Rene Magritte Memory 1948
“If you’re 35 or older, you’ve had LESS shots in your entire life than a 6 month old baby on today’s CDC schedule.”
Excellent Tucker Romanovs
Tucker tells the story of Pyotr Wrangel and the Russian Revolution: "The country is in complete chaos. He goes into a movie theater and everyone in the theater is completely absorbed in the movie, like there's no revolution happening outside.
He's very close to the Romanovs, the… pic.twitter.com/Rl0KAt3ewL
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) September 29, 2023
coastguy – watch!
Evil grows in the darkness! @thecoastguy
Neil's take on what happened in Canadian parliament. Such a well thought observation about the state of the world affairs, arrogance of the rulling class and to some extent complacency of the world. "Unforgivable" disregard for the… pic.twitter.com/UIHau1T5aZ
— Dr. Kat Lindley (@KLVeritas) September 28, 2023
Zelenskler/Hitlensky
https://twitter.com/i/status/1707455933918675430
RFK
https://twitter.com/i/status/1707573905135669384
Munger
The Best of Charlie Munger pic.twitter.com/rEfYK5CYbn
— Dividend Growth Investor (@DividendGrowth) September 28, 2023
RoganBrand
"They'll put people in positions in order to carry that narrative"
"The decisions they're making are decisions that are in alignment with centralized banking authority"
"They've managed to make ordinary American people hate one another" – Russell Brand
🔥🔥🔥Joe Rogan: “It’s… pic.twitter.com/DXeYnTaj7p
— Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) September 28, 2023
He called a potential adversary behind the back of his commander-in-chief. Sure smells like treason. What if Milley’s subordinates had done the same with him?
• We Don’t Serve a ‘Wannabe Dictator’ Says Retiring US General Milley (Sp.)
“We don’t take an oath to a country. We don’t take an oath to a tribe. We don’t take an oath to a religion. We don’t take an oath to a king, or queen, or a tyrant or a dictator. And we don’t take an oath to a wannabe dictator.” Those were the defiant words of US General Mark Milley on Friday. They’ve been broadly interpreted by national media as a thinly-veiled rebuke of Donald Trump in a prolonged exchange that has seen the former president suggest the execution of the US military’s highest-ranking member. Milley delivered the remarks at a ceremony at Fort Myer, Virginia, marking his retirement from a position he first took in 2018 at the behest of Trump himself. The comments were prompted by a post Trump made on his Truth Social platform last week suggesting the general had committed a “treasonous act” amounting to a capital offense in the waning days of his administration.
Trump’s post read in part: “This guy [Milley] turned out to be a Woke train wreck who, if the Fake News reporting is correct, was actually dealing with China to give them a heads up on the thinking of the President of the United States. This is an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH!” Trump was referring to a phone call Milley reportedly made to Chinese counterparts after events at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 reportedly surprised and alarmed the world power. Milley claims he took the unprecedented action with the approval and cooperation of other military officials, but that didn’t stop Republican Senator Rand Paul from criticizing the move.
The backchannel contact was first revealed in 2021 in an excerpt from Bob Woodward and Bob Costa’s book “Peril” documenting the final days of Trump’s presidency. According to the journalists, Milley had secretly called Chinese military officials once before in 2020 after receiving intelligence that China feared Trump would attack them in an “October surprise” before the election. Reportedly concerned about the former president’s mental state after January 6, Milley additionally forbade officers at the National Military Command Center from carrying out any instructions without going through the general first. Some Republicans have claimed such actions would represent a violation of the chain of command set forth in the US Constitution.
Milley also responded to Trump this week in an interview with US television where he claimed he would take “adequate safety precautions” to protect himself and his family after the remarks. “I wish those comments had not been made, but they were,” said Milley. “We will take appropriate measures to ensure my safety and the safety of my family.” [..] “The [US military’s] Joint Force… is the most lethal and capable military in the world,” Milley said in his speech on Friday. “We are currently standing watch on freedom’s frontier with a quarter of a million troops deployed in 150 countries.”
“I have come to honor the McCain Institute and Library because they are home to a proud Republican who put country first..”
• Biden Warns of Trump’s ‘Extremist Movement’ (ET)
President Joe Biden delivered a speech about democracy on Sept. 28 in Arizona, a key battleground state for the 2024 election. He took aim at his predecessor, President Donald Trump, and expressed concerns about a “dangerous” trend unfolding in the United States. “As I’ve always been clear, democracy is not a partisan issue. It’s an American issue,” President Biden said. “But there is something dangerous happening in America. There is an extremist movement that does not share the basic beliefs of our democracy. The MAGA Movement.” According to the White House, this is the fourth speech by the president focused on democracy. President Biden began his speech by honoring the legacy of his late friend and colleague Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and announcing the creation of the McCain Library.
Mr. McCain’s family and Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, were among those in attendance during his speech in Tempe, Arizona. “I have come to honor the McCain Institute and Library because they are home to a proud Republican who put country first,” President Biden said. “Not every Republican—not even the majority of Republicans—adhere to the extremist MAGA ideology. I know because I’ve been able to work with Republicans my whole career. “But there is no question that today’s Republican Party is driven and intimidated by MAGA extremists.” The president delivered his speech a day after the second Republican debate in California, during which the candidates displayed no signs of narrowing the gap with former President Trump, the Republican frontrunner for 2024.
On Sept. 28, the House Oversight Committee held the first hearing of its impeachment inquiry into President Biden. It focused on President Biden’s potential involvement in his son’s business dealings during his tenure as vice president under President Barack Obama. The challenges don’t end there for the 46th president. President Biden faces continued low approval ratings as the majority of Americans are unhappy with his handling of the economy. In a mid-September NBC News poll, independent voters gave President Biden a dismal 36 percent approval rating. More than 3 in 5 Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say they would prefer a nominee other than President Biden, according to a recent Washington Post–ABC News poll.
President Biden spoke out against the former president’s recent social media post in which he accused the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, of committing treason. President Trump suggested that Gen. Milley had colluded with China, a conduct he said would have once resulted in death. “This is an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been death!” President Trump wrote on Sept. 22 on his Truth Social platform. “Although I don’t believe the majority of Republicans think that, the silence is deafening,” President Biden said during his speech in Arizona. “Hardly any Republican called out such hated statements.” He later urged Democrats, Republicans, and independents to stand up for democracy. “Put our country first. We can’t take democracy for granted,” President Biden said.
Tulsi
https://twitter.com/i/status/1707695467294077436
The prosecutors refer to “lender-ordered appraisals”. But we haven’t seen any complaints from lenders. We’re talking properties and loans worth billions of dollars, and they WOULD complain if cheated.
• The New York Buildings That Donald Trump Could Lose (BBC)
Long before Donald Trump stepped into the White House, his glitzy and glamorous real estate empire helped make him a nationally recognised star. Now, a judge’s ruling that his business committed massive fraud has thrown the fate of some of the former president’s flagship properties into doubt. On Tuesday, Judge Arthur Engoron ordered that some of Mr Trump’s companies be removed from his control. Mr Trump has denied any wrongdoing and is expected to appeal. The ruling was part of a lawsuit filed against Mr Trump and his family by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who asked the judge for a summary decision that certain facts in the case were beyond dispute in the hope of speeding up the impending trial.
It severely limits Mr Trump’s ability to do business in New York, the place where he launched the real estate empire that thrust him into the national spotlight. What the ruling means for Mr Trump’s properties, however, remains uncertain. The Trump Organization could be forced to hand over control to a court-appointed receiver, or ultimately have to sell some of its most iconic landmarks. Mr Trump’s lawyers have asked for more clarity on which properties could be affected. The judge has yet to give a definitive answer. For Mr Trump, the stakes are potentially high. Earlier this year, Forbes estimated that his New York properties alone are worth $720m (£589m), a sizable chunk of his estimated $2.5bn fortune. Let’s take a look at some of the properties that Mr Trump might lose.
Trump Tower– Located on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, the 58-floor Trump Tower is among the most recognisable properties bearing Mr Trump’s name. The building is the headquarters of the embattled Trump Organization and has been home to Mr Trump and several of his family members. The building – which was developed by Mr Trump and inaugurated in 1983 – has also featured prominently in popular culture, including serving as the location for Batman’s Wayne Enterprises in Christopher Nolan’s 2012 film The Dark Knight Rises. Mr Trump’s penthouse condominium that spans the top three floors of the building is also among the properties highlighted in James’ lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that Mr Trump artificially inflated the triplex’s value, by repeatedly saying it was more than 30,000 sq ft (2,790 sq m) in size, significantly larger than the 11,000 sq ft listed in property records. The penthouse was valued at $327m in 2015, a price that the lawsuit called “absurd”. “Tripling the size of the apartment for purposes of the valuation was intentional and deliberate fraud,” the lawsuit reads. “Not an honest mistake”.
40 Wall Street – Originally completed in 1930, the 72-story neo-Gothic tower in the heart of New York’s financial district was purchased by a Trump-controlled company in 1995. The building’s website proudly boasts that the purchase was “one of the great real estate deals of all time”. Since the purchase, the building’s tenants have included global giants such as American Express, defunct investment bank Bear Stearns and Hilton Hotels & Resorts. In the New York lawsuit, prosecutors alleged that the values given by Mr Trump and the Trump Organization “far exceeded the values determined by professionals” in lender-ordered appraisals. In 2012, for example, the property was valued by the company at $572m in financial statements – more than twice the value reached by the outside appraisals. By early this year, the building had been added to a lender watchlist because of concerns over rising expenses and vacancies, according to Bloomberg.
People disagree who he would take votes away from: Trump or Biden.
• RFK Jr Plans To Announce Independent Run For President (PM)
Robert F Kennedy Jr, who launched his campaign for the Democrat presidential nomination in April, reportedly has plans to announce a run as an independent candidate. According to Mediaite, Kennedy plans to make the announcement on October 9 in Philadelphia, with a text message viewed by the outlet stating that his campaign is planning “attack ads” against the Democrat National Committee to “pave the way” for his announcement. “Bobby feels that the DNC is changing the rules to exclude his candidacy so an independent run is the only way to go,” a Kennedy campaign insider told the outlet. On Saturday, the New York Times published a piece stating that Kennedy met with Libertarian Party chair Angela McArdle in July, at a Memphis conference.
“He emphasized that he was committed to running as a Democrat but said that he considered himself very libertarian,” McArdle said, adding that “We’re aligned on a lot of issues,” including the threat of the “deep state.” “My perspective is that we are going to stay in touch in case he does decide to run,” Ms. McArdle said. “And he can contact me at any time if that’s the case.” “It would be very bad” if Kennedy runs as a Libertarian, said Matt Bennett, a co-founder of Third Way, a Democrat group helping coordinate efforts to stop the No Labels group who is also trying to run a third-party ticket. “We’ve been very clear that third parties in close elections can be very dangerous and would almost certainly hurt the president. That would be true of a No Labels candidate and it would be true of RFK.” According to RealClearPolitics average of polls between September 7 and 19, Kennedy is around 50 points behind Biden, with BIden polling at 65 percent and Kennedy at 14.9.
Save the Date, Save the Country. #Kennedy24 pic.twitter.com/rSSs7flPKa
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) September 29, 2023
That could make the shutdown last much longer.
• US House Republicans Plot to Oust McCarthy Amid Looming Shutdown (Sp.)
A group of far-right members of the Republican Party in the US House of Representatives is seeking to replace House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in order to ensure more conservative legislative decisions amid the risk of a government shutdown in the United States, US news outlet reported, citing people familiar with the endeavor. It is still unknown whether the Republicans will set their plan in motion or if it is just an attempt to show McCarthy the depth of their dissatisfaction with his positions on certain legislative matters, the newspaper said, adding that despite this uncertainty, some far-right members of the Grand Old Party (GOP) believe that removing McCarthy is “inevitable” and “imminent” and that it is going to happen soon enough.
If the Republican group succeeds in ousting the House Speaker in the midst of the shutdown, a protracted battle will begin within the party to appoint someone new to the position. This struggle would block all the legislative actions of the US Congress, which would threaten to further halt the work of the country’s government, the newspaper added. Given the potential disagreements among the Republicans, should the vote happen, the fate of McCarthy as speaker would be decided by the House Democrats, since the proposal to remove the speaker must be backed by a majority of House members, the report said. Democrats have not yet decided whether to defend McCarthy or vote against him, it added, citing people familiar with the Democratic leadership’s thinking.
Far-right House Republicans believe a member of McCarthy’s leadership team, Tom Emmer, should become the new speaker, as he has a better chance of delivering more conservative decisions, the newspaper said, adding that Emmer himself is not really interested in the possibility. “I fully support Speaker McCarthy. He knows that and I know that,” Emmer told the newspaper, adding that he has “zero interest in palace intrigue.” The US Congress is attempting to coordinate the budget before the end of the month to avoid a government shutdown. Both the Senate and the House of Representatives have proposed short-term measures, although there are differences between the two bills. The Senate proposal includes more than $6 billion in aid to Ukraine, which some Republican lawmakers have opposed. The House proposal includes border security measures, which the Democrat-majority Senate is unlikely to approve.
“I think this witch-burning instinct might be deep-seated, frankly.”
• Elon Musk Decries ‘Witch-Burning’ Of Russell Brand (RT)
Efforts to condemn actor Russell Brand and silence him based on unproven rape allegations – made at a time when he’s challenging establishment orthodoxies on such issues as the Ukraine conflict and Covid-19 vaccines – mark a “witch-burning phase” in Western cancel culture, US tech billionaire Elon Musk has warned. “It can’t be guilty until proven innocent because obviously, we’re just sort of in the witch-burning phase here, where just being declared a witch is enough to make you a witch and be burnt,” Musk said on Thursday in an X Spaces interview. “I think this witch-burning instinct might be deep-seated, frankly.”
Brand has been at the center of a media firestorm since the UK’s Sunday Times newspaper and Channel 4 TV reported earlier this month that four women had accused him of sexual misconduct, including rape, between 2006 and 2013. He claimed last week that UK government officials had pressured social media companies to censor his commentaries. YouTube demonetized Brand’s videos in response to the allegations, cutting off a source of income that generated an estimated £1 million ($1.2 million) for the actor and comedian. Rumble and X (formerly known as Twitter) are among the platforms that haven’t taken action against Brand.
Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski issued an open letter criticizing a “deeply inappropriate” push by UK MP Caroline Dinenage to demonetize Brand’s videos. Musk, who bought X last October for $44 billion, called it an “odd coincidence” that the campaign to silence Brand was happening “when Russell is really gaining traction, questioning a lot of the conventional wisdom.” Brand also has been pilloried for spreading “conspiracy theories,” he said, adding, “I think we’re running out of conspiracy theories that didn’t turn out to be true.”
Brand has denied having nonconsensual sexual relations with anyone. Musk cautioned against a rush to judgment, saying, “We can’t have that, you know, because obviously, anyone could be accused at any time of false charges, and we can’t be destroying their lives on the basis of potentially false accusations.” Musk made his comments on the same day that he traveled to Eagle Pass, Texas, for a firsthand look at the US border crisis. “Why do so many American politicians from both parties care 100 times more about the Ukraine border than the USA border?” asked Musk, who posted a livestream video from the scene.
“And they are not extradited. They are not denaturalized. They are not deported like the US does. They are not prosecuted inside Canada, which they should be.”
• Nazi Hunter Steven Rambam: Trudeau Knew He Applauded a Monster (Sp.)
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has officially apologized for a “deeply embarrassing” incident in the national Parliament, where a Waffen SS veteran was warmly greeted by Canadian politicians. “This was a mistake that has deeply embarrassed Parliament and Canada. All of us who were in this House on Friday deeply regret having stood and clapped even though we did so unaware of the context,” the Canadian PM said in a brief statement to journalists. Trudeau stressed that Canada is especially sorry for “the situation that [they] put President Zelensky and the Ukrainian delegation in” given that this “egregious error” is being used by Russia’s “propaganda.” Still, Trudeau’s hypocrisy has been called out by Steven Rambam, a private investigator and Nazi hunter based in New York, publicly known for his pro bono activities, which have included the location and investigation of nearly 200 Nazi collaborators and war criminals in the US, Canada, Europe, and Australia.
“This narrative that’s springing up that everyone was surprised, that it was a big shock and they can’t believe there’s such a person in Canada,” Rambam told Sputnik. “It’s ridiculous. Look, this person made no secret of who he was. He even had a website until yesterday. He posted and disseminated photos of himself in his SS uniform. He wrote about his experiences in the SS 14th Grenadiers. There’s a scholarship in his name in a university in central Canada, in Alberta. I mean this is ludicrous that people could possibly have been surprised by who he was and what he did.” During the Second World War, Hunka served in the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, also known as SS Galichina. The unit was created by Nazi Germany in 1943 and was composed of Ukrainian nationalist militants. The division was responsible for the ethnic cleansings of Jews and Poles, which was committed with exceptional brutality.
“So this is not a small criminal. He didn’t pick someone’s pocket or steal $100 from a store. This is an alleged mass murderer who killed old people, allegedly, who allegedly killed children with his comrades in the SS Galicia Division,” Rambam noted, reiterating that it’s virtually impossible that the Canadian authorities were totally unaware about who Hunka is. Poland’s Education Minister Przemyslaw Czarnek announced Tuesday that he had “taken steps” toward “the possible extradition” of Yaroslav Hunka to Poland. The unit Hunka served in was particularly responsible for burning alive up to 1,000 Polish villagers, including elderly, women and children, in Huta Pieniacka in 1944. “Does it help that they are finally threatening to bring him to justice? Yes,” said Rambam. “Is there any chance at all that this will happen? No, absolutely not.
Canada does not extradite Nazi war criminals. They have never extradited a Nazi war criminal. This is not the only Nazi war criminal who was requested from Canada. And they are not extradited. They are not denaturalized. They are not deported like the US does. They are not prosecuted inside Canada, which they should be. Nothing is done to these people. I can give you a list of many, many more people who, frankly, were as bad or worse than Hunka and who died peacefully in their beds in Canada.” In fact, it did not take a lot of skill to find former Nazis in Canada as they never hid their real names, Rambam pointed out. “They were absolutely unafraid, unashamed. No remorse, no apology, no nothing,” he said.
“To tell you what I did, we very, very easily, disturbingly easily, were able to compile a list of approximately 1,000 alleged war criminals, Nazi war criminals, members of the Ukrainian units, members of the Latvian Arajs Kommando, murderers that committed crimes in Belorussia, the police units in Lithuania, the special Einsatzkommandos of the Nazis that went all across Europe with the so-called holocaust of bullets and gas vans. All of these people had representatives in Canada. Of the thousand, because we knew that we couldn’t pursue a thousand people, it would be a project for the next 15 years of our lives, we selected the 200 worst on the list.” “I will tell you that one of them was a Ukrainian and the description of his crimes that we had from our sources, it was just one line ‘specialized in the murder of children.’ Specialized in the murder of children. So there are other Ukrainians like Mr. Hunka that came to Canada. Of these 200 people, as private persons, I mean, yes, we’re investigators, we have special skills, but we were operating not as law enforcement, but as private persons, we were able to find approximately 170 of them.”
Babi Yar
On September 29, 1941, mass executions of Jews began in Babi Yar on the outskirts of Kiev
Prisoners of war, communists, partisans , gypsies and others also became victims of the fascists
In two days, German and Ukrainian nationalists killed more than 30 thousand people. pic.twitter.com/Ox6MOTCKVQ
— Dagny Taggart (@DagnyTaggart963) September 29, 2023
Note the one difference.
• The Striking Similarities in the Menendez and Biden Cases (Turley)
In February 2019, Sen. Bob Menendez was having nightmares. The Democratic senator from New Jersey said he was haunted by a question that “keeps me up at night” — whether President Donald Trump was compromised by the Russian government because of past secret dealings. Menendez’s restless nights also may have had something to do with the fact that at the time, he was allegedly accepting lavish gifts from various sources in exchange for using his Senate seat to bestow favors. The indictment of Menendez and his wife last week included details ofalleged bribes that went to the senator in exchange for revealing sensitive, nonpublic information to Egyptian contacts less than a year before his sleep-deprived speech. Menendez denied the accusations on Friday. However, even if half of this indictment is true, Menendez is toast.
He was able to dodge a bullet in 2017 when a jury hung over a separate series of corruption charges involving lavish gifts. This time, the Justice Department says it has photos of thousands of dollars in cash stuffed in clothing, a luxury car, gold bars and other gifts. That would keep anyone up at night, but there may be one other insomniac this week: Hunter Biden’s lawyer Abbe Lowell. The Menendez indictment likely proved chilling reading for Lowell, who not only represents President Joe Biden’s son but also represented Menendez in his prior bribery trial. There are striking similarities between the Menendez and Biden cases. While Hunter Biden was allegedly selling access to and influence with his father, he also allegedly received massive payments. His associate Devon Archer told Congress that they were selling the Biden family “brand,” and that Joe Biden was “the brand.”
Like Menendez, Hunter Biden allegedly received a luxury car from his foreign clients. For the senator, the Justice Department says it was a $60,000 Mercedes-Benz. For the president’s son, investigators say it was a $142,000 Fisker sports car. Menendez allegedly received gold bars worth up to $120,000. Biden received a diamond allegedly worth $80,000. Indeed, the alleged object of these payments was influence with then-Vice President Biden, when he was the presiding officer of the Senate. Menendez was one of the nation’s most powerful senators at the time. There are also dealings that reference Hunter Biden and his associates in the Menendez matter. When the senator was trying to arrange for Joe Biden to host a foreign event, an aide to Menendez reportedly reached out to Hunter Biden’s associates.
While the president’s son is accused of peddling influence, in Menendez’s case, it is his wife who is accused of acting as a go-between with those trying to buy the senator’s attention. Nadine Menendez allegedly had lunches and countless communications with people, who, according to the indictment, sought favors from the senator. Nadine Menendez allegedly knew the co-defendants before she married the senator in 2020. The couple met at an IHOP, but he fittingly proposed to her in 2019 at the Taj Mahal on a trip to India. The setting for the proposal would foretell the lavish gifts to come. Like Hunter, Nadine started an international consulting company, Strategic International Business Consultants, after being unemployed before meeting the senator. She found ample business.
Like Hunter, she is accused of marketing her ability to deliver access to her husband. In March 2020, she allegedly texted an Egyptian official that “anytime you need anything you have my number and we will make everything happen.” There is of course a major difference between the Biden and Menendez cases: Menendez and his wife are being criminally charged for their alleged influence peddling. The Justice Department has not only let the statute of limitations run out on the most serious tax charges against Hunter Biden, but it also has not charged the president’s son under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Despite charging figures like Paul Manafort for similar accusations, prosecutors have avoided charges in the Biden case that would put Hunter at the center of a corruption prosecution. Instead, they sought an embarrassing “sweetheart deal” that collapsed in court.
“Don’t let these white supremacist, “far-right” MAGA nut-jobs drag us out of the comfortable warm, moist darkness we thrive in — perfect conditions for continued blob growth..”
• Two-Punch (James Howard Kunstler)
So, here at week’s end we see these two rather momentous issues juxtaposed: the battle over how to finance that blob-infested monster in DC; and the battle to expose the crimes of a real-life Manchurian Candidate president. Neither battle is going all that well for the minority of citizens who want to live in a pro-reality society. If we follow the fiscal trend, all the tax revenue we can grudge up will barely cover the annual interest on our $30+trillion debt. If we can’t boot out the brain-dead cat’s paw in the White House, then say goodbye to the rule of law and liberty with it.
The people we elect to Congress don’t want to be accountable for specifically authorizing spending on the blob’s multitudinous pet projects. So, they depend on multi-thousand-page omnibus bills nobody can ever scrutinize, and continuing resolution dodges to postpone any necessarily painful action on a budget. Therefore, a dissenting coterie in the House proposes to play hard-ball over de-funding the blob, that is, a government shutdown of unknown duration, until gaslight is replaced by sunlight. The blob itself sends out a frantic S.O.S. Don’t let these white supremacist, “far-right” MAGA nut-jobs drag us out of the comfortable warm, moist darkness we thrive in — perfect conditions for continued blob growth!
After all, these Congresspersons have their lobbyist-donors to answer to, and they’d better come up with the right answer — or else their chance of eventually retiring as multi-millionaires, like Nancy Pelosi did, might slip away. Of course, the joke would be on them (and the rest of us) if it eventually costs a million dollars for a slice of pizza when they try to cash-out. Or is there some dirty secret involved here — for instance, that the blob has also taken over whatever remained of the US economy, too. So that defunding the blob also blows a hole in that putative economy? Or maybe not. Maybe the regular economy can breathe a little again with the blob’s boot off its neck. Let’s go ahead and shut off the flow for a week or two, see what happens.
[..] There’s reason to be discouraged that the people we elect can bring the two great issues of the moment — the blob’s budget and the impeachment of “Joe Biden” — to satisfactory conclusions. They are arguably pseudopods of that very blob, whose very existence is being threatened now, and they have to worry about their shots at becoming multi-millionaires, too. The weeks ahead will inform us if there’s anything that can be salvaged of our federal government or whether we must make other arrangements.
That status would give them access to billions upon billions in give-aways and cheap loans.
• Ukraine Demands ‘Full’ EU Membership (RT)
Ukraine demands complete accession to the EU and will not accept any substitute proposed by incumbent member states who envision a tiered system of candidates, Prime Minister Denis Shmygal has told Politico. “We want to be a fully-fledged member because Ukraine today is the unique country across the world that has paid such a huge price for its will to become a European Union member,” the senior official insisted. Earlier this month, a report commissioned by France and Germany recommended breaking down the EU’s expansion process into more phases to “ensure a merit-based approach and to manage potential conflicts.” A four-tiered system ranking nations from “inner circle” down to a “European Political Community”was proposed.
Eight nations and the breakaway Serbian province of Kosovo currently have active talks with the EU about possible accession. National leaders will discuss enlargement and reform plans during a summit in Granada, Spain next week. Shmygal emphasized that Ukraine is not aiming for a lower-tier status and anticipates full membership within two years. In explaining what sets Ukraine apart, he pointed to the significant and widespread public support for EU accession among its population. Previously, other senior Ukrainian officials asserted that their nation should be granted membership due to their perceived role in defending the EU from potential Russian invasion. It’s worth noting, however, that Moscow has not indicated any intention to engage in armed conflict with any EU member state.
In a recent Politico interview, Shmygal provided insights ahead of a formal assessment by Brussels regarding Ukraine’s progress in implementing the required reforms as a candidate state last year. The European Commission is anticipated to make a recommendation next month regarding the commencement of formal accession talks. The prime minister vowed that his country “would not be bringing problems” to the EU and, on the contrary, would help it tackle energy dependence, security, defense, and broader economic issues. Currently, Kiev relies on foreign aid to conduct its military campaign against Russia and pay government expenditures. Joseph Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, noted in an interview with The Guardian last week that Ukraine “would be the only country that would be a net beneficiary”should it be granted membership. He added, however, that Kiev’s inclusion in the bloc would also end a “sleeping siesta” period for enlargement.
None of the money “invested” will ever be seen again.
• Germany-Ukraine Joint Arms Production Venture a Money Laundering Scheme (Sp.)
German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall has received the go-ahead from the country’s Federal Antimonopoly Office to set up a joint venture with the Ukrainian Defense Industry, previously known as Ukroboronprom. According to Rheinmetall, “The JV [joint venture] is to be based in Kiev and engage in service and maintenance as well as the assembly, production and development of military vehicles.” The developments come as a US newspaper reported that Kiev is due to host Western officials and international arms manufacturers for a forum on Friday, touted as an opportunity to increase weapons production inside Ukraine. The newspaper cited Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba as saying that representatives of 165 military contractors from 26 nations are expected to take part in the forum.
Alexei Leonkov told Sputnik that Kiev and Berlin are currently writing up an agreement of intent, which is presented as if the decision on the JV has already been made. Actually, however, there are several factors that make these plans by Berlin and Kiev doubtful, the Russian analyst pointed out. First and foremost, Ukraine is involved in hostilities, which means that its industrial sector is often exposed to Russian missile attacks and those conducted by Russian long-range combat drones, according to Leonkov. Secondly, cash-strapped Ukraine’s national debt will soon approach 100%, namely, it will be a bankrupt state in the near future and it remains unclear how investments into the country can be made. The analyst warned that investors’ hopes for some kind of economic effect from the possible JV may never be met because it’s not clear who will make payments.
Last but not least, Rheinmetall – a high-tech company – will most likely have to spend its own money to train Ukrainian workers so that they can be on a first-name basis with German technology, as per Leonkov. “The only thing that can be done is, on the one hand, to do some PR, and on the other – to knock out money that will never be spent on creating the JV’s workshops and production sites. One can easily point the finger at Russian missiles that allegedly destroyed JV sites,” the analyst said, calling the Kiev-Berlin project “a money laundering scheme.” He stressed that even if there was no Russian special military operation in Ukraine, creating the JV could take plenty of time. “This project is at the level of crazy people. Making plans when your ship is already sinking is tantamount to the captain of the Titanic making plans that he will sail, for example, to Beijing next time. So no serious investor will invest in the project, which is a very attractive project in terms of money laundering,” the Arsenal Otechestva editor underscored.
Wouldn’t be surprising. Certain death appeals to few people.
• Ukrainian Troops Reportedly Refuse Battle Orders Due to Heavy Losses (Sp.)
The Russian Defense Ministry has reported that the 47th Mechanized Brigade had to be withdrawn from the Rabotino area of the Zaporozhye region by the Ukrainian command due to the soldiers’ reluctance to carry out combat missions in the face of mounting casualties. According to information shared on the Telegram channel of the Russian Defense Ministry, the Ukrainian command is currently carrying out the withdrawal of the 47th Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) from the Rabotino area of the Zaporozhye region as soldiers are reluctant to take on combat orders after the losses they suffered.
The Russian Armed Forces are heavily engaged in the defense of the Zaporozhye direction. Last week, Russian military units successfully repelled eight attacks from enemy assault groups from the 65th Mechanized and 71st Jaeger Brigades in the Verbovoye and Rabotino areas. The Ministry of Defense also announced that the UAF suffered significant losses during the fighting, including over 330 soldiers, 32 armored combat vehicles, 38 vehicles and 25 field artillery pieces. Earlier in the day, the Defense Ministry announced that Russian paratroopers using anti-tank vehicles had neutralized a Ukrainian military observation post on the right bank of the Dnepr River.
‘..If you want to walk fast, walk alone; if you want to walk far, walk together.’
• Russia-China Partnership Defangs US Empire (Pepe Escobar)
China’s State Council has released a crucial policy paper titled ‘A Global Community of Shared Future: China’s Proposals and Actions’ that should be read as a detailed, comprehensive road map for a peaceful, multipolar future. That is if the hegemon – of course faithful to its configuration as War Inc. – does not drag the world into the abyss of a hybrid-turned-hot war with incandescent consequences. In sync with the ever-evolving Russia-China strategic partnership, the white paper notes how “President Xi Jinping first raised the vision of a global community of shared future when addressing the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 2013.”
That was ten years ago, when the New Silk Roads – or Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) – was launched: that became the overarching foreign policy concept of the Xi era.The Belt and Road Forum next month in Beijing will celebrate the 10th anniversary of BRI, and relaunch a series of BRI projects. “Community of Shared Future” is a concept virtually ignored across the collective West – and in several cases lost in translation across the East. The white paper’s ambition is to introduce “the theoretical base, practice and development of a global community of shared future.” The five key points include building partnerships “in which countries treat each other as equals”; a fair and just security environment; “inclusive development”; inter-civilization exchanges; and “an ecosystem that puts Mother Nature and green development first,” as Xi detailed at the 2015 UN General Assembly. The white paper forcefully debunks the “Thucydides Trap” fallacy:
“There is no iron law that dictates that a rising power will inevitably seek hegemony. This assumption represents typical hegemonic thinking and is grounded in memories of catastrophic wars between hegemonic powers in the past.” While criticizing the “zero-sum game” to which “certain countries” still cling to, China completely aligns with the Global South/global majority, as in “the common interests of all peoples around the world. When the world thrives, China thrives, and vice versa.” Well, that’s not exactly the “rules-based international order” in play. When it comes to building a new system of international relations, China prioritizes “extensive consultation” among equals and “the principle of sovereign equality” that “runs through the UN Charter.” History and realpolitik, though, dictate that some countries are more equal than others.
This white paper comes from the political leadership of a civilization-state. Thus it naturally promotes the “increase of inter-civilization exchanges to promote harmony” while elegantly remarking how a “fine traditional culture epitomizes the essence of the Chinese civilization.” Here we see a delicate blend of Taoism and Confucianism, where harmony – praised as “the core concept of Chinese culture” – is extrapolated to the concept of “harmony within diversity”: and that is exactly the basis for embracing cultural diversity. In terms of promoting a dialogue of civilizations, these paragraphs are particularly relevant:
“The concept of a global community of shared future reflects the common interests of all civilizations – peace, development, unity, coexistence, and win-win cooperation. A Russian proverb holds, ‘Together we can weather the storm.’ “The Swiss-German writer Hermann Hesse proposed, ‘Serve not war and destruction, but peace and reconciliation.’ A German proverb reads, ‘An individual’s effort is addition; a team’s effort is multiplication.’ An African proverb states, ‘One single pillar is not sufficient to build a house.’ An Arabian proverb asserts, ‘If you want to walk fast, walk alone; if you want to walk far, walk together.’ “Mexican poet Alfonso Reyes wrote, ‘The only way to be profitably national is to be generously universal.’
You know the answer in advance. Thing is, Russia got a deal with Bolivia. Lithium OPEC.
• Can The US Defeat Russia In The Lithium Battery War? (Helmer)
In January of this year the United States Geological Service (USGS) reported the reserves of the nine leading countries in the world which mine lithium, the new fuel to power electric batteries. Chile led, followed by Australia, Argentina, China, and the US which claims to have one million tonnes. Russia was left out of the USGS chart. Russian sources report its lithium reserves are currently between 3.5 million and 5 million tonnes; that’s at least three times more than the US. The US is also much more limited in its capacity to develop new domestic lithium mines compared to Russia. Bolivia was also omitted from the US Government chart because its reserves were called unproven resources. In fact and in the ground, Bolivia leads the lithium world with 21 million tonnes.
The difference between what USGS reports and what happens next isn’t the distinction in geologists’ terminology between reserves and resources. It’s US Government policy to stop, sabotage and destroy Russia’s ability to meet its lithium requirement from its own, domestic sources, or by importing from friendly countries like Bolivia. In response, a new plan for combining lithium mining projects in Bolivia and Russia will produce a surplus of Russia’s foreseeable requirement for lithium battery production. But not only that. Allied in technology sharing, investment, trade, and political agreement, the two countries will protect each other in the conservation of the lithium market. If everything goes according to plan, Russia, Bolivia, and the three BRICS states – Argentina, Brazil and China – will dominate the trade in global lithium.
They are already discussing the formation of a collective marketing organisation – a lithium OPEC. Unless the US can stop them. In the latest official paper issued by the State Department on July 23, “the bilateral relationship between the United States and Bolivia” is “strained. Despite these challenges, the United States maintains a strong and respectful relationship with the Bolivian people, with whom we work to advance human rights, entrepreneurship, and cultural and educational initiatives…However, the United States remains concerned by anti-democratic actions and the politicization of the legal system.” This is how the lithium war is starting.
“He’s here to…here to…he’s got all of the…he runs the…the…the thing. Rocketship.”
• Biden Administration Reports Dangerous African Immigrant At Border (BBee)
As the migrant crisis along the southern U.S. border continued to intensify, a new threat emerged, leading the Biden administration to warn the populace of the presence of a dangerous African immigrant sighted at the border. “This is serious, folks,” President Joe Biden said in brief remarks to reporters. “We’ve received reports of a very menacing African man roaming the region. Everyone knows I’m a long-time advocate for keeping an eye on these African fellas. This one is especially dangerous. He’s here to…here to…he’s got all of the…he runs the…the…the thing. Rocketship.” Despite thousands of unvetted and undocumented foreign nationals pouring across the border every day, the federal government and the mainstream media have continued to remain largely silent on the topic.
The sudden appearance of this African man, experts say, may finally force the Biden administration to address the issue of border security. “They can’t afford to ignore it now,” said Dr. Blake Rumsey of the Foundation for Discussion. “For whatever reason, this particular African man seems to really have them spooked.” The White House was uncharacteristically quick to comment on the news from the border. “Border safety is now a priority,” said gay and black Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. “This African man poses a serious threat to America’s national security and democracy itself. When he gets up from his nap, the president will take this very seriously.” At publishing time, the federal government had announced the deployment of military resources to apprehend the African man.
“Elon Musk went to the southern border to investigate illegal crossings & his interview of local sheriffs & officials now has +81 million views. CNN gets ~474,000 viewers per day”
Went to the Eagle Pass border crossing to see what’s really going on pic.twitter.com/ADYY2XvAKT
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 29, 2023
Antibiotics
MAKE
YOUR
O W N
A N T I B I O T I C S pic.twitter.com/zpfy1SGyHk— DR. Kek (@Thekeksociety) September 29, 2023
Rain frog
Some enjoy the rain,
some run away to avoid getting wet….pic.twitter.com/cfH8a61DYf— The Best (@ThebestFigen) September 28, 2023
Moment
An incredible moment captured thanks to technology
— Tansu YEĞEN (@TansuYegen) September 29, 2023
Gecko
In the forests of Madagascar the leaf-tailed gecko makes itself almost invisible pic.twitter.com/FA5lfucOHP
— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) September 29, 2023
UK lighthouses
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