Salvador Dali Landscape with butterflies 1956
Flynn
This is really creative & seriously funny (no idea who created it), but great work. pic.twitter.com/S3hNMAZcRr
— General Mike Flynn (@GenFlynn) August 22, 2024
Trump bullet
https://twitter.com/i/status/1825911229035978756
Transfer
Twitter, under Jack Dorsey, took this video down, Barack Obama ordered the unmasking of General Flynn and illegally wiretapped Trump Tower, which is Treason
We were never this divided as a country before Obama stepped foot in the W.H
ObamaGate was way bigger than Watergate pic.twitter.com/SXMk3OPErw
— @Chicago1Ray 🇺🇸 (@Chicago1Ray) August 21, 2024
Sachs
https://twitter.com/i/status/1826137316135461335
Joan Rivers
Michelle Obama to take the stage tonight.
Never forget Joan Rivers’s comments a month before her tragic death.
— Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) August 20, 2024
Beck
Donald Trump Jr. speaks with Glenn Beck on the potential of RFK Jr. joining the administration!
Trump Jr. says he would love the idea of putting RFK Jr. in charge of a 3-letter agency, and let him “blow it up”.
This is what unity looks like!pic.twitter.com/LGVxbLDziC
— Clandestine (@WarClandestine) August 21, 2024
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, July 31, 2024 © Getty Images / Stephanie Keith
“Since a lot of people have asked, here goes a super unscientific poll..”
• Trump Defeats Harris By Landslide In Musk’s Poll On X (RT)
Former US President and Republican nominee Donald Trump has resoundingly trounced his Democrat competitor for the November election, Kamala Harris, in a poll which billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk ran on X (formerly Twitter). Vice President Harris accepted her party’s official nomination earlier in August after President Joe Biden announced he was dropping out of the race; she later tapped Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to be her running mate. On Tuesday, Elon Musk ran his own, smaller election on X. “Since a lot of people have asked, here goes a super unscientific poll,” the billionaire posted on his account. According to the results as of Wednesday, out of the 5.8 million votes, almost three quarters would vote for Trump in November, while more than a quarter would see Harris elected.
Earlier this month, the Republican nominee told Reuters that he would consider the billionaire and tech entrepreneur for a role in his administration, when asked whether he would take Musk for an advisory or cabinet job. “If he would do it, I certainly would. He’s a brilliant guy,” he said. Musk, replying later on X, wrote that he is “willing to serve.” Last week Elon Musk interviewed former US President Donald Trump on Spaces. They engaged in what Musk said was an “unscripted” dialogue with “no limits”; the interview has garnered more than 275 million views to date.
Trump called Harris “third rate,” “incompetent” and a “left lunatic” during the talk. The Harris campaign issued a fiery response to Trump’s two-hour Musk interview denouncing the Republican candidate’s “extremism and dangerous agenda.” She also slammed “self-obsessed rich guys who cannot run a livestream in the year 2024” as the talk was marred by technical issues. According to Musk, the stream was attacked by a large-scale DDoS (dedicated denial of service) attack, leading to technical problems. According to set of polling averages posted by The New York Times, as of Wednesday, Harris leads Trump by two percent in two swing states: Wisconsin and Michigan. Meanwhile, Trump leads by four percent in Georgia, with both candidates are about even in Arizona and Pennsylvania, according to the newspaper’s poll collation data.
But is Musk’s poll really that more unscientific than, say, the NYT’s?
“So what they’re doing is they’re polling fewer Republicans. They’re polling a disproportionate number of Biden 2020 voters in these states that were dead even..”
“..most voters strongly oppose the idea of letting biological males compete in women’s sports..” [..] hardly anybody knows that Vice President Harris is a strong advocate of letting those biological males compete in women’s sports.”
“RealClearPolitics currently projects Trump to win 287 electoral votes to Harris’s 251 based on its state-by-state averages..”
• Polling Showing Harris In Lead Flagged By Industry Experts (JTN)
Vice President Kamala Harris has enjoyed a noticeable surge in the polls – particularly national polls – since becoming the Democratic standard bearer, but the rapid shift in her position has left some industry analysts questioning the apparent boost in the formerly quite unpopular vice president’s standing. In her 2020 run, she struggled to break 3% before dropping out, according to The Hill. Prior to becoming the Democratic nominee, Harris suffered from decidedly poor approval ratings and Trump initially held the lead over her in a head-to-head matchup. The average quickly flipped, however, in the wake of several surveys showing Harris ahead. Those surveys, however, have attracted scrutiny from an array of pollsters either due to their lack of transparency about the sampling methodology or from oversampling Democrats. “So what they’re doing is they’re polling fewer Republicans. They’re polling a disproportionate number of Biden 2020 voters in these states that were dead even,” pollster John McLaughlin said this week [..]
“They’re saying the Biden 2020 voters should be four or five points higher. It’s ridiculous. So what they’re doing is they’re trying to pump Harris up. They’re trying to suppress our vote. And this is, you know, there’s smart people doing this, so I think it’s intentional.” Harris currently leads Trump by 1.5% in the RealClearPolitics polling average, with 48.2% support to his 46.7%. She leads by the same margin in a five-way race including the Green Party’s Jill Stein and independents Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and [..] Cornel West. At present, the only polls showing Trump ahead in the two-way race average come from Fox News, Rasmussen Reports, and CNBC. All others show Harris with a one-to-four-point lead. Trump led Harris in the RCP average until Aug. 5 and has not reclaimed the lead since. Neither RCP average includes survey data from McLaughlin & Associates.
After Harris became the de facto Democratic nominee, Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio distributed a memo forecasting a so-called “Harris Honeymoon” in which the vice president would see a surge in the polls due to an uptick in favorable coverage. “The coverage will be largely positive and will certainly energize Democrats and some other parts of their coalition at least in the short term. That means we will start to see public polling – particularly national public polls – where Harris is gaining on or even leading President Trump,” Fabrizio wrote in late July. Fabrizio also asserted that the electorate’s positions on critical issues such as inflation, crime, and inflation, were unlikely to change with the Democratic ticket, saying “the fundamentals of the race stay the same.” [..] pollster Scott Rasmussen called the polling boost a “sugar high” and concurred with Fabrizio based on his own data that voter opinions on issues appeared split from their opinion of the topline candidates.
He further insisted that voters remained largely ignorant of Harris’s actual positions and that increased awareness of her stances on key issues could sway the electorate. Even famed Democratic pollster and campaign veteran James Carville warned Democrats about their “giddy elation” over Vice President Harris’s presidential campaign. “It’s very much a sugar high… Right now, when we look at all the issues and we ask what voters know about Vice President Harris? Well, they know that she’s very pro-choice on abortion. They don’t really know anything else about her,” Rasmussen said. “One of the issues we’ve highlighted because of the events of last week in the Olympics is that most voters strongly oppose the idea of letting biological males compete in women’s sports,” he went on. “In fact, only 21% of Harris’s voters – her own supporters think that should be allowed, and yet hardly anybody knows that Vice President Harris is a strong advocate of letting those biological males compete in women’s sports.”
[..] A critical factor in determining a poll’s final results are the characteristics of the survey group and how closely they align with the broader population. The Washington Post released a survey last week in conjunction with ABC News and Ipsos. The topline figure showed Harris with a four-point lead over Trump, 49% to 45%, representing one of the largest Harris leads of recent surveys. In the five-way race, Harris led by three points. The survey questioned 2,336 U.S. adults, including 1,975 registered voters, from Aug. 9-13. The registered voter sample featured a +/- 2% margin of error. Notably, the survey did not release the demographic questions about the sample. The sample came from the KnowledgePanel, which the poll says matched “U.S. population benchmarks” for myriad demographic characteristics based on the March 2023 population survey from the Census Bureau.
“When you saw the Washington Post Ipsos poll, there’s no transparency,” McLaughlin said. “They say it’s weighted according to the census. It’s picked from their in-house panel, and it’s all done online, and there’s an obvious bias.” The survey did not disclose a breakdown of respondents by party affiliation. Statewide polling, moreover, has also been difficult for Trump, albeit to a lesser extent. Exit polls from the 2020 election may provide a benchmark for estimating the partisan affiliations of voters. But at least some surveys have deviated significantly from that breakdown and crafted survey groups that overrepresent Democrats or under-represent Republicans. “And you’re seeing polls like, for example, like the New York Times… their Siena polls over the weekend, where in Georgia… CNN exit polls in 2020 had 38% Republicans, this [is] 5% fewer Republicans… in the New York Times/Siena poll,” McLaughlin said.
Thirty-three percent of respondents in the NYT/Siena College poll’s Georgia survey self-identified as Republicans. Trump led Harris 50% to 46% in the Peach State’s polling results. “[S]ame thing in North Carolina, 5% fewer Republicans,” he went on. That iteration of the NYT/Siena survey showed Harris leading Trump in the Old North State 49% to 47% and was an outlier among North Carolina surveys in the RealClearPolitics polling average. “Michigan… They [were] 38% in the 2020 exit polls, Republicans, their poll it’s 29. Now nine fewer,” he added. The latest NYT/Siena survey in Michigan shows Harris with a four-point lead of 50% to 46% in the Wolverine State. That survey also saw only 27% of registered voters self-identify as Republicans in Michigan. In Wisconsin, the 2020 exit polls had 37% Republicans. In the recent New York Times poll, Siena had 27% Republican. Ten points fewer,” he also said. Harris led Trump with 50% to 46% in the state.
[..] RealClearPolitics currently projects Trump to win 287 electoral votes to Harris’s 251 based on its state-by-state averages, several of which show only single-digit margins for either candidate. That no-toss-ups projection currently shows Trump winning Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Nevada, and Arizona. Harris currently leads in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Virginia. A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the President.
“..with some speculating that RFK would make a great head of Trump’s CIA..”
• RFK Jr To Endorse Trump On Friday Morning (ZH)
As we speculated earlier, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. indeed plans to end his independent presidential campaign and endorse former President Donald Trump, NBC news reported citing two sources familiar with the plans. The sources cautioned that talks are ongoing, but there will be clarity by the end of the week. One of the sources said the campaigns are working toward a joint appearance. The decision to drop out will end the most prominent third-party candidacy in the 2024 race. Kennedy announced Wednesday that he will give a campaign speech addressing “his path forward,” days after his running mate said the campaign faced a choice about staying in the 2024 election or dropping out to back Donald Trump. Kennedy’s campaign announced he will hold the event in Phoenix on Friday. Trump, meanwhile, is also set to host an event on Friday night, in Glendale, a Phoenix suburb.
Nicole Shanahan, Kennedy’s running mate, said Tuesday that the ticket was weighing two options. One was to stay in the race and “risk” a Harris-Walz presidency, as she put it in a podcast interview, while the other option was to drop out of the race and “join forces” with Trump. Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, told NBC News in an interview Wednesday that “there’s been a lot of communication back and forth” between Kennedy and his campaign. “I haven’t spoken to RFK personally, but I know there’s been a lot of communication back and forth between RFK, between the campaign, between this campaign,” Vance said. “Look, our argument to RFK, and I’ll make it right now, because, of course, he hasn’t dropped out yet, is, look: If you want a Democratic Party that protected American workers and stood for strong borders, maybe disagreed with Republicans on things like tax policy, that party doesn’t exist anymore.”
* * *
Amid a flurry of speculation that he will endorse Donald Trump (following news reports – which he since denied – that he failed to clinch a cabinet job with Kamala Harris in exchange for his endorsement there), Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said he will make a speech in Phoenix on Friday, his campaign announced, as the independent presidential candidate considers whether to drop out of the race and endorse former President Donald Trump. The campaign said Kennedy will “address the nation” Friday morning, without sharing details of what he will be speaking about. Kennedy’s speech will come days after his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, said in a podcast interview on Tuesday that the campaign is considering whether to “join forces” with Trump to prevent the “risk” of Vice President Kamala Harris winning the election.Overnight, in an interview Trump said that he would certainly consider a cabinet position for RFK Jr in exchange for an endorsement. “I would love that endorsement because I’ve always liked him” Trump said. Then when asked if he would also consider adding him to the administration, Trump responded that “I like him a lot I respect him a lot uh I probably would if something like that would happen… He’s very different kind of a guy, very smart guy, and yeah I would be honored by that endorsement certainly.” “He’s a brilliant guy he’s a very smart guy I’ve known him for a long time I didn’t know he was thinking about getting out but if he is thinking about getting out certainly I’d be open to it” On Friday we will learn if RFK Jr is also open to it, with some speculating that RFK would make a great head of Trump’s CIA, which would be ironic considering what the CIA did to JFK…
“The profanity laden video depicts political opponents as cockroaches (could you imagine the reaction if a conservative made that comparison?), and sprinkles in sexualized images, including Elon Musk deep throating a phallic object labeled “MAGAsickle”.”
• Two Minutes of Hate: Unhinged Attack Montage On Loop At The DNC (DB)
In George Orwell’s prophetic and seminal work, 1984, the Two Minutes of Hate was a daily ritual of operant conditioning, in which a video reel depicting enemies of the state was broadcast throughout society with the express aim of whipping the masses into a frenetic state of loathing towards anyone who opposed Big Brother. Since the appearance of the “Dark Brandon” entity, the non-brainwashed have been wary of the nasty turn politics has taken in the United States, and elsewhere. If four years of unhinged Trump Derangement Syndrome from the MSM wasn’t enough, now the President and incumbent party was channeling unrestrained animus at roughly half the U.S. population. While constantly professing to be the party for “preserving democracy” and “inclusivity”, the US Democratic Party is channeling ominous and blatant overtones of repression, dare I say, even hatred toward their fellow citizens who may not be so like-minded. So far the Democratic National Convention has been a dumpster fire of cringe, disrespect and hypocrisy but one takeaway, posted on twitter takes the cake:
Grotesque and somewhat s*xualized images of @laurenboebert, @JDVance, @mtgreenee, @mattgaetz, and @elonmusk are projected by the entrance to the @DemConvention in Chicago. Watch the whole video. @EpochTimes pic.twitter.com/wZYQFMjQKn
— Arjun Singh (@arjunswritings) August 21, 2024
The profanity laden video depicts political opponents as cockroaches (could you imagine the reaction if a conservative made that comparison?), and sprinkles in sexualized images, including Elon Musk deep throating a phallic object labeled “MAGAsickle”. If there was any doubt that the Democratic Party has been captured by far-left lunatics, the big takeaways were:
• America is evil (MAGA literally stands for restoring the country to its former grandeur)
• Wealth is evil (“F*CK BILLIONAIRES”), and
• Literal communism (“REDISTRIBUTE THAT SHIT”)(Hypothetically speaking, should the Dems win in November, how soon would you think that “B” gets swapped out for an “M”?) In case you were wondering what you’re really voting for if you tick the box for the Dems this November – it’s looks like some kind of deranged mutation of Orwell’s 1984 and Ayn Rand’s “We The Living”, replete with wealth redistribution and re-education camps. Remember – it’s always relatively easy to vote your way into communism – but you have to fight your way out.
“It is rare for a Republican congressman to attend the Democratic National Convention. On his Instagram* page, Waltz joked that “Green Berets go behind enemy lines.”
• Biden, Harris Have No Strategy for Ukraine, Trump Does – Congressman (Sp.)
The administration of US President Joe Biden and Kamala Harris has suffered a failure due to the absence of a strategy for the Ukrainian conflict, member of the US House Committee on Armed Services Michael Waltz (R-FL) told RIA Novosti on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. “We have yet, and I have asked publicly, privately and even in classified settings to really get a strategy out of this administration. And I think it’s been a real shortcoming,” Waltz said, speaking about the current administration’s lack of a strategy for Ukraine. In contrast, US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump does have a strategy to urge Russia and Ukraine to sit down to the negotiating table to end the Ukrainian conflict.
“He’s made it clear that he will tell the Ukrainian government they need to come to the table or that’s it. So I think he has an overall strategy in mind to get both sides to the table in a reasonable way to diplomatic talks to bring this to a resolution,” Waltz said when asked about Trump’s ability to help end the conflict in Ukraine. It is rare for a Republican congressman to attend the Democratic National Convention. On his Instagram* page, Waltz joked that “Green Berets go behind enemy lines.” Waltz is a Retired colonel in the US National Guard and served in combat as a member of the US Army Special Forces, colloquially known as the “Green Berets.”
The Kyiv Independent, citing a source close to Volodymyr Zelensky, reported Wednesday that the Ukrainian authorities want to prepare the ground this fall for potential peace talks with Russia. Russia has been conducting a special military operation in Ukraine since February 24, 2022. President Vladimir Putin has said the operation aims to “protect people subjected to genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.” According to the president, the ultimate goal of the operation is to liberate Donbas and create conditions that guarantee Russia’s security.
“.. the millions they have already allowed into our country have done damage that will take decades to remedy.”
• No, Biden and Harris’ Border Crisis Is Not Over (ZH)
Ever since early 2021, Americans have watched as illegal aliens have flooded across the Southwest border unimpeded. They have read with horror the accounts of innocent Americans victimized by those here unlawfully. They have seen family and friends die after being poisoned by fentanyl coming across the border. And the Biden-Harris administration has largely done nothing. Yet now, following a few months of somewhat-reduced numbers of apprehensions between ports of entry along the Southwest border, the Biden-Harris administration is taking a victory lap. Such premature celebration, however, ignores the reality of the continuing nature of this crisis. Before explaining why, Americans must understand that even if not one more inadmissible alien crossed our borders for the remainder of Biden and Harris’ term, the millions they have already allowed into our country have done damage that will take decades to remedy.
For many families, like those of Laken Riley, Rachel Morin, and Jocelyn Nungaray, the damage can never be undone. But if Biden and Harris want to talk about numbers, the president and his “border czar” will find no exoneration. On their watch, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has recorded more than 10 million encounters nationwide, plus another two million known “gotaways” who have crossed our borders uncaught. Many on the left like to appeal to the history of Ellis Island as an excuse for mass immigration – despite the fact that these individuals arrived in accordance with then-existing law. However, the number of people who came through Ellis Island was also roughly 12 million – in the 62 years between 1892 and 1954. The number of inadmissible aliens who have been encountered at our borders or crossed uncaught since the start of Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 is unprecedented.
Claiming victory now due to temporarily reduced border crossings displays a willful ignorance of the nature of this ongoing crisis, because these numbers alone do not tell the full story of what Americans are experiencing. First, there are the continuing financial impacts. As of mid-June 2024, more than 205,000 illegal aliens had arrived in New York City since the spring of 2022. Mayor Eric Adams has declared that these arrivals and the resultant costs “will destroy New York City.” Small towns will also be struggling for years with the consequences of unchecked crossings. Springfield, Ohio, home to 60,000 people, has seen roughly 20,000 Haitians arrive since the crisis began, putting major strain on housing and other services.
Whitewater, Wisconsin, a town of just 15,000 people, has been overwhelmed by the arrival of 1,000 illegal aliens “often lacking basic English skills.” According to one official in Sanford, Maine last year, “We’re tapped. … We’ve been overrun,” after costs to care for illegal aliens tripled. DHS has reported that more than 80% of illegal aliens who are “neither expelled or repatriated directly by CBP nor continuously detained by ICE” remain in the United States years later. These communities, and thousands more like them, are going to be dealing with these costs for years. Second, consider the ongoing public safety implications of what’s happening at the Southwest border. Border Patrol arrests of illegal aliens with criminal histories since FY2021 have more than doubled from FY2017-2020.
Worse, criminals and individuals with possible ties to terrorism have been, and continue to be, released into the interior. In fact, news recently broke that the Biden-Harris administration actually released into the interior 99 individuals whom they knew were on the terrorist watchlist. According to one DHS source, ICE officials have been “discouraged from deporting even illegal immigrants who had final deportation orders and were linked to gangs.” Former ICE Field Director John Fabbricatore has said, “I was being forced to release people that should not have been allowed on the street.” How many other threats to our safety and security have likewise been unwittingly released or entered as gotaways? How many more, who either did not commit crimes in their home country or were never caught, will do so for the first time against American victims?
“..the Democrats’ platform still promises “a second Biden term,” mentioning him 287 times over its 92 pages, while Harris is brought up only 32 times..”
• Biden’s Aides ‘Hid His Decline’ – WaPo (RT)
US President Joe Biden should not have sought reelection to begin with, but his staff concealed his infirmity until they could no longer do so, the Washington Post editorial board has said. The Post made the admission in an editorial on Tuesday, which praised Biden’s “profoundly selfless decision” to drop out of the race and let the Democrats replace him with Kamala Harris. “In retrospect, Mr Biden should not have sought reelection. The June 27 debate was worse than just a bad night, as the president maintained afterward. The 81-year-old had shown signs of slipping for a long time, but his inner circle worked to conceal his decline,” the Post editors wrote. The US would have been better off, they argued, had he bowed out after the “surprisingly good showing” of the Democrats in the 2022 midterms. Had he stayed in the race, they continued, “a diminished Mr Biden, at the head of a dispirited party, would likely have lost in November.”
According to the Post, Biden “deserves recognition” for surrendering power and giving a chance to a new generation of leaders, “albeit via internal party machinations rather than the ballot box.” Biden may have exited the race but he remains president through January, the outlet noted, and the Democrats’ platform still promises “a second Biden term,” mentioning him 287 times over its 92 pages, while Harris is brought up only 32 times. The oldest-ever US president at inauguration, Biden was already dogged by claims of senility and dementia during the 2020 campaign. His physical and cognitive decline has only grown while in office, only to be dismissed by White House staff – and most of the legacy media – as the remnants of a childhood stutter. The president was “sharp as a tack,” his supporters continued to argue even after the June 27 debate. Biden vowed that only God could make him quit.
In mid-July, however, he was flown out of Las Vegas to his Delaware home, reportedly with Covid-19. At the end of that week, a letter posted on his personal X (formerly Twitter) account announced his exit from the presidential race. In a follow-up post, the same account endorsed Harris as Biden’s replacement. Insider sources credited former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, for this turn of events. “They staged a coup against the president of the United States,” former president and current Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, told Fox News in early August. “It’s like you’re in a fight with somebody, and you’re really winning, and they take him out and they put somebody else in,” he continued. “Nobody ever heard of this before. This is a coup.”
“..the United States shall be substituted as the defendant with respect to those claims.”
• Justice Department Steps In for Trump in George Floyd Protests Case (ET)
The Justice Department has intervened for former President Donald Trump, asking a federal court in Washington to dismiss a civil complaint brought over a clash between protestors and police that took place in the city following George Floyd’s death. Black Lives Matter D.C. and others brought the original lawsuit in June 2020, just days after police used crowd control tactics in Lafayette Square before Trump was set to appear at a nearby church. The case has seen court filings for years, with a group of plaintiffs filing an amended complaint in April this year. On Aug. 19, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a notice that it was substituting itself for Trump because he was acting within the scope of his office that day. Its decision was based on the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA).
In its notice, the DOJ said the law “provides that upon certification by the attorney general that a federal employee was acting within the scope of his office or employment at the time of the incident out of which the plaintiff’s claim arose, any civil action or proceeding commenced upon such a claim and arising under state law shall be deemed an action against the United States, and the United States shall be substituted as the defendant with respect to those claims.” James G. Touhey, who leads the torts branch of DOJ’s civil division, certified that Trump “was an employee of the government acting in the scope of office or employment at the time of the incident out of which the plaintiffs’ claims arose.” The amended complaint had named Trump in his individual capacity and requested damages.
It alleged Trump was liable for intentional infliction of emotional distress, assault, battery, and negligence in purported violation of a district law surrounding free speech. A separate motion to dismiss, also filed on Aug. 19, argued that the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the plaintiffs’ claims because they failed to exhaust administrative remedies. It added that the plaintiffs had failed to show that their claims fell within the limited waiver of sovereign immunity offered by the FTCA. The complaint alleged that the agencies involved with the suit had failed to respond within a six-month timeframe specified under the FTCA. “Plaintiffs have therefore exhausted their administrative remedies under the FTCA,” the complaint read.
“I strongly ask for a vote against the war, to isolate dangerous bombers like Macron..”
• West Risking WWIII – Salvini (RT)
Ukraine’s Western backers could trigger World War III by providing Kiev with weapons that can be used to strike targets on Russian soil, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has said. Russian officials have claimed that the Ukrainian military has been using Western-supplied weapons in their incursion in Kursk Region. Several Western media outlets have published articles with similar claims of late. A number of Kiev’s backers have also publicly given the green light to use the weapons they have provided on Russian soil. Speaking to Il Sussidiario media outlet on Wednesday, Salvini, who is also the minister of infrastructure and transport and leads the Lega Nord (Northern League) party, said the “sending of weapons to strike and kill also on Russian territory would be a disaster, the antechamber of a dramatic world conflict.”
The deputy prime minister added that his right-wing party has nothing against providing “humanitarian and military aid to give Ukraine the possibility to defend itself.” Ahead of the European Parliament elections in June, Salvini urged Italians to not let left-wing parties win, as they, together with French President Emmanuel Macron, would make the prospect of a third world war dangerously real. “I strongly ask for a vote against the war, to isolate dangerous bombers like Macron,” he said at the time. Salvini also praised the Italian government for its firm position against those in Europe who speak about potentially deploying Western troops to Ukraine, having previously criticized the French president for refusing to rule this out. The deputy prime minister also stated in June that “we will no longer approve sending any type of weapon unless we have the certainty that those weapons will not be used to attack and kill inside Russia.”
“It would be the incident that takes us straight towards the Third World War,” he said at the time. In late May, Defense Minister Guido Crosetto cited the Italian constitution, stressing that the weapons Italy supplies to Ukraine can only be used within the territory of the country. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani echoed this, telling reporters: “we are not fighting against Russia. We are defending Ukraine, [it] is not the same.” Around the same time, Salvini described NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg as a “dangerous gentleman” after he proposed allowing Kiev to strike targets deep inside Russia with Western weapons. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, too, expressed incredulity as to “why Stoltenberg said such a thing.”
Ritter.
• US Could Charge, Search More Americans Tied To Russian State News (Sp.)
The US Justice Department could conduct further searches and bring criminal charges against Americans who have worked with Russian state television networks, The New York Times reported, citing US officials briefed on the matter. Earlier this month, FBI agents conducted searches at the homes of former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter and journalist Dimitri Simes. However, prosecutors have not revealed any criminal charges against the two men. Investigators are expected to conduct more searches soon and prosecutors could also bring criminal charges, the report said. The Biden administration has alleged that Russian state news organizations are working with the country’s intelligence agencies to influence elections worldwide. The investigations have focused on possible violations of the sanctions regime imposed on Russia and a law mandating the disclosure of foreign government lobbying efforts, the report said.
Ritter said that he believes the search of his home was an “act of intimidation” triggered by his cooperation with Russian news organizations like Sputnik and RT. Ritter said that he has not committed any crimes and denied accusations that he is acting as a foreign agent. Ritter told Sputnik that his passport was likely confiscated by authorities in connection with the FBI investigation. Simes told Sputnik that he was not notified in advance of the search of his property and that he has not been in the United States since October 2022. Consequently, there is nothing at the property related to his current life and activities, he said. Simes also said that the US government is possibly attempting to dissuade him from coming back to the United States and block any attempt to have a Russian-American dialogue.
“..Germany is also persecuting media outlets that are actually trying to discover what happened..”
• Germans Lying About Nord Stream Exchange – Moscow (RT)
Berlin has not provided Moscow with any actual information about the attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines in 2022, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said The pipelines which ran under the Baltic Sea were used to transport Russian natural gas to Germany and other parts of Western Europe. They were damaged in September 2022 by a series of explosions near the Danish island of Bornholm. Russia has accused the US of orchestrating the attack, while some media in the West have blamed a “pro-Ukrainian group.” Earlier this week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused Germany of refusing to officially share information about the investigation, suggesting that leaking it to the media instead raises “suspicions that all of this is staged” to deflect blame from the actual culprits.
German Foreign Ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer responded on Monday that Berlin has engaged “in information exchange” with Moscow. Speaking on Wednesday, Zakharova accused him of lying. “What Mr. Fischer said does not correspond to reality at all,” Zakharova told reporters. “Simply put, it is a lie. For almost two years, the German side has responded to all inquiries from Russian authorities regarding the destruction of the Nord Streams with only empty formalities that contained no factual information.” Fischer’s statement “only strengthens our suspicions of Berlin’s intention to ‘blow up’ the investigation, which is being conducted in total secrecy, by not allowing it to identify the true instigators of the attack on the largest trans-European energy infrastructure facility,” Zakharova added. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Germany is also persecuting media outlets that are actually trying to discover what happened, which “shows that Berlin has something to hide and is extremely uninterested in conducting a real investigation and having the truth made public.”
The original Nord Stream was built after the 2009 gas transit dispute between Kiev and Moscow, enabling Gazprom to supply Western Europe without depending on Ukraine and Poland. The second pipeline was finished in late 2021, despite delays due to US sanctions. Western media narratives about “Ukrainian saboteurs” being behind the blast, whether acting on orders from Kiev or alone, began appearing only after US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh blamed Washington. Citing sources within the intelligence community, Hersh argued that CIA divers working with the Norwegian Navy planted remotely-triggered bombs on both pipelines, using a NATO exercise in the region as cover. Meanwhile, Ukraine has maintained that Russia blew up its own pipelines, which Moscow has dismissed as ridiculous.
“These remaining months before the elections are accompanied by total confusion, and this, naturally, is reflected in US officials’ statements.”
• Biden’s Desperation for ‘Foreign Policy Win’ (Sp.)
“The US administration is particularly eager to announce an agreement, driven by both diplomatic and domestic pressures,” Dr. Imad Salamey, an assistant professor of political science at Lebanese American University, told Sputnik, commenting on why Israeli officials haven’t confirmed Tel Aviv’s readiness to accept the “bridging proposal” announced by Secretary Blinken on Monday. “The Biden administration views the success of such an agreement as a potential foreign policy win, which could bolster its position ahead of upcoming elections,” Salamey explained. By contrast, “the Israeli government may face significant internal challenges regarding the deal,” the observer said. “Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government is deeply divided, and any official confirmation could exacerbate these divisions, potentially leading to resignations or even the collapse of the coalition.
Thus, while the US is keen to publicize progress, Israel might be more cautious, weighing the domestic repercussions of any public acknowledgement of the agreement.” Blinken’s public announcement “could [also] be interpreted as a strategic move to exert public pressure on Israel,” according to the scholar. “The pressure serves multiple purposes: it advances US diplomatic interests in the region, reinforces the image of the US as a global leader, and garners domestic support by showcasing the administration’s proactive role,” Salamey said. But Israeli media reports indicate that the government has no intention of agreeing to the agreement announced by the US and “at least in Israel, it’s clear to everyone that there will be no deal,” Tel Aviv-based international affairs observer Dr. Simon Tsipis told Sputnik.
“Netanyahu has started to refer to the fact that the point of the agreement that does not suit him is the Hamas demand that Israel withdraw its troops from the Philadelphi Corridor border” between Gaza and Egypt Tsipis said, referring to Tel Aviv’s unwillingness to let go of the border area to prevent the resumption of arms smuggling. “But in my view this is just an excuse for the fact that Netanyahu is not interested in making any deal with Hamas, no matter its contents,” the observer noted. Tsipis recalled that for Netanyahu, the conflict in Gaza has become not just a matter of his government’s political survival, but his personal freedom, given the multiple Israeli criminal investigations hanging over his head, which would inevitably resume if the conflict were brought to a peaceful conclusion. “Plus, it’s becoming increasingly clear to people whose relatives and friends are being held hostage by Hamas with each passing day that there are practically no more of them left alive.
Yesterday, six bodies of hostages were pulled out of one of the tunnels. If earlier, several months ago, it was assumed that there were more than 220 of them being held there, now it’s assumed that there are no more than 100 still alive. The rest are dead, and the pressure inside Netanyahu is growing. By showing society that there are no more living hostages, he’s trying to let off the political pressure building up within Israeli society,” Tsipis said. As far as the US and Blinken’s hasty announcement of an agreement, Tsipis believes it’s tied to the fact that the Biden administration is effectively running on autopilot at this point after the president announced that he would not be seeking another term, and the Democrats began preparing Vice President Harris to take the reins. “These remaining months before the elections are accompanied by total confusion, and this, naturally, is reflected in US officials’ statements. The American side is now completely inactive and has virtually no influence, and this is felt in Israel too,” Tsipis said.
“There is no pressure from the US because there is no one to apply this pressure, because even if the US is not yet in a state of anarchy, it is in a transitional period and has a kind of temporary government.” “Netanyahu’s government and he personally have been left to float freely. They do not depend on anyone and there’s no pressure on them from anyone. This is a dangerous situation, because returning to the above, Netanyahu’s main goal is his survival – political survival and simply remaining a free man. That could lead to a military escalation, and in fact, we are already on the threshold of an escalation and war with Lebanon,” Tsipis warned, pointing to the intense back-and-forth shelling across the Israel-Lebanon border in recent days.
“..strategy adjustment was revised with the desire to “simultaneously” deter Russia, China and North Korea in mind.”
• Biden Approved New Nuclear Strategy Refocusing on ‘Chinese Threat’ (Sp.)
President Joe Biden approved a classified nuclear strategy earlier this year that directed US forces to refocus on potential threats from China, the New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing US officials. The report detailed that Biden had approved the new strategy in March, and that it refocuses on China’s growing nuclear arsenal. However, it also addresses concerns of potential coordinated nuclear challenges by China, Russia, and North Korea against the United States. An unclassified report is expected to be given to Congress before Biden leaves office. Driving the development is the US’ fear regarding China’s nuclear stockpile, more specifically how it’ll match up “in size and diversity” against Washington’s own arms over the next 10 years. Citing June remarks from Pranay Vaddi, who serves as the senior director for arms control and non-proliferation on the National Security Council, the outlet noted the strategy adjustment was revised with the desire to “simultaneously” deter Russia, China and North Korea in mind.
The Tuesday report comes days after China implemented export controls on antimony metals, which just so happen to have multiple applications within the US military, including in components for nuclear weapons. The new restrictions, in line with similar controls on other rare-earth metals, are due to take effect on September 15. Alongside with Tajikistan and Russia, China controls upwards of 90% of the global antimony reserves. A report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank details the US’ “stockpiles limited antimony of just 1,100 tons compared to the 23,000 tons consumed in 2023,” adding that 63% of its stocks came from China alone. China previously underscored that its new directive was intended to ensure China’s national security and to fulfill the country’s non-proliferation obligations, and that its measures were not set to strike at any one country.
“..Beijing “follows a policy of ‘no first use’ of nuclear weapons and always keeps its nuclear capabilities at the minimum level required by national security.”
• Beijing Has ‘No Intention’ Of Nuclear Arms Race With US – FM (RT)
Washington’s fear-mongering over Beijing’s nuclear arsenal is completely unfounded, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning has said. Her comment came after the New York Times reported on Tuesday that US President Joe Biden had quietly updated the Nuclear Employment Guidance, refocusing it on China. Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, Mao said that Beijing was “gravely concerned” with the report. “The US has called China a ‘nuclear threat’ and used it as a convenient pretext for the US to shirk its obligation of nuclear disarmament,” she said. Mao added that the size of China’s nuclear arsenal was “by no means on the same level with the US,” stressing that Beijing “follows a policy of ‘no first use’ of nuclear weapons and always keeps its nuclear capabilities at the minimum level required by national security.” China has “no intention to engage in any form of arms race” with other states, she stated.
“It is the US who is the primary source of nuclear threats and strategic risks in the world,” the spokeswoman argued. In 2023, the Pentagon estimated that China will double its stockpile of operational nuclear warheads to over 1,000 by 2030. The US currently has 5,550 warheads, while Russia has 6,255, according to estimates published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The White House has downplayed China’s concerns, with spokesman Sean Savett describing the change in nuclear strategy as a routine update that was “not a response to any single entity, country, nor threat.” US officials, however, have repeatedly described China as “a challenge” to world peace and accused it of economic and military coercion in the Indo-Pacific. Beijing, in turn, has blamed the US for the ongoing tensions, urging Washington to abandon its “Cold-War mentality.”
”Nerfing of the gun emoji matches rise of the woke mind virus,,”
• X’s New Gun Emoji Fights ‘Woke Mind Virus’ – Musk (RT)
Elon Musk has explained the decision to bring back the gun emoji to X (formerly Twitter), saying the choice to depict a realistic firearm rather than a toy pistol is part of the fight against the “woke mind virus.” In a post on his social media network on Tuesday, the US billionaire shared a chart showing how the emoji has looked on various platforms over the past decade. Included on the list alongside X were images used in the products of Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Meta’s Facebook. The apparent trend has been to move away from real guns to toy guns, while Musk’s platform has done the opposite since he bought it in 2022. ”Nerfing of the gun emoji matches rise of the woke mind virus, as a core tenet is equating fake harm with real harm,” he said, commenting on the chart.
Nerfing of the gun emoji matches rise of the woke mind virus, as a core tenet is equating fake harm with real harm pic.twitter.com/Mhx2HjcES9
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 20, 2024
X transition from the previous toy gun to one that resembles a modern semi-automatic pistol happened last month – at least for its web interface. The older version was introduced by previous management in 2018. The US stands out among developed nations due to its gun culture and levels of gun violence. Some people want the display of realistic guns in various media reduced because they believe it glorifies them and fuels their use. The Unicode Consortium, the organization that decides on what should be turned into an emoji, currently calls the one with a gun a “water pistol.”
Musk is a vocal supporter of some conservative political causes. He has said he believes “that the right to bear arms is an important safeguard against potential tyranny of government,” but supported some gun control measures, such as background checks for people who want to own deadlier firearms. Earlier, Musk posted a row of gun emojis at around the same time that US President Joe Biden was giving a speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Monday. Among other things, Biden touted his administration’s record of passing gun control legislation and urged further restrictions. The ‘woke mind virus’ that Musk was referring to is a pejorative conservative term for the advocacy of radical policies, such as the right of minors to gender transition at schools without the consent or knowledge of their parents.
Waterfall
Stunning jump into a waterfall basinpic.twitter.com/XSl8GpHwab
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) August 21, 2024
Baby hippo
https://twitter.com/i/status/1825875430542581794
Frens
https://twitter.com/i/status/1826490109077635095
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