which the nation’s most powerful institutions have had to the sorts of people that are overwhelmingly impacted by this storm, predominantly white, working class, and politically conservative. This horrific natural disaster is a reminder of the extent to which the regime hates the people who live there.

This was true prior to Helene, where Washington policies have impoverished this areas with policies ranging from the national impact of inflation and financialization to more specific regional impacts stemming from regulatory policy with specific impacts on the region impacted. The immediate aftermath, however, demonstrates the extent to which state reaction to a disaster impedes voluntary efforts to quickly mobilize and assist those in need. A combination of heavy-handed federal and state action has attempted to undercut recovery efforts, from grounding private helicopters seeking to rescue stranded victims, to the demands of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to stop citizens from flying drones near impacted areas seeking to locate those in need of help. Given the logistical strains that even the best organized response to a severe crisis would create, the voluntary organization of local human resources on the ground is essential to meaningful and quick recovery. Here, the priority of government actors has been to elevate their control over the situation at the expense of these efforts.

The allocation of emergency resources itself is deserving of extended scrutiny as well. The victims of this tragedy, like all Americans, have their wealth extracted by Washington to fill the coffers of large federal agencies like FEMA. This same agency, whose nominal priority is to assist Americans in the case of emergency, are already pleading poverty. Of course, these same agencies oversaw the redirection of over a billion dollars in recent years to subsidize migration into the country. The priorities are clear, emergency funds take a back seat to a regime that cares more about new arrivals than the families who lived in this country for generations. This predatory relationship between the regime and its citizens is systemic. The priorities of Washington will always stand in conflict with the people of Appalachia.

DC sees no problem with ordering the Tennessee National Guard to the Middle East at a time when their fellow Tennesseans are facing their own crisis. This relationship is also bipartisan in nature. Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, who has become very rich off the backs of the people who elevated him to political power, ignoring the victims of Helene on social media, while very focused on Israel and Iran. The regime will always prioritize its own interests, including the interests of what it has identified as their special privileged classes, over the interests of its people. Changing this parasitic relationship requires more than a change of political party in the White House, but a determined effort by those who seek to represent the interests of these people to strike at the root of this relationship.

Unfortunately, while elections alone are not adequate to address the victimization of Appalachia, it is reasonable to consider what impact the specter of politics is having on their current neglect. The counties most impacted by the storm disproportionately vote in ways the current regime does not like. Would America’s federal government deliberately undermine recovery efforts to try to achieve its own desired political ends? Would the corporate press deliberately fail to cover the inadequacy of these efforts, hoping to prevent a candidate it fears doesn’t win? For those that understand the true nature of the state, the answer is an obvious one. Our prayers are with the victims of Hurricane Helene, that they receive the help they need as recovery efforts continue, that they have the ability to build back their communities strong, and that they will one day be free of a regime that cares so little for them.

JD

Read more …

“Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’s brand-new VP pick, is a fanatical far-left lunatic wearing the friendly armor of hapless, bloated oaf from the sticks” — Peachy Keenan

• October Surprise (Kunstler)

That same obvious void of conviction you see on Tim Walz’s labile face is on display with the feds’ response to mass tragedy in the Appalachian hurricane zone. It was a point in my book, The Long Emergency, that our national government would become increasingly impotent, ineffectual, and incompetent as conditions worsened — and now here it is. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), could not bestir itself to aid stricken citizens around the flood-ravaged region in North Carolina and Tennessee. Sec’y Mayorkas of Homeland Security said that FEMA was out of money which, in this season of political weirdness, is especially weird, seeing as how the nation’s fiscal year began Oct 1, and Congress’s continuing resolution for funding US agencies should assure that FEMA’s checkbook is full. What was up with that?

Well, everybody and his uncle has heard by now that FEMA (and many other agencies under Mayorkas’s DHS) commits tons of money to pamper the millions of mutts from foreign lands sneaking over the US border, with lots of assistance from NGO cut-outs funded by your tax dollars, who marshal groups of aliens south-of-the-border for the crossing, and then fly or bus them around our country for the special purpose of distributing them in swing voting districts to then coordinate with other NGOs devoted to registering non-citizens to vote in order to “harvest” their ballots. Quite an operation. Completely lawless and corrupt. And official! So, no aid for you, baskets of deplorables, shivering in the dark in your hills and hollows of Appalachia, your houses splintered, scant chattels lost, and your beloved hound-dogs carried away in the roaring torrents.

The money that might have helped you begin to recover from the complete devastation of your lives is paying for Guatemalans to bunk in the Roosevelt Hotel and order-in quesadillas and churros, and refill their government-issued debit cards so they can afford a few nice things as they wait for mysterious others to cast ballots in their names. This is the work of your Democratic Party, the party of chaos, party of the Woke mentally ill, party of wrecking the country, of America’s end times. And you’re going to vote for more of it? Of course not. And despite the attempts to knock him out of the arena with scores of utter bullshit lawfare cases, and efforts to shoot him dead, Mr. Trump keeps coming at them, an implacable, relentless force, the true Golden Golem conjured up by their catamite news media. Their inability to destroy him has wrecked their minds.

One surprising October surprise is advanced by whistleblower Mike McCormick on Substack (Midnight in the Laptop of Good and Evil). Mr. McCormick was White House stenographer under Presidents Bush II, Obama, and Trump. His job was to transcribe meetings, speeches, and interactions between major political figures. He was the proverbial fly-on-the-wall for years and years. He has seen and heard a lot and still hears a lot from people who know a lot. He says the Obama-Biden-Harris faction of the Deep State blob is anti-Israel and that Israel understands what this means. He says that Benjamin Netanyahu has told “Joe Biden” (or, let’s say, told errand-boys Tony Blinken and Jake Sullivan) that if the blob engineers a phony victory for Kamala Harris, he will blow up the oil fields in Iran and the anti-Israel Democrats will have to pick up the pieces.

There it is, raw power politics, like so much meat on the table. “Joe Biden” cannot control Bibi. “Joe Biden” is too far gone and two weak, and Israel does not aim to let itself get wiped off the map, as Iran’s leadership never tires of saying. The blob, McCormick says, has to ask itself: does it help rig the election for Harris or stand down on all its ballot harvesting and other trickery and actually allow a real election to roll out? Surprise! Now, take your Kit-kat bar and go home.

Read more …

“What FEMA being broke today means not just that we have pissed away the money that we could have allocated for it to non-U.S. citizens — it’s far more insulting than that.”

• The Reprehensible Audacity Of FEMA Being Broke (QTR)

After the devastating effects of Hurricane Helene, FEMA has all of a sudden come out and said it doesn’t have enough funds to make it through hurricane season. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas warned this week that FEMA is running low on funds. “We are meeting the immediate needs with the money that we have. We are expecting another hurricane hitting,” Mayorkas said. “FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the season.” While Mayorkas didn’t specify the exact funding needed, his comments reflect growing concerns from President Biden and lawmakers that a supplemental spending bill may be necessary this fall to support recovery efforts.

I’ve spent the last four years watching as millions of people have crossed unchecked through our southern border and have been treated like royalty by the Biden administration while everyday citizens struggle with rising prices, crumbling infrastructure, and the negative effects of suffocating regulation. I’ve also spent the last four years watching the United States dole out close to $50 billion in foreign aid, mainly to Ukraine to help it press on with a war that realistically it has little chance of winning, while shaking down waitstaff, Uber drivers and anybody using Venmo for purposes of more than $600 for tax receipts. And in my short time in the world of finance, I’ve seen enough omnibus spending bills—with funds allocated for things like border security in Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia and Oman and family planning to halt population growth that “threatens biodiversity or endangered species”—to have developed a deep loathing for how our government and our Treasury manage finances.

So when sorry-ass Alejandro Mayorkas—who has sworn up and down for the last three years that there’s no crisis at the southern border while parts of the country have been overrun and overwhelmed by unchecked, undocumented, and sometimes criminal migrants—takes to publicly decrying that FEMA is out of money in the midst of one of the largest domestic disasters in the country’s history, it’s absolutely revolting to watch. Not only is it grotesque because of how we have squandered away hundreds of billions of dollars on things that everyday U.S. citizens are not going to see an impact from, but it’s even worse when examined under the umbrella of how we run monetary policy in this country. There once was a day when, if you needed to fund government entities, you actually had to have the revenue coming in from taxpayers because we couldn’t just print dollars ad infinitum anytime we wanted. Those were the days of sound money, and they are long gone.

What FEMA being broke today means not just that we have pissed away the money that we could have allocated for it to non-U.S. citizens — it’s far more insulting than that. It means that in a day and age where we can theoretically print endless fiat dollars and have an ‘infinite amount of cash’—an idea that I think is completely batshit insane, but our Fed governors don’t—that we still have not stocked the coffers of our domestic agencies with the bare minimum necessary for them to help the American people when they need to. In other words, if the money is all fake, and we can conjure up as much of it as we want without any consequences, as both political parties would have you believe over the last several decades, why should FEMA ever be asking for more money to help hurricane victims?

Read more …

The Trump team comes together one at a time: RFK Jr, Elon Musk, JD Vance, Vivek Ramaswamy, Tulsi Gabbard, Tucker Carlson, Mike Flynn, etc etc.

“The martyr lived. Last time America had a candidate this tough was Theodore Roosevelt..”

• Elon Musk to Attend Trump Rally at Site of Attempted Assassination (ET)

Elon Musk said on Oct. 3 that he will attend former President Donald Trump’s upcoming rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. “I will be there to support!” Musk wrote on X, the social media platform that he mostly owns. Trump has a rally scheduled for Saturday at the Butler Farm Show, where he was struck by a bullet during an event in July. Authorities say Thomas Crooks, who was shot dead by a U.S. Secret Service agent, attempted to assassinate Trump. About 30 minutes later, Musk shared video footage of Trump rising to his feet and holding a fist up after surviving the attempted assassination. Musk said he endorsed the former president. “I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery,” Musk wrote at the time. “The martyr lived. Last time America had a candidate this tough was Theodore Roosevelt,” he wrote in a follow-up post.

The business mogul, who is also CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, said in another post on Thursday that backing Trump has become “essential to saving America!” Musk’s posts frequently support Trump and Republicans while denigrating Vice President Kamala Harris and members of the Democratic Party. Trump welcomed Musk’s endorsement at the time and said in a September speech that, if elected, he would, on Musk’s advice, create a government efficiency commission tasked with improving government operations. The exact security protocols in place for Trump’s next Butler rally have not been disclosed but the U.S. Secret Service says it is prepared. A spokesman told The Epoch Times in an email that the agency has, since the attempted assassination attempt, “made comprehensive changes and enhancements to our communications capabilities, resourcing, and protective operations.” Trump, he said, is receiving heightened protection.

The agency has said previously that Trump is receiving the same level of protection as President Joe Biden and Harris in the wake of the assassination attempt by Crooks and another apparent attempt by a man at a golf course in Florida. “Regarding the October 5th event in Butler, PA, we are coordinating closely with the Pennsylvania State Police as well as local law enforcement in and around Butler Township. We are also leveraging other federal security resources to expand personnel and technology,” the spokesman said. “To maintain the integrity of our protective operations, we cannot go into the specifics regarding the security enhancements. Residents in the area should expect traffic delays and an increased presence of state, local, and federal law enforcement as part of our efforts to ensure a safe and secure event.”

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“..Trump moves out to a 13-point lead from just five points earlier in the week.”

• Donald Trump Takes His Biggest Lead Yet In Daily Mail Election Model (DM)

With a month to go until the only poll that matters, former President Donald Trump has roared back into a substantial lead in our election model. A slew of recent surveys has shown him with leads in key battleground states. And when the data are processed through our DailyMail.com/J.L. Partners model it shows the former president winning in 56.7 percent of the simulations. As ever, the road to the White House appears to run through Pennsylvania, with its 19 electoral college votes. For weeks it has been in ‘tossup’ territory. Now the model moves it to ‘lean Trump’ in what could be a decisive moment in the election race. Lose that state, and Vice President Kamala Harris would struggle to triumph even if she wins Michigan, Nevada, and Wisconsin. With fewer paths to electoral college victory, Harris wins in only 43.2 percent of the simulations. It means that, overall, Trump moves out to a 13-point lead from just five points earlier in the week.

To be clear, this is not like a poll lead. Instead, it shows the frequency with which Trump wins the electoral college when our model crunches through all the thousands of possible permutations of states using all the latest available data (along with decades worth of election results combined with economic data.) Until now his highest point was a 10-point advantage last month, but that number has waxed and waned with fresh inputs of data. And the race remains incredibly close. Harris is on course to win the popular vote (as Democrats have done in seven of the last eight elections.) Minnesota is looking safer than ever for her, solidifying her electoral college floor, and she is two points stronger in Michigan, where both she and Trump campaigned Thursday. But the latest model outcome shows a clear direction of travel, said Callum Hunter, data scientist with J.L. Partners.

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“Harris and Walz are the dream team for the anti-free speech movement.”

• Walz Makes the Case for the Most Anti-Free Speech Ticket in History (Turley)

In the vice presidential debate Tuesday, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz pulled the fire alarm. His opponent, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, cited the massive system of censorship supported by Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate. Walz proceeded to quote the line from a 1919 case in which Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes said you do not have the right to falsely yell fire in a crowded theater. It is the favorite mantra of the anti-free speech movement. It also is fundamentally wrong. In my book “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage,” I discuss the justice’s line from his opinion in Schenck v. United States. Holmes wrote, “The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic.” As I discuss in the book, the line was largely lifted from a brief in an earlier free speech case. It has since become the rationale for politicians and pundits seeking to curtail free speech in America.

For example, when I testified last year before Congress against a censorship system that has been described by one federal court as “similar to an Orwellian ‘Ministry of Truth,’” Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., interjected with the fire-in-a-theater question to say such censorship is needed and constitutional. In other words, the internet is now a huge crowded theater and those with opposing views are shouting fire. Goldman and Walz both cited a case in which socialists Charles Schenck and Elizabeth Baer were arrested and convicted of violating the Espionage Act of 1917. Their “crime” was to pass out flyers in opposition to the military draft during World War I. Schenck and Baer called on their fellow citizens not to “submit to intimidation” and to “assert your rights.” They argued, “If you do not assert and support your rights, you are helping to deny or disparage rights which it is the solemn duty of all citizens and residents of the United States to retain.” They also described the military draft as “involuntary servitude.”

Holmes used his “fire in a theater” line to justify the abusive conviction and incarceration. At the House hearing, when I was trying to explain that the justice later walked away from the line and Schenck was effectively overturned in 1969 in Brandenburg v. Ohio, Goldman cut me off and said, “We don’t need a law class here.” In the vice presidential debate, Walz showed that he and other Democratic leaders most certainly do need a class in First Amendment law. As I have said, the Biden-Harris administration has proved to be the most anti-free speech administration in two centuries. You have to go back to John Adams’ administration to find the equal of this administration. Harris has been an outspoken champion of censorship in an administration that supports targeting disinformation, misinformation and “malinformation.” That last category was defined by the Biden administration as information “based on fact, but used out of context to mislead, harm, or manipulate.”

In the debate, Walz also returned to his favorite dismissal of censorship objections by saying that it is all just inflammatory rhetoric. Recently, Walz went on MSNBC to support censoring disinformation and declared, “There’s no guarantee to free speech on misinformation or hate speech, and especially around our democracy.” That is entirely untrue and shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the right called “indispensable” by the Supreme Court. Even after some of us condemned his claim as ironically dangerous disinformation, Walz continues to repeat it. This is why, for the free speech community, the prospect of a Harris-Walz administration is chilling. Where President Joe Biden was viewed as supporting censorship out of political opportunism, Harris and Walz are viewed as true believers. We are living through the most dangerous anti-free speech movement in American history. We have never before faced the current alliance of government, corporate, academic and media forces aligned against free speech.

A Harris-Walz administration with a supportive Congress could make this right entirely dispensable. Others are laying the groundwork for precisely that moment. University of Michigan Law School professor and MSNBC legal analyst Barbara McQuade has said that free speech “can also be our Achilles’ heel.” Columbia law professor Tim Wu, a former Biden White House aide, wrote a New York Times op-ed with the headline, “The First Amendment Is Out of Control.” He told readers that free speech “now mostly protects corporate interests” and threatens “essential jobs of the state, such as protecting national security and the safety and privacy of its citizens.” Walz said in the debate that Vice President Harris is promoting the “politics of joy.” Indeed, the wrong people are perfectly ecstatic. Harris and Walz are the dream team for the anti-free speech movement.

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“The only relevant decision in the world at this time is whether Washington decides that Putin means what he says or that Putin is so averse to war that he will stand down..”

• There Is Only One Important Decision Waiting to be Made (Paul Craig Roberts)

Except for the neoconservatives whose agenda it is, I sometimes wonder if I am the only other person who understands what the Ukraine conflict is about. While we await Washington’s decision about firing missiles into Russia, I will explain how we reached the current crisis. In 2007 Washington declared war on Russia without announcing it. Putin provoked Washington’s secret declaration of war when he rejected Washington’s uni-polar hegemony at the Munich Security Conference. Washington’s first attack was a year later when, while Putin was distracted at the Beijing Olympics, Washington sent a US trained and equipped Georgian army into South Ossetia. The purpose was not to defeat Russia militarily. Instead, it was a calculated risk that Putin might stand down and to avoid a military conflict that the West could misrepresent as restoring the Soviet Empire, and allow the Russian protectorate to be absorbed into Georgia.

The American neoconservatives were gambling with lives not their own that Putin and thereby Russia would be weakened by giving in, thus opening more paths of aggression against Russia. The neoconservatives’ plot against Putin might have worked except the Georgian invaders killed Russian peace-keepers. In 2008 Putin was trying to resurrect Russian pride, which was lost with the Soviet collapse 1991, and could not turn his back on dead Russian soldiers in South Ossetia. He returned from China, sent in an army, and smashed the US trained and equipped Georgian army in 5 days.

All of Georgia, a province of the Soviet Union until 1991, was in Putin’s hands. The Western propaganda is that Putin is dangerous because he intends to recover the Soviet empire. Obviously, this is a lie, because Putin pulled the Russian army out and left Georgia an independent state. Following the US neoconservative’s failure in South Ossetia, which they mischaracterized as a “Russian invasion of Georgia,” the neoconservatives began pouring billions of dollars into Ukraine in order to create cadres, NGOs, and purchased politicians that would support the “Maidan Revolution,” which was Washington’s overthrow of the democratically elected government of Ukraine that was living in profitable peace with Russia.

Again Putin was inattentive, this time distracted by the Sochi Olympics, and this time he did nothing. It is unclear why Putin allowed Ukraine to become Washington’s puppet state hostile to Russia and a candidate for NATO. The neo-Nazi state that Washington created began a number of operations against the Russian population in Donbas. The use of the Russian language was banned. Russians were accosted and killed in the streets by bands of Stepan Bandera’s followers. (Bandara fought for Nazi Germany against Russia during World War II.) The Russian parts of Ukraine, Donbas and Crimea, which were separated from Russia by Lenin and Khrushchev, asked Putin to protect them by re-admitting them to Russia. Putin accepted Crimea’s request as the Russian Black Sea naval base is in Crimea, but Putin refused the requests from Donbas, which had formed into two independent republics to protect themselves from slaughter by the Ukrainian army.

Putin, always cautious, was advised that if he accepted Donbass he would give credence to Western propaganda that Russia was restoring the Soviet Empire. Nevertheless, Putin knew he had to do something to protect the Donbas Russians. He concocted the Minsk Agreement. The Minsk Agreement kept Donbas as part of Ukraine, but gave the territory some autonomy, such as its own police and courts, to prevent persecution by Washington’s puppet in Kiev. Kiev and the two Donbas republics signed the Minsk agreement, and Germany and France promised to enforce it. Believing that the West had integrity, Putin was taken for a ride. Both the German Chancellor and French President later publicly admitted that they deceived Putin for eight years while Washington built and equipped a strong Ukrainian Army capable of conquering the two break-away republics in Donbas.

When during December 2021 and February 2022 Putin and Lavrov’s efforts to secure a mutual defense agreement between Russia and the West were met with extremely cold shoulders from Washington, NATO, and the European Union, Putin was faced with a large Ukrainian army about to invade the Donbas republics. Putin’s false hopes and mistaken belief in the West’s integrity left him unprepared, but he was forced to intervene and Russia, due to unpreparedness was forced to rely on a small private military force, the Wagner Group. As Putin had not prepared for the obvious conflict staring him in the face, he limited his intervention to Donbas to clearing out the Ukrainian forces, not to quickly prevailing in the conflict. The long conflict has given the West two years and eight months to involve itself and widen the conflict. As Putin never enforced any of the announced red lines, he has no credibility in the West. Recently, the NATO Secretary-General said NATO does not pay any attention to Putin, because he talks but never does anything.

Consequently, the world has reached the precise point I said would be reached. Putin has backed up so much that he has no more room. His back is to the wall. NATO, the British Prime Minister, and the neoconservatives are lobbying Washington to give a green light to US/NATO firing missiles into Russia from Ukraine territory. Understand, Ukraine hasn’t the capability and satellite targeting systems to fire the missiles. A missile attack on Russia can no longer be characterized as a “proxy war.” Putin himself has made this clear. Putin said that missiles fired into Russia means the US and NATO are at war with Russia and that Russia reserves the right to respond with nuclear weapons. A crisis is upon us. The only relevant decision in the world at this time is whether Washington decides that Putin means what he says or that Putin is so averse to war that he will stand down from his threat in order to avoid a wider conflict involving nuclear weapons.

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“..efforts to boost conscription are becoming increasingly deceitful, coercive and violent..”

• Ukraine’s Mobilization Campaign ‘Gets Dirty’ – The Times (RT)

Ukraine’s mobilization campaign is falling far short of targets, while the effort remains marred by violence, mistrust and rampant corruption, The Times reported on Thursday, citing local officials. According to the paper, Kiev has so far called up about one million soldiers and plans to increase that number by another 200,000 by the end of the year, but that mark remains difficult to reach. Moreover, “efforts to boost conscription are becoming increasingly deceitful, coercive and violent,” the outlet noted, citing the example of an Odessa conscript who was technically exempt from the service due to a chronic kidney condition, but was lured to the conscription office and sent to a training base anyway. An unnamed conscription officer in Odessa told The Times that “we’re not mobilizing even 20% of what is required.”

He noted that there is little enthusiasm among potential soldiers to respond to the summons, while his department is plagued by corruption, mismanagement and disillusionment. The bribes, the officer, added, can reach thousands of dollars while staff shortage means that employees have to perform multiple duties at once, including patrolling the streets. In addition, employees are threatened with being sent to the front if they underperform. In other cases, many of those who answer the mobilization call are often found to be unfit for service due to serious health conditions, including tuberculosis, hepatitis or HIV, the Times’ source said. Meanwhile, a 47-year-old Ukrainian recalled that he was eager to be called up and go to the front early in the conflict, but was denied at the time, and now has no desire to do so.

“Our government doesn’t support soldiers. They don’t have proper equipment and are forgotten about if they get injured,” the man explained. Ukraine announced general mobilization in February 2022 shortly after the outbreak of hostilities, barring most men aged between 18 and 60 from leaving the country. This spring, faced with mounting losses, Kiev lowered the draft age from 27 to 25, and significantly tightened mobilization rules, obliging potential service members to report to conscription offices for “data validation,” which in practice often means a ticket to the front. “font-size:11px;color: #353535;”As Ukraine’s mobilization campaign intensified, so did draft evasion, filling social media with videos of recruiters trying to catch eligible men on the streets, in gyms, and in shopping malls, sometimes leading to clashes.

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“..the name of the (new, deadly) game is U.S./Israel vs. Russia/Iran..”

• They lie. They cheat. They steal. They bomb. And they spin (Pepe Escobar)

Hezbollah has a seriously though spell ahead. Resources – especially supply of weapons and military equipment, through Syria and by air from Iran to Lebanon – will become increasingly scarce. Compare it to Israel’s unlimited supply chain from Exceptionalistan – not to mention tons of money. Israel intel is far from shabby – as commandos went deep, in secret, into Hezbollah territory collecting info on the fortification network. When – in fact if – they reach populated areas in Southern Lebanon, then it will be bombing dementia plus heavy artillery against residential areas. That operation might well be called Gaza-on-the Litani. It will happen only if Hezbollah’s complex network in southern Lebanon is cracked – a major “if”. Jeffrey Sachs, for all his good intentions, went as far as he could to characterize Israelis as judeo supremacist extremist terrorists. Virtually the whole Global Majority is now aware of it.

What comes next in Talmudic-Zio-con planning may include a ghastly false flag, possibly after the U.S. presidential election, for instance on a NATO vessel or on U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf, to lock up the new administration into the long-planned U.S. war on Iran. Dick Cheney will have an orgasm – and croak.The BRICS summit in Kazan under the Russian presidency is less than three weeks away. In sharp contrast to genocide and serial wars in West Asia, Putin and Xi will be standing by the – open – door on behalf of BRICS+, welcoming scores of nations that are fleeing the collective West like the plague. Russia is now fully behind Iran – and as much as in floundering Ukraine, that means Russia at war with the U.S./Israel; after all the Pentagon is directly shooting down Iranian missiles, while Israel is the U.S.’s de facto pre-eminent state, fully, fiscally supported by U.S. taxpayers.

It gets trickier by the minute. Immediately after a very important meeting between Alexander Lavrentiev, Putin’s special envoy to Syria, and Ali Akbar Ahmadian, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Tel Aviv went Full Dementia – what else – and targeted warehouses of Russian forces in Syria.There was a joint Russia-Syria air defense response. What that shows is the Talmudic psychos not only obsessed on breathing fire against the Axis of Resistance but now also going after Russian national interests. This can get very ugly for them in a flash – and is yet one more illustration that the name of the (new, deadly) game is U.S./Israel vs. Russia/Iran.

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He’s real important.

• Biden on Israel Response to Iranian Attack: ‘That’s Between Me and Them’ (Sp.)

When asked for his opinion on how Israel should respond to the latest Iranian missile strike, US President Joe Biden said on Friday that it was between him and the Israelis. “That’s between me and them,” Biden told reporters. Israel has not yet determined how it will strike Iran but they should consider other options than targeting oil fields, President Biden noted. “The Israelis have not concluded … what they’re going to do in terms of the strike, that’s under discussion,” he said during the press briefing. “If I were in those shoes, I’d be thinking about other alternatives than striking oil fields.” Biden also elaborated that the United States is considering imposing sanctions on Iran “right now”, including on the country’s oil sector. “That’s under consideration right now, the whole thing,” he elaborated, adding that he will not discuss the issue further at present.

POTUS also noted that he does not know whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to influence the presidential election in the United States, adding that he is “not counting on that.” “Whether he’s trying to influence the election, I don’t know, but I’m not counting on that,” he told reporters during his first visit to the White House press briefing room. According to US media reports, Democrats, and in particular Senator Chris Murphy, have expressed their concerns that Netanyahu, with his harsh actions in the Middle East, is playing into the hands of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, as this gives the latter the opportunity to accuse Biden of failing to resolve the conflict in the Middle East.

“I certainly worry that Prime Minister Netanyahu is watching the American election as he makes decisions about his military campaigns in the north end of Gaza. I hope this is not true, but it is certainly a possibility that the Israeli government is not going to sign any diplomatic agreement prior to the American election, as a means potentially to try to influence the result,” CNN quoted Murphy as saying in an interview for CNN. The Biden administration has made several attempts to resolve the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon through ceasefire agreements, which have so far failed.

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“An attack by Israel and the U.S. is reportedly imminent on Iran’s oil industrial facilities. Biden has the braindead temerity to call this intended U.S.-Israeli aggravation a “proportionate response..”

• US, UK Digging Their Grave In Catastrophic War In The Middle East (SCF)

The American and British leaders are fully backing Israel to escalate its criminal aggression in the Middle East. In so doing, Washington and London are being exposed for the arch-criminal regimes that they are. An all-out war against Iran is on the brink. The consequences will be abysmal, yet the U.S. and British rulers are shameless, reckless – and ultimately stupid – in their complicity. In a few days, on October 7, the Israeli regime will have conducted 12 months of non-stop genocidal destruction of Gaza. There is no sign of that monstrous war of extermination coming to an end. The Israeli regime is completely out of control, acting with impunity and shocking violation of all laws and moral norms. More than 41,000 Palestinian people have been killed. Some estimates put the real death toll at over 100,000 and even as high as 200,000.

This slaughter of women and children is supposed to be justified by the incursion of Palestinian militants on October 7 last year in which some 1,200 Israelis were killed – many of them by their own security forces using reckless firepower. The Hamas incursion was in response to years of inhumane, genocidal siege on the Gaza Strip by Israel. The actions of the Israeli regime are wholly indefensible. Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli leaders have gotten away with mass murder because of the diplomatic and – more importantly – military support from the United States, Britain and other Western states. The genocide in Gaza and the other Palestinian enclave of the West Bank has been infernally compounded by Israel’s expansion of aggression in the region. The past two weeks have seen Israeli forces indiscriminately bombing Beirut and other Lebanese civilian areas, causing 2,000 deaths and over one million people displaced from their homes.

The orgy of violence is engulfing the entire region. The Israeli regime is also bombing Syria, Iraq and Yemen, as well as Iran in assassination missions. Israel’s murderous conduct has been going on for decades – indeed for 76 years since its inception as an illegal colonial state in 1948, established by British and American machinations at the then newly formed United Nations. Invasions, annexations, air strikes, terrorism, assassinations, and much more are routine for the Western colonialist project known as Zionist Israel. But now the regime is spinning out of control in its bloodlust and psychopathic mania fostered by the impunity afforded by Western sponsors. This history of state terrorism has – and is – all fueled by Western imperialist powers who also believe in supremacy (euphemistically called exceptionalism) and privilege despite their disingenuous virtuous rhetoric to the contrary.

The Israeli regime and its fascist barbarism are a manifestation of the Western powers in their fundamental nature. The same nefarious violence and plunder was – and is – carried out in every corner of the planet that had the misfortune of Western encounter. Zionism is but a variant of Western imperialism. Iran hit back this week with a massive attack involving at least 200 missiles, including hypersonic missiles, raining down on Israeli targets. The response from Iran has been up to now incredibly restrained despite the relentless provocations and acts of war perpetrated by Israel. Even in the latest Iranian attacks, the targets were mainly military centers and aimed at avoiding civilian casualties. Yet immediately, the United States and Britain rushed to condemn Iran for “barbaric aggression” and perversely declared their support for Israel’s right to self-defense. Such a travesty of lies and distortion. The truth is, that Iran was finally acting in legitimate self-defense.

U.S. President Joe Biden is coordinating with Israel to conduct “severe repercussions” on Iran. An attack by Israel and the U.S. is reportedly imminent on Iran’s oil industrial facilities. Biden has the braindead temerity to call this intended U.S.-Israeli aggravation a “proportionate response”. Iran has warned the United States that its policy of unilateral restraint is now definitively over. Tehran has repeatedly said it does not want a regional war, but if Israel follows through on its latest threats of retaliation, then Iran will hit back with even greater force than already shown. Ominously, Iran said it will deploy “unconventional” tactics. This is taken to mean closing the vital oil trade route through the Strait of Hormuz. The Middle East is the source of a third of the world’s oil supply. If Iran shuts down the global oil supply then the world economy is heading for an unprecedented calamity. Already oil prices have begun to spike. If a war should engulf the region, the impact on the world economy will be catastrophic.

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“But, make no mistake, this genocide is absolutely only happening because the US is allowing it to happen.”

• US, Israel Reportedly Downplay Level of Destruction by Iran (Sp.)

At least two dozen long-range Iranian ballistic missiles were able to break through both Israeli and other Western air defenses on Tuesday night, the Washington Post reported. The missiles struck or landed near at least three military and intelligence installations, a review of videos and photos of the attack and its aftermath showed. “The findings raise questions about the full scope of the damage to Israeli military bases and suggest that Iran was more successful in evading Israel’s defenses than in April,” the report wrote. The Pentagon declined to comment on the report’s findings, the Post said. And the Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment, either. Phil Kelly, a political commentator and socialist activist based in Belfast joined Sputnik’s Political Misfits on Friday, and suggested that Western media is “struggling” to “give credence to Israeli propaganda”.

“…it’s interesting when the Washington Post […] newspaper, which is not a go-to read for me anymore, is starting to find itself struggling to give credence to Israeli propaganda and more and more things you’re starting to find that where the lurid kind of propaganda of the Israeli regime is just too much. It’s, the stenographers at the Washington Post and various Western media just struggle to bring themselves to go that far because of its ridiculousness,” Kelly explained. “It’s clear Israel was hit hard. The Iron Dome was not so secure that Iran made a point and will probably be forced to make further points, I would imagine, because Israel is hell-bent on escalation. It wants to drag other parties into this abyss with it,” he added.

Using commercial satellite imagery, researchers have identified more than 30 points where Iranian missiles may have impacted an air base in southern Israel, a report from NHPR (New Hampshire and NPR) revealed. The images showed damaged hangars, buildings, taxiways and a crater on one of the runways at Nevatim Airbase, the report writes. However, both Israel and the US have attempted to downplay the amount of damage that Israel has suffered: “This attack appears to have been defeated and ineffective,” said U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan. Sputnik’s Michelle Witte also noted that the US has a law that dates back to the 1990s which restricts the quality of commercial satellite imagery that US companies can sell if they depict Israel and Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories. An unusually specific restriction, she added, that seems to give Israel a special level of protection other countries do not receive from the US.

“But, in terms of that special relationship, it shouldn’t shock anyone when you look at the Israeli lobby that basically owns [the US] political system. It would seem that it would go to these lengths to stop people looking under the rock that is Israel, stop people seeing the reality of the situation, whether it is how much damage they’ve sustained or the mass graves that they are filling with innocent civilians.” “…when Israel commits its crimes, when Israel commits its invasion, when Israel keeps bombing different sovereign countries, the response of the West is to help them cover it up, help them help their propaganda dominate, make sure it’s the Israeli narrative that we hear and do not allow people to see the truth of what is unfolding in this conflict. It should set alarm bells ringing,” the analyst added.

At least 215 people in the US are believed to be dead as a result of the recent storm, Hurricane Helene. In May, NOAA National Weather Service forecasters at the Climate Prediction Center predicted above-normal hurricane activity in the Atlantic basin this year. Despite their prediction, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced this week that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will not have enough funds to last the rest of the hurricane season. Yet, just a week ago, Israel announced that it had secured an $8.7 billion aid package from the US to support its military goals. “The reality is that most US politicians, when they talk about putting country before politics, they’re talking about Israel,” Kelly explained. “And that should really enrage ordinary US citizens who have struggled for a long time, seeing that their living standards drop and wondering why in hell your government is sending billions of dollars to a racist, colonial regime, a small regime in the Middle East, which is committing genocide…”

“…the myth of America, I think, is over. It was struggling long before it went all in on genocide Joe’s watch to push Europe into World War III and to facilitate [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu in the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. But the rest of the world sees the US for what it is, and that is why you’re seeing real concrete moves in the global side to disengage,” he added. “That the war in Ukraine was really a starting point for that, and it’s gained momentum because the US cannot be trusted.” “Europe’s starting to get a bit worried. Macron made a few noises about how Europe needs to keep an eye on the US – slow learner there, Mr. Macron. As Kissinger said, the US doesn’t have friends, it has interests. The world’s awakening to that,” the analyst said. “But, make no mistake, this genocide is absolutely only happening because the US is allowing it to happen.”

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Cute excuse for two murder attempts.

• US Secret Service Struggling To Keep Staff – NYT (RT)

The US Secret Service went into 2024 having lost almost a fifth of its veteran agents, with the rest overworked, underpaid, inadequately trained, and lacking the latest technology, the New York Times has reported. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned in July after an assassin nearly killed former President and current Republican candidate Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. “The service was not ready,” the Times noted on Thursday. The attempt on Trump’s life “revealed deep problems in the Secret Service,” from lack of technology to “failures in command” and communication. For instance, the Butler shooter scouted the venue with a drone, while the protective detail did not have one and their radios did not work properly.

The biggest problem, however, has been “an exodus of the best-trained people,” the Times reported, citing current and former agency employees. At least 1,400 of 7,800 Secret Service employees left in the fiscal years 2022 and 2023, the biggest loss in two decades. While the agency has expanded its workforce to 8,100 – the highest level ever – by this summer, this was still short of the numbers it said it needed. There were concerns about the fitness of new hires and the problems with how to train them and where. The main training facility is so “decrepit” that it often floods in heavy rains, according to the Times. The agency has resorted to using a scale model of the White House built in Atlanta by filmmaker Tyler Perry, because Congress would not authorize funds to build their own.

The chief reason most veterans quoted for leaving was “crushing amounts of overtime work,” sometimes for no pay, because of a federal salary cap. In a survey conducted by a federal police association 68 of the 153 agents who responded said they had “maxed out” on their overtime last year, missing as much as $30,000 in pay. “You ride your horse until it dies, and then you eat it,” Jonathan Wackrow, who left the Secret Service after 14 years, told the Times about management’s view of their workforce. Another former agent, Louis Fitzig, claimed that “nepotism, favoritism, [and] corruption” are part of the agency’s culture. Meanwhile, a scheme to make up the attrition by rehiring recently retired agents backfired spectacularly as agents rushed to retire early, so they could get both a pension and a salary, while not serving in the field where bodies were needed the most.

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“..they are all are NATO allies now after Finland and Sweden’s admission to the military bloc. “There are no neutral countries in the North any more..”

• New NATO Arctic Group is No Match for Russo-Chinese Cooperation (Sp.)

The Western Arctic states are planning to coordinate on defense, intelligence and cyber activities, as they are all are NATO allies now after Finland and Sweden’s admission to the military bloc. “There are no neutral countries in the North any more,” Mikael Valtersson, former Swedish Air Defense officer told Sputnik, commenting on Canada’s push to form a security group to counter Russia and China in the Arctic. Earlier this week, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly told Bloomberg News that Canada and its allies need an “Arctic security dialogue” to discuss defense matters in light of Russia and China’s growing activities in the region. Russia, an Arctic state, maintains security cooperation with China in its territorial waters. It was reported on October 2 that patrol ships of the China Coast Guard entered the waters of the Arctic Ocean for joint patrols with coast guard vessels of the Russian FSB Border Service. Valtersson expects the new “security dialogue” to work closely with NATO.

“It might develop into an evolved Arctic military command within NATO and also a political body where politicians co-ordinate their actions before meetings in the Arctic Council,” Valtersson said. The pundit warned that NATO’s potential build-up in the region could “increase the risk for both an arms race in the Arctic and incidents in the region.” But Valtersson believes that the creation of the new Arctic body would neither upset the established balance of power in the Arctic nor endanger Russia’s positions in the region. “The Nordic countries and Canada are too small to challenge Russia, and even more a Russian-Chinese cooperation,” he said. “The US has a lot of other interests in the world and will not focus on the Arctic in the way Russia already does, and should increase doing.”

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EVs
https://twitter.com/i/status/1842044324260848040

 

 

Elon 21 years ago

 

 

IgG4

 

 

Potoo

 

 

P&K
https://twitter.com/i/status/1841945880129061270

 

 

Soul

 

 

 

 

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Debt Rattle October 2 2024

Oct 022024
 
 October 2, 2024  Posted by at 8:51 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,  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.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Debate

 

 

Women’s rights

 

 

Watters

 

 

Fulton

 

 

Assange

 

 

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.

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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.

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“..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.

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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.

Where is that $42 billion?

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“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.

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“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.

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“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

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“..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.

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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.

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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.”

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“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….”

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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.

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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.”

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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.

Read more …

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.

Read more …

‘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.

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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.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

Largest

 

 

Corn dog

 

 

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

 

 

Kris

 

 

 

 

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Debt Rattle September 5 2024

Sep 052024
 
 September 5, 2024  Posted by at 8:41 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,  75 Responses »


René Magritte Pandora’s box 1951

 

• Tyranny Is Closer Than You Realize (Paul Craig Roberts)
• Popular Conservatives Tricked Into $10M Russian Influence Campaign: DOJ (ZH)
• US Justice Department Reveals Legal Action Against RT (RT)
• Biden To Take ‘Law Enforcement Action’ Against RT – CNN (RT)
• Persecution of Sputnik, RT Contributors Highlights US Hypocrisy (Sp.)
• Harris Denounced Unfettered Free Speech in 2019 CNN Interview (Turley)
• Fake News Now At Peak As Kamala Faces CNN “interview” (Jay)
• Harris-Walz: The Ticket Of COVID Tyranny (Rich)
• Trump To Fight Revamped J6 Charges (RT)
• Zelensky Vows To ‘Hold’ Occupied Russian Territory (RT)
• Ukraine ‘Weaponizing’ Religion – Church of Jerusalem (RT)
• Rothschild Helped Ukraine Clinch Debt Restructuring – Reuters (RT)
• ‘Looming Threat’ From Russia Sparks ‘Major Rethink’ Of EU Defense Policy (RT)
• Starlink Agrees To Comply With Brazil’s Orders To Block X (ZH)
• Pavel Durov – Freedom To Play Fool, Stock Speculator, Fraudster (Helmer)
• Mongolia Showed Its Greatness To The World (SCF)
• Truth is being Removed from the Western World (Paul Craig Roberts)

 

 

 

 

Emerald

 

 

Hawley
https://twitter.com/i/status/1831132426573054452

 

 

SAVE Act
https://twitter.com/i/status/1831010091849421005

 

 

Vivek
https://twitter.com/i/status/1831180765234655471

 

 

Trump Nordstream

 

 

Trump Fridman

 

 

 

 

Will they try to lock him up for a year, 6 weeks before the election?

• Tyranny Is Closer Than You Realize (Paul Craig Roberts)

It is strange that there is no discussion of it, but in two weeks and one day on September 18 Donald Trump, the Republican candidate for president in the November election in two months, is scheduled by a corrupt Democrat “judge” to be sentenced for 34 felony counts pulled out of thin air by a corrupt Democrat prosecutor for how Trump’s accountants reported an expense. Trump’s accountants reported the expense as a legal expense, which was a reasonable classification of the expense, but the corrupt Democrat prosecutor said it was a campaign contribution by Trump to his own campaign and that by reporting it as a legal expense he is guilty of interfering in the election. It is this absurd personal opinion of the corrupt Democrat prosecutor–are there any Democrat prosecutors who are not corrupt?– that turned a non-issue of how an expense was reported into 34 felony charges.

In fact, there is only one charge. But the corrupt Democrat prosecutor wrote it up 34 different times in order to create an appearance of large scale crime. Few jurors have the intelligence to see the wool being pulled over their eyes, especially when all they hear from the whore media is that Trump is a criminal and a threat to democracy, a traitor to America, a Russian agent, an insurrectionist, and so on. No one in the whore American media tells them any different. What is the Democrat judge going to do on September 18? I can’t say that I know. If common sense were involved, the Democrat judge would have set the sentencing date after the election, or he would issue a suspended sentence. But common sense is not part of the script. According to the scuttlebutt, the Democrat Justice (sic) Department has decided on a one year prison sentence.

According to the scuttlebutt the Democrat Justice (sic) Department has been working it out with Rikers prison a way of accommodating Trump’s Secret Service protection that is required by federal law for former presidents 24/7. Whether the Secret Service will do any better job of protecting Trump in prison than they did at his Pennsylvania rally is the open question. The puzzling aspect of the September 18 sentencing is why bother? All of the theft mechanisms used in the swing states to deny Trump his 2020 victory have been legalized. In the swing states it is now legal to steal the election, so why bother sentencing Trump? Is it chaos that the elite want? Are the tyrannical elite hoping that Trump’s imprisonment will cause people to pour into the streets, thus permitting the Democrat regime to declare an insurrection and arrest all Republican members of Congress, all Republican governors, and all Republican state legislatures?

Will torture uncover a plot and lead to the arrest and detention of all white conservatives and registered Republican voters in detention camps that already exist, allegedly for hurricane victims? It would happen so fast that there would be no chance of organized resistance. I agree, this sounds far-fetched, so what is the point of the sentencing? Justice? From Democrats? What a joke!! Democrats care nothing for justice. They are after power. At all costs. One would think that the issue of one political party sentencing the presidential candidate of the other political party to prison six weeks prior to the election would be a major issue dominating the news and public discussion. But it is not. There is no information. Only scuttlebutt.

Read more …

They allegedly paid them well.

• Popular Conservatives Tricked Into $10M Russian Influence Campaign: DOJ (ZH)

The DOJ has accused several conservative influencers of unwittingly working for a Kremlin-funded media outlet. A federal indictment unsealed on Wednesday alleges that a Tennessee-based media company, later identified as Tenet Media, received nearly $10 million from employees of Russian state-backed media company, Russia Today (RT), as part of “a scheme to create and distribute content to U.S. audiences with hidden Russian government messaging.” The DOJ claims that RT and two of its employees – Kostiantyn “Kostya” Kalashnikov and Elena “Lena” Afanasyeva – worked to funnel money to Tenet Media as part of a series of “covert projects” aimed at shaping narratives within Western audiences. The indictment specifically notes that the influencers – including Tim Pool, Benny Johnson, Dave Rubin and Lauren Southern – had no idea they were taking Russian money, and were deceived.

They were told by Tenet founder Lauren Chen – who allegedly knew the true source of the funds – that the money was from a wealthy private investor named “Eduard Grigoriann.” At least one of the influencers asked for a profile on Grigoriann before signing a contract – and was given a fabricated one-page profile. This was apparently sufficient, as two of the commentators (believed to be Tim Pool and Benny Johnson) signed contracts which paid Pool $100,000 per podcast, while Johnson was paid $400,000 per month plus a $100,000 signing bonus for “four weekly videos.” While Pool and Johnson have issued statements (below), it’s been pointed out that Lauren Chen has recently been trying to divide Donald Trump’s base…

In a Wednesday statement on X, Pool says that should the allegations prove true, “I as well as the other personalities and commentators were deceived and are victims,” and ends by telling haters to “eat my irish ass.” Johnson says “Our lawyers negotiated a standard, arms length deal, which was later terminated,” adding “We are disturbed by the allegations in today’s indictment, which make clear that myself and other influencers were victims in this alleged scheme.” We’re sure the timing of this, two months before the election, was a total coincidence. How long has the DOJ been sitting on this? Why did it drop a day after we learned that a Chinese spy was working for NY Gov. Kathy Hochul, or that Poole was going to sue Kamala Harris for defamation?

Read more …

“..trick Americans into unwittingly consuming foreign propaganda.”

• US Justice Department Reveals Legal Action Against RT (RT)

The US Department of Justice has charged two Russians it identifies as RT employees with money laundering and working as foreign agents for their alleged role in pushing video content that sowed “discord and division” in the US. In a criminal indictment unsealed on Wednesday, US prosecutors claimed that Konstantin Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva financed and directed a Tennessee-based production company that published English-language videos to various social media platforms aimed at amplifying “domestic divisions in the United States.” These videos were viewed more than 16 million times on YouTube alone, the indictment alleged, and, according to FBI Director Christopher Wray, represented an attempt to “trick Americans into unwittingly consuming foreign propaganda.”

Producing videos that highlight social and political divisions in the US is not a crime. However, the Justice Department claimed that Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva broke the law by not registering as foreign agents. Back in 2017, the Department of Justice forced the now-defunct RT America to register as a foreign agent, after a host of US intelligence agencies claimed that RT had helped to elect Donald Trump by publishing “negative coverage” of Hillary Clinton and criticizing the US’ “corrupt political establishment.” Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva face a maximum sentence of five years in prison for violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act, and 20 years for money laundering. However, the charges against them will likely never be proven in an American courtroom, as the US has no extradition treaty with Russia.

The two Russians were also sanctioned by the US Treasury Department on Wednesday, along with RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan and three other senior RT employees. Simonyan dismissed the charges, responding “great job, team!” on Telegram. In a press conference on Wednesday, US Attorney General Merrick Garland said that the allegations against Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva, as well as a separate Russian scheme to allegedly spread anti-Ukraine content online, “make clear the ends to which the Russian government, including at its highest levels, is willing to go to undermine our democratic process.”

Read more …

RT’s answer is clear.

• Biden To Take ‘Law Enforcement Action’ Against RT – CNN (RT)

The administration of US President Joe Biden is planning to accuse Russia of meddling in this year’s presidential election, and will announce “law enforcement action” against those supposedly responsible, CNN reported on Wednesday. RT will be the prime target of this action, the network stated. The White House will accuse Russia on Wednesday of “a sustained effort to influence the 2024 US elections” by using “Kremlin-run media” to spread so-called “disinformation,” CNN reported, citing US government sources. Alongside a public condemnation from the White House, the US Department of Justice will announce “law enforcement action targeting the covert Russian campaign,” the network said. RT is “a major focus of the US announcement,” CNN added, noting that “US officials see the Russian outlet as a key piece of Kremlin propaganda efforts.”

“Dear CNN,” RT’s press office responded following Wednesday’s article. “We certainly have a response. Actually, we have several, but we couldn’t decide on one (we even thought of running an office poll), so here they are:

1. Ha!

2. Hahahaha!

3. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

4. 2016 called and it wants its clichés back

5. Three things are certain in life: death, taxes and RT’s interference in the US elections

6. We gotta earn our Kremlin paycheck somehow

7. Somewhere, Secretary Clinton is sad that it’s not because of her

SINCERELY,

RT Press Office”

Democrats like Biden have accused Russia of interfering in the last two presidential elections. During the 2016 and 2020 campaigns, US intelligence agencies repeatedly claimed that Moscow was deploying hackers and using “information warfare” to swing the vote in favor of Donald Trump. These allegations, coupled with claims that Trump had colluded with Moscow to win the election, formed the basis for a two-year investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, but were ultimately found to be baseless. In 2020, more than 50 “former intelligence officials” published a letter claiming that files on Hunter Biden’s laptop – which implicated the Biden family in multiple foreign corruption schemes – were fabricated by Russia. The laptop’s contents have since been proven genuine.

Throughout the past decade, American officials have repeatedly accused RT of spreading “disinformation” – a term that these officials rarely define. Back in 2017, the Department of Justice forced RT America to register as a foreign agent, after a host of US intelligence agencies claimed that RT had helped to elect Trump by publishing “negative coverage” of Clinton and criticizing the US’ “corrupt political establishment.” RT America ceased operations in 2022 after the network was dropped by its US distributors in response to the Ukraine conflict.

Despite their claims of “Russian interference” in US elections being repeatedly proven to be without foundation, American spies have stuck to them. Earlier this summer, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) in Washington alleged that the Kremlin had mounted a “whole-of-government” effort to turn the American public against Biden and his fellow Democrats. This accusation paved the way for the FBI to raid the homes of Scott Ritter, a former UN weapons inspector and RT contributor, and Dimitri K. Simes, a Soviet-born US political pundit who hosts a show on domestic Russian television. Ritter described the raid as an attempt to intimidate “anyone who goes against official [US] policies and particularly against the deep state.”

Read more …

“..it is not the Russians but the US government that is engaged in an attempt to influence and control the popular narrative for its own benefit.”

• Persecution of Sputnik, RT Contributors Highlights US Hypocrisy (Sp.)

The United States’ persecution campaign against journalists and political dissidents with ties to Russian media accelerated Wednesday when new repressive measures were announced against several entities. New sanctions were announced against 10 individuals and two organizations under the umbrella of the Rossiya Segodnya media group, including RIA Novosti, RT, Sputnik and Ruptly. The sanctions target these entities for alleged “hostile interference in the presidential elections,” the US Treasury Department claimed. The measures also target editor-in-chief of Rossiya Segodnya and RT Margarita Simonyan and several top managers at RT. Ex-CIA analyst and former State Department counterterrorism expert Larry Johnson spoke with Sputnik Wednesday about the startling development, the latest attempt by the Biden administration to shape political discourse online and in the media.

“The latest stunt pulled by the Biden Department of Justice to declare all of these sanctions on Russia for alleged interference in the US political system is a level of hypocrisy that is staggering in its magnitude and in its foulness,” Johnson said.“Let’s be clear about one thing: the one country in the world that has been involved with more interference in the internal political affairs of every other country is the United States. During the reign of President Eisenhower in the 1950s, there were 170 different covert actions carried out against other countries.” “This year [the US has] allocated almost $4 billion to interfere or meddle in the political affairs of other countries,” he continued. “$315 million of that goes to the National Endowment for Democracy. $300 million is specifically what they call counter-Russian influence. And another $2.9 billion is for ‘democracy’ programs. And these have been used basically to run propaganda, to pay people, to organize ‘democracy’ programs in places like Georgia.”

The US frequently funds pro-Western media and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in foreign countries it targets for regime change to pave the way for a pro-US government to come to power. Author and journalist William Blum documented over 50 examples of significant US interference in other countries since World War II in his classic book Killing Hope, largely based on the shocking revelations of ex-CIA agent Philip Agee. More recently the US has interfered in countries such as Brazil, Indonesia and Ukraine, paving the way for the latter country’s extremist anti-Russia government through its support for the Euromaidan coup in 2014. “I don’t know how many millions of dollars are allocated to the CIA for additional covert actions designed to plant stories in media, to create electronic media, to influence social networks across the board,” Johnson continued. “It’s the United States that’s meddling.

With respect to the entire bogus claim that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, we now know without a doubt that that was a Democrat operation led by Hillary Clinton and her team,” he added. “Everything we were told about Donald Trump and the Russians was a lie. I was one of the few writing about it at the time to call it out… The notion that RT is manipulating and influencing the presidential election is beyond laughable,” he claimed, noting that the Russian television channel’s app is banned from many app stores in the West while its content has been removed from YouTube and other websites. “How is a news network that’s not allowed to broadcast and that’s shut [out] of social media in the United States supposed to influence [the election]? … It just goes across the board that they’re going to try to attack any kind of alternative voice in the media.”

Johnson noted that he has been subjected to a “pre-interview” with most television news outlets he has appeared on, such as the BBC, MSNBC, Fox News, CBS and the CBC, during which employees for each outlet attempted to ascertain what he would say when interviewed live on air. RT was one of only two outlets that never subjected him to the practice, he said. “It’s the so-called ‘free democracies’ that want to run that litmus test,” he said. Johnson said the recent persecution of figures connected to RT and Sputnik is merely another attempt to run the “Russiagate” playbook, attempting to discredit alternative media outlets that critique US foreign policy. “Electoral interference” continues to take place, Johnson claimed, but it is not the Russians but the US government that is engaged in an attempt to influence and control the popular narrative for its own benefit.

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“..Donald Trump, he has 65 million Twitter followers, he has proven himself to be willing to obstruct justice – just ask Bob Mueller..”

• Harris Denounced Unfettered Free Speech in 2019 CNN Interview (Turley)

I previously wrote how a Harris-Walz Administration would be a nightmare for free speech. Both candidates have shown pronounced anti-free speech values. Now, X owner Elon Musk and former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have released the interview to show the depths of the hostility of Harris to unfettered free speech. I have long argued that Trump and the third-party candidates should make free speech a central issue in this campaign. That has not happened. Kennedy was the only candidate who was substantially and regularly talking about free speech in this election. Yet, Musk and Kennedy are still trying to raise the chilling potential of a Harris-Walz Administration. In my book “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage,” I discuss how the Biden-Harris Administration has proven to be the most anti-free speech administration since John Adams.

That includes a massive censorship system described by one federal judge as perfectly “Orwellian.” In the CNN interview, Harris displays many of the anti-free speech inclinations discussed earlier. She strongly suggests that X should be shut down if it does not yield to demands for speech regulation. What is most chilling is how censorship and closure are Harris’s default positions when faced with unfettered speech. She declares to CNN that such unregulated free speech “has to stop” and that there is a danger to the country when people are allowed to “directly speak[] to millions and millions of people without any level of oversight and regulation.” Harris discussed her view that then-President Trump’s Twitter account should be shut down because the public had to be protected from harmful viewpoints.

“And when you’re talking about Donald Trump, he has 65 million Twitter followers, he has proven himself to be willing to obstruct justice – just ask Bob Mueller. You can look at the manifesto from the shooter in El Paso to know that what Donald Trump says on Twitter impacts peoples’ perceptions about what they should and should not do.” Harris demanded that Trump’s account “should be taken down” and that there be uniformity in the censorship of American citizens: “And the bottom line is that you can’t say that you have one rule for Facebook and you have a different rule for Twitter. The same rule has to apply, which is that there has to be a responsibility that is placed on these social media sites to understand their power… They are speaking to millions of people without any level of oversight or regulation. And that has to stop.”

In other words, free speech should be set to the lowest common denominator of speech regulation to protect citizens from dangerous viewpoints. Harris’s views have been echoed by many Democratic leaders, including Hillary Clinton who (after Musk purchased Twitter) called upon European censors to force him to censor American citizens under the infamous Digital Services Act (DSA). Other Democratic leaders have praised Brazil for banning X after Musk balked at censoring conservatives at the demand of the socialist government. Brazil is where this anti-free speech movement is clearly heading and could prove a critical testing ground for national bans on sites which refuse to engage in comprehensive censorship. As Harris clearly states in the CNN interview, there cannot be “one rule for Facebook and you have a different rule for Twitter.” Rather, everyone must censor or face imminent government shutdowns.

Read more …

“‘gold fishing’ – an on-screen facial contortion where the lips and cheeks move, but nothing comes out of the mouth..”

“Harris is seen as the most suitable candidate to further the causes of America’s military industrial complex ..”

• Fake News Now At Peak As Kamala Faces CNN “interview” (Jay)

Wherever you look, it feels like we are being bombarded now with an unprecedented level of fake news. One reason may well be how the installed governments by western elites – military industrial complex and banking – are getting very skittish indeed about a shake up of world order in November when the airhead Kamala Harris takes on Donald Trump in the presidential elections. This new trend of installing a useful idiot into power has been around for decades across Africa and Asia where the U.S. and before that the UK installed their own despots to serve their own needs, so we shouldn’t be so shocked by someone like Harris having the landscape prepared for her. To call Harris a ‘lightweight’ is understating her political verve. She has none of the conventional talents that politicians require like public speaking, or engaging with media, let alone having any ideas of her own which might make it one day to policy.

For most Americans the choice in November is between Harris, who is essentially Biden 2.0 or Trump. Not exactly a tough call many might say since RFK endorsed Trump who traditionally he has not been a fan of; it’s as though he’s saying to Americans, “anything but Kamala. Do the maths”. Media is of course playing a huge and certainly tawdry role in pushing her which is not generally noted by most Americans. For weeks she has ignored or avoided all serendipitous contact with journalists which surely must be orders from the elite who are controlling her. And there is good reason for this as the internet is awash with her talking gibberish. Or dancing. Talking mumbo jumbo won’t help her at the polls against Trump who revels at the microphone and is not afraid to go head to head with journalists and unscripted interviews, despite him whining about how unfair the set-up is.

What he is alluding to is that left-wing media in America like CNN fake the news and as we saw recently almost certainly gave Kamala a print out of the questions she was going to face with her recent CNN interview where she was joined by her running mate just in case she did something which broadcast journalists call ‘gold fishing’ – an on-screen facial contortion where the lips and cheeks move, but nothing comes out of the mouth. In Kamala’s case, gold fishing might not be as bad as actually speaking, as she has shown us that there is not much between the ears. She is not overburdened with what many academics have of knowing too much and not being able to communicate in short sound bites. Harris doesn’t really know anything at all except a few talking points from Biden’s days. Her own people will be happy with the staged interview as they can at least counter oped writers who claim she is so lame that she avoids all press. Thanks CNN. Great jaaaabbbb.

Harris is seen as the most suitable candidate to further the causes of America’s military industrial complex whose six main companies cannot slow production down, unless they make job layoffs. The insatiable hunger of this machine is responsible for the lion’s share of U.S. foreign policy and Biden gave his cronies their one hundred Christmas’s when he created the Ukraine war and more recently Gaza. In Gaza the false reporting from western media is as repulsive as the images of children who have lost their entire brains and whose heads look like theatrical floppy props, which has become the day to day norm now when Israel bombs schools. Does anyone in the west in either camp still believe this is a “war” against Hamas fighters?

With the recent invasion of West Bank and the rise of settlers stealing land there, surely the real story of Netanyahu’s campaign is there for all to see in plain light: ethnic cleansing on a grand scale to wipe Palestinians off the face of Israel. And still we read western journalists and op-ed writers parroting the line about ‘two state solutions’ and what the EU says, etc etc. By the time the chairs are arranged and the mineral water is put on the tables, there will not be a Palestinian left to even represent his or her own state. Everyone knows the two-state solution is a massive parody of diplo gibberish a bit like Kamala’s few media stints which are still good for a laugh today. And it’s an identical story in Ukraine. No western journalists can report on the true story of Ukrainian losses in Kursk and how the operation has blown up in Zelensky’s face. The omission of reporting key facts and data is just as bad as making up your stories, if not worse.

Read more …

“..he also established a “Covid hotline” where people could call and report anyone who wasn’t following the governor’s edicts..”

• Harris-Walz: The Ticket Of COVID Tyranny (Rich)

Quarantine, lockdowns, social distancing – words I’m sure everyone reading never wants to hear again. Even several years removed, the pain inflicted by Covid-19 and subsequent policy reactions is still fresh in our collective consciousness. I wouldn’t blame anyone for wanting to forget the whole thing, and you wouldn’t be the only one. The authoritarians who violated your freedoms in the name of Covid safety would love for those years – and their mistakes – to be forgotten. As it happens, two of those authoritarians will be appearing together on ballots this November – Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. Kamala Harris is a familiar name to many Americans. Picked out by Biden to serve as vice president on the 2020 Democrat ticket, she has served the past three-and-a-half years as Biden’s second-in-command. Depending on the outcome of the presidential elections in November, she might even be getting a promotion.

But in her capacity as VP, she has overseen the Biden administration’s increasingly tyrannical edicts in the name of stopping Covid. In 2021, the Biden administration attempted to wield OSHA against the American people by requiring that any companies with over 100 employees require weekly testing or vaccination. Not only was the legal reasoning behind this mandate spurious, the actions being mandated had, at best, questionable efficacy in combating the “Omicron” Covid strain. Thankfully, the mandate was struck down in a 6-3 decision by the Supreme Court in 2022, but neither Biden nor anyone in his administration ever rescinded their support for the measure. Additionally, the Biden administration took steps to censor anyone skeptical of their Covid policies by putting pressure on private companies. As revealed by the “Twitter Files,” the Biden administration would request that Twitter either ban or artificially reduce the reach of certain accounts.

These included high-profile individuals, such as Robert Kennedy Jr. It was only after Elon Musk purchased Twitter that such government “requests” were disclosed to the public. Vice President Harris has done more than look on with passive approval at the Biden administration’s actions. She has been actively involved in vaccination drives, encouraging masking, and imploring Americans to social distance. At a 2021 vaccine drive in South Carolina, Harris stated: “So, the vaccines—let me say it again—are safe. They are safe. And they are free. And they are effective. And it is that simple.” And, on the subject of “herd immunity”: “If you are vaccinated, you are protected. If your community is vaccinated, Covid rates in your community will go down.”

Just a few months after these remarks, the Delta variant would crash through the United States, despite millions of Americans being vaccinated. The same would happen again in 2022, when the Omicron variant caused record-high numbers of Covid infections. Harris also supported vaccines for children aged 5-11, despite the fact that young children are among the least likely to suffer serious complications from Covid. Even the World Health Organization would later reverse their position on child vaccination because of the marginal-to-nonexistent benefits.

In contrast to Harris, Tim Walz is an unfamiliar name to many. In 2018, Walz was elected governor of Minnesota, reelected in 2022, and is currently running with Harris for vice president. During Covid, he supported the same masking, lockdown, and social distancing policies that most governors across the country did, however, Walz’s administration was willing to go farther in these measures than many other governors. After Walz issued a stay-at-home order to prevent the spread of Covid, he also established a “Covid hotline” where people could call and report anyone who wasn’t following the governor’s edicts. This caused no small amount of controversy within the state, but when Walz was asked about removing the hotline, he said, “We’re not going to take down a phone number that people can call to keep their families safe.”

Walz was perfectly willing to enforce his lockdown orders as well. Whenever a Lakeville restaurant tried to reopen for dine-in service, state attorney general Keith Ellison sought a restraining order to keep it closed. Gloating on the situation, Ellison said. “I’m gratified the court recognizes the severity of the pandemic and the need to take urgent action to stop the spread of Covid-19.” In June 2020, Walz issued a mask mandate, requiring anyone in an indoor space with non-family members to wear a mask. In the official announcement of this mandate, Walz said, “But as Minnesotans always do during tough times, we come together and we take care of one another. And right now there’s no better way to demonstrate our Minnesotan values than by wearing a mask.”

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“..The hearing is scheduled for Thursday..”

• Trump To Fight Revamped J6 Charges (RT)

Former US President Donald Trump will enter a not guilty plea to criminal charges in a revised indictment accusing him of attempting to overturn the 2020 election results. The case is related to the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC by Trump supporters in the aftermath of his defeat. The Republican candidate in this year’s race for the White House said in a court filing on Tuesday that he would not be present at a formal reading of the charges against him. He also authorized his attorneys “to enter a plea of not guilty” on his behalf “to each and every count of the superseding indictment.” The hearing is scheduled for Thursday. The revised indictment includes the same four charges prosecutors brought against Trump last year and that he pleaded not guilty to in August 2023.

Trump was accused of conspiracy to defraud the US, conspiracy against the voting rights of citizens, and obstruction of congressional certification of the election. The new document is a stripped-down version of last year’s criminal case against Trump. Certain allegations were dropped and reframed after the US Supreme Court ruled that Trump has broad immunity from criminal prosecution over official actions taken during his term as president. Trump has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and denounced the case as an attempt to prevent him from returning to the White House. In a series of posts on his Truth Social platform late last month, he called it “a direct assault on democracy” and a “resurrection of a dead witch hunt.”

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“..it intends to “hold” the territory because it is crucial to Kiev’s “victory plan” to end the conflict.”

• Zelensky Vows To ‘Hold’ Occupied Russian Territory (RT)

Ukraine intends to occupy part of Russia’s Kursk Region indefinitely, Vladimir Zelensky has said. Officials in Kiev earlier signaled that they plan to use this as a bargaining chip in potential negotiations with Moscow.In an interview with NBC News released on Tuesday, the Ukrainian leader was asked what he plans to do with the internationally recognized Russian territory Kiev has captured as a result of a large-scale cross-border incursion that began last month.While Zelensky stressed that Ukraine “does not need [Russian] land” and “[does not] want to bring our Ukrainian way of life there,” it intends to “hold” the territory because it is crucial to Kiev’s “victory plan” to end the conflict. “For now, we need it,” he said.

He declined to say whether Ukraine plans to seize more Russian land. “With all respect, I can’t speak about it,” Zelensky said, citing the same considerations that forced Kiev to keep preparations for the Kursk offensive secret.Ukraine launched a large-scale attack on Kursk Region on August 6, reportedly committing some of its best brigades equipped with Western-supplied armor. While it made some initial gains, Moscow says the advance has been halted. The Russian Defense Ministry has estimated Kiev’s losses in the Kursk offensive at more than 9,300 troops and 700 armored vehicles.

Mikhail Podoliak, a senior aide to Zelensky, has said that the purpose of the attack was to secure a stronger position during potential peace talks with Moscow and to instill fear in the Russian population. Russian President Vladimir Putin has denounced the incursion as a provocation, accusing Ukraine of indiscriminately targeting civilians and pledging that Moscow will eventually “deal with the Ukrainian bandits” who entered Kursk Region. He signaled that Russia has no plans to engage in talks until the incursion is completely defeated, adding, however, that Moscow does not reject negotiations in principle.

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“..such a blanket punishment of countless faithful men and women does not promote unity, nor does it promote peace.”

• Ukraine ‘Weaponizing’ Religion – Church of Jerusalem (RT)

The Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, one of the oldest Christian churches in the world, has called on the Ukrainian government to repeal a law which exposes the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) to a likely ban. Kiev has outlawed religious organizations that it suspects of having ties with Russia. The legislation, which Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky signed into law last month, is designed to shut down the UOC, the largest Christian denomination in the country. The UOC was previously targeted in a massive crackdown by the state, as officials told priests and the faithful that they should switch to the Kiev-supported rival Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). In a statement on Tuesday, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem denounced Kiev’s move, insisting that “such a blanket punishment of countless faithful men and women does not promote unity, nor does it promote peace.”

“There is no justification to weaponize religious belief practice and we all must allow those who wish to pray to do so in a manner that accords with their conscience,” the statement stressed.Jerusalem said it sympathized with victims of the Ukraine conflict, “but out of this pain must not emerge a new schism among the faithful or the criminalization of innocent people because of their religious practice.” “The Patriarchate of Jerusalem recognizes the challenges and deep divisions that this conflict represents, and is committed to the spiritual mission of dialogue and reconciliation through fraternal discussions,” it added. The UOC has historic and spiritual ties to the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), but is self-governed. The OCU was created in late 2018 as part of the failed reelection campaign by then-Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko.

The move caused a major schism in the Orthodox Christian world, as the new organization was recognized by the Patriarchate of Constantinople in Türkiye. It revoked a decision made in the 17th century to acknowledge the ROC’s spiritual leadership in the lands that are now independent Ukraine. The Moscow Patriarchate broke ties with Constantinople in retaliation. The Patriarchate of Jerusalem has been working to heal the rift. The Ukrainian law was previously criticized by the Catholic Church. Pope Francis said he was concerned for the state of religious freedoms in the country, and urged Kiev to “let those who want to pray be allowed to pray in what they consider their Church.”

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BlackRock.

• Rothschild Helped Ukraine Clinch Debt Restructuring – Reuters (RT)

Ukraine reached its recent agreement with bondholders on a debt restructuring as a result of efforts by Rothschild & Co, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing sources involved in the talks. Kiev appointed Rothschild as an advisor to its Finance Ministry in 2017. Kiev announced last week that it had reached an agreement with a group of foreign investors to restructure its $20 billion debt. Bondholders – including US financial giants BlackRock and Pimco, as well as French asset manager Amundi – granted Ukraine a two-year debt freeze in February 2022 when the conflict with Russia broke out. The bondholders’ committee, which represents the holders of 25% of the bonds, has agreed to accept losses of 37%, or $8.7 billion, on the nominal value of their debt.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reportedly confirmed that the deal was compatible with the parameters of its $122 billion aid package to Kiev. Both the IMF and the country’s creditors, which include the US and the Paris Club, have signed off on it, according to a statement with the terms of the accord published on the London Stock Exchange. The restructuring of the massive debt will help Kiev save $11.4 billion over the next three years. This is crucial for both its war effort and its IMF program, Reuters wrote, describing the debt restructuring as one of the fastest and largest in history, eclipsed in scale only by those undertaken by Argentina and Greece.

The report, however, highlighted that initial negotiations between the Ukrainian government and its lenders that started in June 2022 did not go to plan. Talks failed after a couple of weeks as the core committee of bondholders complained that the write-down Ukraine was demanding was “significantly in excess” of the 20% expected and risked doing “substantial damage” to relations.With less than two months until the August 2022 payment moratorium expired, Rothschild reportedly arranged face-to-face meetings for the sides at the firm’s offices in Paris. These reportedly involved representatives of some of the world’s top asset management firms and their legal and financial advisers, Kiev’s debt chief Yury Butsa, Ukraine’s long-term legal advisers White & Case and the Rothschild team.

According to Reuters, bondholders demanded that Ukraine restart coupon payments immediately, offer a path to a higher principal recovery and, importantly, “keep it simple.” IMF staff reportedly worked “at breakneck speed” to crunch the numbers. Kiev offered an alternative in the form of a simpler GDP-linked bond, with creditors also being offered the instant coupon payments that they had wanted, starting at a rate of 1.75% and eventually rising to 7.75%. The final result from the bondholder vote was more than 97% support, Reuters said.

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“..the conflict in Ukraine had revealed “the sorry state of European militaries and defense industries.”

• ‘Looming Threat’ From Russia Sparks ‘Major Rethink’ Of EU Defense Policy (RT)

The European Parliament is set to hold closed-door, high-level discussions on Wednesday in relation to a new report on the competitiveness of the EU defense industry, Politico has reported. The document, prepared by former Italian prime minister Mario Draghi, reportedly calls on the bloc to rethink its defense policy in light of the Ukraine conflict and the purported threat from Russia. Draghi prepared the 400-page report at the request of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who said last week that the EU needs a “systemic overhaul” of its defense spending to increase production and reduce its dependence on the US. “The EU’s defense industrial base is facing structural challenges in terms of capacity, know-how and technological edge. As a result, the EU is not keeping pace with its global competitors,” a draft of the document reads, Politico reported on Monday.

The report also cites “the emergence of new types of hybrid threats” and “a possible shift of geographic focus” by the US as reasons for the EU to take “growing responsibility” for its own security. Draghi, who also previously served as the head of the European Central Bank, suggested earlier this year that his report will focus on the possible ways to fill the productivity gap, which has been mostly driven by a lack of investment in innovation. The EU spends roughly one-third of what the US does on defense in monetary terms, and the bloc’s arms companies depend 80% on international suppliers, largely from across the Atlantic, Draghi wrote. International think tank, the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), noted last month that the conflict in Ukraine had revealed “the sorry state of European militaries and defense industries.”

Among the recommendations are the introduction of steps to incentivize domestic defense solutions over competitors, and a removal of red tape for weapons manufacturers to access EU funding. The United States, the founding member of NATO, has played a central role in the bloc’s defense, as most EU nations are NATO members. Since the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict in early 2022, the White House has been sending additional forces to the EU. Some nations, such as the Czech Republic and the Baltic states, have claimed that Russia would attack them if it won in Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly dismissed the claims. President Vladimir Putin said in June that there is no threat of Russia attacking NATO countries as it has no “imperial ambitions,” and described such allegations as “nonsense.”

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Wonder why.

• Starlink Agrees To Comply With Brazil’s Orders To Block X (ZH)

Elon Musk’s internet service, Starlink, has announced that it will comply with a Brazil Supreme Court order to shut down X while vowing to pursue “all legal avenues” to allow the recently banned Musk-owned social media platform to operate in Brazil. The move, announced by Starlink in a statement on Sept. 3, marks an apparent reversal after the country’s telecommunications regulator previously said that the satellite-based internet provider stated that it wouldn’t agree to block the social media platform. Starlink said it would abide by an order from Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes requiring internet service providers and app stores to block X from their platforms. “Regardless of the illegal treatment of Starlink in freezing our assets, we are complying with the order to block access to X in Brazil,” Starlink’s statement said.

“We continue to pursue all legal avenues, as are others who agree that @alexandre’s recent orders violate the Brazilian constitution.” As Tom Ozimek reports at The Epoch Times, De Moraes froze Starlink’s accounts last week in order to pressure the company to cover fines imposed on X in Brazil, reasoning that both are part of the same Musk-controlled group. In response to the asset freeze, Starlink said on Aug. 29 that it believes de Moraes’s decision violated due process and was unconstitutional. “It was issued in secret and without affording Starlink any of the due process of law guaranteed by the Constitution of Brazil,” Starlink said in the statement. “We intend to address the matter legally.” Starlink’s announcement that it will comply with the order to shut down X comes a day after a spokesperson from Brazil’s telecommunications regulator told The Epoch Times that the company had “informally” expressed to a top agency executive its intention to buck the X ban.

The spokesperson said that unless Starlink complies, it will face sanctions, including possibly having its operating license in Brazil revoked. Arthur Coimbra, an Anatel board member, told The Associated Press that if Starlink refuses to abide by the order to block X, authorities could also eventually seize equipment from Starlink’s 23 ground stations in Brazil, where Starlink serves over a quarter million customers. Starlink’s announcement that it intends to comply with the X ban marks the latest chapter in a long-running dispute between Brazilian officials and Musk, who has refused to comply with court orders to block accounts accused by investigators of spreading hate and misinformation. Both Musk and X’s global government affairs team have denounced these orders as unlawful attempts at censorship.

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Helmer has a whole different take on Durov.

“The man who was hiding too much..”

• Pavel Durov – Freedom To Play Fool, Stock Speculator, Fraudster (Helmer)

Pavel Durov aka Paul du Rove (“vagabond” in French) doesn’t put his money where his mouth is. This is because more than half the assets and almost half the revenues of Durov’s Telegram group of companies are digital units which Telegram itself programmes, stores, trades, values, and revalues, so the potential for concealment, deception and fraud is unaccountably large. This is the reason Durov has failed to secure the US regulator’s permission to sell shares in his $30 billion valuation of Telegram in a US initial public offering (IPO). In short, the freedom and privacy Durov claims his Telegram social media platform represents is not at all what the financial reports reveal of his money-making. The first fraud flag was waved by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in October 2019 after more than a year of Durov’s money-raising through digital tokens he called Grams which he offered to sell for $1.5 billion.

At the time, cornerstone investors in Durov included the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich and other oligarchs. Durov — announced the SEC — “seeks to obtain the benefits of a public offering without complying with the long-established disclosure responsibilities designed to protect the investing public… the defendants have failed to provide investors with information regarding Grams and Telegram’s business operations, financial condition, risk factors, and management that the securities laws require.” In the five years since then, Durov claims to have sold another billion-dollar bond in 2021; $210 million in fresh securities in 2023; and $330 million in paper which Durov floated in March of this year. “The increased demand for our bonds shows that global financial institutions value Telegram’s growth in audience and monetization”, he said (telegrammed) at the time.

These investments weren’t exactly money for value, or vice versa. Durov has admitted he has been buying about a quarter of the debt issues himself. “Valuations are based on market inputs that are not observable,” reported a blockchain industry analyst. When the investors have turned out to be governments – like Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi emirate wealth fund — the real value Durov promised to exchange is likely to be as much political and military as financial. Similar terms of exchange are likely to have been agreed when, in addition to his Russian passport in the name of Durov, he took passports from the United Arab Emirates (name unknown), France (name Paul du Rove), and St Kitts and Nevis. Four months ago, Durov signed financial reports for his Telegram group prepared and audited by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC). He thought the details would remain secret. Instead, following his arrest and indictment in France last week, they were leaked to the Financial Times in London.

The newspaper claims it “got its hands on the privately held company’s financials” but without explanation it is withholding them from full release. Durov’s signature is dated April 26, 2024. In public defence of his countryman, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said this week that Durov had been naïve about the “old system of globalization…P.V. Durov turned out to be too, too free, too slow or did not listen to Western advice about the so-called moderation of his brainchild.” Naivety is not what Durov signed his name to in Telegram’s financial reports. They reveal he is running a debt pyramid, replenishing the annual deficit between his expenditures and his income with new borrowings whose cost of servicing amounted in 2023 to 46% of his revenues. The leaked papers also disclose that his losses last year came to $259.3 million, although Durov managed to reduce that to $173.2 million by claiming offsetting digital assets had jumped in value. To support such valuation manipulations and his public claims of Telegram’s $30 billion market value, the small print of the auditor’s notes reveal that Durov uses his own digital money to boost the appearance of rising Telegram subscription numbers and demand for the company’s bonds — 15,000 subs and $64 million in bonds, to be precise.

As for protecting Telegram user privacy, Durov acknowledges that after subtracting $130 million in self-accounting “integrated wallet” value from his bottom-line revenue of $342.5 million, over the past year he sold “collectibles” for $17.8 million – almost 9%. This item is defined in the report as “usernames, virtual phone numbers…The related revenue is recognised at a point in time when the collectible is assigned to the user. The Group also enables the sale of collectibles between users and receives the fee for facilitating the sale.” According to the public indictment of the French prosecutors, fraud is one of the charges against Durov, along with money laundering, concealment by cryptology, and “refusal to communicate, at the request of the authorized authorities, the information or documents necessary for the realization and exploitation of interceptions authorized by law.”

According to Russian and international sources, the recent history of each one of these charges involves Durov in dealings with the Azerbaijan government, with the Kanak rebellion in the French colony of New Caledonia, and in undertakings he gave to agents of the French foreign intelligence agency, the Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE), when they visited him recently in Dubai. For a legal analysis of the Digital Services Act and regulations, the law applying to Telegram and to free speech in the social media in the European Union (EU), read this from Craig Murray. The analysis is made irrelevant by Murray’s acknowledgement that the indictment may be warranted if Durov “refused to remove or act over specific individual content specified by the French authorities, or unless he set up Telegram with the specific intent of facilitating organised crime”. Specific content was what the DGSE told Durov it wanted him to provide when they last met. That they met has been confirmed by the official leaks in Libération’s report of September 1. The newspaper headline was “The man who was hiding too much”. That Durov reneged on his promise to the DGSE is what the Paris prosecutor’s statement of August 28 indicates.

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“The people who once faced and conquered the great nations of Eurasia are now once again proving their greatness by boldly confronting Western arrogance.”

• Mongolia Showed Its Greatness To The World (SCF)

Russian President Vladimir Putin landed in Mongolia on September 2, making his first trip to a Rome Statute’s country since the International Criminal Court (ICC) illegally issued an arrest warrant against him last year. As expected, some Western member states of the ICC demanded Mongolia to arrest Putin. The same demand was made by the Kiev neo-Nazi regime itself, but was completely ignored by the Mongolian authorities, who welcomed Putin with a red carpet in a great official ceremony. For the West and Kiev, Mongolia’s move was a “violation of international law.” For any serious analyst, the act was a brilliant demonstration of strength, sovereignty and insubordination. From a purely realistic point of view, the Mongolian attitude was completely correct, since, being geographically close to Russia, Mongolia needs to maintain a foreign policy of friendship and cooperation with Moscow.

Both nations have common interests and share the same geographical space – in addition to having a rich common history –, being true natural partners. In fact, Mongolia has shown the world its greatness by welcoming Putin. The country simply said “no” to illegitimate international pressure by taking the sovereign step of welcoming the Russian leader to its territory. The courage of the Mongolian authorities must be praised, as several countries have recently declined to take similar decisions, trembling in the face of international pressure. Even within the BRICS, the illegal arrest warrant against Putin is becoming a relevant issue. Recently, there have been several discussions in Brazil and South Africa about the “possibility” of arresting Putin in the event of a visit by the Russian president. In both countries, government authorities made it clear that the Russian president would be received calmly and safely, but the Judiciary acted irresponsibly, stating that arrest would be mandatory.

To avoid diplomatic discomfort and institutional crises in partner states, Putin has never confirmed any visit to these countries. Of course, a member country of the ICC can decide to arrest someone convicted by the Court. However, an ICC decision can only be valid against a citizen of a member country, otherwise there is an insurmountable legal impasse. The Russian Federation does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC, and there is no possibility that the country would accept that its citizens be arrested by order of this court. Therefore, if there were a coercive measure to arrest Putin or any other Russian citizen based on an ICC ruling, Moscow would certainly react by taking decisive measures – possibly even military ones. It is up to the ICC member country, upon receiving a foreign citizen “wanted” by the court, to decide whether the decision is valid or not.

If the wanted citizen is a native of a country that does not recognize the ICC, arresting him or her seems absolutely irrational and unnecessary. Furthermore, even in the event of recognition of the court, it must be emphasized that the final decision on whether or not to arrest someone on its territory will always be up to the state itself. There is no force or document in international law capable of obliging a state to act coercively against someone, since state sovereignty is the basic principle of all international relations. In other words, Mongolia, a small country between two giants (Russia and China) had more courage and wisdom than the great emerging powers like Brazil and South Africa. The decision to welcome Putin revealed that the ancient imperial and warrior spirit of the Mongolian people is still alive. The people who once faced and conquered the great nations of Eurasia are now once again proving their greatness by boldly confronting Western arrogance.

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” Leaving a Gestapo Police State in its Place..”

• Truth is being Removed from the Western World (Paul Craig Roberts)

Not even one value of Western civilization remains. All values that composed an era of freedom have been repudiated. The example of the hour is Telegram owner Durov’s indictment in France. The basis of the French indictment is that Telegram’s privacy, the basis for its existence, provides a mechanism that criminals can use to commit crimes, such as posts of children in sexual acts. Privacy also provides secret means of communication that criminals and drug dealers use for their illegal businesses. The French government’s claim is that Telegram, by providing privacy, enables these crimes and therefore Durov is complicit in the crimes. Notice that it is Durov, not the child pornographers and drug dealers, who is being prosecuted. In other words, the argument of the French indictment is that as an owner of a communication mechanism that criminals use to facilitate their commitment of crimes, Durov himself has committed a crime.

We have been hearing illogical arguments of this kind for some time. Those who want to take away the ability of people to protect themselves from criminals and rapists by using their Second Amendment right to own firearms try to hold firearm manufacturers responsible for injuries and deaths caused by people using firearms. In other words, it is the manufacturer’s fault, because his product enabled the criminal to commit the crime. Sooner or later this argument will be applied to a large number of goods and services. For example, vehicles are used in bank robberies, in murders, and in human trafficking, and it is the car and vehicle manufacturers who enabled the criminals by producing the vehicle. One can see it applied to search engines and to GPS, because they enable criminals to locate their target.

All of this might sound silly to a reader, but it is no more silly than the French government’s indictment of Durov. Indeed, it is not silly at all. It is weaponized law in operation. In a way Durov’s indictment is his own fault. Like many Russians who have been brainwashed by Western propaganda, Durov thought France had more freedom than Russia and took French citizenship. He made a mistake. The French case against Durov also reflects the Gestapo police state argument, which over the years has been finding a welcome home in the Western world, that it is the responsibility of private individuals to be accomplices of police and that the failure to perform this role indicates criminal behavior. For the past several decades people in the Western world have been so poorly educated–indoctrinated against themselves instead of educated–that they find it plausible that people who refuse to be agents of a police state are criminals.

The Washington Post sees it this way. The only valid reason for social media’s existence is to spy for the government. One of the Post’s mal-educated reporters wrote that “for years internet moguls have flown above the law.” How is protecting free speech “flying above the law?” What law is above the First Amendment? The indoctrinated reporter thinks that laws contrary to the First Amendment of the US Constitution are valid, and that Elon Musk and Pavel Durov are violating the law by their commitment to free speech. The Washington’s Post’s presstitute says “The world’s internet regulators are no longer playing around.” He writes that the crackdowns against Telegram and X “come months after the United States passed a law that could lead to the banning of TikTok” and herald the end of the era of free speech on the Internet, a good thing in the Post’s view.

The Washington Post is delighted that free speech is to be regulated. In my opinion the entire rationale for the existence of the Washington Post is to control narratives for the CIA. As even insouciant Americans should know after enduring eight years of the system violating all ethics and all laws in its effort to deep-six Donald Trump, throughout the Western world law is nothing but a weapon to protect the lies fed to insouciant people as official narratives, the doubting of which is rapidly becoming a criminal action. In the name of official narratives, truth is being removed from the Western world. In my lifetime I have watched the transformation of the free Western world, a product of centuries of struggle, into a Gestapo Police State.

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Capybara

 

 

Lion

 

 

Porcupine
https://twitter.com/i/status/1831268038689132859

 

 

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Debt Rattle August 16 2024

Aug 162024
 
 August 16, 2024  Posted by at 8:04 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,  49 Responses »


Salvador Dali Portrait of Picasso 1947

 

• Zelensky Gave Initial Order For Nord Stream Attack – WSJ (RT)
• Russians Volunteer in Droves as US Tries to Divert Nord Stream Blame (Miles)
• Poland Probably Involved In Nord Stream Blasts – ex-German Spymaster (RT)
• Zelensky Aide Denies Kiev’s Involvement In Nord Stream Attack (RT)
• Zelensky Aide Admits Kursk Incursion Was Discussed With Western Backers (RT)
• US Lying About Involvement In Kursk Attack – Patrushev (RT)
• Zombie Russiagate Conspiracy Persists as US Stokes Fear, Hatred of Moscow (Sp.)
• Harris Seeks to Distance Herself From Biden’s Unpopularity on Economy (Sp.)
• Kamala’s First Economic Plan Proposes Price Controls To “Combat Inflation” (ZH)
• “Would It Kill You Guys?” (ZH)
• Vance and Walz Agree to Oct. 1 Debate (ET)
• It’s Time For America To Rethink Its Relationship With NATO (Bridge)
• Want More Freedom of Speech? Try Less Government (Turley)
• Kim Dotcom Defiant After NZ Approves Extradition For US Trial (ZH)
• RFK Jr Tried To Meet With Trump, Harris In Pursuit Of Cabinet Position (ZH)

 

 

 

 

Paper

 

 

Dore Kamala
https://twitter.com/i/status/1824225386269389091

 

 

RoganTrump
https://twitter.com/i/status/1823808656825000274

 

 

TysonTrump
https://twitter.com/i/status/1823818699708739734

 

 

TrumpSS

 

 

Benz
https://twitter.com/i/status/1823823666125398446

 

 

 

 

No he did not. The US is real eager not to be blamed for Nord Stream. So despite Seymour Hersh’s record, they keep coming with stories that would ‘prove’ him wrong. Now it’s a bunch of Ukrainians again. With the same story about 6 adults in a little rented sailing boat for a week, cramped enough. But they also brought deep sea scuba gear for four/five, and a whole set of bombs. Oh, and this is new: an amateur Ukrainian scuba diver named Volodymyr Z blew it all up. He has vanished, so no questions. Seymour Hersh is right. He always is. For some 60 years now. He likes that reputation. He wants to die an honest man.

• Zelensky Gave Initial Order For Nord Stream Attack – WSJ (RT)

Vladimir Zelensky approved a Ukrainian plan to sabotage the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, before trying to call off the operation under US pressure, but it was too late to do so, the Wall Street Journal has reported, citing people allegedly involved in the plot. The energy infrastructure, built to deliver Russian gas to Germany and the rest of Europe, was ruptured by blasts under the Baltic Sea in September 2022. Early the following year, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh reported that explosives were planted on the Nord Stream pipelines by US Navy divers under the cover of a NATO exercise, and detonated on orders from US President Joe Biden. Top officials in Moscow, including President Vladimir Putin, have also pointed the finger at Washington, arguing that it stood to gain the most from the disruption of Russian gas supplies to the EU.

In its article on Wednesday, the WSJ pointed to another version of events, according to which the pipelines were targeted by the Ukrainians. It was first reported by the Western media shortly after the publication of Hersh’s article. According to the outlet’s sources, the idea of blowing up Nord Stream was conceived by “a handful of senior Ukrainian military officers and businessmen” as they gathered for drinks in May 2022, a few months after the outbreak of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev. The plotters believed that it would reduce Russia’s energy revenues and make the EU less dependent on Moscow. According to the report, the Ukrainian operation involved a small rented yacht, called Andromeda, with a six-member crew, including trained civilian divers, and cost only around $300,000.

Vladimir Zelensky initially approved the attack on the pipelines, but later – when the CIA learned of the plan and asked the Ukrainian leader to abort it – ordered the operation to be called off, a Ukrainian officer who claimed to have been involved in the sabotage and three other informed people said. However, then Ukrainian commander-in-chief Valery Zaluzhny ignored the demand and went ahead with the attack, the sources alleged. He told Zelensky that, once dispatched, a sabotage team goes incommunicado and cannot be withdrawn, they added. When approached for comment by the WSJ, Zaluzhny, who is now Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK, denied the report, calling claims of his – or Kiev’s – involvement in the destruction of Nord Stream a “mere provocation.”

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And they prepare the new story well.. Germany’s involved, and Poland..

• Russians Volunteer in Droves as US Tries to Divert Nord Stream Blame (Miles)

Support among Russians for the special military operation is at a high as Western governments scramble to cover up the United States’ increasingly sloppy crimes. Two decades from the outset of the United States’ war in Iraq a 2023 opinion survey found 61% of Americans disagree with the decision to launch the ill-fated invasion. The finding is the culmination of years of soul searching on the part of the American public, which has grown increasingly wary of US military intervention in recent years. A large majority of Russian citizens, on the other hand, have indicated they approve of the country’s special military operation against Ukraine with healthy military recruitment figures serving as the latest evidence the citizenry is united behind President and Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Putin. International relations and security analyst Mark Sleboda joined Sputnik’s The Final Countdown program Wednesday to discuss the latest developments in the Western proxy war on Russia as well as the curious case of the Nord Stream pipeline explosion as the German government claims to have found a suspect for the crime.

“The German news that broke is pretty interesting,” said Sleboda, referring to the German government’s release of the name of a supposed suspect behind the presumed sabotage of the Russo-German Nord Stream Pipeline in 2022. “This Volodymyr Z – according to German privacy laws, the full name is not released… this is the absolutely complete bull feces, cockamamie cover-up story that the United States and Germany have centered on.”“They can’t admit that the United States blew up the Nord Stream pipelines, because that would mean the end of NATO,” the analyst added. “It would be a member of NATO attacking a member of NATO. They can’t admit that. So they came up with this.” In a case of reality sometimes proving to be stranger than fiction, the German government has claimed an amateur Ukrainian scuba diver by the name of “Volodymyr Z” is responsible for the explosion that blew up the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that formerly transported cheap natural gas from Russia to Europe.

But critics claim the “discovery” of the alleged culprit, whose last name is purportedly “Zhuravlev,” is itself another fiction of Western intelligence agencies, which insist on offering an alternative explanation for the environmental disaster which is widely presumed to be the work of the United States. “It [was] a methane release,” Sleboda noted. “And methane is a greenhouse gas some 28 times more potent than carbon. So, yes, it is also the largest man-made release of carbon environmental catastrophe [of] that scale. But these things go by the wayside when geopolitics is concerned.” “As far as I’m concerned the Seymour Hersh version of events is probably very close to the actual story,” he added, referring to the investigative journalist’s analysis of the incident.

“To believe that a group of rando Ukrainians on a rent-a-day little pleasure dinghy out of Poland managed to lay serious military explosives at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, a NATO lake just off an island in Denmark that NATO routinely does military exercises [in] – in fact amazingly enough, just a week earlier, there [were] US ships involved in military exercises, military ships that may very well have actually been involved in leaving some explosives on the bottom of the Baltic Sea – I mean, this story is so ridiculous and, conveniently enough, their mysterious Volodymyr Z just disappeared.” Western governments’ refusal to implicate the United States in the incident and reluctance to investigate the matter has further damaged support for the Ukraine proxy war as European leaders fear former President Donald Trump would end US support for the conflict if reelected in November.

Meanwhile, Russian citizens remain united behind Moscow’s war effort, with Ukraine’s attempt to mount an incursion onto the Kursk region of Russia only heightening Russians’ patriotic fervor. “It’s just further cementing support for the [special military operation],” noted Slebeda. “By all domestic accounts the number of young men signing up as volunteer contract soldiers for the SMO – which was already around 1,000 a day, at least at the last word by the minister of defense – has jumped again because people feel that Russia has been attacked and Russia has been insulted.” “The statements in the press make it quite clear that the US and Europe were at some level completely behind this. So that increases Russian society’s anger and desire for getting some payback.”

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BS. The Polish may have helped the Americans, but that’s not this story.

• Poland Probably Involved In Nord Stream Blasts – ex-German Spymaster (RT)

Poland was likely involved in the underwater explosions that ruptured the Nord Stream underwater gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea in September 2022, the former president of Germany’s foreign intelligence agency has claimed. August Hanning also alleged that Warsaw has intentionally obstructed Berlin’s investigation into the incident. No one has so far claimed responsibility for the blasts, which brought an end to the supply of Russian gas to Germany via Nord Stream 1 and damaged the parallel Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which had never entered operation due to EU bureaucratic setbacks. In an interview with Die Welt on Thursday, Hanning said: “The way it seems is that it was a Ukrainian team that, as per the findings of the investigation, operated there.” However, he added, “this was of course only possible with support from the land.”

“When we look at the map… pretty evidently, the Polish agencies were engaged here, and I think not only agencies …I think that this was an arrangement between [people] at the top level in Ukraine and in Poland,” the former intelligence chief conjectured. He alleged that Warsaw might have provided logistical support to the suspected Ukrainian saboteurs. According to Hanning, “these are decisions that were made at the highest political level. And I think that there was an arrangement between [Ukrainian] President [Vladimir] Zelensky and [Polish] President [Andrzej] Duda to carry out this attack. ”He claimed that Polish authorities let one of the suspects leave the country even though Germany had already reached out to Warsaw, requesting assistance in his capture. Warsaw “didn’t exactly promote the probe. On the contrary, crucial findings were withheld, as I have heard from investigative circles,” Hanning told Die Welt.

“In short, Poland had no interest in the success of the investigation, and this is of course due to [the fact] that Poland was massively involved in the preparation of this attack,” the former senior intelligence official claimed. He concluded that such attacks do not happen without massive state involvement, going so far as to allege that the “Polish and… the Ukrainian military played a big role, and intelligence services as well.”

On Wednesday, German state broadcaster ARD, along with the Suddeutsche Zeitung and Die Zeit newspapers reported that Poland, despite EU inter-state regulations, has failed to respond to Berlin’s request for cooperation after Federal Public Prosecutor Jens Rommel in June issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian national identified as “Vladimir Z”. The suspect is reportedly a diving instructor who lived in Poland and had allegedly placed the explosive devices on the pipeline.Polish prosecutors confirmed that they had received the arrest warrant, but argued that the man was not detained as he had left the country by crossing the Polish-Ukrainian border, Reuters cited. Kiev officials have publicly denied any involvement in the destruction of the pipelines.

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Good cop bad cop. Instill doubt. Keep ’em guessing.

• Zelensky Aide Denies Kiev’s Involvement In Nord Stream Attack (RT)

Kiev had nothing to do with the explosions on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, Mikhail Podoliak, a top adviser to Ukrainian leader, Vladimir Zelensky, has said. Podoliak made the statement to Reuters on Thursday in response to a report by the Wall Street Journal, claiming that Zelensky authorized the September 2022 attack which ruptured the key energy infrastructure built to deliver Russian gas to Germany and the rest of Europe. According to the US outlet’s sources, which included officers allegedly involved in the operation, Zelensky initially approved the attack on Nord Stream. He later tried to call it off under pressure from the CIA, but then Ukrainian commander-in-chief Valery Zaluzhny told him it could not be done as the sabotage group had already been dispatched and there was no way to contact it. “Such an act can only be carried out with extensive technical and financial resources… and who possessed all this at the time of the bombing? Only Russia,” Podoliak told the agency.

Russia has ridiculed claims that it would destroy its own pipelines, which provided it with steady revenue. Top officials in Moscow, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, have previously pointed the finger at Washington, arguing that it stood to gain the most from the disruption of Russian gas supplies to the EU. “Ukraine has nothing to do with the Nord Stream explosions,” Podolyak insisted, adding that Kiev did not gain any strategic or tactical advantage from the sabotage. The report by the WSJ claimed that “a handful of senior Ukrainian military officers and businessmen” came up with the idea of blowing up the pipelines during a drinking party in May 2022, a few months after the outbreak of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev. The plotters believed that it would reduce Russia’s energy profits and make the EU less dependent on Moscow, it said.

Zaluzhny, who is now Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, told the outlet that claims of his – or Kiev’s – involvement in the destruction of Nord Stream were a “mere provocation.” A senior official in the Security Service of Ukraine, the SBU, also denied the report, insisting that Zelensky in particular “did not approve the implementation of any such actions on the territory of third countries and did not issue relevant orders.” The WSJ said its reporting is partially corroborated by the findings of the German police investigation into the Nord Stream explosions. The German Federal Public Prosecutor issued a first arrest warrant in connection with the sabotage this week, according to local reports. The suspect is believed to be a Ukrainian citizen identified as ‘Vladimir Z’. The newspaper suggested that the police investigation could “upend” relations between Kiev and Berlin, which has been Ukraine’s biggest backer in the EU amid the conflict with Russia.

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No doubt. Kiev wouldn’t move without NATO.

• Zelensky Aide Admits Kursk Incursion Was Discussed With Western Backers (RT)

Kiev discussed its plan to launch a cross-border attack into Russia with its Western backers, a top adviser to Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has admitted. Western officials have said they supported last week’s incursion into Kursk Region, but have denied any prior knowledge of the operation. However, Zelensky aide Mikhail Podoliak has told The Independent that these disclaimers were not accurate, the British online newspaper reported on Thursday. ”There are certain things that have to be done with the element of surprise, and that have to happen on a local level,” he was quoted as saying. “But there were discussions between partner forces, just not on the public level.”

The Ukrainian official reiterated the explanations of the motives behind the operation that he previously offered on national television, stating that Kiev’s objective is to use military “coercion” against the Russian public. ”When the war proceeds into the territory of Russia, they are certainly scared. They are shocked. This has a significant impact on the psychological state of Russia,” he said. Russian officials have said that by attacking civilians in Kursk Region Kiev had killed any chance for peace talks – an objective that their Ukrainian counterparts claim the incursion brings closer. Podoliak urged the British government to permit Kiev to strike Russian territory with the long-range Storm Shadow missiles London has donated. If such attacks happen, “Russia would understand the cost of war is too high,” he told The Independent.

According to British media, London allows Ukrainian troops to use any of weapons it sends to them on Russian soil, with the exception of the cruise missiles, which the UK manufactures jointly with France. Moscow has warned that if any Western weapons are used for strikes deep inside Russia, it would share similar capabilities with parties elsewhere in the world that would use them against Western military assets. Moscow considers Kiev’s military tactics in Russia to be “terrorist.” Western nations arming Kiev share responsibility for atrocities committed by Ukrainian troops, officials have said.

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They set the whole thing up.

• US Lying About Involvement In Kursk Attack – Patrushev (RT)

Kiev would never dare to stage a large-scale incursion into Russian territory without Washington’s blessing and NATO support, former Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said. Last week, Kiev launched its largest attack on Russian territory since the outbreak of conflict in February 2022. Western officials have voiced their support for the incursion into Kursk Region but denied any prior knowledge or involvement in the operation. ”The US leadership’s claims of non-involvement in Kiev’s actions in Kursk Region do not correspond to reality… Without their participation and direct support, Kiev would not have ventured into Russian territory,” Patrushev told Izvestia in an interview published on Friday.

The adviser to President Vladimir Putin, who has recently been appointed to oversee Russia’s global maritime strategy, emphasized that the “West put the criminal junta at the head of Ukraine,” while “NATO countries have supplied Kiev with weapons, military instructors, and continuous intelligence while controlling the actions of neo-Nazis.” The operation in Kursk Region was also planned with the involvement of NATO and Western special services. The advance of Kiev’s troops was swiftly halted by Russian forces, although they maintain control over several settlements in Kursk Region. According to the local governor, at least 12 civilians have been killed and another 121 wounded due to the incursion, forcing more than 120,000 residents to evacuate.

”This criminal action stems from the premonition of the imminent collapse of the neo-Nazi Kiev regime,” Patrushev said, adding that “the residents of Ukraine are suffering for the sake of American interests, as the US has turned the country into a military anti-Russian project.” Russian officials have stated that by attacking civilians in Kursk Region, Kiev has eliminated any chance for peace talks—an objective that Ukrainian officials claim the incursion brings closer. Moscow characterizes Kiev’s military tactics in Russia as “terrorist,” while Western nations arming Kiev share responsibility for atrocities committed by Ukrainian troops, officials have asserted. ”Washington’s efforts have created all the prerequisites for Ukraine to lose its sovereignty and part of its territories, including those coveted by some American allies,” Patrushev added.

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“Russia has been demonized to the point where Donald Trump has been blamed on the Russians – think what you will of that..”

• Zombie Russiagate Conspiracy Persists as US Stokes Fear, Hatred of Moscow (Sp.)

“Russiagate continues to survive like a science fiction monster, resilient to bullets,” writes former CIA analyst Ray McGovern in a piece on the website Consortium News, noting the longevity and usefulness of the conspiracy in continuing to stoke hostility towards Moscow among the American public. The notion that Russia interfered in the 2016 US presidential election or played a role in hacking leaked Democratic Party emails has persisted even after sworn testimony from the cyber security firm CrowdStrike confirmed the lack of evidence for the claim. “The mainstream media has been incredibly adept at suppressing all this stuff,” McGovern noted on Sputnik’s The Critical Hour program Wednesday. “No matter what we write in Consortium News or other outlets – it’s on antiwar.com now, too – or however much you and I share this information, we’re fighting an uphill battle.”

“Why is this important? Just to remind folks who might not reflect on this, Russia has been demonized to the point where Donald Trump has been blamed on the Russians – think what you will of that,” he continued. “And all kinds of other things have been blamed on the Russians to the point where if these not very emotionally stable people in the White House decide to go after the Russians in Ukraine or even get involved against the Russians in Syria or elsewhere in the Middle East, most of the American people say, ‘oh yeah, those damn Russians, didn’t they give us Donald Trump?’” The ingrained hostility towards Russia from the American public – and from Democratic Party supporters, in particular – has served as a useful tool in justifying continued US involvement in Ukraine’s proxy war against the country.

Former CIA head James Clapper, who presided over the agency’s illegal surveillance of the Donald Trump campaign during the 2016 election, has been instrumental in perpetuating the narrative. Clapper has made his distrust of Moscow clear, appearing to suggest nefarious qualities are somehow hardcoded into the DNA of Russian people. “[Clapper claimed] the historical practices of the Russians [make them] almost genetically driven to co-opt, penetrate, gain favor, whatever, which is a typical Russian technique,” McGovern recalled, calling him a “Russophobe extraordinaire.” A gene for dishonesty has yet to be found. But if one exists, Pompeo’s comment suggests it is most likely to predominate among CIA officials like Clapper, who have been responsible for the overthrow of dozens of world leaders and the deaths of millions of civilians.

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Oh sure. She’ll go MAGA.

• Harris Seeks to Distance Herself From Biden’s Unpopularity on Economy (Sp.)

US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris plans to distance herself from incumbent White House occupant Joe Biden’s unpopularity on the economy and other issues, Axios reported on Wednesday. While Harris does not intend to disclose this plan publicly, she wants to break with Biden on economic issues and, first of all, on rising prices, the report said, citing the vice president’s advisers. This is part of a “highly choreographed” effort aimed at portraying Harris as a different kind of Democrat, according to the report. Harris plans to share with voters how she would govern if she wins the November election during her first policy speech in North Carolina on Friday and in the address at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next week, the report said. In North Carolina, she is expected to share her plans to lower costs of health care, housing and food for the middle class.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1823799450776821941

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Price gouging may have been an issue 100 years ago. Not today, not for consumer goods. For a company like Google, perhaps.

“..average costs paid by businesses have risen just as much as costs charged to consumers – if businesses are being “greedy,” they’re doing it all wrong…”

• Kamala’s First Economic Plan Proposes Price Controls To “Combat Inflation” (ZH)

After the unoriginal Vice President Kamala Harris stole former President Trump’s proposed ‘no tax on tips’ policy, she’s at it again with yet another recycled idea. This time, she’s echoing President Biden’s actions and rhetoric to crack down on sky-high food prices by proposing the first-ever federal ban on “corporate price-gouging in the food and grocery industries”—a move that reeks of socialism. “There’s a big difference between fair pricing in competitive markets, and excessive prices unrelated to the costs of doing business,” the Harris campaign wrote in a statement, adding, “Americans can see that difference in their grocery bills.” The Harris campaign said the vice president will unveil the new federal proposed ban on Friday at a campaign rally in the battleground state of North Carolina as part of a broader economic policy platform. The proposal will ensure food companies can’t exploit consumers to increase profits, according to CBS News, citing Harris-Walz campaign officials.

Harris’ policy speech will also call on the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys to examine corporations violating price-fixing rules. Her remarks are expected to echo Biden’s actions and rhetoric, especially with his war against meat processing companies that he alleges are responsible for higher burger prices at the supermarket. VP Harris’ campaign argues that lowering Americans’ costs is a function of socialist-style price controls. Yet this is the quickest way to understand that Harris’ economic team has no actual understanding of inflation. Heritage Foundation’s EJ Antoni explained, “Here’s your “price gouging” narrative: average costs paid by businesses have risen just as much as costs charged to consumers – if businesses are being “greedy,” they’re doing it all wrong…”

Instead of curbing out-of-control government spending, which debt rises $1 trillion every 100 days, and understanding that monetary inflation driven by the Federal Reserve’s money creation is the root cause of inflation, Harris deflects the actual problem: The Fed. She instead goes after big corporations for ‘illegal price gouging.’ Here’s a snippet of Money Metals Midweek Memo’s Mike Maharrey commenting on Harris’ proposed price-fixing ban on big food companies: The second “dumb” idea Maharrey discussed came from Vice President Kamala Harris, who was recently asked about her plan to combat inflation. Maharrey criticized her response, which he described as “word salad,” pointing out that she merely acknowledged the problem without offering any concrete solutions. Instead, she promised to take on “big corporations” engaging in “illegal price gouging,” corporate landlords, and big pharma.

Maharrey argued that Harris’s approach misses the root cause of inflation, which is monetary inflation driven by the Federal Reserve’s money creation. He cited the July budget deficit data, revealing that the Biden administration spent another $574 billion in just one month, running a $243 billion deficit. Maharrey emphasized that inflation is not caused by corporate greed but by the government’s excessive spending and borrowing. “Price inflation is a symptom of monetary inflation, which has everything to do with money creation by the Federal Reserve,” Maharrey explained. He warned that Harris’s proposed policies, including price controls, would likely lead to shortages and exacerbate the problem rather than solve it.

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“She’s been taking her message to the voters and drawing large crowds. So she’s actually having those direct conversations..”

• “Would It Kill You Guys?” (ZH)

The Harris campaign’s ‘hide Kamala’ strategy may be working from a polling perspective – but it’s gone on so long that even CNN is getting annoyed. “Would it kill you guys to have a press conference?” asked the network’s Jim Acosta (of ‘shouting at Trump’ fame) during an interview with Harris communications director Michael Tyler. “I’m sure this is not going to be the first time you’ve heard this question, but the Trump campaign is also going after the vice president for not doing enough interviews, for not holding a press conference. Would it kill you guys to have a press conference? Why hasn’t she had a press conference?” To which Tyler laughed sheepishly and pivoted to robotic talking points about Harris and running mate Tim Walz being “busy” traveling around the country to multiple (teleprompter) campaign rallies.

“Michael, you know a campaign really isn’t really a press conference,” Acosta pushed back. “Why hasn’t she had a press conference? She’s the vice president, she can handle the questions, why not do it?” Tyler said Harris will sit down for a one-on-one interview before the end of the month, which Acosta said was “not a lot,” adding “can you commit to a press conference by the end of the month?” Tyler once again deflected – saying “We will commit to directly engage with the voters who are actually going to decide this election, and that is going to be complete with rallies, with sit-down interviews, with press conferences, with all the digital assets that we have at our disposal.”

CNN’s John Berman also pressed a Harris campaign spox over the VP’s lack of media presence. “The reason I was asking you about today is because it seems like she has time if she wanted to do an interview with a member of the media or do a news conference, correct? There does appear to be that time, if she wanted,” said Berman – to which Harris campaign spokeswoman Adrienne Elrod repeated Tyler’s talking point that Harris and Walz are bringing their message directly to voters. “She hit a number of battleground states. I think we had 15,000 people in Detroit last week, 12 to 13,000 in Nevada. She’s been taking her message to the voters and drawing large crowds. So she’s actually having those direct conversations,” said Elrod – before Berman cut her off. “But not today — all I’m saying is not today. She could do an interview today, I would think, you know, because she’s not out there today,” said the CNN host. Meanwhile, Trump did a lengthy press conference at Mar-a-Lago last week and had a 2 hour conversation with Elon Musk – something Harris clearly couldn’t pull off because her biggest liability, like Biden, is her brain.

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How do you avoid Walz’s (non-) service?

• Vance and Walz Agree to Oct. 1 Debate (ET)

A much-anticipated debate between Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz appears to be on as both vice presidential candidates have agreed to CBS’s proposal for an Oct. 1 face-off. The network issued a statement Wednesday indicating that it had invited both vice-presidential candidates to take part in a debate in New York City, presenting both campaigns with four dates as options: Sept. 17, Sept. 24, Oct. 1, and Oct. 8. Walz, who remains the presumptive Democratic Party nominee until the Democratic National Convention later this month, accepted the invitation in a message on X, writing: “See you on October 1, JD.” Vance, who initially told Fox News that he would most likely agree but that his team needed time to review the rules and conditions of the debate, agreed to the Oct. 1 debate and upped the ante by agreeing to another debate proposed by CNN.

“The American people deserve as many debates as possible, which is why President Trump has challenged Kamala to three of them already. Not only do I accept the CBS debate on October 1st, I accept the CNN debate on September 18th as well. I look forward to seeing you at both!” Vance wrote in a post on X. At the time of reporting, it was unclear whether Walz had agreed to the Sept. 18 debate proposed by CNN. Vance told Fox News on Wednesday after being asked whether he would agree to the Oct. 1 debate on CBS that he would most likely be there but that his campaign needed to review the conditions. “I strongly suspect we’re going to be there on October the 1st,” Vance said, but added the condition that “we’re not going to do one of these fake debates where they don’t actually have an audience there, where they don’t actually set the parameters in a way where we can have a good exchange of ideas.

“We’re going to do a real debate, and if CBS agrees to it, then certainly we’ll do it,” Vance said. The Ohio Republican drew a contrast between the large volume of media interviews that the Trump–Vance campaign has been giving compared to the Harris–Waltz campaign, adding that he wants to debate Walz several times because “it’s important for the American people to actually see us discuss our views.” Vance has criticized Vice President Kamala Harris for her lack of media availability since she became the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee. “I enjoyed sitting down with three of the major networks today to answer the tough questions any leader should answer,” Vance said in an Aug. 11 post on X, after giving three separate interviews on Sunday morning shows.

Harris has largely avoided answering questions from the press since replacing President Joe Biden as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, drawing criticism from conservatives and journalists alike. Previously, Vance said that he wouldn’t commit to a debate until Walz was officially named the vice presidential nominee, which is expected to take place at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, scheduled for Aug. 19–22. Historically, both of the major party presidential and vice presidential nominees have participated in debates. So far, Trump and Harris have agreed to one debate, which is to be hosted by ABC on Sept. 10. There has been speculation that other Trump–Harris debates could take place, though nothing has been formalized.

Walz

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“..Dwight Eisenhower noted, “If in ten years, all American troops stationed in Europe for national defense purposes have not been returned to the United States, then this whole project will have failed.”

• It’s Time For America To Rethink Its Relationship With NATO (Bridge)

For over a century, the United States has had one overarching goal in Europe: ensuring that the continent’s economic and military power was divided among various states by preventing the rise of a European superstate that could usurp that power for itself. Now that that goal has been achieved, will Washington admit it’s time to Europeanize NATO? In the latest issue of Foreign Affairs, the influential voice of the U.S. establishment, Justin Logan and Joshua Shifrinson fire a shot across the bows of Brussels when they repeat the Trump mantra that “it’s time for Washington to Europeanize NATO and give up responsibility for the continent’s security.” “The United States should recognize that it has achieved its main goal in Europe,” Logan and Shifrinson write. “Having successfully ensured that no country can dominate the continent, it should embrace a new approach to the region.

Under a revised strategy, the United States would reduce its military presence on the continent, Europeanize NATO, and hand principal responsibility for European security back to its rightful owners: the Europeans.” As half of the U.S. electorate hopes to ‘make America great again’ with the populist Trump, that opinion is quickly going mainstream. As the soaring U.S. national debt and a souring economy become political hot-button issues in a critical election year, many Americans have come to the conclusion that Uncle Sam has been playing beat cop in Europe for far too long. In the aftermath of the Cold War, European nations made severe cuts to their military expenditures while Washington remained content to pick up the expensive slack. But as the U.S. defense budget nears $1 trillion per year, and millions of invading illegals pouring across the border from Latin America, it is becoming simply unaffordable for the U.S. taxpayer to subsidize the security of Europe any longer.

After all, Europe is quite capable of handling the task. The war in Ukraine is case in point. It boggles the mind that the 27 member states of the European Union, comprised of nearly half a billion people, should require a single American-made rifle in this regional conflict. After all, Europe is comprised of many strong and productive nations with respectable industrial centers. There is no reason why Europeans, who have been scheming about the creation of an ‘EU Army’ since the days of de Gaulle, cannot find the ways and means to handle the conflict for themselves (by comparison, Russia currently produces more than twice the number of artillery shells each month than Europe and the U.S. combined). The primary reason that Brussels has dropped the ball in Ukraine is because they have become spoiled by American largesse and have lost both the ability and the will to look after their own interests. America has been asked once again to fill the void at grave expense to its own national interests.

As JD Vance, the Republican Party’s nominee for the vice presidency, wrote in the pages of the Financial Times, “We owe it to our European partners to be honest: Americans want allies in Europe, not client states, and our generosity in Ukraine is coming to an end. Europeans should regard the conclusion of the war there as an imperative. They must keep rebuilding their industrial and military capabilities.”It’s important to keep in mind that NATO was never planned as a permanent fixture on the European continent. As Logan and Shifrinson emphasize, the Western military bloc was “expedient to protect Western European states as they recovered from World War II, facilitate Western European efforts to balance Soviet power, and integrate West Germany into a counter-Soviet coalition that would also help civilize German power.”

And as Russia has been at great pains to remind its Western colleagues, U.S. Secretary of State James Baker famously gave Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev the assurance on February 9, 1990 that the fledgling military bloc would not shift “one inch eastward.” And as far back as 1951, the supreme Allied commander in Europe, Dwight Eisenhower noted, “If in ten years, all American troops stationed in Europe for national defense purposes have not been returned to the United States, then this whole project will have failed.” Eisenhower would be shocked to see the level of American influence in Europe today. Obviously, the situation today bears no resemblance to the state of affairs fifty years ago. NATO has exploded into a 32-member fighting force, while former apprehensions of a resurgent Germany have given way to questions about Berlin’s role in the European hierarchy.

European countries and the United States no longer feel threatened by an ‘imperial Germany,’ yet there are powerful forces inside of the United States that will never cede Washington’s control over Brussels, and that largely explains the tremendous hostility that Trump faces as he makes another effort for the White House. The hawks have great disdain for this man who has shown a penchant for avoiding military conflict while threatening to leave NATO.

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“..censorship by surrogate” through which agencies did indirectly what they are barred from doing directly under the First Amendment..”

• Want More Freedom of Speech? Try Less Government (Turley)

It is time to get the United States out of the censorship business for good. In the last three years, the House of Representatives has disclosed a massive censorship system run in part with federal funding and with coordination with federal officials. A federal court described this system as truly “Orwellian.” The Biden Administration has made speech regulation a priority in targeting disinformation, misinformation or malinformation. President Joe Biden even said that companies refusing to censor citizens were “killing people.” His administration has now created an anti-free speech record that is only rivaled by the Adams Administration, which used the Alien and Sedition Acts to arrest political opponents. Jen Easterly, who heads the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, is an example of how speech controls and censorship have become mainstream.

Her agency was created to work on our critical infrastructure, but Easterly declared that the mandate would now include policing “our cognitive infrastructure.” That includes combating “malinformation,” or information “based on fact, but used out of context to mislead, harm, or manipulate.” I have testified for years about the censorship system. For much of that time, Democrats insisted that there was no proof of any coordination or funding from the government. Such evidence did indeed exist, but Democrats worked to block any investigation to confirm what we already knew about government officials targeting individuals and groups for throttling, bans, and blacklisting. Then Elon Musk bought Twitter. The release of the Twitter Files destroyed any plausible deniability of the government’s role in this censorship system. Various agencies had employees working with social media companies to target those with opposing or disfavored views. At the same time, we learned of grants from the federal government supporting blacklisting and targeting operations.

That includes efforts to quietly choke off the revenue of disfavored sites by pressuring advertisers and donors. While companies like Facebook have continued to fight to conceal their coordination with the government, the Twitter Files pulled back the curtain to expose the system. Indeed, Democrats largely abandoned their denials and turned to full-throated defenses of censorship, even calling free speech advocates “Putin-lovers” and “insurrectionist sympathizers.” In 1800, Thomas Jefferson defeated John Adams in the only election where free speech was a primary issue for voters. It should be again. Vice President Kamala Harris is known as a supporter for these censorship and blacklisting operations. She can now defend that record and convince Americans that they need to have less free speech. This debate should ideally focus on one simple legislative proposal. In my new book, I suggest various measures that can regain the ground that we have lost on free speech.

One such measure is a federal law that would ban any federal funding of any offices or programs (government, academic, or corporate) that rate, target, censor, throttle, or seek to take adverse action against individuals or groups based on their viewpoints in public forums or social media. There can be easy exceptions to this ban for individuals or groups engaging in criminal conduct or unlawful foreign interference with elections. Threatening individuals or trafficking in child pornography constitute conduct, not speech. They are criminal acts under the federal code. Nothing in this law would prevent the government from speaking in its own voice. If Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas wants to challenge claims made about him or his agency, he can do so on the agency website or make his case to the media. That is the essence of free speech. What he cannot do is create a Disinformation Governance Board to regulate the speech of citizens or groups.

In my prior testimony to Congress, I warned about the use of what I called “censorship by surrogate” through which agencies did indirectly what they are barred from doing directly under the First Amendment. This new law will not put an end to the burgeoning anti-free speech movement. It will not end the new market for groups making millions in seeking to silence or strangle sites with opposing views. However, it will create a wall of separation of the government from censorship systems. It would also offer a simple and clear line for the 2024 election. Candidates will have to take sides on free speech. If candidates like Harris want to continue to support the government in blacklisting or censoring citizens, they should own it. We spent years of politicians engaging in cynical denials of the government’s role in censorship. If these politicians are “all in” with censorship, then they should be honest about it and let voters make the same choice that was made in 1800.

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“I love New Zealand. I’m not leaving.”

• Kim Dotcom Defiant After NZ Approves Extradition For US Trial (ZH)

Internet mogul Kim Dotcom says he’s not going anywhere after New Zealand’s justice minister said on Thursday that he will be extradited to the Untied States on charges related to his defunct file-sharing website Megaupload. Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith announced that he had signed an extradition order for Dotcom, saying in a statement: “I considered all of the information carefully, and have decided that Mr Dotcom should be surrendered to the US to face trial,” adding “As is common practice, I have allowed Mr Dotcom a short period of time to consider and take advice on my decision.” The extradition order comes 12 years after an FBI-ordered raid on his Auckland mansion. In 2017, the high court in New Zealand first approved his extradition – with an appeal court reaffirming the finding in 2018. In 2020, the country’s supreme court again affirmed the finding, however they also left the door open for further judicial review.

Dotcom responded to the decision, posting on Tuesday that “the obedient US colony in the South Pacific just decided to extradite me for what users uploaded to Megaupload.” He later said: “I love New Zealand. I’m not leaving.” According to US authorities, Dotcom and three other Megaupload executives cost film studios over US$500 million by encouraging people to store and share copyrighted material – generating over US$175 million for his website. He also faces charges of money laundering and racketeering. The internet mogul says he should not be held personally liable for copyright infringement carried out on his site. “New Zealand copyright law (92b) makes it clear that an ISP can’t be criminally liable for actions of their users,” Dotcom noted in 2017 following the high court’s decision. “Unless you’re Kim Dotcom?”

Megaupload was based in Hong Kong until 2012, when the US seized the domain and shuttered the site. It relaunched in 2013 as Mega, with a New Zealand domain name, however Dotcom has had no involvement in the company since at least 2015. The company’s chief marketing officer, Finn Batato, and chief technical officer and co-founder, Mathias Ortmann, both from Germany, along with a third executive, the Dutch national Bram van der Kolk, were arrested in Auckland with Dotcom in 2012, according to The Guardian. Ortmann and Van der Kolk were sentenced to jail terms in 2023 under plea deals that avoided extradition, while Batato died in 2022 in New Zealand.

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“..the CIA is concerned that Trump did not initially take the RFK JR bait, and now they are going to run a public campaign to position their operative. I’ll say it again, Robert F Kennedy Jr is an intelligence asset.”

• RFK Jr Tried To Meet With Trump, Harris In Pursuit Of Cabinet Position (ZH)

Independent 2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr tried to land a meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris last week, in hopes of trading an endorsement for a top job in her administration, the Washington Post and other outlets reported Wednesday evening. So far, Team Harris has ignored RFK Jr’s pitch. “We’ve reached out repeatedly through the highest level intermediaries. We’ve been told that they have no interest in talking with me,” Kennedy told the New York Times. Separately, Kennedy expressed disappointment to the Post. “I think it is a strategic mistake for them. That’s my perspective,” Kennedy said. “I think they ought to be looking at every opportunity. I think it is going to be a very close race.” In July, Kennedy described Harris as “monumentally unpopular with her own party,” and condemned her tenure as attorney general in California, saying she worked to keep nonviolent criminals in jail in a “modern version of slavery” and thus “has one of the worst civil rights records of any public official.”

He also condemned her for being “a war hawk on Ukraine…a war hawk on China.” Kennedy’s poll numbers have sagged since the Democrats pressured President Biden into calling off his re-election campaign — which means his potential endorsement has also lost some zing. The Post says its averaging of polls in July had Kennedy backed by about 9% of voters. With Biden out and Harris in, his support has faded to around 5%. What’s more, some polls suggest that Kennedy’s presence on ballots is a net benefit to Harris. While Harris ignored the invitation, Kennedy did secure a meeting with Donald Trump last month in Milwaukee, and reportedly offered the same deal that he now wants to offer to Harris, with a specific interest in advising Trump on health and medical policy. It appears Kennedy’s top goal is a powerful position in the next administration, with little regard for whose administration it is.

[..] Some are suggesting Kennedy may not be operating in good faith…Like lawyer “sundance” at The Conservative Treehouse:

“It sounds to me like RFK Jr is trying to present a pressure point to entice President Trump to pull him closer. In other words, the CIA is concerned that Trump did not initially take the RFK JR bait, and now they are going to run a public campaign to position their operative. I’ll say it again, Robert F Kennedy Jr is an intelligence asset. Many of the low-information alligator emoji people are falling for it. A few CTH readers are also having a difficult time seeing the IC operation around RFK Jr, particularly because of the CIA involvement in the killing of his family patriarchs before. However, it is that angle of denial the IC is purposefully exploiting. RFK Jr is an intel asset. His people know we know.”

RFK
https://twitter.com/i/status/1823925998582219079

Read more …

 

 

 

 

Stone

 

 

Globefish

 

 

Sea lion
https://twitter.com/i/status/1824058973244330325

 

 

Seal
https://twitter.com/i/status/1823978050955907093

 

 

Handsome

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Debt Rattle August 9 2024

Aug 092024
 
 August 9, 2024  Posted by at 9:02 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , ,  68 Responses »


Henry Bacon Fisherfolk returning with their nets, Étretat 1890

 

• Harris Snubbed VP Contender Shapiro Because He’s Jewish – Trump (RT)
• Why Did Kamala Snub The Obvious VP Choice In Josh Shapiro (QTR)
• Harris Chose Walz Over Shapiro to Ward Off Critics of Israel War on Gaza (Sp.)
• National Guard Disputes Walz’s Military Bio (ZH)
• Harris/Walz Rally Was Really Just Another Free Concert (MN)
• ‘They Took It Away’: Trump Admits Democrats Snatched Presidency From Biden (Sp.)
• Vance Explains Trump’s Plans For Europe (RT)
• This Means War! (Jim Rickards)
• German Heavy Armor Back To Fields Of Kursk Region After 80 Years (RT)
• Russia Should No Longer Hold Back In Ukraine – Medvedev (RT)
• US Must Rein In ‘Terrorist Client’ Ukraine – Moscow (RT)
• Police Release Bodycam Video of Officer Trying to Confront Trump Shooter (Sp.)
• Scott Ritter Blasts Raid on His Home as US Gov ‘Fishing Expedition’ (Sp.)
• Allowing Two Million Gazans To Starve ‘May Be Moral’ – Israeli Minister (RT)

 

 

 

 

O’Leary
https://twitter.com/i/status/1821568241958805509

 

 

I’m speaking

 

 

Rogan Kamala
https://twitter.com/i/status/1821630125420495151

 

 

Blagojevich

 

 

Trump Willie

 

 

Trump Hillary

 

 

Trump Elon

 

 

Trump Bannon
https://twitter.com/i/status/1821622642853474410

 

 

 

 

“This is the worst team ever assembled for a Jewish person or for Israel.”

• Harris Snubbed VP Contender Shapiro Because He’s Jewish – Trump (RT)

US Vice President Kamala Harris did not pick Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro as her running mate because he’s Jewish, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has claimed. Although Shapiro was considered the favorite, Harris ended up picking Minnesota Governor Tim Walz instead. “Everyone thought it was going to be Shapiro, it turned out not to be Shapiro,” Trump said on Fox News on Wednesday. “I have very little doubt that it was not for the reason we’re talking about. It was because of the fact that he’s Jewish and they think they’re going to offend somebody else.” “I think there were other people better than him, I know them all. But I was shocked when it came to the final two and she didn’t pick Shapiro,” he added.

The ‘progressive’ faction of the Democrats had pushed back against Shapiro, citing his advocacy of Israel and criticism of pro-Palestinian student protests across the US. Some critics dubbed him “Genocide Josh” – echoing the “Genocide Joe” moniker given to President Biden – while others pointed to potential problems a Harris-Shapiro ticket would have garnering Muslim, Arab and Palestinian-American voters in key swing states. “You wouldn’t feel very comfortable if you’re Israel right now with this team,” Trump told Fox News. “This is the worst team ever assembled for a Jewish person or for Israel.” “They are so bad to Jewish people – what they’ve done and the way they talk and their policy and everything else,” he added.

During his 2017-2021 presidency, Trump openly supported Israel, recognizing its annexation of the occupied Golan Heights and relocating the US embassy from Tel Aviv to West Jerusalem, among other things. He has repeatedly said that any Jews who vote for Democrats “should have their head examined.” In the 2020 election, however, an estimated 70% of American Jews voted for Biden. The Biden-Harris White House has supplied weapons and ammunition to Israel, while demanding a ceasefire and negotiations with Hamas, something Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected.

Trump

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“..the Democrats do not think they, in any way, need to be aggressive in order to earn your vote…as if Kamala Harris not holding a press conference since becoming the presidential nominee hasn’t told you that already.”

• Why Did Kamala Snub The Obvious VP Choice In Josh Shapiro (QTR)

As somebody who thinks the country would implode into itself like a dying star if Harris won the election, I was extraordinarily relieved to see her pick. I was all but certain that Harris was going to pick Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro as her running mate. Everything about the pick made sense: he was racially her foil, he was younger, a well-spoken candidate, he was viewed as more of a moderate, he has great support in the extraordinarily crucial swinging state of Pennsylvania, and he could help the Democratic Party claw back some of the Jewish vote that they’ve (deservedly) lost over the last year while their far left fringe, including ‘the squad’, has all but openly supported Hamas. The Shapiro pick made so much sense and, in my opinion, guaranteed the election for Harris so much, that I thought it would even break through the dumb-ass-politician-blood-brain barrier and be the inevitable selection.

But instead, nope! We get Tim Walz. The party who claims to hate old milquetoast white men, instead selected an even further left old milquetoast white man. What a time to be alive! Without going into the worst points about Walz, not the least of which is he oversaw the destruction of his own state during the George Floyd riots of 2020, the pick is so conservative strategically, it just might fail. It reminds me of when Hillary Clinton picked Tim Kaine as her running mate. [..] Tim Walz is a pick that you make when you are far ahead in the polls and literally have nothing to worry about. He’s an NFL prevent defense that should only be run when you are multiple touchdowns ahead and the clock has less than 20 seconds on it. Walz is a declaration that the Democrats do not think they, in any way, need to be aggressive in order to earn your vote…as if Kamala Harris not holding a press conference since becoming the presidential nominee hasn’t told you that already.

I also have an unfounded and unproven theory on how Walz became Harris’s running mate. If you remember, on Friday, Philadelphia mayor Cherelle Parker, or a staffer of hers, accidentally tweeted out a pre-made and clearly pre-planned congratulatory message on Josh Shapiro being picked as Kamala’s vice president. The pre-planned nature of it made it clear that the leak was a legitimate accident and the pick was likely legitimate. [..] Now we know, at some point, assuming the Shapiro pick was legitimate, Harris changed her mind. Could it have possibly been that after the leak on Friday, members of the progressive base and Democratic voters lashed out at Harris for picking a Jewish running mate? After all, there were widespread reports last week of whitewashing Josh Shapiro’s Wikipedia page and attempts to try and cover up his past support for Israel.

In Walz, did the Democratic Party choose to abandon its Jewish base and side with activists and supporters of Palestine? One way to make that statement would be to pick the man who oversaw the looting and riots of 2020, that’s for sure. Either way, the sugar high of Harris becoming the nominee is going to soon start to run out, and it’s difficult for me to see how the Democratic base is going to get any sort of additional dopamine hit from her vice-presidential selection. In fact, I think this pick will force the onus to be aggressive to shift back to Harris and the momentum back to the Trump campaign. Everybody knows there was a fair amount of second-guessing regarding Trump’s vice-presidential pick. Shapiro likely could have given Vance a run for his money in attracting moderates and debating. But Walz is just the opposite: my guess is that to people in the center, Vance now looks more like the moderate and, in general, the candidate who has their sh*t together the most.

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“It means the anti-Israel wing of the Democratic Party is very much in control.”

• Harris Chose Walz Over Shapiro to Ward Off Critics of Israel War on Gaza (Sp.)

US Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ pick of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate was dictated by Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s open support for the Israeli war on Gaza, experts told Sputnik. On Tuesday, Harris announced Walz as her vice presidential candidate in the 2024 election, saying he was a “battle-tested leader.” President Joe Biden hailed Harris’ choice and called it a great decision. The announcement put an end to weeks of speculation that Harris would go for Shapiro, who was reportedly one of the top finalists for the role. “As far as I and everybody else can figure, they passed over Shapiro because he is Jewish and has been supportive of Israel in the past. It means the anti-Israel wing of the Democratic Party is very much in control.

In my view, Shapiro would have been a much better pick in terms of winning the election,” Roderick Kiewiet, professor of Political Science at the California Institute of Technology, said. The choice of a presidential contender’s running mate rarely has any impact on the vote, Kiewiet argued. The only time it actually mattered was in 1972, when Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern’s pick Tom Eagleton was discovered to have undergone electro-shock therapy at a mental institution. Eagleton quit the race but McGovern was humiliated and lost to Richard Nixon by a landslide. Shapiro’s 2022 victory in the race for governor of Pennsylvania, a critical battleground state, proved that he had a good chance of helping the Democratic ticket take it in November, Alan Cafruny, Henry Bristol Professor of International Affairs with the Department of Government at Hamilton College, told Sputnik.

“However, Shapiro has taken a strong stand in favor of Israel’s actions in Gaza, notably condemning pro-Palestinian activists, especially students and many young people, as anti-Semitic. Young people are a core Democratic constituency. Israel’s horrific actions in Gaza have profoundly altered public opinion among many Americans,” Cafruny said. While the matter was probably not critical for Harris, it played a role in the choice of the vice presidential candidate, as Democrats believe that Walz, too, can deliver Pennsylvania and its 19 electoral votes, he added.”If I had been Kamala Harris, I would have chosen Shapiro as my running mate because he would have brought more strength to the ticket in Pennsylvania, a ‘must-win’ state for the Democrats.

But this was Harris’ choice, and, apparently, she did not want to further alienate the left wing of the party as, I expect, she attempts to move toward the center for the general election campaign,” Richard Bensel, Professor of Government at Cornell University, said. With Tim Walz tapped as the Democratic vice presidential nominee, Donald Trump’s running mate JD Vance may appear “weird” and even “extremist,” significantly damaging the Republicans’ chances of winning in November, the experts predicted. Following the announcement by Harris, Trump sarcastically thanked her for her choice, while Vance said that he had called Walz and left him a voice message congratulating him and wishing for “robust conversations” in the future.

The Trump campaign called Walz a “dangerously liberal extremist.” “One of Tim Walz’s strengths is that he will be a very good foil for JD Vance in the coming vice presidential debate (if there is one). Walz’s appealing personality and moderate demeanor will only strengthen public impressions of Vance as an unstable extremist,” Richard Bensel said, adding that this comparison was likely to be only a “minor” issue come the election. While the Minnesota governor is unlikely to bring significant changes to the Harris campaign, choosing him will probably boost the Democratic duo’s standing “since one of the major points the Democrats will try to make is that the Republican ticket is ‘weird'” and Walz is definitely “not weird” himself, Bensel explained.

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“When questioned about all of it, Walz decided to duck, cover, and run from a journalist before an explanation could be ‘deployed.'”

• National Guard Disputes Walz’s Military Bio (ZH)

The Minnesota National Guard has disputed Governor Tim Walz’s military biography, saying that his claims of retiring at the rank of command sergeant major is untrue. Minnesota National Guard spox Army Lieutenant Colonel Kristen Augé told Just the News that Walz, Kamala Harris’ vice presidential running mate, was demoted and did not retire as a command sergeant major as he has claimed for years – including on his official gubernatorial biography – as he failed to complete a 750-hour course in the Army’s Sergeants Major Academy, a mandatory course for E-9s, the Army’s highest enlisted rank. While Walz temporarily held the title of command sergeant major he “retired as a master sergeant in 2005 for benefit purposes because he did not complete additional coursework at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy,” Army Lt. Col. Kristen Augé, the Minnesota National Guard’s State Public Affairs Officer, told Just the News.

The statement reignited a controversy that began during his 2018 election for governor in which National Guardsman claimed on social media and in a paid ad that Walz declined to deploy to Iraq for combat duty in 2005 and forfeited his title of command sergeant major. Walz chose to run for Congress that year. -Just the News. The governor’s biography, however, says that “Command Sergeant Major Walz” retired from the Minnesota National Guard in 2005. At the time he was serving as one of the highest ranking members of the 1-125th Field Artillery Battalion. “He retired as a master sergeant in 2005 for benefit purposes because he did not complete additional coursework at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy,” said Augé. That said, an unnamed Guard spokesperson told Task & Purpose, in direct contradiction to Augé, that Walz’s demotion was a technicality. “Soldiers who do not finish the course revert back to their prior rank,” they told the outlet. “This is what we refer to as an administrative reduction and not punitive in nature.”

The outlet also claims that the Guard ‘confirmed’ that Walz was properly promoted and served in the E-9 role, and “retired as” an E-9, despite the later reduction. That said, Task & Purpose also framed the entire stolen valor controversy as “The ‘Swift Boating’ of Tim Walz” – as if his on-record lies about ‘weapon of war, that I carried in war’ (he never saw war), are the same as disputed allegations over John Kerry’s (D) Vietnam war record. On Wednesday we noted that Walz straight up lied about having been deployed in a combat zone. The lies were so egregious that even CNN acknowledged they were less than ideal. “Walz did make a comment speaking to a group, he’s done it a couple of times, where he has used language that has suggested that he carried weapons in a fighting situation,” said CNN correspondent Tom Foreman in a fact check. “As you know, with your contact with the military, I know from coming from a military family, there is a difference between being in a combat area, being involved at a time of war and actually being in a position where people are shooting at you. There is no evidence that at any time Governor Walz was in a position of being shot at, and some of his language could easily be seen to suggest that he was.”

“So that is absolutely false when he said that about gun rights out there. The campaign has essentially come forward to say, ‘Look, he had a long career, he would never want to purposely mislead people about this.’ It’s what campaigns tend to say,” Foreman continued. Meanwhile, in a 2006 press release issued by his campaign, Walz is described as a “veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom,” the US military operation in Afghanistan. As modernity.news notes, some have charged that this is misleading given that Walz was stationed in Italy at the time, with his battalion providing base security in Europe. Walz has also come under fire from the men he served with, who they described in a 2019 letter as ‘Traitorous, fraudulent and shameful.’ Meanwhile, the Free Beacon reports that Walz knew his National Guard battalion was being eyed for a likely redeployment to Iraq when he decided to retire.

“As Command Sergeant Major, I have a responsibility not only to ready my battalion for Iraq, but also to serve if called on,” Walz said in a campaign statement on March 20, 2005. Just three days prior, the National Guard Public Affairs Office announced that at least part of his battalion could be shipped overseas to the Middle East in the next two years. Walz left the National Guard that May. Two months later, his battalion was put on notice that they would be deploying to Iraq. When questioned about all of it, Walz decided to duck, cover, and run from a journalist before an explanation could be ‘deployed.’

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They can’t meme and they can’t stream.

• Harris/Walz Rally Was Really Just Another Free Concert (MN)

Kamala Harris’ campaign has once again used a free concert as a way of drawing people to their rally for the photo op. A large number of people turned up at an outdoor stadium Eau Claire, Wisconsin on Wednesday, yet most appeared to be there to watch Grammy award-winning indie folk band Bon Iver. The lead singer of the band, Justin Vernon, is from Eau Claire. NPR reported that “Vice President Harris will draw from some hometown talent on Wednesday when Bon Iver performs at a rally in Eau Claire, Wis. — part of a barnstorm tour of swing states she is doing with her running mate this week.” Observers note that there was a distinct lack of Harris/Walz signs, and a lot of middle aged beardy folk men in the crowd. As we highlighted last week, this happened in Atlanta, where the large crowd turned up to watch rapper Megan Thee Stallion and some dancers shake their asses around, then started walking out when Harris took the stage.

The campaign is desperately attempting to use popular culture and influencers to gain traction. For example, wildly popular Twitch streamer Kai Cenat, who has over 12 million followers told his viewers that he had been approached by Harris’ people about doing a livestream with her, but noted only Cenat has no interest in doing it. Cenat declared “Kamala is getting rejected by everyone,” noting that the campaign reached out five times to try to get him on board but he doesn’t “give a fuck” about her. In addition, State Senator Jake Hoffman of Arizona received information from an influencer showing that the Harris campaign has been paying social media influencers in an effort to boost popularity. Hoffman charged that the campaign is engaged in astroturfing, and has “zero grassroots, so they’re trying to manufacture fake support using cash as the incentive.”

The letter from Alicia Howard of the Harris-Walz campaign reads “if you’re interested in creating content on Instagram, please let me know as soon as possible. We can discuss the details and compensation for your involvement.” The campaign then sent a follow-up note promising “paid partnership.” It appears the campaign is also employing marketing groups to reach out to influencers with promises of cash for content. Meanwhile, Donald Trump took part in a huge live stream with influencer Adin Ross Monday, attracting over 580,000 live viewers and reportedly over 100 million subsequent views. Next week Trump is scheduled to take part in a conversation with Elon Musk.

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“I would say that Hillary was smart. She was her own worst enemy in many ways, but she was smart, very smart.”

• ‘They Took It Away’: Trump Admits Democrats Snatched Presidency From Biden (Sp.)

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said on Thursday that the Democratic party took away the presidency from President Joe Biden and emphasized that the sitting US president had the right to run for reelection regardless of whether he had a chance to win or not. “The presidency was taken away from Joe Biden, and I’m no Biden fan…they took the presidency away,” Trump said during a press conference. “People were saying he lost after the debate, he couldn’t win. Well, I don’t know that that’s true, necessarily, but whether he could win or he couldn’t win, he had the right to run. And they took it away.” Trump claimed that Biden is very angry at former US President Barack Obama and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi right now after they reportedly forced him to step down from the presidential race. Touching on recent remarks Biden made on the transfer of presidential powers, Trump told reporters that despite what his successor said there would in fact be a peaceful handover following the November results.

“Of course there will be a peaceful transfer, and there was last time, and there will be a peaceful transfer. I just hope we’re going to have honest elections,” Trump said. The event also saw the former president detail that he had agreed to a participate in three debates in September against political rival Kamala Harris, who he quipped was not as “smart” as 2016 presidential contender Hillary Clinton. “So I’ve run against Hillary and I’ve run against various other people. I would say that in terms of intelligence, Hillary was far superior,” Trump said during a press conference. “I would say that Hillary was smart. She was her own worst enemy in many ways, but she was smart, very smart.” The dates Trump outlined for the debates are September 4, 10, and 25. However, he noted that he’s still waiting for confirmation that Harris will participate in these debates as well. Media reported that Harris is locked in for the September 10 debate.

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“..he rejected the notion that sustained aid to Ukraine is necessary to prevent a future attack on NATO..”

• Vance Explains Trump’s Plans For Europe (RT)

European NATO members need to do a better job of deterring a hypothetical Russian attack and dealing with the loss of Russian oil and gas, vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance has said. The Republican senator from Ohio, who was picked by former US President Donald Trump as his running mate for the November election, said a potential Trump administration would demand “self-sufficiency” from the EU while maintaining friendly relations. Speaking to the Semafor news website on Wednesday, he rejected the notion that sustained aid to Ukraine is necessary to prevent a future attack on NATO. Russian President Vladimir Putin has “shown in Ukraine that he can’t go that far,” he argued, contrary to what Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, tells American voters.

”When the Harris administration says if we don’t stop Putin in Ukraine, he’s gonna march all the way to Germany, one, it’s not true, and two, what does that say about Germany’s defense capabilities?” Vance said. ”If [the Germans] can’t repel a Russian invasion that does not suggest America should effectively serve as a security protector for Germany, that suggests the Germans ought to get off their ass and invest in their own defense,” he added, pointing to the example of Israel. ”The Israelis are smart about their interests. They recognize that there are limitations,” he said. “What they need from an ally, I think, is support, not for us to step in and do for them what we do for Europe.”

Russian officials have ridiculed the claim by Western politicians that Moscow wants to attack NATO. The Ukraine conflict, according to them, was triggered by the expansion of the US-led military bloc and its intention to bring Ukraine into its ranks. After Western nations backed an armed coup in Kiev in 2014, the new authorities declared joining NATO a key policy goal. EU nations joined the US in imposing sanctions on Russia in retaliation for the hostilities. Among the key measures, most EU states have stopped buying low-cost pipeline natural gas that Russia had been supplying to Europe since the Soviet era. The loss of Russian gas has allowed the US to dramatically increase liquefied gas exports to Europe. The Trump administration had unsuccessfully pushed the EU to make the same switch, famously touting American fuel as “molecules of freedom” to European customers in 2019.

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“Israel’s assassinations and Iran’s pending retaliation illustrate the dangers of having a weak, unfit, lame-duck American president like Joe Biden..”

• This Means War! (Jim Rickards)

Let’s revisit April’s Iranian missile and drone attacks on Israel which, again, were launched in retaliation for Israel’s strike on Iran’s consulate in Syria. Iran’s attack was almost staged. It was telegraphed in advance, giving Israel (as well as U.S. forces in the region) time to prepare for it. The great majority of Iranian drones and missiles were shot down, and Israel suffered very little damage. It was as if Iran was saying, “We have to retaliate for your attack on our consulate, but we don’t want further escalation. So we’re going to let you know what we’re going to do and give you time to prepare for it. Our attack won’t really hurt you, but we have to do it in order to save face.” Israel conducted its own retaliatory strike on Iran, but it was limited, and that was the end of it. Both sides could wipe their hands clean and move on. But Israel’s latest assassinations changed all that. They represented significant escalations against Iran, especially the assassination in Iran’s own territory.

Imagine the U.S. response if Russia, for example, assassinated a key U.S. ally attending the inauguration of an American president. So why would Iran listen to pleas for a limited, measured response this time? It took that approach in April, and Israel escalated anyway. So in this instance, Iran has no incentive to limit its retaliation. In its view, deterrence has failed. The only logical response is to punish Israel as hard as it can. That of course raises the question: How might Iran retaliate? It could take the form of drone and missile attacks, similar to the ones in April, only more intense. Iran could also enlist its proxies like Hezbollah to attack Israel from southern Lebanon, forcing Israel to fight a two-front war (Gaza being the first, which is still ongoing). Or it could be a combination of both. Hezbollah is a much more formidable fighting force than Hamas, so Israel will have its hands full if it has to confront Hezbollah. Meanwhile, The U.S. is sending warships and aircraft to the region to support Israel. What can go wrong? It’s not hard to envision a scenario in which the U.S. is dragged into the fighting.

Yesterday, a rocket attack on a U.S. base in Iraq injured five personnel. It’s not known who’s responsible at this point, but it could very likely be an Iranian proxy. It’s hard to imagine the timing was just coincidental. Here’s the larger point: Israel’s assassinations and Iran’s pending retaliation illustrate the dangers of having a weak, unfit, lame-duck American president like Joe Biden. Here’s why… The U.S. has previously restrained Israel from taking stronger action against Iran. The U.S. has been pursuing a Gaza ceasefire and a hostage deal. Sources claim the Biden administration felt it was close to a breakthrough before the assassinations. The two assassinations torpedoed whatever chances there were of a hostage deal. Would Israel have acted against strong U.S. interests if a firm president was in office? It’s highly unlikely. It’s apparent that Benjamin Netanyahu has little respect for a greatly diminished, lame-duck Biden who’s on the way out.

That’s why Biden’s diminished condition isn’t just a domestic concern. It has potentially serious geopolitical consequences, which are presently unfolding. And does anyone believe Kamala Harris is a viable alternative? Netanyahu almost certainly doesn’t. If we’re not in a recession already (I believe we entered one in May or June), we’re clearly heading for one. A new Middle East war will drive up the price of oil, maybe dramatically depending on how the conflict unfolds. That means higher prices at the pump, which are already too high for many Americans. What if Iran shuts down the Strait of Hormuz, ending all oil exports from the Persian Gulf (or the Arabian Gulf, depending on who you’re talking to)? That could be the final nail in the coffin of the Biden economy. We’d be staring in the face of a major recession that would crush average Americans.

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This is what Russians see: nazis have returned 80 years after beig defeated..

• German Heavy Armor Back To Fields Of Kursk Region After 80 Years (RT)

German-made heavy armor pieces are rolling through the fields of Russia’s Kursk Region again, some 80 years since one of the biggest battles of WWII in the same area, Bild wrote on Thursday, reporting on Kiev’s cross-border incursion. The German tabloid, citing videos posted online, said that several Marder infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) have been spotted among the equipment used by the Ukrainian military in its offensive, launched early on Tuesday. The media outlet pointed to footage published by the Russian Defense Ministry, which shows IFVs being hit with Russian kamikaze drones. Thursday morning, the ministry published a clip showing the destruction of at least three Marder vehicles by Russian Lancet drones, among other strikes on Ukrainian military equipment. The armor pieces were hit while moving along dirt roads and through a wooded area.

Posting on X (formerly, Twitter), Bild journalist Julian Ropcke said all three Marders “fell victim” to Russian strikes just a few kilometers from the border – as the Ukrainian forces had sent them into battle “without adequate air defense.” The news of German-made weapons being used in an attack on Russia’s internationally recognized Russian territory has prompted a mixed reaction in Germany. The head of the German parliament’s Defense Committee, Markus Faber, stated he had no issues with the development. Any weapons handed over to Kiev cease to be German and become Ukrainian ones, he told the Funke Media Group. He also described the territory of both Ukraine and Russia as a “war zone.” “This is a highly dangerous development,” said Sahra Wagenknecht, the head of the newly formed BSW Party and a former Left Party leader.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz should call the Ukrainian leadership and “demand that no German weapons be used in [attacks] on the Russian territory,” she added. Back in 1943, Soviet troops clashed with the Nazi forces on the fields of the Kursk Region in what has since become known as the Battle of Kursk. It was one of the deadliest episodes of World War II and one of the largest tank battles in history. Nazi Germany sought to achieve victory at the time by fielding its then brand-new armor pieces, including Panther and Tiger tanks as well as Ferdinand tank destroyers. The battle involved thousands of tanks on both sides, ended with the Soviet forces inflicting a defeat on the Nazi troops.

Up to 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been involved in the incursion into Kursk Region this week, supported by armor that included several US-made Stryker armored fighting vehicles, as well as artillery and drones, the Russian Defense Ministry has said. Kiev’s forces have lost some 660 soldiers and 82 armor pieces, including eight tanks, 12 armored personnel carriers and six infantry fighting vehicles since the start of their operation, according to estimates provided by the ministry on Thursday. Moscow’s forces have stalled the Ukrainian troops’ offensive and prevented them from getting deeper into the region, the Russian authorities said.

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“From this moment, the special military operation should become openly exterritorial in nature..”

• Russia Should No Longer Hold Back In Ukraine – Medvedev (RT)

Russia should respond to Kiev’s attempted incursion in Kursk Region by taking over land that Moscow currently recognizes as Ukraine, former President Dmitry Medvedev has suggested. The Ukrainian military initiated a cross-border raid involving some 1,000 troops this week, which has so far claimed five civilian lives and left over 30 others wounded in Russia. The operation has largely been thwarted by the Russian army and border guards, Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov reported on Wednesday. He estimated Ukrainian casualties at 315, including 100 killed in action. “From this moment, the special military operation should become openly exterritorial in nature,” Medvedev, who serves as deputy chair of the Russian Security Council, argued in a post on Thursday.

“We can and should go further into what still exists as Ukraine. To Odessa, Kharkov, Dnepropetrovsk, Nikolaev. To Kiev and further. There should be no restrictions in terms of recognized borders,” he explained. Kiev and its Western backers claim that Russia started the hostilities in February 2022 out of a desire for imperial conquest. Moscow has denied that, saying it sought to stop continued Ukrainian attacks on the ethnic Russian breakaway republics in the east and preempt a Ukrainian military offensive in Donbass. Four Ukrainian regions have since voted in referendums to join Russia, though some parts of them remain under Kiev’s control. Moscow says it will only agree to peace talks if Ukraine pulls its troops out of these new federal subjects.

Medvedev, a Ukraine conflict hardliner, said the “terrorist operation” in Kursk Region should “remove any taboo” on declaring publicly that the Russian forces “will only stop when we consider it acceptable and beneficial for us.” The EU has endorsed the Ukrainian operation in Kursk Region. European Commission spokesman Peter Stano has said that the country has the right to defend itself, “including by striking the aggressor on its territory.” The US has implied that it had not been made aware of Kiev’s plans, with White House national security spokesman John Kirby telling the press: “We intend to reach out to our Ukrainian partners to get a fuller picture of what happened.”

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“We intend to reach out to our Ukrainian partners to get a fuller picture of what happened..”

• US Must Rein In ‘Terrorist Client’ Ukraine – Moscow (RT)

The US must stop the flow of weapons to Ukraine after American-supplied arms were used to strike schools, hospitals, and homes in Russia, Moscow’s ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, has said. The senior diplomat was referring to strikes on civilians during Kiev’s attempted incursion into Russia’s Kursk Region this week. According to the regional governor, Ukrainians deliberately attacked non-military targets, even hitting an ambulance with a kamikaze drone and killing the driver and a paramedic. The Russian Defense Ministry listed Western-donated weapons among those destroyed in repelling the Ukrainian forces. Antonov joined other Russian officials in describing the Ukrainian operation as “terrorist,” stressing in a statement on Wednesday that contrary to Western claims, Kiev’s actions cannot be justified by the right to self-defense.

“Washington should stop supplying arms to Kiev and yank the chain of the neo-Nazis in the Ukrainian army,” he said. So far, remarks by American officials on the issue have been “outrageous,” since they failed to sympathize with the civilian victims of “their clients,” he added. The Russian military estimates that Kiev deployed some 1,000 troops in the attempted incursion on Tuesday morning and has lost roughly a third of them since, including 100 killed in action. The US government has distanced itself from the operation. “We intend to reach out to our Ukrainian partners to get a fuller picture of what happened,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby told journalists on Wednesday. He stressed that Washington’s policy on how Kiev can use US-donated weapons “has not changed in any way.”

Officials have said that the arms are being supplied on the condition that they would not be used outside of what the US recognizes as Ukrainian territory. An exemption was announced earlier this year for locations along the border, in case of the imminent threat of Russian attacks. The claimed limitation was never fully observed, as evidenced by the Ukrainian use of Western hardware during an incursion into Belgorod Region in May 2023. Photo evidence confirmed the loss of two M1151A1 Humvee vehicles as well as two M1224 MaxxPro vehicles on Russian soil in that raid. The operation was conducted by a Kiev-backed militia force, which was armed with Czech and Belgian small arms.

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Feed us little bits at a time..

• Police Release Bodycam Video of Officer Trying to Confront Trump Shooter (Sp.)

Police in Pennsylvania released body camera footage of an officer who attempted to confront the Trump shooter in the moments before he attempted to assassinate the former US president. The footage released Thursday shows an officer trying to get on a rooftop before the shooter, Thomas Crooks, opened fire on Trump. However, the officer is seen quickly getting down from the rooftop without reaching Crooks. Within seconds, the officer hits the ground and sprints to the other side of the building toward a squad car, where he retrieves his department-provided rifle. The Butler Township Police Department earlier explained there is no audio in the initial frames of the video as the officer did not activate his bodycam. It’s not until he begins loading his firearm that the audio is turned on. “He’s straight up! Right where you picked me up,” the officer is heard telling another cop, later describing the gunman as having long hair and a book bag.

As officers descend on the scene, the same officer who spotted Crooks makes his way back onto the rooftop. Brief images on the released footage appear to show a few officers standing near Crooks’ body. Additional footage has offered more insight into the general confusion on the ground in the aftermath of the shooting. Officials previously said a local law enforcement officer had attempted to climb on to the rooftop but retreated after Crooks pointed a rifle at the officer. Crooks attempted to assassinate Trump at a campaign rally on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania. He shot Trump in the ear, killed one audience member and wounded two others. The incident prompted scrutiny of the US Secret Service’s failure to prevent the assassination attempt, ultimately leading the agency’s director to resign.

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They confiscated hia archive: “..documents that substantiated his findings that Iraq never had weapons of mass destruction..”

• Scott Ritter Blasts Raid on His Home as US Gov ‘Fishing Expedition’ (Sp.)

The former USMC intelligence officer’s home was raided Wednesday over allegations he had violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), which requires anyone who acts on behalf of a foreign nation to register as such to the US government. However, individuals accused of such a violation are typically notified by letter, not a raid. The recent raid carried out on the New York home of former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter was another chapter in the US government’s harassment campaign against him and his family, he told Sputnik. “It’s a fishing expedition. It’s harassment,” Ritter told Radio Sputnik’s Critical Hour on Thursday, noting that the US government’s end goal is to discredit him in the eyes of the public as he continually works to shed light on US policy. Within the more than two dozen boxes that were carried out of Ritter’s home were documents that substantiated his findings that Iraq never had weapons of mass destruction, a key claim that encouraged the US to undertake its invasion of the Middle Eastern nation in 2003.

“This is the archive that backs up my allegations, my assertions that Iraq didn’t have weapons of mass destruction, that the US policies … that accused Iraq of such were premised on a lie. It’s an archive that I was relying upon to write a book that’s in draft form right now, and they seized that archive,” Ritter told show hosts Dr. Wilmer Leon and Garland Nixon, adding that the confiscation of those documents were out of the scope of the search warrant. “This is not about FARA. It literally isn’t. This is targeted harassment. This is a frontal assault on free speech and free press.” Touching on how the legal system has outlined that sharing a viewpoint with a foreign government does not equate the status of foreign agent, Ritter recalled he had told one of the agents on the scene that his “main premise is stopping a nuclear war” and less about throwing his support behind another government.

“My main premise is to, you know, support diplomacy over militarism, to promote dialogue instead of confrontation, you know, and to promote arms control instead of an arms race,” he said. “If this is a crime in America, then convict me and throw the key away. But it’s not. Having acted as a journalist for some 20 years now, Ritter has published works in numerous publications that include the Washington Post and the New York Times. Ritter told Nixon that he’s no different than any other journalist being paid for their work. “But they’re trying to twist this into somehow saying that I am in the employ of the Russian government, and that I am acting on instructions from the Russian government. The good news is that nothing they seized will back up these assertions. The bad news is I don’t think it matters,” he said.

“They kept saying you’re trying to shape the opinion of the American people. You’re damn right I’m trying to shape the opinion of the American people. Everybody engaged in journalism is doing this. This is what you’re supposed to do to empower people with knowledge and information, fact-based knowledge and information so they can make their own decisions. The most dangerous thing in a democracy like America is a knowledgeable citizen, a citizen empowered with information to make an informed, you know, choice on election day, not dumb sheep being herded down the path.” “This is harassment designed to silence me. It’s designed to intimidate me. And for everybody listening, understand this is a frontal assault on the Constitution of the United States,” Ritter stressed. “A frontal assault on free speech. A frontal assault on the free press.”

“Free speech isn’t free if when you execute your right to speak freely, you get raided by the FBI. And a free press cannot exist if, carrying out your journalistic duties, you are accused because of the position you take of, you know, working for an entity because these positions have to clash with the official policy objectives of the United States.” Asked if the raid was tied to the June seizure of his passport or a recent event he attended in New York to discuss his latest work and efforts to encourage an ease of tension between the US and Russia, the former intelligence officer admitted “they’re all connected.” Ritter detailed he had planned additional trips to Russia later this year that would help to gain information that would help “empower the American audience about, you know, the reality of Russia and the danger of American policy.” “The United States government did not want any of these trips to happen. They seized my passport and now they’re just extending the harassment,” he said.

“They fear what I’m doing, and they fear what we are doing and this is what happens when governments get afraid of their own citizens. Citizens who, again, I remind everybody, are simply executing their rights of free speech and, as a journalist, my participation in the free press.” “I never want to be a foreign agent. I’m not acting as one and I don’t want to act as one. I will never represent another country. I represent America, only America,” he continued. “I believe in the potential of my country to be that which we, you know, purport to be, what we want to be, and I recognize that we’re not there and one of the reasons we’re not there is because of the policies of my government.” “And, therefore, as an American citizen, it is my duty to speak out and shine a light on where I think my government is going wrong so that we, the people, can take corrective action and get the government back on track because the government serves us, we don’t serve the government.”

Ritter
https://twitter.com/i/status/1821512772771106981

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Jesus Christ.

• Allowing Two Million Gazans To Starve ‘May Be Moral’ – Israeli Minister (RT)

Starving the citizens of Gaza could be a “just” way of forcing Hamas to release hostages, but this would spark outrage from the global community, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has complained. Israel controls the flow of humanitarian aid entering the besieged Palestinian enclave but its distribution is managed by aid groups within Gaza. Speaking at a right-wing conference earlier this week, Smotrich said Israel was being forced to allow aid into the enclave “because there is no choice,” and because West Jerusalem needs “international legitimacy” to wage its war against Hamas. He argued that Israel is unable to use humanitarian aid to pressure the Palestinian militant group because today’s global reality makes this “impossible.” “No one in the world would let us starve and thirst two million citizens, even though it may be just and moral until [Hamas] return our hostages,” he said.

Smotrich suggested that, if the distribution of aid within Gaza was controlled by Israel, then the current war would have already ended and the hostages captured by the Palestinian fighters on October 7 would have been returned. “You cannot fight Hamas with one hand and give them aid with the other,” Smotrich added, claiming that humanitarian aid is the Palestinian militia’s “money,” “fuel,” and its method of “civilian control” in Gaza. The minister’s comments have been met with widespread outrage, including in the West. The EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell has called on West Jerusalem to distance itself from the remarks, arguing that starving civilians constituted a “war crime,” and that advocating for this was “beyond ignominious.” UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy has also called on the “wider Israeli government to retract and condemn” Smotrich’s comments, insisting that “there can be no justification” for his remarks.

Germany’s ambassador to Israel, Steffen Siebert, also called the finance minister’s statements “unacceptable and appalling,” and said it was a “principle of international law and of humanity to protect civilians in a war.” Meanwhile, the issue of humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza has continued to raise concerns from the international community, with human rights organizations warning that the enclave remains at high risk of famine. The International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan has blamed Israel for the crisis and has sought arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for using “starvation as a method of war,” among other crimes. Israel, however, has denied accusations of restricting aid deliveries to the Palestinians, instead suggesting that Hamas was stealing the resources.

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Rogan RFK

 

 

RoganUK
https://twitter.com/i/status/1821661925383819366

 

 

Greet

 

 

Dog dive
https://twitter.com/i/status/1821466295939772680

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Debt Rattle August 7 2024

Aug 072024
 
 August 7, 2024  Posted by at 8:51 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,  58 Responses »


Pablo Picasso In “Le Lapin Agile” or harlequin with a glass 1905

 

• Kamala Can’t Win (Lippincott)
• US Democrats Make Harris-Walz Ticket Official (RT)
• Jenna Ellis Flips, Will Aid Arizona Prosecutors In 2020 Election Case (ZH)
• Tulsi Gabbard Actively Under Surveillance via Quiet Skies Program (uDC)
• This Boxer Is Male: IBA Press Conference To Address Olympic Gender Issue (MN)
• The Road to War (Paul Craig Roberts)
• The House Moves Forward With Investigation of Blacklisting Company (Turley)
• Rumble Joins X In Massive Lawsuit Against ‘Advertising Cartel’ (ZH)
• Elon Musk Revives Lawsuit Against OpenAI and Co-founders (ET)
• CCP Develops AI Weapons, Ignoring Global Risks (ET)
• 800,000 Ukrainians Have Gone ‘Underground’ To Dodge Draft – MP (RT)
• Venezuela Opens Probe Into Opposition Over ‘Insurrection’ Attempts (RT)
• UK Riots: Blame It All On The ‘Far Right’ (Marsden)
• UK Travel Alerts Issued Worldwide (RT)

 

 


1960 Soviet poster by Kovalev and Godgold: “To build your strength for work, you need sun, air and water”

 

 

Biden crash
https://twitter.com/i/status/1820473630805111043

 

 

13 seconds

 

 

Hawley

 

 

Raskin

 

 

benstiller

 

 

Half of everybody living in the Arab world is inbred. 70% of all Pakistanis are inbred.

 

 

 

 

Not legitimately, no. But…

• Kamala Can’t Win (Lippincott)

Kamala is not a legitimate candidate for President. She is not popular. She is not inspiring. She has no base of support. She has no cogent policy proposals to better the country. She is a terrible public speaker with little to no grasp of national politics. She was airdropped into the 2024 campaign because her boss couldn’t string together a coherent sentence. She was selected as VP in the first place because she is a Black woman. Should the DC regime install Kamala, it will mean the end of our constitutional order and of free and fair elections. Kamala cannot legitimately win the presidency. Should the media declare her the winner on November 6, it would be an absurdity on the scale of journalists insisting that North Korean elections are free and fair. Kamala’s campaign is the ultimate ritual humiliation for the American electorate. The 2020 results were bad enough.

The DNC coup to remove Biden from the 2024 ticket was a stunning public admission that he was never the “most popular candidate” of all time and that the 81 million “votes” he “won” in 2020 were a mirage cooked up by ballot-harvesting, COVID protocols, and outright fraud. American voters stomached, barely, that illegitimate result because Trump always had the potential to come back. As long as there was a reasonable possibility of Trump winning, voters were willing to tolerate the absurdity of the Biden “victory.” The legitimacy of the American electoral system therefore rests entirely on Trump’s shoulders. The regime cannot survive the installation of another astroturfed and unpopular political leader into the highest office in the land. The weight of the sheer ridiculousness of it all will bring faith in our system of government crashing to the ground.

No reasonable person can believe that Kamala has any shot in this race. The entire Democrat campaign for the presidency has had to retool on the fly—they need new signs, a new rally schedule, and a new message—with only a dozen weeks to go in the race. Kamala possesses the worst of both worlds. As vice president, she both completely owns the legacy of the current administration but also has no real policy accomplishments to point to. Her brief foray as “border czar” was an unmitigated disaster Harris has no real contact with voters either. In the 2020 Democratic primary, Kamala did so badly in early polls and was beaten so soundly by Tulsi Gabbard in an early debate that she had to drop out before voting in Iowa even occurred. Kamala Harris isn’t just bad with voters; even her closest allies and staff dislike her.

As California attorney general, she insisted that her subordinates greet her every day with a “Good Morning, General” and refused to engage with low-level employees. Her office as vice president was known to be a hive of discontent with an extremely high turnover rate. Harris is a political radical once labeled the most liberal senator by GovTrack. She raised bail money for communist rioters during the 2020 riots. She supports gun confiscation and giving free healthcare to illegals. This isn’t popular among any significant sector of the American electorate. As it stands now, only a few thousand voters have even seen Kamala in person as a candidate. I have yet to see a single yard sign with her name on it anywhere I go here in Michigan. She is behind the power curve by months. Trump has already made multiple enormous public appearances in all of the swing states. Kamala isn’t even close to that kind of ground game.

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A real comedian: “Vice President Harris is showing us the politics of what’s possible. It reminds me a bit of the first day of school..”

• US Democrats Make Harris-Walz Ticket Official (RT)

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will be the running mate of current Vice President Kamala Harris, the US Democrats have announced, with two weeks still to go before the party’s convention. Walz’s nomination was leaked to the media earlier on Tuesday, sinking the hopes of the faction urging the choice of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. “I am proud to announce that I’ve asked TimWalz to be my running mate,” Harris said on X (formerly Twitter). “As a governor, a coach, a teacher, and a veteran, he’s delivered for working families like his. It’s great to have him on the team. Now let’s get to work.” Walz responded by saying it was “the honor of a lifetime” to join the campaign. “Vice President Harris is showing us the politics of what’s possible. It reminds me a bit of the first day of school. So, let’s get this done, folks!” he said.

President Joe Biden, who last month bowed out of the campaign in favor of Harris, hailed the choice of Walz as “a great decision.” On his personal X account – the same venue where he announced his withdrawal – Biden praised Walz as “a strong, principled, and effective leader” and noted he was the highest-ranking enlisted soldier to ever serve in the US Congress. The Harris-Walz ticket “will ensure that America continues to lead the world and play its role as the indispensable nation,” Biden added. Former President Barack Obama also endorsed Walz as the running mate for Harris.

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The woman behind Ellis in the photo is Sidney Powell. Who was recently fully exonerated in the same case. As they got to Ellis. Curious.

• Jenna Ellis Flips, Will Aid Arizona Prosecutors In 2020 Election Case (ZH)

A lawyer who worked on Donald Trump’s 2020 election campaign will dodge a potential jail sentence by cooperating with Arizona’s Democratic attorney general, who’s charged 18 defendants with election interference over their participation in post-election challenges. Trump hasn’t been charged — yet — and is currently described as an unindicted co-conspirator. According to the agreement, nine felony charges against attorney Jenna Ellis have been dropped in exchange for her committing to “completely and truthfully” testify, and to turn over documents that could help prosecutors trying to build a case that centers on what Democrats like to call “fake electors.” These were Republicans who were encouraged by the Trump campaign to meet on Dec. 14, 2020 and sign a certificate asserting that they were “duly elected and qualified” electors, on the assumption that Trump had actually won the state’s 11 Electoral College votes.

“This agreement represents a significant step forward in our case,” said Attorney-General Kris Mayes in a statement issued Monday. “[Ellis’] insights are invaluable and will greatly aid the state in proving its case in court…I will not allow American democracy to be undermined — it is far too important.” In 2022, Mayes — who’s lauded by leftists for being openly lesbian and seeking to turn Arizona into an abortion safe haven for people in other states — defeated her Trump-endorsed opponent by just 510 votes out of more than 2.5 million. The remaining defendants — who’ve all plead not guilty — have been charged with nine felonies apiece, including forgery, conspiracy and fraudulent schemes. In addition to the self-proclaimed GOP electors, they include Rudy Giuliani and former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows.

The Arizona cases aren’t expected to reach the trial phase until next year. In June, lawyers for defendants filed challenges to the prosecution, saying it ran afoul of an Arizona law that, like similar statutes in other states, takes aim at what is called a “strategic lawsuit against public participation,” or “SLAPP.” A motion filed for charged Trump lawyer John Eastman asserted that… “[Arizona’s anti-SLAPP law] is quite clearly aimed at preventing public officials from using the criminal process as a weapon to punish and prevent speech on political issues…Public officials have the right to voice their disagreement through open discourse guaranteed by the First Amendment, but they should not use indictments to silence their opponents, as the attorney general has tried to do here.”

Ellis was also targeted by Georgia prosecutors. In October, she tearfully pleaded guilty to a felony count of aiding and abetting false statements and writing, telling a judge in an Atlanta courtroom that she regretted not having performed “due diligence” about the campaign’s claims of election fraud. “If I knew then what I know now, I would have declined to represent Donald Trump in these post-election challenges.” She was sentenced to five years probation, $5,000 in restitution, 100 hours of community service and was ordered to write an apology letter addressing the citizens of Georgia. During the 2020 campaign, Ellis described herself as one member of an “elite strike force team” of attorneys, and frequently shared a microphone with Giuliani. She reportedly urged Trump to try persuading Mike Pence not to open election results from contested states on Jan. 6, 2021.

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“Gabbard is unaware she has two Explosive Detection Canine Teams, one Transportation Security Specialist (explosives), one plainclothes TSA Supervisor, and three Federal Air Marshalls on every flight she boards..”

• Tulsi Gabbard Actively Under Surveillance via Quiet Skies Program (uDC)

In an exclusive breaking story, several Federal Air Marshal whistleblowers have come forward with information showing that former U.S. Representative and Presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard is currently enrolled in the Quiet Skies program. Quiet Skies is a TSA surveillance program with its own compartmentalized suspected terrorist watchlist. It is the same program being weaponized against J6 defendants and their families. Quiet Skies is allegedly used to protect traveling Americans from suspected domestic terrorists. The whistleblowers first shared the information with Sonya LaBosco, the Executive Director of the Air Marshal National Council (AMNC), a national advocacy group for the Federal Air Marshals (FAMs). According to LaBosco, at least one of the whistleblowers is ready to go on the record with pertinent documentation.

LaBosco shared that Gabbard is unaware she has two Explosive Detection Canine Teams, one Transportation Security Specialist (explosives), one plainclothes TSA Supervisor, and three Federal Air Marshalls on every flight she boards. LaBosco has attempted to contact Gabbard and her staff but has not received a response. LaBosco and AMNC President David Londo have repeatedly testified on behalf of FAMS. They have also written countless letters concerning the classification of innocent Americans as domestic terrorists to the Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, the House Homeland Committee, the Committee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, and the House Oversight Committee.

Because of ongoing whistleblower information, LaBosco believes TSA and Homeland Security are violating citizens’ constitutional rights in a “big domestic surveillance grab” that seems to be targeting conservatives. UncoverDC broke a story in November 2023 about A.J. Fischer’s infant son, who continues to be enrolled in the program because his father attended the Jan. 6 Capitol protests. J6 attendee Bryan Smith, who served 20 years with unblemished service, is also on the list. So is Christine Crowder, the wife of an active Air Marshal. Crowder was in D.C. on Jan. 6 but did not attend the Capitol protest. For what the Federal Government calls national security reasons, an individual is enrolled in the program without knowledge. Teams of Federal Air Marshals are assigned to individuals, following and tracking them from when they enter the airport and then on all their flights and transits until they reach their destination.

Enrolled individuals usually have a Quad S (SSSS) on the bottom right-hand corner of their boarding passes, but not always. They are often flagged for extra searches, frequently so lengthy that they miss their flights. According to LaBosco, Gabbard’s enrollment in Quiet Skies is likely politically motivated. Air Marshals were first assigned to Gabbard on Jul. 23, a day after she criticized Kamala Harris, Biden, and the National Security State in an interview with Laura Ingraham. FAMs were mobilized on Jul. 24 and assigned to their first flight with her on Jul. 25. Gabbard posted the interview on Twitter, as shared below.

https://twitter.com/TulsiGabbard/status/1815697038371397993

In the context of what has transpired since 2020, there is ample reason to speculate that Gabbard may have been placed on Quiet Skies because of her viewpoints and recent fallout with the Democratic Party. Gabbard fell out of favor with the Democratic party when she switched parties to become an Independent in 2022. In addition, during her 2020 Presidential Campaign, Gabbard was highly critical of U.S. interventionism and endless wars. She continues to be very outspoken and critical of the Biden administration. Hillary Clinton smeared Gabbard during the 2020 campaign by suggesting she was a “Russian asset.” Gabbard answered Clinton with a defamation lawsuit filed on Jan. 22, 2020.

LaBosco is outraged with what has transpired with FAMS over the past few years. What was a straightforward law enforcement function has now been shoved under the TSA, the federal government’s bloated administrative arm. LaBosco and Londo are working overtime to shut down the Quiet Skies program. However, their primary mission is to restore FAMs to their rightful place as law enforcement, not political pawns of the administrative state.

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“..both Khelif and Yu-ting were informed that they tested positive for XY chromosomes and were allowed to appeal the findings..”

Appeal what exactly?

• This Boxer Is Male: IBA Press Conference To Address Olympic Gender Issue (MN)

The International Boxing Association (IBA) held a press conference Monday and categorically confirmed that the two fighters currently participating in Olympic women’s boxing are “male,” because they failed a previous gender chromosome test. As we have highlighted, a furore has erupted over Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan and Imane Khelif of Algeria who are both now in the semi-finals of the women’s boxing in Paris. Both fighters were previously disqualified from competing in the women’s category by the IBA. During the IBA gathering, CEO Chris Roberts said that the 2022 test results for the fighters by an independent laboratory in Istanbul “demonstrated the chromosomes we refer to in competition rules that make both boxers ineligible.” Roberts emphasised that both Khelif and Yu-ting were informed that they tested positive for XY chromosomes and were allowed to appeal the findings to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, with the IBA offering to cover the costs. Roberts noted that Yu-ting chose not to appeal, and Khelif did initially but then withdrew the appeal.

Both boxers were then re-tested in India during the 2023 Women’s World Boxing Championships, with the same results being recorded. Dr. Ioannis Filippatos, the former Chair of the IBA Medical Committee, also spoke at the press conference and was adamant that the fighters should not be competing as women. “Medicine is knowledge, it is not opinion,” Filippatos said, adding: “One passport can give to us the opportunity to be men, and, tomorrow when I go back to Athens, it’s possible to go to my government and… change my name from Ioannis Filippatos to Ionnia Filippatos. That means I am a woman tomorrow? Please. The nature and the biological world do not change.” Some of the journalists became extremely agitated with Filippatos’ comments, but he doubled down, and explained that he is relaying medical test results. “Why are you attacking me?” he stated, adding “The blood results look and say — the laboratories — that this boxer is male,” he asserted.

The IOC, refuses to back down from describing the fighters as women, with spokesperson Mark Adams claiming “These athletes have been competing in senior competitions for six years with no issues. These women were eligible for this contest, remain eligible for this contest and compete in this contest.” “I cannot tell you if they were credible or not credible [gender tests] because the source from which they came was not credible and the basis for the tests was not credible,” Adams further claimed, despite the source being the IBA. “For that reason there was no consideration of whether they were correct or not correct because they had no bearing for the eligibility of boxing here,” Adams added. Khelif is scheduled to fight later today in the Welterweight semi-final, and Yu-ting will fight tomorrow in the Featherweight semi-final.

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“..they have failed to understand that it is not their choice and that they are bringing on war by failing to stand up to Washington and Israel..”

• The Road to War (Paul Craig Roberts)

It is OK for Israel and Washington to escalate the situation, but not for Iran or Russia. Here is the way it works. Israel assassinates a Muslin leader on Iranian territory, and then the media goes into action calling on Iran not to escalate the situation. Iran doesn’t, and from Iran not “escalating the situation” another leader is assassinated. Iran is again called on not to escalate the situation. The reason we are headed to war is that Russia, Iran, and China are provoked time and again, and their response is to wait, and wait, and wait some more while Washington and Israel get prepared, thus reducing the effectiveness of any action taken by Russia, Iran, and China. Iran has now waited so long before responding to Israel’s assassinations that Israel has had time to prepare an underground bunker for Netanyahu and his war party. Iran had a chance to catch them in the open and blew it.

Now Iran says it wants to punish Israel but avoid all-out war. No meaningful action will be forthcoming from Iran. Putin waited eight years from 2014 to 2022 before he accepted the obvious fact that he had to act in Donbas. If he had acted in 2014 there would have been no war. Like Russia and Iran China issues endless “warnings.” But as the warnings never are backed by action, no one pays any attention to the warnings. Russia, Iran, and China are right not to want war. But they have failed to understand that it is not their choice and that they are bringing on war by failing to stand up to Washington and Israel.

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“..blacklisting systems are now being used to control public access to information by choking off the revenue of sites..”

TAE knows what that is like.

• The House Moves Forward With Investigation of Blacklisting Company (Turley)

We have been discussing media rating systems being used to target advertisers and revenue sources for certain cites and companies. NewsGuard and the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) have been criticized as the most sophisticated components of a modern blacklisting system targeting conservative or dissenting voices. I recently had a series of exchanges with NewGuard after a critical column. Now, the House Judiciary Committee under Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) is moving forward in demanding documents and records from leading companies utilizing the GARM system, a company that I have previously criticized. It is a welcomed effort for anyone who is concerned over the use of these blacklisting systems to curtail free speech. However, time is of the essence. The demand to preserve evidence went to various companies, including Adidas, American Express, Bayer, BP, Carhartt, Chanel, CVS and General Motors.

In my new book, I discuss the rating systems as a new and insidious form of blacklisting. Notably, Elon Musk has now filed a lawsuit against GARM and may be able to get more evidence out in discovery on the operations of this outfit. It is an effort to strangle the financial life out of sites by targeting their donors and advertisers. This is where the left has excelled beyond anything that has come before in speech crackdowns.Years ago, I wrote about the Biden administration supporting efforts like the Global Disinformation Index (GDI) to discourage advertisers from supporting certain sites. All of the 10 riskiest sites targeted by the index were popular with conservatives, libertarians and independents. That included Reason.org and a group of libertarian and conservative law professors who simply write about cases and legal controversies. GDI warned advertisers against “financially supporting disinformation online.”

At the same time, HuffPost, a far-left media outlet, was included among the 10 sites at lowest risk of spreading disinformation. Once GDI’s work and bias was disclosed, government officials quickly disavowed the funding. It was a familiar pattern. Within a few years, we found that the work had been shifted instead to groups like the GARM, which is the same thing on steroids. It is the creation of a powerful and largely unknown group called the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), which has huge sway over the advertising industry and was quickly used by liberal activists to silence opposing views and sites by cutting off their revenue streams. Notably, Rob Rakowitz, head of GARM, pushed GDI and embraced its work. In an email to GARM members obtained by the committee last month, Rakowitz wrote that he wanted to “ensure you’re working with an inclusion and exclusion list that is informed by trusted partners such as NewsGuard and GDI — both partners to GARM and many of our members.”

GARM is being used by WFA to achieve what GDI failed to accomplish. The WFA sites refers to Rakowitz as “a career change agent” who will “remove harmful content from ad-supported digital media.” Rakowitz’s views on free speech are chilling and his work shows how these systems can be used to conceal bias in targeting the revenue of sites with opposing views. Rakowitz has denounced the “extreme global interpretation of the US Constitution” and how civil libertarians cite “‘principles for governance’ and applying them as literal law from 230 years ago (made by white men exclusively).” He appears to be referring to free speech. If so, it is deeply troubling. Some of us believe that free speech is a human right, not just an American right. Those “white men” include philosophers from the Enlightenment whose ideas were incorporated in the Framer’s view of inalienable rights like free speech.

The threat against free speech today is being led by private groups seeking to exercise an unprecedented level of control over people can read and discuss. Pundits and politicians, including President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama, have justified their calls for censorship (or “content moderation” for polite company) by stressing that the First Amendment only applies to the government, not private companies. That distinction allows Obama to declare himself to be “pretty close to a First Amendment absolutist.” He did not call himself a “free speech absolutist” because he favors censorship for views that he considers to be “lies,” “disinformation,” or “quackery.”

The distinction has always been a disingenuous evasion. The First Amendment is not the sole or exclusive definition of free speech. Censorship on social media is equally, if not more, damaging for free speech. Those who value free speech should oppose blacklisting systems, as was the case during the McCarthy period. Now that conservatives and libertarians are being blacklisted, it is suddenly less troubling for many on the left. Rakowitz now wields massive influence over public discourse in this collaboration with corporations and groups like GDI. As was done to the left in during the McCarthy period, blacklisting systems are now being used to control public access to information by choking off the revenue of sites. The current anti-free speech movement is the most dangerous in history due precisely to this sophistication and the unprecedented alliance of corporate, media, academic, and government interests.

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A dirty world.

• Rumble Joins X In Massive Lawsuit Against ‘Advertising Cartel’ (ZH)

Social media platform X has filed a lawsuit against an ‘advertising cartel’ who have colluded to control online speech, as revealed on last month by an interim staff report released by the House Judiciary Committee. In a Tuesday filing against the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) and several members – including CVS Health, Mars, Orsted and Unilever, X alleges that the group abused its influence over marketers and ad agencies to unfairly discriminate against X, prompting an ad boycott. “These actions were all against the unilateral self-interest of the advertisers; they made economic sense only in furtherance of a conspiracy performed in the confidence that competing advertisers were doing the same,” reads the complaint. In an open letter, X CEO Linda Yaccarino alleged that GARM’s “behavior is a stain on a great industry, and cannot be allowed to continue,” adding “It’s also clear that there are likely others who suffered at the hands of this activity.

This case is about more than damages – we have to fix a broken ecosystem that allows this illegal activity to occur.” Shortly after lawsuit was filed, video-sharing platform Rumble joined the lawsuit. The conspiracy centers around an initiative called the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), created by the WFA, that established arbitrary standards for the content on digital platforms where its members may want to advertise. GARM used those one-size-fits-all standards to perpetrate an advertiser boycott against Rumble and other platforms. The suit also notes that GARM has vast reach since it counts the six largest ad agency holding companies among its members, including defendant WPP. The House report details a coordinated effort by the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and its Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) initiative to demonetize and suppress disfavored content across the internet.

As we noted last month, the WFA is a global association representing over 150 of the world’s biggest brands and over 60 national advertiser associations which created GARM in 2019. This alliance quickly amassed significant market power, representing roughly 90% of global advertising spend, which amounts to nearly one trillion dollars annually. GARM’s Steer Team reads like a who’s who of corporate America, including heavyweights such as Unilever, Mars, Diageo, Procter & Gamble (P&G), GroupM, AB InBev, L’Oréal, Nestlé, IBM, Mastercard, and PepsiCo. These corporations not only wield immense economic influence but are now revealed to be leveraging this power to control online discourse under the guise of “brand safety.” As Axios notes;

“Last month, conservatives on Capitol Hill held a hearing to address complaints from conservative media firms, mainly the Daily Wire, that GARM was colluding with ad-buying giant GroupM to discourage clients from buying ads on their sites because of conservative politics. The lawsuit references a report published earlier this month by the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee that argues that GARM used “shadowy corporate coordination” to silence conservatives.” Meanwhile, Jonathan Turley also notes that House Judiciary Committee under Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) is moving forward in demanding documents and records from leading companies utilizing the GARM system, a company that I have previously criticized. It is a welcomed effort for anyone who is concerned over the use of these blacklisting systems to curtail free speech. However, time is of the essence.

[..] Notably, Rob Rakowitz, head of GARM, pushed GDI and embraced its work. In an email to GARM members obtained by the committee last month, Rakowitz wrote that he wanted to “ensure you’re working with an inclusion and exclusion list that is informed by trusted partners such as NewsGuard and GDI — both partners to GARM and many of our members.” GARM is being used by WFA to achieve what GDI failed to accomplish. The WFA sites refers to Rakowitz as “a career change agent” who will “remove harmful content from ad-supported digital media.” Rakowitz’s views on free speech are chilling and his work shows how these systems can be used to conceal bias in targeting the revenue of sites with opposing views.

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“..Tesla is the only path that could even hope to hold a candle to Google. Even then, the probability of being a counterweight to Google is small. It just isn’t zero..”

• Elon Musk Revives Lawsuit Against OpenAI and Co-founders (ET)

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, X, and SpaceX, has reignited a legal battle against OpenAI and its co-founders, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, months after initially dropping his lawsuit. The revived complaint, filed Aug. 5 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, accuses the defendants of multiple counts, including fraud, breach of contract, and violations of federal civil racketeering laws. Musk had originally sued in February before dropping the suit in June with no explanation given at the time. Musk’s revived lawsuit includes several allegations against OpenAI, Altman, and Brockman—at the heart of which is a claim that Altman and Brockman “intentionally courted and deceived” Musk into co-founding OpenAI under false pretenses. Musk asserted in the 81-page suit that he was misled into believing that OpenAI would be a nonprofit organization focused on developing artificial intelligence (AI) technologies “for the benefit of humanity,” operating as a counterbalance to for-profit tech giants.

According to the lawsuit, OpenAI’s co-founders allegedly manipulated Musk by making repeated promises and assurances that the organization would remain open-source and not driven by profit. The suit defines “open source” as the practice of making AI technology and research freely accessible to the public, allowing for transparency and collaboration. “Altman assured Musk that the non-profit structure guaranteed neutrality and a focus on safety and openness for the benefit of humanity, not shareholder value,” the suit claimed. “But as it turns out, this was all hot-air philanthropy—the hook for Altman’s long con.” Musk claims that these representations were part of a scheme to attract significant funding and expertise, which he provided, including “tens of millions of dollars” and the recruitment of top AI scientists. The complaint further accuses Altman and Brockman of engaging in “rampant self-dealing” and transforming OpenAI into a for-profit entity in partnership with Microsoft, thereby abandoning its original mission.

Musk argued that OpenAI’s pivot to a for-profit model has resulted in substantial unjust enrichment for the defendants, which he contends was at the expense of the nonprofit’s mission. OpenAI responded to the latest legal filing in a statement. “As we said about Elon’s initial legal filing, which was subsequently withdrawn, Elon’s prior emails continue to speak for themselves,” a spokesperson for the company told The Associated Press in an emailed statement. In March, OpenAI released emails purportedly written by Musk showing initial support for making the company for-profit to secure the necessary funding to compete with Google DeepMind. Musk also supported the idea of merging OpenAI with Tesla. “We may wish it otherwise, but, in my and [redacted]’s opinion, Tesla is the only path that could even hope to hold a candle to Google. Even then, the probability of being a counterweight to Google is small. It just isn’t zero,” Musk wrote in an email dated Feb. 1, 2018.

Musk’s legal team has outlined several demands for relief, including compensatory and punitive damages, restitution, and surrendering ill-gained profits. The lawsuit seeks to impose a “constructive trust” on the alleged ill-gotten gains of the defendants, demands an accounting of all profits derived from the purported misconduct, and requests a judicial declaration that the licensing agreement between OpenAI and Microsoft is “null and void” or that certain OpenAI technologies fall outside the scope of this license. Additionally, the complaint seeks an injunction to prevent further harm, alleging that the defendants’ actions have caused substantial injury to Musk’s reputation and commercial interests, impacting his ability to recruit leading scientists.

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Why AI can be worrisome.

• CCP Develops AI Weapons, Ignoring Global Risks (ET)

Cutting-edge weapons powered by artificial intelligence are emerging as a global security hazard, especially in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), according to several experts. Eager to militarily surpass the United States, the CCP is unlikely to heed safeguards around lethal AI technologies, which are increasingly dangerous in their own right, the experts have argued. The nature of the technology is prone to feeding some of the worst tendencies of the regime and the human psyche in general, they warned. “The implications are quite dramatic. And they may be the equal of the nuclear revolution,” said Bradley Thayer, a senior fellow at the Center for Security Policy, an expert on a strategic assessment of China, and a contributor to The Epoch Times. The development of AI-powered autonomous weapons unfortunately is rapidly progressing, according to Alexander De Ridder, an AI developer and co-founder of Ink, an AI marketing firm.

“They’re becoming quickly more efficient and quickly more effective,” he told The Epoch Times, adding that “they’re not at the point where they can replace humans.” Autonomous drones, tanks, ships, and submarines have become a reality along with more exotic modalities, such as the quadruped robot dogs, already armed with machine guns in China. Even AI-powered humanoid robots, the stuff of sci-fi horrors, are in production. Granted, they’re still rather clumsy in the real world, but they won’t be for long, De Ridder suggested. “The capabilities for such robots are quickly advancing,” he said. Once they reach marketable usefulness and reliability, China is likely to turn its manufacturing might to their mass production, according to De Ridder. “The market will be flooded with humanoid robots, and then it’s up to the programming how they’re used.” That would mean military use, too. “It’s kind of inevitable,” he said.


China International Industry Fair in Shanghai on Nov. 2, 2015. (Getty Images)

Such AI-powered machines are very effective at processing images to discern objects—to detect a human with their optical sensors, for example, explained James Qiu, an AI expert, founder of GIT Research Institute, and former CTO at FileMaker. That makes AI robots very good at targeting. “It’s a very effective killing machine,” he said. On a broader level, multiple nations are working on an AI capable of informing and coordinating battlefield decisions—an electronic general, according to Jason Ma, an AI expert and data research lead at a multinational Fortune 500 company. He didn’t want the company’s name mentioned to prevent any impression he was speaking on its behalf. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the CCP military, recently conducted battle exercises in which an AI was directly put in command. The U.S. military also has projects in this area, Ma noted.

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“..Ukrainians collectively pay anywhere between $700 million and $2 billion per year for fraudulent ways to avoid mobilization..”

• 800,000 Ukrainians Have Gone ‘Underground’ To Dodge Draft – MP (RT)

An estimated 800,000 Ukrainian men have gone “underground” due to the threat of military mobilization amid the conflict with Russia, a senior MP in Kiev, Dmitry Natalukha, has told the Financial Times. The lawmaker stated the case for economic-driven exemptions from the draft. Kiev introduced a harsh new system for military conscription earlier this year, which was intended to discourage draft avoidance through the threat of serious punishment. One consequence was that businesses operating legally in Ukraine are now at a disadvantage compared to those in the ‘shadow economy,’ the FT explained. Draft-dodgers change their addresses and prefer to be paid in cash to stay under the radar, it added. “We are working at the limit,” the HR director of a large steel mill told the newspaper, explaining the issues his company faces due to workforce shortages.

The FT reported on Sunday how Ukrainian MPs plan to tackle the problem by revamping the system for draft exemptions. One proposal penned by Natalukha, the chair of the Economic Development Committee, would allow businesses to shield up to 50% of their employees from mobilization by paying a fixed fee of about $490 per month. A competing bill would protect anyone with a wage over a threshold of $890, who are presumably of greater value to the war effort when contributing to the economy than they would be if sent to fight. Natalukha told the FT that his proposal would keep around 895,000 men from military service and generate roughly $4.9 billion for Kiev’s war chest.

He previously argued in Ukrainian media that his bill is preferable to the alternative because it does not fuel the perception that only poor people who cannot bribe their way out of the draft have to fight. Ukrainians collectively pay anywhere between $700 million and $2 billion per year for fraudulent ways to avoid mobilization, he estimates. The current system allows the government to decide which agencies and businesses are essential for Ukraine and offer them partial or full immunity from mobilization. An update last month, for instance, issued waivers to 100% of the employees of NGOs that receive foreign grants and are engaged in political activities. Moscow perceives the conflict as a US-driven proxy war, in which Ukrainians serve as “cannon fodder” and are forced to fight by their Western-dependent government.

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“..usurpation of functions, dissemination of false information to cause unrest, incitement to disobey the law, incitement to insurrection, association to commit crimes and conspiracy.”

• Venezuela Opens Probe Into Opposition Over ‘Insurrection’ Attempts (RT)

Venezuela has launched a criminal investigation into Western-backed opposition figures Edmundo Gonzalez and Maria Corina Machado, after they called on the armed forces to abandon their support for the country’s legitimate president, Nicolas Maduro. Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) on July 28 declared Maduro the winner of the country’s presidential election. On Friday, Venezuelan authorities ratified Maduro’s victory after the final ballot count revealed that he had won 52% of the vote, compared to 43% for main rival Gonzalez. The opposition contested Maduro’s victory and proclaimed Gonzalez as the elected president in a letter posted on X (formerly Twitter), also calling on the country’s security forces to “stand by the people” and protest the result.

Gonzalez and Machado “falsely announced a winner of the presidential election other than the one proclaimed by the National Electoral Council, the only body qualified to do so,” Venezuela’s top prosecutor, Tarek William Saab, said in a statement on Monday. The former presidential candidate and his allies have openly incited “police and military officials to disobey the laws” by spreading false information, the statement added. The prosecutor general said Gonzalez and Machado will be investigated for “the alleged commission of the crimes of usurpation of functions, dissemination of false information to cause unrest, incitement to disobey the law, incitement to insurrection, association to commit crimes and conspiracy.” Protests erupted in the South American country following the announcement of the election results. Maduro condemned the unrest an attempted “coup against Venezuela.”

Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez also accused the Western-backed opposition of attempting a “media coup” and condemned the protests. Washington backed the opposition candidate, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying on Thursday that “Edmundo Gonzalez won the most votes in Venezuela’s July 28 presidential election.” Caracas has been under US sanctions for over 15 years. Washington refused to recognize Maduro as president following the 2018 election, and declared the head of the National Assembly, Juan Guaido, to be the interim leader of the country. Following Maduro’s reelection, Russia and China congratulated the incumbent. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last week that Venezuela’s opposition should admit defeat and congratulate the winner. Other countries that have recognized Maduro’s victory include Bolivia, Cuba, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

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“..that doesn’t mean that there aren’t also legitimate underlying issues in desperate need of resolution..”

• UK Riots: Blame It All On The ‘Far Right’ (Marsden)

Every summer now, Canada is rife with forest fires. Some exploit the disasters to push an agenda, arguing that it’s a surefire sign of climate change, and ignoring that a lack of environmentally inconvenient controlled burns are the actual culprit. The same could be said for the riots that have swept Britain since three children were murdered in Southport at a day camp by a British 17-year old of Rwandan origin. The British government has long known that the migration issue was out of control, and newly-elected Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer has found the culprit. It’s the “far-right” Brits that are “targeting” Muslim and “other minority communities.” Because who, en route to doing a little shopping in Mayfair, isn’t tired of passing their “Nazi salutes in the street” as they stretch their arms in between putting beatdowns on cops, as Starmer suggests.

The “far-right” is to these riots what “climate change” is to forest fires: a politically useful pretext to deflect from the long-festering negligence of the political class. It’s not like the average Brit is buying Starmer’s gaslighting. In fact, Starmer himself owes his recent electoral win to the growing popularity of the right wing, with Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party significantly eating into the popular vote of the center-right Tories last month. These are voters who feel that Rishi Sunak’s Tories didn’t go far enough in an election where “immigration and asylum” was the second most important issue for voters, (after cost of living), according to a YouGov poll. When nearly a fifth of your population has just finished telling pollsters that the immigration issue dictates their vote, it’s probably a dumb idea to get up in front of them and suggest that the real problem is those who are just imagining that to be an actual issue, because they’re a bunch of racists.

It probably doesn’t help that the Brit accused in this particular attack is of Rwandan origin, when Rwanda has been all over the UK headlines for former Tory Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s plan to deport asylum seekers there – an initiative that Starmer has now cancelled. Much has been made in the Western press of all the erroneous allegations flying around in the initial wake of the attack suggesting that the alleged perpetrator was an asylum seeker himself. The fog of war always comes on thick around breaking news, particularly online. But what’s the actual argument here? That the guy’s not actually a migrant himself so people should calm down? Everything’s just fine then, because this one single case, upon closer inspection, doesn’t actually tick the boxes for what the establishment considers to be a legitimate expression of anger?

Also complicating the issue is the fact that Southport itself has long been described by locals as a festering cesspool of crime, drugs, and violence, where teenagers seem to be out of control. The High Parkers drug gang that has plagued the area doesn’t seem to have a visible minority in sight among their mugshots, but various things can be true at the same time without being mutually exclusive. Southport clearly has a long-documented crime problem. The crime isn’t exclusively committed by minorities. The suspect is of minority origin in this case. The UK has a migration problem that transcends this single incident, but which it has clearly served to catalyze. And not everyone who’s evoking the problem within the convenient context this incident provides is just a racist yob.

While every protest or riot is an opportunity for special interests to exploit, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t also legitimate underlying issues in desperate need of resolution. How hard would it have been for Starmer to acknowledge all of these realities instead of just whitewashing everything by trying to make people believe that there’s no actual problem anywhere here beyond the “far-right”?

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It ain’t over..

• UK Travel Alerts Issued Worldwide (RT)

Several countries, including Australia, Malaysia and Indonesia, have issued safety warnings to their citizens about travelling to the UK in light of widespread anti-immigration protests across the country. Multiple demonstrations turned violent across Britain over the weekend, as anti-immigration protesters clashed with police following the murder of three children by a teenager of African descent last week. According to media reports, at least five countries have now issued travel warnings to their citizens. Malaysia was the first country to issue a notice to its citizens in the UK on Sunday, urging them to “stay away from protest areas” and “remain vigilant.”

The Indonesian Embassy in London issued a similar appeal, urging its citizens in the UK to be cautious, especially if traveling or doing activities outside the home, and to “avoid large crowds and places that have the potential to become gathering places for masses or groups of demonstrators.” Nigeria issued a travel alert on Monday, warning its citizens planning to visit the UK that demonstrations in parts of the UK have been “large and in some instances unruly” and that “there is an increased risk of violence and disorder.” In its warning on Monday, the Australian government also advised its citizens to “exercise a high degree of caution,” saying: “Avoid areas where protests are occurring due to the potential for disruption and violence.”

On Monday, the official account of the UAE Embassy in London urged citizens of the country to “exercise the necessary precautions and avoid crowded areas.” India is the latest nation to have issued a warning. On Tuesday morning, the High Commission of India in London reportedly said it was “closely monitoring the situation,” and warned Indian citizens to “stay vigilant and exercise due caution while traveling in the UK” and avoid any areas where protests may be taking place. Dozens of British towns and cities have been rocked by protests against immigration and Islam since last Monday, when a British teenager of Rwandan descent stabbed three children to death and injured ten others in the town of Southport, near Liverpool.

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Cybertrump
https://twitter.com/i/status/1820526297153679840

 

 

Horse calf

 

 

Yes!
https://twitter.com/i/status/1820470529901699128

 

 

Sunbathing
https://twitter.com/i/status/1820744639197896823

 

 

Condor

 

 

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