Nordstream Archives - The Automatic Earth

Lara Trump promises to seek prosecution of election riggers after Bucks County, PA caught counting illegal ballots to steal Dave McCormick's Senate seat:

"We had eyes watching everything. We caught them in this act… Obviously, it is against Pennsylvania law." pic.twitter.com/sphbT3Gugk

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) November 19, 2024

Sachs
https://twitter.com/i/status/1859018689838006695

Prof. Jeffrey Sachs after killing Joe Biden, just killed Netanyahu pic.twitter.com/U8Vvc1kWZl

— Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil (@ivan_8848) November 20, 2024

Rabies

I’m voting for this police officer on my Oscar ballot this year. Epic!!! pic.twitter.com/56NY4jVSQP

— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) November 19, 2024

Developing… What impact would this have on an audit?

• Biden Seeking To Forgive Ukraine’s Debts (RT)

Outgoing US President Joe Biden has decided to write off about $4.7 billion in taxpayer-funded loans to Ukraine as part of a broader effort to bolster Kiev before President-elect Donald Trump takes office next year. Since February 2022, the US Congress has approved more than $174 billion in aid packages to support Ukraine in its conflict with Russia. The latest tranche, approved in April, included over $9.4 billion in “forgivable loans” to help fill the gap in Kiev’s budget. “We have taken the step that was outlined in the law to cancel those loans,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Wednesday, confirming that Biden seeks to write off half of that amount, or roughly $4.7 billion. Cancelling the debt is in the “national interest of the United States and its EU, G7+, and NATO partners,” the State Department claimed in a letter to Congress dated November 18, according to Bloomberg.

President-elect Donald Trump stated on the campaign trail that he would not oppose Congress approving more aid to Ukraine as long as the assistance is given in the form of loans rather than taxpayer-funded gifts. Rebranding some of the aid as loans was one of the key adjustments that helped push through the $61 billion April package after a months-long standoff between Republicans and the White House. Senator Rand Paul has vowed to block the cancellation of the debt, arguing that it places an unfair burden on American taxpayers. “Tonight, I’m forcing a vote on my resolution to prevent Biden from turning Ukraine’s debt into America’s problem. His proposal places the burden of funding Ukraine’s businesses, farmers, and corrupt bureaucrats on the shoulders of hardworking Americans,” Paul wrote in a statement on X on Wednesday.

The Ukrainian government is almost entirely reliant on Western aid to keep its economy afloat. In September, Kiev adopted its draft budget for 2025, predicting a deficit of 75% and estimating it will need between $12 billion and $15 billion to cover the shortfall. Ukraine’s public debt exceeded $152 billion as of July, according to the Finance Ministry. The cost of servicing the loans has surged from $900 million to $5.2 billion this year, as calculated by the Russian newspaper Vedomosti after reviewing Kiev’s financial data.

In October, G7 states finalized a separate $50 billion loan for Ukraine, backed by profits accrued from approximately $300 billion in Russian assets currently frozen in the West. Despite US pressure to confiscate the assets entirely, the International Monetary Fund has so far opposed this course of action, fearing it could undermine trust in the Western financial system. Moscow has denounced the asset freeze as “theft” and warned that tapping into these funds would be illegal and set a dangerous precedent. Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov promised on Wednesday to initiate retaliatory measures mirroring the West’s actions. “If Western countries have decided to use our assets and income from our assets, the Russian side will also implement appropriate actions,” the finance minister stated.

“The current House of Representatives must impeach Biden for endangering the United States..”

Will Flynn have a post in the new admin?

• Michael Flynn Calls For ‘Urgent’ Early Removal Of Biden (RT)

Retired US Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn has urged Vice President Kamala Harris to invoke the 25th Amendment to prevent President Joe Biden from “sleepwalking” into a third world war after he permitted Ukraine to use ATACMS missiles to strike deep inside Russian territory. While Washington has not officially confirmed granting such permission, the Russian Defense Ministry has said Kiev has already used the US-supplied missiles to target Russia’s Bryansk Region. Additionally, Biden this week decided to supply Ukraine with anti-personnel landmines, breaking his 2022 promise to restrict their use. “The current House of Representatives must impeach Biden for endangering the United States,” Flynn wrote in a post on X, arguing that his former boss was impeached for much less.

“Harris should immediately invoke the 25th Amendment and remove Biden – he’s sleepwalking us into WWIII. Let’s at least put constitutional pressure on Harris because Joe’s poor memory makes him unaccountable.” In the meantime, President-elect Donald Trump’s allies and potential appointees, such as former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, who is tapped to become US Attorney General, should not stay silent, and should reveal “the identities of the deep state operatives pulling the strings of the presidency, urging Biden to act recklessly,” Flynn said. “Incoming US officials must make contact with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to deescalate the situation,” he added, drawing parallels to his own conversation with a former Russian ambassador, which made him one of the key figures in the ‘Russiagate’ conspiracy. “Different circumstance but same outcome – deescalation,” he noted.

Trump appointed Flynn as an adviser shortly after taking office in January 2017. However, Flynn was forced to resign less than a month later after being accused of misleading officials about a phone conversation with Sergey Kislyak, Russia’s ambassador to the US at the time. The controversy fed into broader allegations that the Trump campaign had colluded with Moscow to win the election, an allegation that Trump strongly denied, accusing Democrats of staging a “witch hunt.” In 2017, Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his call with Kislyak but later withdrew his plea, claiming the government had tried to frame him. The Justice Department dropped the charges against Flynn in 2020, and Trump pardoned him later that year.

Yes.

• Zelensky’s Cash Cry: Ukraine Facing Defeat If US Purse Strings Cut (Sp.)

Terminating US military aid to Kiev would lead to Ukraine’s defeat in its armed conflict with Russia, Volodymyr Zelensky said. “If they cut [it], I think we will lose,” Zelensky said in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday when asked what would happen if the United States halted or reduced military funding to Ukraine. The conflict in Ukraine is now in “the most difficult period,” Zelensky noted, adding that Ukraine would face great danger, if there’s no unity among European countries on the Ukraine issue and “what is most important, unity between Ukraine and the United States.” The Ukrainian leader believes that President-elect Donald Trump has the potential to bring an end to the conflict. “It will not be simple, but I think if, to use all the issues that the United States has, yes, he can,” Zelensky stated.

During his election campaign, Trump pledged that he could resolve the Ukraine conflict through negotiations, repeatedly asserting that he could manage to achieve such an accomplishment in just one day. Russian officials believe the issue is far too complex for such a simple solution. Trump has also frequently criticized US policy on the Ukraine conflict and derided Zelensky personally, labeling him the “greatest salesman” for taking home multibillion-dollar aid packages from the United States upon each of his visits. Russian officials have repeatedly excoriated the supply of arms to the Kiev regime, stressing that these shipments are unlikely to influence the outcome of the special military operation, while also heightening the risk of escalation. Volodymyr Zelensky is known for criticizing his Western backers for getting caught up in what he calls “internal political games” instead of dishing out more money to the Kiev regime.

“This is impossible to understand. It is impossible to agree to this. And it will be impossible to forget; the world will remember this,” Zelensky famously said, when referring to the $60 billion in cash stuck in Congress. Recently, a video clip went viral showing the Ukrainian comedian-turned-politician asking for even more weapons, just moments after Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin announced a substantial $250 million aid package for Kiev. “Yes, we are grateful very much for every support package that is provided to Ukraine from you, but we need more weapons,” Zelensky demanded. Russia believes that arms deliveries to Ukraine hinder a resolution, directly involve NATO countries in the conflict, and are “playing with fire.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that any shipments containing weapons for Ukraine would be legitimate targets for Russia. He said the US and NATO are directly involved in the conflict, not only through weapons supplies but also by training personnel in the UK, Germany, Italy, and other countries. The Kremlin has stated that the West’s weapon supply to Ukraine does not contribute to negotiations and will have a negative effect.

“..what rational explanation could there be for the Biden administration’s sharp policy changes over the last 48 hours?

• It’s My World War III Party And I’ll Cry If I Want To (QTR)

To some degree, it’s expected that an outgoing administration would try to get as many of their policy initiatives through before the next administration takes hold of the reins on January 20. But what can be said about the Biden administration’s sudden urge to approve Ukraine’s use of U.S.-provided missiles for deeper strikes into Russia, relaxing restrictions on long-range weapon deployment? Previously, Biden firmly resisted such approval, intent on avoiding any escalation he believed might pull the U.S. and NATO into direct confrontation with nuclear-armed Russia. Now, all of a sudden, it seems like a good idea?Just when you thought the Biden administration couldn’t leave one more flaming brown paper bag of dogshit on the steps of the White House for President Trump… Among all of the failed policy ideas over the last four years, our foreign policy and our southern border have been the two most dangerous blind spots for our country, in my opinion.

Not only have we actively pursued a strategy of avoiding peace talks between Ukraine and Russia—and not only are there semi-decent arguments for the United States being the catalyst for the Russia-Ukraine war floating around—but escalating tensions with just two months to go before Donald Trump takes office is a new kind of incompetence. Following Biden’s approval of such missiles to be used, on Tuesday morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin lowered his country’s threshold for nuclear weapon use, allowing for a potential nuclear response even to conventional attacks supported by nuclear powers Biden’s new long-range missile approval .Also on Tuesday, Russia claimed to have intercepted five of six U.S.-made ATACMS missiles fired by Ukraine at a military site in the Bryansk region, while Ukraine reported hitting an ammunition depot, according to ABC News.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called the strike an escalation: “If the long-range missiles are used from the territory of Ukraine against the Russian territory, it will mean that they are controlled by American military experts and we will view that as a qualitatively new phase of the Western war against Russia and respond accordingly.” For me, this move straddles a familiar line between incompetence and outright nefariousness. It’s frightening that there are so many policy prescriptions in the United States that leave me baffled as to whether or not people are just exceptionally stupid or if they have malevolent intent. The most glaring issue of this sort always used to be monetary policy for me. Today, foreign policy has stolen the spotlight. The outgoing administration knows damn well that the incoming Trump administration is going to try and negotiate peace between Russia and Ukraine in a way the Biden administration didn’t.

They also know that the incoming administration will not be as keen to provide foreign aid for Ukraine as the Biden administration was. Because just two weeks after Election Day, we spent this morning having a serious discussion about the potential for a nuclear conflict between the United States and Russia. And while diplomats backed off their rhetoric fairly quickly Tuesday morning, the entire dust-up doesn’t happen unless the Biden administration goes out of its way to actively make it happen. So explain this to me like I’m a child: if the Biden administration really does seek a good-natured transition between the administrations, as indicated by Biden and Trump’s cordial-looking meeting days ago at the White House, what rational explanation could there be for the Biden administration’s sharp policy changes over the last 48 hours?

We’ve already seen the effects of President Trump winning the election on foreign policy. It was just hours after Trump’s win that headlines about Hamas seeking a ceasefire started to make their way around the globe after Trump’s win. And, following suit, there’s no reason to believe that Trump won’t ease tensions between Russia and Ukraine and eventually broker peace…unless the Biden administration actively goes out of its way to derail it before it happens. I know it sounds sensationalist, but I have seen the Biden administration fuck things up in short order over the last four years: food prices, the immigration surge, weaponizing government, vilifying police and good Samaritans, encouraging petty crime and looting and letting men punch women in the face in boxing rings in the name of ‘transgender equality’. To be frank, the damage this administration has done to our country throughout just one term has been breathtaking. And sadly, this means I believe it’s reasonable to be worried about what the Biden administration may do in the next month and a half as it relates to our foreign policy.

“..effectively excludes the possibility of victory over the Russian armed forces on the battlefield..”

• Russia’s New Nuclear Policy Leaves US and NATO Facing Strategic Dead End (Sp.)

The expanded list of grounds for Russia to use nuclear weapons in the updated nuclear deterrence policy effectively eliminates the possibility of defeating the country on the battlefield, Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergei Naryshkin said on Wednesday. On Tuesday, Russia released a presidential decree outlining the basic principles of the country’s policy on nuclear deterrence. The document sets out among other things that a massive aerial attack on Russia, including with the use of cruise missiles and drones, could trigger a nuclear response.

“The statement by President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin on amendments to the … [nuclear deterrence policy] was met with caution by the West. They understand that the adjustments announced by Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin largely devalue the efforts of the United States and NATO to inflict a ‘strategic defeat’ on our country, and the planned expansion of the list of grounds for the use of nuclear weapons effectively excludes the possibility of victory over the Russian armed forces on the battlefield,” Naryshkin said in an interview with the National Defense magazine.

The West realizes the need for greater restraint in relations with Russia in order to avoid getting involved in a catastrophic military conflict, the official said, adding that “enemies are forced to admit that the Russian president’s determination to firmly defend the country’s fundamental interests by all available means narrows the room for maneuver for Washington and Brussels.”

“Learn not to be afraid of death.”

• ‘Almost No Chance Of Survival’ – Zaluzhny To Troops (RT)

Ukrainian troops currently being trained in the UK to fight Russia must steel themselves to face death and kill without a second thought, Kiev’s ambassador in London, Valery Zaluzny has told the soldiers. The four-star general previously served as commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces. The speech that Zaluzhny gave at a bootcamp in southern England was shared by The Sun on Tuesday, after the tabloid joined the official’s tour of the military facility. British Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard accompanied the Ukrainian general-turned-diplomat. ”Remember that the war is becoming more cruel with every day. It leaves almost no chance for survival,” Zaluzhny warned the trainees. “Learn not to be afraid of death.” He urged the troops to develop military camaraderie, to become brothers on the battlefield, and to look after each other.

”It’s not enough to save yourself and your friend, your brother,” he stated. “You still need to complete the task. To do this, you will need to kill. To kill without hesitation.” “Love each other and remember Ukraine. If you are gone, maybe someone else will take your place, but Ukraine will be preserved,” Zaluzhny added. In February, Zaluzhny was removed from his military position and later from the armed forces altogether. Vladimir Zelensky sacked him after the general publicly disputed the Ukrainian leader’s vision on how the fight against Russia should proceed. Zaluzhny argued at the time that the conflict had reached a stalemate and Ukrainian forces should entrench. The balance has since swung in favour of Russia, whose troops have made significant progress in recent months.

The UK is among the staunchest supporters of Kiev’s bid to achieve a military victory against Russia. Former prime minister Boris Johnson infamously told the Ukrainians to “just fight,” after Kiev and Moscow agreed a draft truce in 2022. The British military has trained over 50,000 Ukrainian soldiers so far, according to the UK Ministry of Defence. Zelensky dispatched Zaluzhny to the embassy in London in May. Some people suggested the appointment was intended to remove the popular ex-military leader as a potential political rival.

“Therefore, we have also frozen the resources of Western investors, Western financial market participants and companies. The income from these assets will also be used..”

• Russia Reveals Retaliation For Western Seizure Of Its Assets (RT)

Russia will launch retaliatory measures which mirror the West’s expropriation of the country’s sovereign assets, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has said. In an interview with Rossiya-1 TV on Wednesday, Siluanov said that Russia will use income from the frozen assets of Western investors. The measures will be taken in response to the implementation of unfriendly actions by the Western countries, he added. “We are doing exactly the same. If Western countries have decided to use our assets and income from our assets, the Russian side will also implement appropriate actions,” the finance minister stated. “Therefore, we have also frozen the resources of Western investors, Western financial market participants and companies. The income from these assets will also be used,” Siluanov elaborated.

The US and its allies have frozen an estimated $300 billion in assets belonging to the Russian central bank since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. The bulk of the funds, around €197 billion ($207 billion), are being held at the Brussels-based clearinghouse Euroclear. Euroclear has estimated that these Russian assets generated €5.15 billion ($5.4 billion) in interest in the first three quarters of this fiscal year. Last month, the US announced a decision to use the proceeds from the frozen assets to repay a multibillion-dollar loan to Kiev. The G7 states in October finalized a massive $50 billion loan to Ukraine, which will be backed by profits accrued on Russian assets currently immobilized in the West.

Russia has repeatedly warned that seizing its assets would amount to “theft” and would violate international law and undermine reserve currencies, the global financial system, and the world economy. The International Monetary Fund has also been raising concerns that such actions could undermine trust in the Western financial system. Siluanov earlier warned that global players are closely following the story involving the Russian assets and are drawing their own conclusions. While the finance minister did not elaborate on the amount of Western assets currently held in Russia, previous calculations by RIA Novosti put the figure at roughly equal the size of the Russian funds frozen abroad. The news agency reported that total foreign direct investments in the Russian economy by the EU, G7, Australia, and Switzerland amounted to $288 billion as of the end of 2022.

“The question is how to avoid a deal that locks the West into a possible direct confrontation with Russia one day.”

• ‘Contours Of A Trump Peace Deal’ (ZH)

In a lengthy investigative report, Reuters has presented what it says is Russian President Vladimir Putin’s initial reaction to the incoming Trump administration’s plans to pursue ceasefire negotiations leading to a final end of the Ukraine war, which reached its 1,000th day this week. As Putin “eyes contours of a Trump peace deal,” five sources privy to Kremlin thinking say that Putin is “open” to discussing a ceasefire with Donald Trump, but will reject giving up territory acquired in Ukraine’s east – namely the annexed Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. A key sticking point will also be that Kiev totally abandons ambitions to join NATO. The Wall Street Journal revealed earlier this month that the current options being considered by Trump all involve imposing a ‘freeze’ on the war, which to Kiev’s dismay would involve “cementing Russia’s seizure of roughly 20 percent of Ukraine” while imposing a 20-year suspension on Ukraine pursuing NATO membership.

And now, Reuters writes, “In the first detailed reporting of what President Putin would accept in any deal brokered by Trump, the five current and former Russian officials said the Kremlin could broadly agree to freeze the conflict along the front lines.” The Kremlin is believed less interested in a short-term truce, fearing that it would just be used to rearm Ukraine, and that the same problems which caused the war would persist. Putin said at the Valdai discussion group weeks ago, “If there is no neutrality, it is difficult to imagine the existence of any good-neighborly relations between Russia and Ukraine.””Why? Because this would mean that Ukraine will be constantly used as a tool in the wrong hands and to the detriment of the interests of the Russian Federation,” he added. Thus from Moscow’s viewpoint, a solid and lasting peace deal would permanently address those elements which could lead to resumption of future conflict. Putin had emphasized a deal must reflect “realities” on the ground.

“Putin has already said that freezing the conflict will not work in any way,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Reuters on Tuesday. “And the missile authorization is a very dangerous escalation on the part of the United States.” Perhaps the most important part of the Reuters report is seen in the following: “While Russia will not tolerate Ukraine joining NATO, or the presence of NATO troops on Ukrainian soil, it is open to discussing security guarantees for Kyiv, according to the five current and former officials. Other Ukrainian concessions the Kremlin could push for include Kyiv agreeing to limit the size of its armed forces and committing not to restrict the use of the Russian language, the people said.” This certainly creates a diplomatic opening. Ukraine officials are demanding robust security guarantees agreed to by Russia and backed by the West. They will especially press this point if Kiev is forced to abandon its NATO membership aspirations.

Mostly likely this would center on locking in security guarantees backed by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States. Importantly, a Russian official cited in the Reuters report acknowledged there will likely be no agreement unless Ukraine is granted security guarantees, but that for Moscow it all hinges on one thing: “The question is how to avoid a deal that locks the West into a possible direct confrontation with Russia one day.” But with two months still to go with the Biden administration, and his hawkish national security officials bent on constant escalation (recklessness which is now being paralleled in the UK’s greenlighting Storm Shadow missiles launched on Russian territory), will the region even make it to Jan.20 before exploding into bigger NATO-Russia war?

Moon of Alabama has observed of the latest escalatory policies issued from the White House: U.S. president Joe Biden was found to be too senile to stand for re-election. But that does not hinder the powers that be to let him launch world war III. After ‘allowing’ Ukraine to fire U.S. controlled ballistic missiles onto targets in Russia the Biden administration is adding largely prohibited antipersonnel mines into the mix. Over 160 countries, including Ukraine, have signed treaties which prohibit the use of antipersonnel mines. During his campaign Biden had spoken against the use of such weapons. Ukraine is still vowing to fight on, despite all the reports of President-elect Trump’s plan to push hard for peace. Zelensky on Wednesday said his country “will not rest until every last Russian soldier is ejected from its territory – based on the borders it gained after the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union.”

“The video also highlights how the government spent $750,000 to determine if Neil Armstrong said “One small step for man” or “one small step for ‘a’ man,” with the outcome determined to be “inconclusive.”

• DOGE Shares Examples Of Gross Government Waste (MN)

The newly formed Department of Government Efficiency has shared some examples of the kind of obscene government waste that it will abolish. The X account of the department shared a video of Senator Rand Paul highlighting absolutely mental programs and studies that the US government has funded recently. One example was pumping a hundred grand into an experiment to determine whether gin or tequila makes a sunfish more aggressive. Another involved almost one million dollars towards a study to discover whether cocaine makes Japanese quail more “sexually promiscuous.” The video also highlights how the government spent $750,000 to determine if Neil Armstrong said “One small step for man” or “one small step for ‘a’ man,” with the outcome determined to be “inconclusive.”

Items your tax dollars are being spent on:
-$100,000 to study if tequila or gin makes sunfish more aggressive
-Nearly $1M to study if cocaine makes Japanese quail more sexually promiscuous
-$750,000 to study if the moon landing line was “One small step for Man” or “One small… pic.twitter.com/kXl4IXV8FE

— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) November 18, 2024

Paul also discovered that $2 million went toward the “construction of a kelp and shellfish nursery in Maine.” Paul has been doing this for years with his ‘Festivus’ report. DOGE also highlighted the monumental amounts of money that are unaccounted for in government. As we previously highlighted, Vivek Ramaswarmy, who is heading up DOGE with Elon Musk, recently announced that DOGE will shut down entire government agencies as part of its effort to abolish waste.

– Pentagon can’t fully account for $824 Billion
– $236 Billion in improper payments in federal programs in 2023
– $200 Billion in pandemic relief went to fraud/abuse
– The U.S. failed to track $1 Billion in Ukraine Aid

How much do we not yet know about? pic.twitter.com/FJx0zvIwJJ

— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) November 19, 2024

“Without the Constitution, the United States does not exist. A geographical area (apparently without borders) still exists, but without the Constitution it is not America. It is something else.”

• Where Life and Freedom Stand (Paul Craig Roberts)

As readers know, I have emphasized from the beginning of the conflict in 2022 that Putin himself has widened the war by trying to limit it to Donbas, thus permitting the continuation of the regime in Kiev to continue fighting the war. By not promptly knocking out Ukraine, Putin permitted Washington and NATO to get more and more involved. Every weapon system Washington and Europe said would not be supplied to Zelensky was supplied. The long range missiles that President Biden said would not be permitted to strike inside Russia are now permitted, limited at first but certainly to be expanded. By the time Trump is in office, the situation can be too poisonous to be resolved. Who is willing to lose face in an agreement? The US and NATO or the Kremlin? My answer to readers’ questions is that we are not yet at war with Russia, but that is the direction in which we are headed. What is driving us toward war is the neoconservatives’ agenda of US hegemony.

My view might be optimistic. Strong nationalist forces inside Russia resent the humiliations Putin has accepted. They resent the West’s attitude that Russia is dirt under its feet. Putin has support, but he is limited in the number of violations of Russian red lines he can ignore. I suspect that that limit is near at hand. What can Trump do? He can call Putin, ask him to hold his response until Trump is in office and can cancel the missile permission. If Trump hasn’t already called Putin, Trump has betrayed his supporters. To give assurances to Putin is not an easy thing for Trump to do. The American print and TV media and NPR would present Trump as helping Russia win the war with Ukraine by preventing US missiles fired from Ukraine into Russia. The entire CIA/FBI/Democrat/media “Russiagate” operation could be revived, which, of course, would distract Trump from his agenda.

Trump’s weaker-kneed appointments along with his warmonger appointments might begin criticizing Trump, eroding his support. After 107 years of Western propaganda against Russia–Lenin, Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev–Americans see Russia as an enemy. Coming to peace with an enemy can easily be portrayed as a sell-out of the nation. To turn from the question whether Trump can accomplish peace to the question whether he can accomplish an American restoration: As I have explained, the United States is the Constitution. Without the Constitution, the United States does not exist. A geographical area (apparently without borders) still exists, but without the Constitution it is not America. It is something else.

For decades the US Constitution has been under fierce attack from liberal-left intellectuals, professors, law schools, political activists, politicians, and some judges. The US Constitution, once a revered document, has been misrepresented as a white racist entitlement to privilege that prevents Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. For a couple of decades law schools have turned out graduates taught to see the US Constitution as a document that is in the way of progress. The 14th Amendment prohibits status-based privilege, such as advancement based on race, gender, and sexual preference, that DEI uses to destroy a merit-based system. The alleged privileges that white people are said to have are to be given instead to “people of color.” Over the course of American history there have been occasions when the Constitution was breached in the name of “national security” or some other fake cause. But the attacks were repelled.

Today the US Constitution is so weakly supported that it lacks the support of the US House of Representatives, the US Senate, and the President-elect Donald Trump himself. The oath of office to protect and defend the Constitution no longer has any meaning. Trump has often emphasized that America’s internal enemies are more formidable than external ones. But do we now count Trump among them? Trump has lent his support to the attack on the US Constitution by House Republicans and Senate Democrats. The latest attack on America has taken the form of the Antisemitism Awareness Act. This act which the Republican Speaker of the House got passed several months ago, and which Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer is trying to have passed as part of the defense appreciations bill, violates the First and 14th Amendments to the US Constitution by creating special protections for Jews by giving Jews and Israel immunity from criticism.

“..defer any sentencing “until after the end of defendant’s upcoming presidential term.”

That would not work.

• How Alvin Bragg Would Create a New Constitutional Creature (Turley)

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg pushed Tuesday to create a new constitutional creature: the layaway president. It was once common for stores to hold expensive items that you really wanted but could not make the payment. So they were tagged and kept on the shelf until you were ready to redeem your item. For Bragg, that leaves Donald Trump tagged until 2029. In a filing before Manhattan Justice Juan Merchan, Bragg suggested that the court should stay the pending criminal case and defer any sentencing “until after the end of defendant’s upcoming presidential term.” That would allow a city prosecutor to put a leash on a sitting president for four years. Trump would govern by the grace of this local judge and district attorney. In the meantime, pundits and politicians could portray the president as free on a type of work release program. The suggestion is appalling to most of the people in the country, including the majority of voters who voted for Trump.

Vice President Kamala Harris and Democrats ran on this and other cases in the election. The result was arguably the largest jury decision in history. That being said, I do not believe that the mere election of a president negates jury verdicts on 34 criminal counts. But ample reasons exist to overturn those verdicts or to dismiss this case. For example, after the verdict, the Supreme Court rendered its immunity decision barring the use of certain evidence against a president. Some of the evidence used in the Manhattan case likely fell within one of the protected categories. The prosecutors not only elicited testimony from Trump aides in the White House but then doubled down on the significance of that evidence in their closing arguments. Merchan could declare that the court cannot rule out the impact of such testimony on the final verdict. Even if Merchan, as expected, does not dismiss the case on the basis for the immunity decision, the trial was rife with reversible error.

This was a raw exercise of lawfare and Merchan did little to ensure fairness toward the defendant. Yet none of those errors can be likely addressed until Merchan reaches final decisions on the motion to dismiss as well as the sentencing question. While that will mean that Trump could, upon possible sentencing, formally become a convicted felon, the matter can then be finally pried out of the hands of Merchan and taken to higher courts for review. The worst possible option is the one suggested by Bragg, who would adopt the popular persona of Trump’s turnkey. The President would be seen by many as governing on a type of conditional status from one of the most politically compromised prosecutors in the country. For Bragg and other Trump opponents, that may be far more satisfying than a sentencing now given the unlikelihood of any jail component. After the years and millions spent on the case, it would be the ultimate buzz kill to have Trump sentenced to some fine or other non-carceral penalty.

Many Democrats want to have Trump govern with an asterisk of a “President pending sentencing.” Instead, Trump would govern with the clock ticking toward a sentencing date.

They still invent new stories all the time.

• Nord Stream Saboteurs Linked To CIA – Spiegel (RT)

A Ukrainian group that is allegedly behind the Nord Stream gas pipelines’ explosion in September 2022 has had “longstanding connections” to the CIA, Der Spiegel reported in a lengthy piece published on Wednesday. US agents trained some members of the sabotage team for many years, including its purported mastermind, Roman Chervinsky, according to the German outlet. The US-trained group had been “planning and carrying out clandestine operations for the Ukrainian security apparatus for years,” Der Spiegel reports, adding that its members also set their sights on the Russian gas pipelines as early as in 2019, some three years before Moscow launched its military operation against Kiev. The pipelines delivered up to 60 billion cubic meters of gas to Germany every year, covered around 16% of the EU’s natural gas needs as of 2018 and half of Germany’s annual demand as of 2021. They have been “a thorn in Washington’s side,” Der Spiegel writes.

Prior to the blasts, senior US officials, including President Joe Biden, had repeatedly criticized the project and urged Berlin to give up on its follow-up Nord Stream 2 project. Nord Stream 2 has never been operational since Germany halted its certification process not long before the start of the Russian military operation in February 2022. Der Spiegel named Roman Chervinsky – a Ukrainian colonel with a long history of serving with various Ukrainian intelligence agencies – as the mastermind behind the operation. The paper maintains that the act of sabotage was carried out by “a ragtag group” of divers, including about a dozen people who were hired and trained by Ukrainian intelligence operatives connected to the CIA. Chervinksy, who first served as the head of the counter-espionage department at the Ukrainian domestic security service (SBU) and then joined the nation’s military intelligence (HUR), was first named as the mastermind behind the Nord Stream sabotage by the Washington Post last year. He dismissed the allegations as “Russian propaganda” at the time.

In its piece, Der Spiegel stated that its journalists were able to talk to Chervinsky, who is under investigation in Ukraine on unrelated abuse of authority charges. The man neither confirmed nor denied his involvement in the operation but praised it as a “blessing” for both Ukraine and Germany. According to the outlet, Chervinsky was one of the Ukrainian security officials picked by US intelligence and trained for years. Washington sought to establish ties with “trustworthy” Ukrainian security officials and keep those activities secret from Moscow, the paper said, adding that “the most important goal was to set up capable sabotage units.” The paper also stated, citing its Ukrainian source, that the explosives used in the operation were “not manufactured in Ukraine.” However, the source refused to reveal where they had come from. Der Spiegel also claimed that it identified almost all people involved in the operation but refused to reveal their identities, arguing that they could become targets for both Russian and Ukrainian security services.

Earlier this month, a renowned German diving specialist questioned the narrative pushed by the Western media about a small Ukrainian team being behind the sabotage. Dr. Sven Thomas stated at that time that explosions of such scale could have only been caused by something similar to military-grade bottom mines with a yield equivalent to around 1,260 kilograms of TNT. Planting them would have required a large vessel and not just the yacht supposedly used by the Ukrainians. Moscow has dismissed Western media reports about a Ukrainian team as implausible. Last month, Danish media reported that US Navy warships had been operating near the Nord Stream pipelines shortly before the explosions.

It’s Hersh, so it’s true.

• Israel To Annex West Bank – Seymour Hersh (RT)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government intends to announce the formal annexation of the West Bank in the coming weeks, a source has told the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh. According to Hersh, Israel has been “fortified by bombs and funding” from Washington and is ramping up the expulsion of Palestinians from northern Gaza to the south of the enclave. Meanwhile, the religious parties that “dominate” Netanyahu’s cabinet are demanding full control over both occupied Palestinian territories. “I was told this week by a well-informed Washington official that the Israeli leadership will formally annex the West Bank in the very near future – perhaps in two weeks – in the hope that the decisive step will end, once and for all, any talk of a two-state solution and will convince some in the skeptical Arab world to reconsider financing the planned reconstruction of Gaza,” Hersh wrote in an article on his Substack on Wednesday.

If true, the move would coincide with the last few weeks of US President Joe Biden’s administration and create a new “reality on the ground” by the time President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January. During his first term in the White House, Trump recognized Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights and moved the US embassy to Jerusalem. Israel declared war on Gaza-based Hamas last October, following a series of deadly raids by the Palestinian militants into Israeli territory. Around 1,100 Israelis died in the October 7 assault, while an estimated 250 were taken captive. Almost 44,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of the Israeli military operation, while another 104,000 more have been injured, according to local authorities. The Israeli military and police have also cracked down on Palestinians in the West Bank, which is run by Fatah, a Palestinian faction at odds with Hamas.

The West Bank and Gaza were annexed by Jordan and Egypt, respectively, after the 1949 conflict that ended with the newly formed State of Israel in control of most of the Mandate for Palestine territory. Israel captured both in the 1967 war. International law considers the West Bank and Gaza to be occupied territories, and multiple UN resolutions have called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in those territories. Hersh is an internationally renowned investigative reporter who earned the Pulitzer Prize in 1970 for exposing the My Lai massacre and its cover-up by the US military during the Vietnam War. He has also reported on the abuses of Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghraib and the CIA’s domestic spying operations. More recently, Hersh has blamed the US for the September 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines between Russia and Germany, an allegation that Washington has denied.

The novichok was not Russian, it ‘escaped’ from a British lab.

• UK Police: No Video Evidence Of Russians’ Involvement In Skripal Case (TASS)

The UK police has no CCTV video footage to prove the involvement of Russian citizens Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov in the March 4, 2018 Salisbury incident, according to a report published as part of the public inquiry hearing into the case. According to the report, CCTV cams were not installed on Christie Miller road in Salisbury, where former spy Sergey Skripal and his daughter Yulia lived at the time of the attack. At the same time, the police suggests that the perpetrators smeared the doorknob with the Novichok agent on March 4, 2018, during their second visit to Salisbury. The document says that Petrov and Boshirov arrived in Salisbury at 11:45 a.m. on March 4, 2018. Police suspects them of using Novichok between 12:00 and 12:15 p.m., but have no evidence to substantiate their claims. Only at 12:16 were Petrov and Boshirov caught on a CCTV cam at a nearby road. Sergey and Yulia Skripal were at home over that period, the report says.

According to London, former Russian military intelligence (GRU) Colonel Sergey Skripal, who had been convicted in Russia of spying for Great Britain and later swapped for Russian intelligence officers, and his daughter Yulia, were exposed to an alleged nerve agent in the British city of Salisbury on March 4, 2018. Claiming that the substance used in the attack had been a Novichok-class nerve agent developed in the Soviet Union, London rushed to accuse Russia of being involved in the incident. Moscow strongly rejected all of the United Kingdom’s accusations, saying that neither the Soviet Union nor Russia ever had any program aimed at developing such a substance. Experts from the United Kingdom’s Defense Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down were unable to identify the origin of the substance allegedly used in the attack on the Skripals.

On July 4, 2018, the British police reported an incident in the town of Amesbury where two people had been taken to the hospital in critical condition after being affected by an unidentified substance. London’s Metropolitan Police later confirmed that the man and the woman had been poisoned with the same nerve agent that had been used on the Skripals. The woman – 44-year-old Dawn Sturgess – died on July 8, while her partner – 45-year-old Charlie Rowley – survived.

London claims that the Russian government was involved in the Skripal poisoning, using the A234 nerve agent, while Sturgess became an accidental victim after getting a bottle that Rowley had collected in a park thinking it contained perfume. Moscow strongly rejected the allegations. The Russian Foreign Ministry has sent dozens of diplomatic notes to the British Foreign Office, demanding that London provide Moscow with access to the investigation and the affected Russian nationals, as well as requesting legal assistance and offering cooperation, particularly in a joint probe. The public inquiry hearing has begun in Salisbury on October 14, and later continued in London. It is expected to be completed in the first half of December.

“Africa, with 20% of the earth’s landmass [..] and 30% of the globe’s natural resources [..] accounts for only 2.8% of the world’s GDP..

• The BRICS Spirit: Alive And Well In South Africa (Pepe Escobar)

At the APEC annual summit in Lima, Comrade Xi Jinping was practically coronated as the King of Peru, as a lively moveable feast celebrated the brand new $1.3 billion Chancay-Shanghai Maritime Silk Road across the Pacific. There could hardly be a more auspicious counterpart to the action in South America than to gather in BRICS member South Africa to discuss African Unity in a Multipolar World, as well as the perennial plagues of racism, fascism, Russophobia and other forms of discrimination. The meetings were coordinated by the Mouvement Russophile International (MIR), who is not only Russophile but most of all, multi-nodal-phile (italics mine). It’s as if this was an extension of the memorable BRICS 2024 summit in Kazan.

In Kazan, BRICS de facto expanded out of 9 members, adding 13 member-partners and reaching 22 nations (Saudi Arabia, an immensely complex case, remains on the fence). BRICS+ now largely surpasses the – waning – influence of the G20, whose annual summit is ongoing in Rio, at least focused on social issues and the fight against poverty and hunger, and not war. Still, the crisis-riddled G7/NATOstan did try to hijack the agenda. For all practical purposes, and borrowing from one of Xi’s metaphors, BRICS+ has already set sail exploring the lineaments of a new, just, fair world order. In Johannesburg, the sterling analytical quality of South African interlocutors, plus contributions from Mali and Senegal, was a source of pure joy.

[..] Unequal Africa in numbers is always a staggering proposition – inviting deep reflection. What could be defined as The Big Five – Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, Ethiopia and South Africa – are responsible for no less than half of Africa’s GDP. Three of these are now full BRICS members, and the other two are BRICS partners. Pretoria-based legal expert Dr. Andre Thomashausen provided extra startling figures. Africa, with 20% of the earth’s landmass – in which China, India, U.S. and Europe could easily “fit” – and 30% of the globe’s natural resources (including critical minerals such as lithium), not to mention 17% of the world’s population (1.3 billion people), accounts for only 2.8% of the world’s GDP. The conclusion is inevitable: the IMF and the World Bank ultimately failed Africa. In 2025, Africa will be home to no less than 8% of the world’s poor.

A new pan-Africa development model, away from the Bretton Woods system, is beyond imperative. And Russia has all it takes to play a leading role. No African nation implemented or enforced western sanctions on Russia. As Thomashausen recalled, at the 2023 St. Petersburg Economic Forum President Putin offered to donate grain to African nations, and later did not condemn military coups in West Africa, unlike the African Union – totally understanding the anti-colonization drive. Russia is strategically replacing France in West Africa and strongly supports the Alliance of Sahel States (Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso). Thomashausen noted that even as Russia’s involvement in Africa lags compared to other powers, Moscow managed to accumulate considerable soft power with only 5% of Chinese investments, creating political leverage with deals in agro-industries, security, nuclear energy and mining: ‘It has all but eliminated French influence. Its security service offerings have trumped U.S. and EU.”

Shanahan

Nicole Shanahan: " The nomination for head of the USDA is happening right this moment. And there's an opportunity for the first time ever to get somebody in there who's a real farmer who's going to look out for the small family farms and who's going to revitalize our soil… pic.twitter.com/75N9HBwrxa

— Camus (@newstart_2024) November 20, 2024

Chlorine dioxide

Chlorine Dioxide cures 98% of all diseases and is patented by a hundred thousand patents. pic.twitter.com/dCEq5xqAhW

— 232307ONE230701 (@and_lalaland) November 18, 2024

Ripple

Reflection of ripples in the water on a mountain.pic.twitter.com/B0TEMJkDhp

— Interesting things (@awkwardgoogle) November 20, 2024

Cinnamon

I don’t know where I thought cinnamon came from, but it wasn’t this.pic.twitter.com/N40BhXlZj5

— Interesting things (@awkwardgoogle) November 20, 2024

Parrot?!
https://twitter.com/i/status/1859177855260737900

Mom and dad
https://twitter.com/i/status/1859245611981090976

Cities

World's largest cities.pic.twitter.com/35NIRVFYfj

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) November 20, 2024

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Debt Rattle Election Day 2024

Nov 052024

November 5, 2024 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 9:30 am Finance Tagged with: direct war, Election Day, Joe Rogan, Kamala, legions of lawyers, lie machine, National Guard, Nordstream, psychopathocracy, Trump 62 Responses »

Berthe Morisot The old track to Auvers 1863

• Joe Rogan Endorses Trump (RT)

• The Final Days of the Lie Machine (Paul Craig Roberts)

• Will The Coming Election Make Or Break America? (Von Hoffmeister)

• Escape from Psychopathocracy (Kunstler)

• US Judge Refuses To Block Elon Musk’s Election Lottery (RT)

• Early Voting Numbers ‘Scary’ For Harris – Former Obama Campaign Manager (RT)

• Will America Survive the 2024 Election Tomorrow? (Paul Craig Roberts)

• Harris and Walz Declare War on America (Klingenstein)

• Washington Activates National Guard, Oregon “Standing Ready” (ZH)

• NBC Airs Trump Message After Harris Saturday Night Live Appearance (ET)

• Both Parties Deploy Legions of Lawyers For Election Challenges (Turley)

• Ukraine Needs 500,000 New Troops – Lawmaker (RT)

• US Preparing Europe to Start Direct War With Russia If Ukraine Fails – Lavrov (Sp.)

• Is The West Finally Ready To Admit Defeat In Ukraine? (Diesen)

• Diving Expert Questions Narrative Behind Nord Stream (RT)

• Netanyahu’s “Imaginary War Narrative” Strategy (Alastair Crooke)

https://twitter.com/i/status/1853138762513187263

This ad is POWERFUL. Trump will be spending $50 Million blasting it to every voter in the battleground states in the next two days.
pic.twitter.com/qMzHIbnER5

— George (@BehizyTweets) November 4, 2024

Axelrod

Axelrod is worried that the support won’t materialize for Harris on game day.

I can tell you that I’ve talked to people who have been on the ground in places like Philadelphia, Detroit, New Orleans, and they have all said the same thing. There’s zero enthusiasm on the ground… pic.twitter.com/dRXWCpPyTs

— Insurrection Barbie (@DefiyantlyFree) November 4, 2024

Elon subsidies
https://twitter.com/i/status/1853284733389779368

Vivek

Either we all have our heads stuck in algorithmic echo chambers, or Trump is going to win this decisively. It certainly feels like the latter. pic.twitter.com/DrXp8HQbvh

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) November 4, 2024

He hates

WATCH: Our @SpencerLndqst went to a Kamala Harris rally to see whether her supporters really think Trump is the next Hitler. And they do.

"If he wins in November, it will be the birth of the American Nazi party” pic.twitter.com/jpUFfKgUZ3

— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) November 3, 2024

Little secret

How epic would it be if Trumps ‘little secret’ is the Supreme Courts ruling on the Brunson case and it being made public by the Military and Supreme Court. Proving that Trump won the 2020 election in a landslide and overturning the 2020 election. Invalidating everything that the… pic.twitter.com/CA6uzzORpG

— The Yorkshire Lass (@real_shirelass) November 4, 2024

Megyn

Megyn Kelly highlights the moment Kamala Harris realizes she’s an idiot. pic.twitter.com/JcbfrmX1OE

— Sheri™ (@FFT1776) November 4, 2024

Naval

Naval Ravikant: "My biggest fear is unified governments in general because the government that governs best is the one that governs least. So you want divided government. That's why the founders of this country made it so hard to actually pass laws and to change things. So you… pic.twitter.com/Q2ofWmAZ6z

— Camus (@newstart_2024) November 4, 2024

Elon
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1853259040098308317

“Musk makes what I think is the most compelling case for Trump you’ll hear, and I agree with him every step of the way. For the record, yes, that’s an endorsement of Trump..”

• Joe Rogan Endorses Trump (RT)

The great and powerful @elonmusk.
If it wasn't for him we'd be fucked. He makes what I think is the most compelling case for Trump you'll hear, and I agree with him every step of the way.
For the record, yes, that's an endorsement of Trump.
Enjoy the podcast pic.twitter.com/LdBxZFVsLN

— Joe Rogan (@joerogan) November 5, 2024

Podcaster Joe Rogan has endorsed former President Donald Trump following an interview with one of his most vocal supporters, billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk, on the eve of Trump’s faceoff against Vice President Kamala Harris. Rogan promoted his interview with the “great and powerful” Musk in a post on X, insisting that if it weren’t for the self-described free speech absolutist, “we’d be f**ked.” “Musk makes what I think is the most compelling case for Trump you’ll hear, and I agree with him every step of the way. For the record, yes, that’s an endorsement of Trump,” Rogan told his 13.3 million followers on Monday evening. During the interview, Musk reiterated his warning that the 2024 election could become the last if Democrats win and move to “legalize enough illegals to turn the swing states, and everywhere will be like California.”

https://twitter.com/i/status/1853632989680357836

“There will be no escape. This is it. This is the last chance. Go out and vote. Vote like your life depends on it. Vote like your future depends on it, because it does,” he urged the audience. The news soon reached Trump, who was holding a rally in the crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania at the time. “It just came over the wires that Joe Rogan just endorsed me. Is that true? Thank you, Joe. That’s so nice. And he doesn’t do that,” Trump said.

Vote for @realDonaldTrump or the Dems will legalize so many illegals in swing states that this will be the last real election in America. @JoeRogan agrees.

pic.twitter.com/AtPVm3lSr2

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 5, 2024

Last month, Trump appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, where he accused his Democratic opponents of representing an “enemy from within” that undermines the country and poses a greater threat than any foreign adversary. The three-hour conversation covered a wide range of topics and garnered over 45 million views on YouTube alone. The host of the largest podcast in the US also wanted to interview Trump’s rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, but could not reach an agreement on terms. The Harris campaign allegedly wanted Rogan “to travel to her, and they only wanted to do an hour,” leading him to decline the offer despite his “sincere wish” to “get to know her as a human being.”

Elon Musk tells Joe Rogan what he thinks will happen if Kamala wins.

"This election is the last chance to preserve Democracy in America, mark my words."

Why? Listen to @elonmusk's reasonable rationale. pic.twitter.com/y8fs9WANS1

— Victoria Taft, The Adult in the Room, FITF Squad (@VictoriaTaft) November 5, 2024

“The Washington Post and the New York Times win prizes, but increasingly we talk only to a certain elite. More and more, we talk to ourselves.”

• The Final Days of the Lie Machine (Paul Craig Roberts)

One of the worst features of Democracy is the self-serving lobby groups. The Israeli lobby groups, AIPAC and ADL are having a rough time because of the Zionist genocide of the Palestinians. People are starting to wonder how Israel is a victim when Israel is slaughtering women and children not only in Gaza but also in south Lebanon. Now that in Ukraine the Biden-Harris regime have given Americans another lost war, which casts more doubt on American omnipotence, the military/security complex lobbies are experiencing public disbelief in their narratives. The Atlantic Council is a lobby group for the military-security complex and Washington’s hegemony over Europe. Attempting to control explanations important to war profits, the group created a lie machine, DFR Lab. On October 30, one of the lie machine’s employees, Meredith Furbish, branched out into other areas and defined those of us who have documented the legalization of election theft in the swing states as “Russia-linked media.”

Furbish doesn’t say why only Russians and not Americans are concerned with the mechanisms used to steal American elections. Citing a narrative controller called Alliance for Securing Democracy, Furbish describes me as “an RT regular and noted conspiracy theorist.” I think it has been years since I was interviewed by RT, and being interviewed doesn’t make one a “regular.” Furbish is so incompetent that she doesn’t know that the Russian journalist Ekaterina Blinova writes for Sputnik, not RT. The notion Furbish is trying to perpetuate is that those who identify voting irregularities are Russian agents spreading disinformation. Russia has to be behind everything so that we can stay at war with Russia. As for being a conspiracy theorist, the self-serving interest groups declare all truth-tellers to be conspiracy theorists. Every explanation, no matter how truthful, that does not uphold the official narratives is a conspiracy theory. This tells us that it is the conspiracy theories that are correct, not the official narratives.

To suppress truth has been the function of the print and TV media and NPR for many years. The editors and journalists in the presstitute media have no independence. Moreover, most were indoctrinated in journalism schools that their task is to control narratives for the ruling elite. Lobby groups such as the Atlantic Council create their own lie machines to guard their agendas from exposure. But it hasn’t worked. The lie machine has failed. We have that on the authority of no less than two major lie machine operators. The editor-in-chief of the Wall Street Journal, once a reputable newspaper but no longer, recently said that the media had lost readership because the newspapers ceased reporting and became protectors of official narratives and lost the trust of the public. The words she used were the media “lacks transparency.”

Jeff Bezos, owner of the Washington Post, never a reputable newspaper, wrote on October 28 a Washington Post editorial in which he said that the reputation of the American print and TV media has fallen below that of Congress. “Our profession is now the least trusted of all.” Reality, Bezos said, won over the lie machine: “Reality is an undefeated champion.” To regain credibility, Bezos says, the media will have to return to accuracy and cease to sacrifice truth to the promotion of ideological agendas. “The Washington Post and the New York Times win prizes, but increasingly we talk only to a certain elite. More and more, we talk to ourselves.” Who does Meredith Furbish talk to? Her discredited lie machine bosses. No one reads her. No one cares what she says. The election tomorrow will tell us if enough Americans have escaped their indoctrinated existence to save our country.

“A wave of mistrust washes ashore with each campaign promise and counterattack, feeding a monster that has been lurking since the nation’s founding..”

• Will The Coming Election Make Or Break America? (Von Hoffmeister)

As the 2024 US election nears, tension is rising across the nation, fueling fears that the American republic itself hangs in the balance. For some, this election presents the risk of a final fracture, one where states weary of federal overreach might assert their autonomy and challenge Washington’s hold. Supporters of a more decentralized America argue that a return to local governance could strengthen the republic, while critics warn it may signal the beginning of a dissolution of that which once bound the states by family ties and shared purpose. With the world watching, the outcome of the election may determine whether America endures as a unified power or breaks up into a mosaic of rival territories, each proclaiming its own justice.

Many foresee an era of upheaval – one that may bring the nation closer to collapse than ever before. The election, many argue, could serve as a sword dividing the states, slashing the bonds of unity that held them through trials and bloodshed. A wave of mistrust washes ashore with each campaign promise and counterattack, feeding a monster that has been lurking since the nation’s founding. Dread grows that strong states like Texas may finally cast off the federal chains, carving paths as sovereign lands should they sense betrayal from a distant capital.

Some voices call for the wisdom of disaggregated administration, suggesting that perhaps strength lies not in a vast, singular realm but in federated regions, united only by a loose pact. For these, the nation’s greatness could thrive in a non-monolithic structure, one that allows each region to wield its own power and champion its distinct traditions. They see this as a way to preserve the land’s beauty, avoiding the stain of forced conformity and letting each region flourish like a proud kingdom unto itself. But others see this as the beginning of the end, a shattering of the once-mighty republic, a descent into fractious states wary of neighbors and embittered by ancient rivalries.

Across the oceans, foes of the republic watch with a glint in their eyes, sensing the scent of weakness. The world, once ordered by America’s hand, could see new realms emerge as pillars of a power shift. With America splintered, vast civilizations unshackled from Western influence could grow bold, forging a world of their own design. In the tumultuous aftermath of this election, new alliances could take shape, established on ancient principles that defy the siren song of democracy. It is a prophecy of an order led not by one people but by many, each distinct, each following the call of its own land and heritage.

For the republic itself, dark forebodings abound. Some warn that unchecked discord could rend the union asunder, casting the states as enemies sworn to conquer one another, much as kingdoms of old clashed on blood-soaked fields. Political battles, once confined to speeches and votes, may soon take the form of steel and fire, with regions seeking dominance or defense of their way of life. In such a landscape, the banners of free states could be raised high, each upholding its own “God-given” reign, even as they march against one another.

“It is an enormous, dastardly machine designed to deprive you of your consent to be governed. It is the work of political psychopaths.”

• Escape from Psychopathocracy (Kunstler)

Why does it seem that the Democratic Party is in it solely to remain in power? I will tell you: because it controls the money-flows to the vast cadres of a vicious parasitical bureaucracy and its support system of outside orgs that commit crimes and make war on the rest of us. It’s called “the blob” for a reason. It’s exactly like that monster out of the 1950s horror movies, a shape-shifting leviathan that devours everything in its path with only one purpose, to grow ever larger until it consumes. . . everything. In my state of New York last week, the DEC authorities sent a swat team to seize a man and woman’s pet squirrel and raccoon and then killed the animals. Why? Because they could. How is that different from the DOJ swatting and seizing a grandmother for walking through the US capitol building and then stuffing her in prison for the rest of her natural life on misdemeanor charges? It’s not different.

They are both demonstrations of deliberate cruelty — and that’s why the squirrel story resonated so widely around the country. You know exactly what it says: we can take whatever is dear to you. . . your pets. . . your livelihood. . . your freedom. . . your life. Who failed to notice that candidate Kamala Harris was unable to articulate any coherent notion about how her government might manage its business beyond some empty nostrums about “joy,” and “turning the page”? Because the party’s actual purpose, which it hides and lies about, is just to push you around, tell you what to do and what to think, and to punish you if you don’t comply — in other words, to exercise despotic power. It can’t do anything else with that power. It lacks the competence to manage an economy from the top down, and it certainly won’t allow the countless volitional transactions of people at liberty to produce and sell things of value on their own.

It will go to war against anything to steal more money: some pitiful foreign kleptocracy of a country. . . the liberty-minded people of our own country. . . against sound ideas, proven principles, standards of decency, and, not unusually, against reality itself. And now you and I face the ordeal of an election that, by design, will be nearly impossible to audit, will remain inconclusive for weeks, and subject to endless dispute. Why, because it serves the purpose of the Party of Chaos, which is. . . chaos! The scheme was to introduce so many devices of uncertainty as to guarantee political paralysis. Why else would you use batteries of hugely expensive computerized vote-counting machines that can be easily hacked, untraceable mail-in ballots with no chains of custody, the automatic registration of non-citizens, and laws (as in California) to literally forbid the requirement of voter-ID?

This was the work of lawfare terrorist Marc Elias — with hundreds of millions of dollars at his disposal, some from the government itself, a bunch from the party, and some from rogue billionaires such as George Soros, Bill Gates, and Reid Hoffman, and then disbursed surreptitiously through hundreds of NGOs — to elect officials such as Secretaries of State and district attorneys who will ignore or bend the law, to pay off state legislators around the country to change voting rules, to hire brigades of ballot “harvesters,” and to file ruinous lawsuits against anyone who objects to these pranks. It is an enormous, dastardly machine designed to deprive you of your consent to be governed. It is the work of political psychopaths.

[..] One way or another, looks like we’re in for a hard, anxious winter. Threats galore loom concerning possible blob / Party of Chaos mischief ahead, designed to disorder our national life: false flags prompting the imposition of martial law. . . aggressive censorship and cancellation of free-speaking regime opponents. . . deployment of Antifa mobs against civil order, with violence, looting, arson. This symbiotic enemy of the people is desperate to evade accountability for the crimes they’ve already committed as officials running institutions: abuse of power, conspiracy to deprive many citizens of their civil rights, perhaps even treason. They’re capable of anything. They must be defeated.

“There is no prize to be won; instead, recipients must fulfill contractual obligations to serve as spokespersons for the PAC..”

• US Judge Refuses To Block Elon Musk’s Election Lottery (RT)

A judge in Pennsylvania has allowed Elon Musk’s giveaway to continue until Election Day on November 5, rejecting the district attorney’s request to block it as an “illegal” lottery. On October 19, the CEO of X, SpaceX, and Tesla announced he would give $1 million each day to registered voters in swing states who signed his petition defending “free speech and the right to bear arms.” He presented the first check during a rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, that same day, stating the giveaway would run until Election Day. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, a Democrat, filed a civil lawsuit accusing the entrepreneur of running an “illegal” lottery.

According to the lawsuit, America PAC, a political action committee, and Musk “are lulling Philadelphia citizens – and others in the Commonwealth (and other swing states in the upcoming election) – to give up their personal identifying information and make a political pledge in exchange for the chance to win $1 million.” America PAC attorney Chris Gober argued that despite Musk describing the giveaway as random, the program does not constitute a lottery. “There is no prize to be won; instead, recipients must fulfill contractual obligations to serve as spokespersons for the PAC,” Gober said at a hearing before Common Pleas Court Judge Angelo Foglietta on Monday.

Krasner’s office called Gober’s statement a “complete admission of liability,” with lawyer John Summers arguing during the hearing that Musk and the PAC have deceived thousands of Philadelphians by being intentionally opaque about the details surrounding the giveaways. Musk, who previously positioned himself as politically neutral, publicly endorsed the Republican nominee shortly after the failed assassination attempt on Trump on July 13. Last month, the US-based billionaire revealed he had donated $75 million to America PAC, which he founded in July. The organization aims to bolster turnout for Trump in swing states. On the eve of the election, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris are deadlocked in key battleground states, with polls suggesting neither has an advantage greater than two points.

“Republicans did not do what they did last time. Last time, Trump said: ‘Do not early vote,’ and so they did not.”

• Early Voting Numbers ‘Scary’ For Harris – Former Obama Campaign Manager (RT)

The early voting numbers in the US presidential election look “scary” for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, former US President Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign manager Jim Messina has said. Messina made the warning on Sunday, during an interview with MSNBC host and former White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki. “Early vote numbers are a little scary,” he said. According to the former Obama campaign manager, supporters of Republican candidate Donald Trump have been much more active this time compared to the previous election. “Republicans did not do what they did last time. Last time, Trump said: ‘Do not early vote,’ and so they did not. Republicans do have an advantage in early vote numbers. When the early vote comes in, it is going to look a little bit different than 2020,” he said. The early voting figures have “led lots of your friends and my friends to call me panicking,” Messina told Psaki.

However, he stressed that Harris’ campaign also has grounds to be “very, very happy.” It is because two voting blocks that are believed to be crucial for the Democratic candidate are “coming big,” the former campaign manager explained. Women make up more than a half of the early voters and “in the past ten days, young voters in these battleground states are coming out in what looks to be… historic numbers,” Messina explained. According to NBC’s figures, 76.2 million mail-in and early in-person votes have already been cast across the US. Among those who voted early, 41% are Democrats and 39% are Republicans, with the party affiliation of the remaining 20% unknown. However, more Republicans cast their ballots in four out of the seven battleground states, with the margin being the largest in Arizona: 42% to 33%. NBC’s figures suggest that among the early voters, 53% were females and 20% those aged between 18 and 39 years.

“Are Americans going to elect Kamala, who has responsibility for these policies, President of the United States? If so, Americans are kissing their country good-bye.”

• Will America Survive the 2024 Election Tomorrow? (Paul Craig Roberts)

The election is upon us. It is an important election, because the result will determine whether America as we knew it will continue to exist. Trump represents America. Kamala represents the forces attempting to overthrow America. In the last few days leading Democrats, such as Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, have said that the First Amendment is in the way of their ability to impose their agendas on the American people and that censorship of truth is essential to their rule. Democrat Law school deans and Democrat intellectuals have said the same. In the Autumn 2024 City Journal, Jacob Siegel describes the Democrats’ plot to manage Democracy. Censorship is used to control the public’s access to information. Denied facts, controlled narratives are used to create public acceptance of Democrat agendas.

These agendas are open borders; normalization of sexual perversity; sexualization of young children; demonization of white people as “racists,” “deplorables,” and “garbage;” replacement of merit with DEI, and further erosion of parental control by performing sex change operations on under age children without parental consent. Liberal American women think these are good policies. If Kamala becomes President of the United States, it will be while liberal women who elected her. Jacob Siegel writes: “The Democratic Party’s strategy to win the presidency in 2024 hinges in large part on preventing a normal election from taking place. Procedural and voting irregularities that would have triggered alarm across the political spectrum until recently have become an accepted feature of the landscape. The Democrat party has pursued this strategy since 2016, when the Obama White House and the Hillary Clinton campaign worked with U.S. intelligence agencies to frame Trump falsely as a Russian agent.”

You have heard this all before from me. The Democrats want a Sodom and Gomorrah Tower of Babel, and they are working hard to get it. The same agenda is afoot in Europe where countries composed of ethnic nationalities for which they are named–French, German, Italian, Dutch, British, Irish, Spanish, Portuguese, Belgian, Hungarian, Polish, Czech–are disappearing into “diversity.” To get rid of ethnic Europeans and their culture is the reason for the open borders that have decimated European civilized existence. The destruction of white ethnic countries and their replacement with Towers of Babel is the intention of the left-wing Western intellectuals and all of the currently ruling political parties. Western ethnicities have been sold out by their own elected leaders. What explains the insouciance of peoples who elect to power people who intend to displace them from their own country?

[..] Steven Malanga writing in the City Journal makes it clear that the destruction of racial homogeneity has a cost. The Biden-Harris regime have made it possible for South American criminal gangs to get visas into the US without background checks due to a Homeland Security (sic) program called the Electronic System for Travel Authorirzation–Visa Waiver Program. The result Malange reports, has been a run-away epidemic of crimes. All sorts of gangs have been unleashed on Americans. Some specialize in drugs, some in trafficking women and children for prostitution, some in burglary, some in murder. Malanga reports that immigrant-invader burglary gangs use “Wi-Fi suppression equipment to disarm home alarms, cell-phone trackers to determine the location of homeowners, and fake IDs.” The gangs face minimal risk. If arrested, they are usually quickly released and vanish. “The leaky immigration system has made some criminals so bold that they deliberately get themselves arrested at the California border, knowing that they will be immediately released into America.”

The amount of crimes committed by immigrant-invaders is difficult to determine, because Democrats do not want Americans to know the cost of the Democrat’s open borders policy. Malanga reports that a sense of the problem’s magnitude is available from a Government Accountability Office study of crimes committed by illegals incarcerated in prisons. “Analyzing data from 2011 through 2016, the study attributed more than 1 million drug violations, 33,000 homicides, 500,000 assaults, 110,000 auto thefts, and 132,000 sex offenses to illegals. And these figures predate the 2021 border surge, recent bail reforms that have let offenders walk free, and the reduction in public-safety efforts following the defund-the-police movement.” Are Americans going to elect Kamala, who has responsibility for these policies, President of the United States? If so, Americans are kissing their country good-bye.

“We are in a war. But only one side is fighting—their side. You can’t win a war if you don’t fight.”

• Harris and Walz Declare War on America (Klingenstein)

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are prepared to wage war on America. Let me explain. Walz’s most important education advisor is Brian Lozenski, a professor of “urban and multicultural education” at Macalester College. Lozenski is a prominent national voice in the world of critical race theory (CRT), and the foremost authority on CRT in Minnesota. CRT holds that everything about American society is racist. Everything—American values, from patriotism and hard work; American institutions, from the traditional family to religion; and American policies, from secure borders to energy independence. Racism, say the critical race theorists, is in America’s DNA. In a recently unearthed video, Brian Lozenski puts it even more directly: “America is irreversibly racist…[and] must be overthrown.” In case you missed his meaning, he goes on to say, “You can’t be a critical race theorist and be pro-U.S.” This is a declaration of war. It could not be any clearer.

Tim Walz appointed Lozenski to a key curriculum committee tasked with developing “ethnic studies” standards for instruction in every grade, in every required class, in every public school in Minnesota. (Ethnic studies is a cousin of CRT and, like CRT, has the “overthrow” of America in its sights.) Under the proposed standards, as described by Katherine Kersten of the Center of the American Experiment: “First-graders must ‘identify examples of ethnicity, equality, liberation and systems of power’ and ‘use those examples to construct meanings for those terms.’” (Yes, first-graders.) “High school students are told to ‘develop an analysis of racial capitalism’ and ‘anti-Blackness’ and are taught to view themselves as members of ‘racialized hierarchies’ based on ‘dominant European beauty standards.’” Ethnic studies is the centerpiece of Walz’s education agenda, and Lozenski is the leader of the ethnic studies initiative. Nor is this radical program simply something that has bubbled up from below.

According to Kersten, Walz himself “has used both legislation and administrative rulemaking to achieve…radical Ethnic Studies instruction… Between 2021 and 2023, Walz proposed and pushed Ethnic Studies in a series of ‘governor’s policy and budget bills’ at the Minnesota Legislature.” This is the Democrats’ nominee for vice president of the United States of America. Republicans have long failed to realize that they are in a war. Now they should. If someone says they want to destroy you, then you know you are in a war—it’s pretty obvious. It’s time for Republicans to get on a war footing. They must fight like our democracy depends on it. The destructive left is sure that the former President Donald Trump is a threat to democracy—or at least they say so, and they act as if they believe it. We know this is nonsense. The Lozenski video shows us clearly where the real threat to our democracy lies.

If Lozenski is a revolutionary, and he certainly is, then so is Tim Walz, who entrusted him with the education of Minnesota’s children. What about Kamala Harris? Could it be that she didn’t know who she was choosing? No, it couldn’t be. She knows perfectly well who Tim Walz is and what he believes. After all, she chose him over more qualified candidates precisely because his ideology was the most compatible with hers. It is sometimes the case that a presidential candidate fails to detect some aspect of their running mate—for example, personal failings or minor policy positions—but a candidate does not choose, say, a Marxist, or in this case, a revolutionary, running mate by accident. From Kamala’s perspective—and we must understand Kamala’s perspective—she simply chose a man who wants to improve America in the same way she wants to improve it. But their idea of “improving” is identical to Lozenski’s overthrowing.”

Trump regularly says, and quite rightly, that the enemy within is “far more dangerous” than China and other enemies without. But we have not had a face for the “enemy within.” Now we do. The face of the enemy within is Brian Lozenski. The right must give up the delusion that we are still engaged in politics as usual. We are in a war. But only one side is fighting—their side. You can’t win a war if you don’t fight. It is well past time that we engage the enemy, prepared to give our last full measure of devotion so that the greatest country in the history of mankind shall not perish from the earth.

The army. For an election. Already seems normal.

• Washington Activates National Guard, Oregon “Standing Ready” (ZH)

Washington Governor Jay Inslee is activating the Washington National Guard ahead of election day, according to KING 5, and neighboring state Oregon isn’t far behind. The action by the governor follows two recent ballot box arsons in Portland and Vancouver, Washington, in late October, which destroyed hundreds of ballots. Officials are still seeking a suspect. Governor Inslee announced that some National Guard members will assist local law enforcement and the State Patrol, with the exact number yet to be decided. Homeland Security has warned of potential political violence and threats to election infrastructure ahead of the 2024 General Election. Guard members will be on standby from Monday through Thursday night. “The southwest region of Washington state has already experienced specific instances of election-related unrest,” Inslee commented according to CNN.

“Based upon general and specific information and concerns regarding the potential for violence or other unlawful activity related to the 2024 general election, I want to ensure we are fully prepared to respond to any potential additional civil unrest,” he continued. Oregon is taking similar measures, with its National Guard “standing ready”. In a statement, Gov. Tina Kotek said: “The governor’s office is closely monitoring and coordinating with local, state and federal agencies to ensure Oregon voters can safely cast their ballot.” Meanwhile, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler noted there’s “no current information to suggest unrest” but acknowledged community tension. Oregon State Police, Portland law enforcement, and the Department of Emergency Management are coordinating efforts, with Portland increasing police staffing on Tuesday as a precaution. In 2020, Oregon deployed the National Guard and a unified command for election security, and recently, states have increasingly activated the Guard for cybersecurity during elections, the report concluded.

“We have to straighten out our country, we have to close our borders, we have to lower our taxes, we have to get rid of inflation. I’ll fix it.”

• NBC Airs Trump Message After Harris Saturday Night Live Appearance (ET)

NBC aired a message from former President Donald Trump one day after Vice President Kamala Harris appeared on Saturday Night Live (SNL). Trump spoke for about one minute during the message, which was prerecorded and broadcast during a NASCAR race on Nov. 3. It was aired again during an NFL game. Trump, after greeting fans of sports, noted that the presidential election is slated for Nov. 5. “We’re two days away from the most important election in the history of our country. We’ve got to save our country, and it needs saving. It’s in very bad shape,” Trump said. “We’re going to end up in a depression based on what’s been happening,” he added later. “We have to straighten out our country, we have to close our borders, we have to lower our taxes, we have to get rid of inflation. I’ll fix it.”

Harris appeared live during Saturday’s SNL. She participated in a skit that portrayed her speaking to another version of herself ahead of the election. “It is nice to see you, Kamala, and I’m just here to remind you, you got this. You can do something your opponent cannot do. You can open doors,“ Harris told Maya Rudolph, who was playing the vice president and had said she wished she could talk to someone ”who’s been in my shoes; a black, South Asian woman running for president, preferably from the Bay Area.” Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Brandon Carr wrote in a Nov.3 post on social media platform X that the Democratic presidential nominee’s appearance may have violated an FCC rule against licensed broadcasters using public airwaves to influence an election in favor of a candidate unless the other candidate is offered equal time by the same broadcasters.

The rule in question “generally means providing comparable time and placement to opposing candidates,” according to an FCC fact sheet. The regulator gives an example of a qualified candidate appearing on a station. In that scenario, the station “will be required to entertain requests for Equal Opportunities by opposing legally qualified candidates for the same office,” the FCC states. “However, the station is not required to seek out opposing legally qualified candidates and offer them Equal Opportunities.” The FCC grants licenses to some broadcasters. The agency can revoke licenses, although its chairwoman said in October that revocation would not happen “for political reasons.” Over the weekend, NBC lodged a notice with the FCC that said Harris appeared on its network for one minute and 30 seconds. The broadcaster said the appearance came “without charge.”

“..a judge had to order Democratic Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes to release the names of roughly 218,000 voters who may have been allowed to register without the proof of citizenship required by state law..”

• Both Parties Deploy Legions of Lawyers For Election Challenges (Turley)

The Supreme Court has already intervened to stop an effort by the Biden-Harris administration to force Virginia to put people back on the voting rolls who had identified themselves as non-citizens. It is a crime for non-citizens to vote. Although Virginia allows any mistaken information to be corrected (and also allows for challenged voters to file provisional ballots), lower courts ordered Virginia to enable people to vote who had said they were not citizens. Critics charge that the case is the continuation of the administration’s unrelenting attacks on voter identification and proof of citizenship laws, even though 84 percent of Americans support such laws. In California, Governor Gavin Newsom and Democratic legislators actually made it a crime for any poll worker to ask voters for identification.

Some of these early challenges are welcomed, in the sense that we still have time to work out problems. Courts are notoriously reluctant to intervene after an election with the limited time before the certification of votes. They often refuse challengers access to vital election board information or bar cases as speculative or litigants as lacking in standing. This fuels the public’s distrust of the integrity of the election. Some challenges potentially involve a high number of votes in swing states. For example, in North Carolina, the Republican National Committee is suing the North Carolina State Board of Elections over 225,000 people who may not have been appropriately registered because that state failed to require a driver’s license or partial Social Security number. In Arizona, a judge had to order Democratic Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes to release the names of roughly 218,000 voters who may have been allowed to register without the proof of citizenship required by state law.

There is also a growing concern over possible systemic voting registration violations in multiple districts in Pennsylvania. Initially, 2,500 forms were marked as suspicious for possible false names, duplicative handwriting or unverifiable or incorrect identifying information. Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams and her team found that about 60 percent of the 2,500 forms were potentially illegitimate. Monroe County District Attorney Mike Mancuso linked the registrations to “Field and Media Corps,” a subsidiary of Fieldcorps, an Arizona-based organization. Field and Media Corps appears to have taken down its website, but it previously identified itself as a subsidiary of FieldCorps. It described itself as “connecting campaigns and projects with communities of color across the state. Our clients benefit from our social activism and coalition leadership experience gained through decades of leading campaigns, highlighting social inequalities, and developing BIPOC coalition building.”

FieldCorps has reportedly been working for the Harris-Walz campaign, the Mark Kelly campaign in Arizona and other Democratic campaigns. Efforts to reach FieldCorps for comment have been unsuccessful. The concern is that companies like FieldCorps could be replicating errors across districts and states in the rush to register new voters. If these are knowing falsifications, it could constitute a federal crime. We also have the same controversies arising in this election about changes to voting laws just before the election. In 2020, many voters were opposed to courts in states like Pennsylvania issuing last-minute changes. Many assumed that these laws had been finally worked out to guarantee the criteria for consideration of mail-in ballots and other forms of voting.

However, with less than two weeks to go, a divided Pennsylvania Supreme Court voted 4-3 to order a significant change in election rules. The Election Code in the state is a model of clarity — it says that a provisional ballot “shall not be counted if the elector’s [mail] ballot is received in a timely manner by a county board of elections.” However, the court ruled that provisional ballots must be counted even if an individual has already sent in a mail ballot rejected for violating a mandatory rule, such as failure to place the ballot in a secrecy envelope or to date or sign the envelope. Late Friday night, the Supreme Court declined to block the counting of the provisional ballots.

However, on Friday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court did hold the line on another major change of the state election laws ordered by a lower court. The court stayed a decision that it is unconstitutional to reject mail ballots without handwritten dates on the return envelopes. The stay means that the law will remain in effect for the election. Justice Kevin Doughtery (joined by Chief Justice Debra Todd) wrote a reassuring concurrence for many of us having to follow these cases: “‘This Court will neither impose nor countenance substantial alterations to existing laws and procedures during the pendency of an ongoing election.’ We said those carefully chosen words only weeks ago. Yet they apparently were not heard in the Commonwealth Court, the very court where the bulk of election litigation unfolds.”

“The Russian Defense Ministry has estimated Ukraine’s total losses – killed and wounded – at over 500,000, or around half of its total manpower..”

• Ukraine Needs 500,000 New Troops – Lawmaker (RT)

Ukraine needs at least 500,000 new recruits to replace combat losses and outfit new units, lawmaker Roman Kostenko has said in an interview. Kiev’s current plans would fall 300,000 men short. Kostenko is the secretary of the Verkhovna Rada’s Defense and Intelligence committee and a former officer in the Ukrainian military. His comments came in an interview with the TV channel Priamyi (Direct) over the weekend. Taking into account the situation, the estimate floated at the end of last year by former military chief Valery Zaluzhny seems more relevant than Kiev’s current figures, Kostenko said. “Zaluzhny did not take those numbers randomly. I rather agree with him here that after all, such a number is more relevant than what we’ve gathered, than what we were told before, that we don’t need that many,” Kostenko said. Zaluzhny had called for a mobilization of 500,000 men in December 2023.

Vladimir Zelensky initially agreed with that assessment, but backtracked due to a public backlash. Zaluzhny was relieved in February – reportedly due to disagreements about the draft – and named Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK. While Zelensky did not specify how many troops would have to be drafted, the authorities in Kiev spoke of 160,000 by the end of the year, following changes to the mobilization rules this spring. According to Kostenko, the goal was actually 200,000 troops but mobilization rates dropped in September and again last month. This “cannot be allowed under any circumstances,” he said, as mobilization rates need to keep up the pace with battlefield attrition. According to Ukrainian media, Kiev’s armed forces currently number 1.05 million. Additional troops are needed to replace combat losses as well as allow frontline units to be rotated out for fresh brigades.

Ukrainian lawmakers have revealed that over 100,000 troops have deserted since the start of the conflict. Mobilization officers have resorted to hunting men down in the streets and markets, often hauling them away by force as onlookers record the incident. Moscow is currently waging “one of the most powerful” offensives since 2022, according to Zaluzhny’s replacement, General Aleksandr Syrsky. Ukrainian units are in “constant demand for the replenishment of resources,” Syrsky has said. Russian forces have made major advances in Donbass over the past several months, taking Ugledar and Selidovo and approaching Kurakhovo while maintaining pressure all along the line. The Russian Defense Ministry has estimated Ukraine’s total losses – killed and wounded – at over 500,000, or around half of its total manpower.

If Trump wins, they’ll do it before Jan. 20.

• US Preparing Europe to Start Direct War With Russia If Ukraine Fails – Lavrov (Sp.)

The US is preparing Europe to enter into a direct military conflict with Russia in case of Kiev fails, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday. Top diplomat added that conflict with Russia would be “suicidal adventure” for Europe. “As a fallback option in case the regime of Zelensky fails, they [the US authorities] are preparing continental Europe to embark on a suicidal adventure and enter into a direct armed conflict with Russia,” Lavrov said at the International Symposium “Creating the Future.” Moscow is hosting the international symposium from November 4-6. This year, the event is attended representatives from 87 countries, including speakers, delegates, artists, diplomats, and journalists. Russia will continue discussion on multipolar world principles at international platforms, including during the G20 summit in Brazil, Sergey Lavrov added.

“In July, under our chairmanship, the United Nations Security Council held an open debate on the principles of co-existence among states and in a multipolar world. We proposed for discussion a number of concrete steps aimed at restoring credibility and stabilizing the international situation. We will continue this dialogue at other multilateral platforms, including this month in Rio de Janeiro at the G20 summit,” Lavrov said. Meanwhile, the dialogue on the intergovernmental level is facing difficulties, the Russian top diplomat said, adding that the West was still trying to gain unilateral advantages by any means, including “the privatization of the secretariats of the international organizations.” The UN should not keep silence in connection a with a bill in Ukraine that seeks to ban the Russian language, Russian Foreign Minister said.

Last month, Ukrainian Minister of Education and Science supported a bill banning the use of the Russian language in schools. “The very first article of the UN Charter, it is impossible to pass by it if you read this document seriously, it says: everyone is obliged to respect human rights, any human being, regardless of race, sex, language and religion. This is also the UN Charter, which the secretary general [Antonio Guterres] is calling for to guide in the Ukrainian conflict. I have not heard a single comment from Guterres’ spokesperson regarding the legislative extermination of the Russian language in Ukraine in all spheres of life,” Lavrov said. The secretary general needs to get his spokesperson to better articulate the United Nations Secretariat’s interpretation of international law, the official added.

“Support for continued fighting in a war that cannot be won has been the only acceptable expression of empathy..”

• Is The West Finally Ready To Admit Defeat In Ukraine? (Diesen)

The Economist magazine reports this week that “Russia is slicing through Ukrainian defenses” and Ukraine is subsequently “struggling to survive.” Across the Western media, the public is being prepared for defeat and painful concessions in future negotiations. Journalists are changing the narrative as reality can no longer be ignored. Moscow’s coming success has been obvious since at least the summer of 2023, yet this was ignored to keep the proxy war going. We are witnessing an impressive demonstration of narrative control: For more than two years, the political-media elites have been chanting ‘Ukraine is winning’ and denounced any dissent to their narrative as ‘Kremlin talking points’ that aim to reduce support for the war. What was ‘Russian propaganda’ yesterday is now suddenly the consensus of the collective elites. Critical self-reflection is as absent as it was after the Russiagate reporting, following the 2016 US election.

Similar narrative control was displayed when the media reassured the public for two decades that the US was in control of Afghanistan, before it fled in a great rush with dramatic images of people falling off an airplane. Journalists deceived the public over the past while by presenting the stagnant front lines as evidence that Russia was not gaining an edge. However, in a war of attrition, the direction of the war is measured by attrition rates – the losses on each side. Territorial control comes after the adversary has been exhausted as territorial expansion is very costly in such high-intensity warfare with powerful defensive lines. The attrition rates have throughout the war been extremely unfavorable to Ukraine, and they keep getting worse. The current collapse of Kiev’s front lines was very predictable as its manpower and weaponry have been exhausted.

Why has the former narrative expired? The public could be misled by fake attrition rates, yet it is not possible to cover up territorial changes after the eventual breaking point. Furthermore, the proxy war was beneficial to NATO when the Russians and Ukrainians were bleeding each other without any significant territorial changes. Now that the Ukrainians are exhausted and are beginning to lose strategic territory, it is no longer in the interests of the US-led bloc to continue the war. Back in 2022, the political-media elites weaponized empathy to get public support for war and disdain for diplomacy. The Western public was convinced to support the proxy war against Russia by endless messaging about the suffering of Ukrainians and the injustice of their loss of sovereignty. Those who disagreed with NATO’s mantra that ‘weapons are the way to peace’ and instead suggested negotiations were quickly dismissed as puppets of the Kremlin who did not care about Ukrainians.

Support for continued fighting in a war that cannot be won has been the only acceptable expression of empathy. For the postmodernists seeking to socially construct their own reality, great power rivalry is largely a battle of narratives. The weaponization of empathy enabled the military narrative to become impervious to criticism. War was virtuous and diplomacy treasonous as Ukraine was allegedly fighting Russia’s “unprovoked” war with the objective to subjugate the entire country. A strong moral framing convinced people to deceive and self-censor in support of this noble cause. Even criticism of how Ukrainian civilians were dragged into cars by their government and sent to their deaths on the front lines was portrayed as supporting ‘Kremlin talking points’, as it undermined the NATO war narrative.

Reporting on high Ukrainian casualty rates threatened to undermine support for the fighting. Reporting on the failure of sanctions threatened to reduce public support for the sanctions. Reporting on the likely US destruction of Nord Stream threatened to create divisions within NATO. Reporting on the US and UK sabotage of the Minsk agreements and the Istanbul negotiations threatened the narrative of the West merely attempting to ‘help’ Ukraine. The public was offered the binary option of adhering either to the pro-Ukraine/NATO narrative or the pro-Russia narrative. Anyone challenging it with inconvenient facts could thus be accused of supporting Moscow’s objectives. Pointing out that Russia was winning was uncritically interpreted as taking its side.

There are ample facts and statements that demonstrate NATO has been fighting to the last Ukrainian to weaken a strategic rival. Yet, the strict narrative control entails that such evidence has not been permitted to be discussed. The strict demand for loyalty to the narrative hides the fact that US foreign policy is about restoring global primacy and not an altruistic commitment to liberal democratic values. The US considers Ukraine to be an important instrument to weaken Russia as a strategic rival.

“Andromeda had only one 25-kilogram anchor and a 100-meter-long chain, while its crew supposedly dived at the depth of between 80 and 90 meters in the sea. That is just “impossible”..

• Diving Expert Questions Narrative Behind Nord Stream (RT)

A narrative pushed by the Western media about a small team of Ukrainian divers being behind the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September 2022 is hard to believe, Dr Sven Thomas, a renowned German diving specialist, has told Bild over the weekend. Damage sustained by the Russian undersea pipelines suggests that much more powerful explosive charges and a much larger vessel were used to render them out of commission, he said, adding that a small yacht the media keep reporting about would never suffice. American and German media have repeatedly claimed that the blasts were linked to a small Ukrainian crew that rented a leisure yacht called Andromeda at a German port and set off armed only with diving equipment, satellite navigation, and open-source maps. The operation was reportedly given a green light by Ukraine’s then-commander in chief, Valery Zaluzhny.

Multiple media outlets reported in August that the German authorities had issued an international arrest warrant for a suspect in the case, a Ukrainian diver identified as Volodymyr Z. “There must have been at least one more team to cause the huge explosions,” said Sven Thomas, who heads a state-backed life-saving service in the German city of Halle. The specialist, who leads a crew of professional divers and underwater archeologists, added that he had “serious doubts” about the whole story linking the incidents to just a six-member Ukrainian crew using a 15-meter-long leisure yacht. According to Thomas, divers working at a depth of just 34 meters in a lake would need at least four anchors chained to a vessel to keep their equipment stable. Andromeda had only one 25-kilogram anchor and a 100-meter-long chain, while its crew supposedly dived at the depth of between 80 and 90 meters in the sea. That is just “impossible,” according to Thomas, who has been conducting diving operations for years.

The total weight of the equipment needed for such an operation would be about four tons, the expert said, adding that seismic records of the explosions show that at least several charges equivalent to 400 kilograms of TNT were used to blast the pipes. “They cannot drop such bomb charges into water without a crane and a counterweight, the vessel would just capsize otherwise,” Thomas said. According to the specialist diver, the fact that the pipelines were “crushed like a tin can” suggests that the damage was caused by powerful explosions nearby rather than small charges planted directly on the pipelines. Thomas believes that it points to military-grade bottom mines with a yield equivalent to around 1260 kilograms of TNT. Such mines can only be planted by a large vessel with a crane onboard, the expert told Bild.

Andromeda could have been behind only one of four blasts, which was likely caused by a small explosive charge planted directly on one of the pipelines, he added. Moscow dismissed the Western media reports implicating Andromeda as implausible. President Vladimir Putin has maintained the view that the explosions were carried out by professionals supported by “the full might of the state, which has certain technologies,” noting that the US was “probably” behind it. Last month, Danish media reported that US Navy warships had been operating near the Nord Stream pipelines shortly before the explosions.

“The Narrative – U.S. tech and its Intel as ‘invincible’ – must be maintained. To heck with the facts.”

• Netanyahu’s “Imaginary War Narrative” Strategy (Alastair Crooke)

On Saturday, an Israeli force of some 100 aircraft attacked Iran from a stand-off position in Iraq, some 70 kilometres outside the Iranian border. A Wall Street Journal author, Walter Russell Meade, Distinguished Fellow at the Hudson Institute, wrote: “Israeli warplanes didn’t only cripple Iran’s air-defence systems and inflict painful blows on its missile-producing facilities. They also sent a message that Israel knows where Tehran’s strategic vulnerabilities are, and it can destroy them any time it wants”. Russell Meade adduces from this reading his key point: “Military forces that have access to American military technology and intelligence-gathering capabilities can wipe the floor with militaries that rely on Moscow … American technology is the gold standard in the world of defence – even more so for a country such as Israel that has significant intelligence and technological capabilities”.

The western ‘war of imagined, created reality’ thus reaches out beyond Ukraine – to arrive in Iran. The Narrative – U.S. tech and its Intel as ‘invincible – must be maintained. To heck with the facts. There is too much at stake to forsake it for truthfulness. A more sober and experienced observer however, notes after four days examination, that, succinctly put: “The IAF strikes seem to have produced minimal results; it appears however that covert operatives within Iran achieved several [inconsequential] drone hits. The Israelis launched a lot of missiles [some 56] – all from maximum stand-off distance. Iran put up a LOT of air defence missiles. There are no firm reports, nor video evidence (so far) of big ballistic missile strikes on any significant Iranian targets. The Iranians say they intercepted most of the attacking missiles, but admit some got through”.

As usual, the ‘imaginary war narrative’ being broadcast is completely detached from that which can be observed from ground imagery. Russell Meade effectively was demanding the pretence that ‘we not notice’ that Israel’s attack failed – tht it did not cripple air defences, nor did it devastate any significant target. Yet, as Professor Brian Klaas writes, “the world doesn’t work as we pretend [or imagine] it does. Too often, we are led to believe it is a structured, ordered system defined by clear rules and patterns. This is the meme at the crux of the Rules Order narrative. The economy, apparently, runs on supply-and-demand curves. Politics is a science. Even human beliefs can be charted, plotted, graphed – and by using the right regression and enough data, understand even the most baffling elements of the human condition”. It is a stripped-down, storybook version of reality.

Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt says in 5 years, AI systems will be able to write and improve on their own code leading to recursive self-improvement and humans are not ready pic.twitter.com/u90QgAhEgl

— Tsarathustra (@tsarnick) November 4, 2024

Tate

Lawyers offered me 50,000,000 dollars for a contract and I said no because they didn’t want me to mention Gaza, LGBT and other subjects.

That is when my legal trouble began.

This video explains the soul-selling process and why all of these celebrities are endorsing Kamala… pic.twitter.com/xs00Ttc7jr

— Andrew Tate (@Cobratate) November 3, 2024

Love formula

Formula for love

📹 condsty
pic.twitter.com/4WbWcOhTWO

— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) November 4, 2024

Bugger

Bugger😬 pic.twitter.com/tX6lkEo9Pf

— Electric Blue🧢🖌 (@Only9built) November 4, 2024

Boxfish

The yellow boxfish, found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, is known for its unique cube shape. It primarily feeds on algae and small marine invertebrates, but can release toxic substances when stressed, potentially harming nearby fish.pic.twitter.com/SAiQYDOuwi

— Wonder of Science (@wonderofscience) November 4, 2024

Dam

In the tragedy of the Spanish flood, an ancient Roman dam saves the city of Aragon 🇪🇸

Built nearly 2,000 years ago by Emperor Augustus, the 34-meter dam prevented destruction and loss in the region

This is the tallest surviving Roman dam in the world! pic.twitter.com/Xqz8IPtzYd

— Mambo Italiano (@mamboitaliano__) November 4, 2024

Sandal

Man breaks up lion fight with sandal. pic.twitter.com/T1dUOszDs1

— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) November 4, 2024

Zebra

pic.twitter.com/sw32QoeeHE

— Wildlife Uncensored (@TheeDarkCircle) November 4, 2024

Holly

Holly just wanted a forever home and to be loved. pic.twitter.com/9DZN0O2YWH

— Rob (@_ROB_29) November 3, 2024

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Debt Rattle August 17 2024

Aug 172024

August 17, 2024 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 9:00 am Finance Tagged with: assassination, bulletproof glass, economic destruction, Kamala, Kursk, Nordstream, politics of joy, price gouging, Roundup 58 Responses »

Salvador Dali The burning giraffe 1937
Dali: “The only difference between immortal Greece and our era is Sigmund Freud who discovered that the human body, which in Greek times was merely neoplatonical, is now filled with secret drawers only to be opened through psychoanalysis.”

• The Politics of Joy (Solomon)

• Biden’s Incriminating Admission Of US Involvement In Offensive On Russia (SCF)

• Scott Ritter: Russia Obliterates NATO Fighters, Weaponry (Sp.)

• So What Really Happened In Kursk? (Pepe Escobar)

• Prussian Field Marshals Do Not Mutiny. But Ukrainians Generals Must (Hayes)

• Ordinary Serbians Understand What The Ukrainian Farmers Still Do Not (SCF)

• Western Governments Sell Farfetched Nord Stream Tale to Wary Public (Sp.)

• Harris Unveils Plan To Fix Last 4 Years Of Economic Destruction (ZH)

• Scott Ritter: Biden Administration Declaring War on Journalism (Sp.)

• The No Prisoners, End of the Road Election (Kunstler)

• A BRICS Trio Is Staring Down Israel (Pepe Escobar)

• Trump To Be Surrounded By Bulletproof Glass At Outdoor Events (MN)

• ‘Disturbing Fact’ Emerges In Trump Assassination Probe (RT)

• The Digital Revolution Is Satan’s Master Weapon (Paul Craig Roberts)

• Bayer Shares Soar After Roundup Weedkiller Victory In Philadelphia Court (ZH)

• James Baldwin at 100 (Patrick Lawrence)

James Baldwin mural by Rico Gatson at the 167th Street subway station, New York.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1824168925040681066

Dennis Quaid plays Reagan in new movie

It turns out Facebook is censoring content about the new biopic movie “Reagan” because they think it can “sway the election”

That’s what Dennis Quaid told @joerogan

Even though Reagan hasn’t been on the ballot in 40 years

Guarantee FB wouldn’t block promos for an Obama movie! https://t.co/IBlLZLules pic.twitter.com/TeuR6MtDg2

— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) August 16, 2024

https://twitter.com/i/status/1824497201294270481

WATCH: Joe Rogan Goes After Kamala Harris for Stealing Trump’s “No Tax on Tips” Idea

“Here’s the problem: In 2022, she was one of the deciding votes to go after people that were not reporting their tips.”

“It’s hilarious that two years later, she’s acting like this is… pic.twitter.com/kAVCmp978N

— The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) August 16, 2024

Gouging

Harris set to propose a ban on price gouging.https://t.co/UhBLb0RHPx

Sad her 1st big policy announcement is economically illiterate.

"Gouging" didn't cause inflation, Biden's spending did.

Her naive staff could learn from these @EductionSITC students why “gouging” is good. pic.twitter.com/8cYSl8KfWK

— John Stossel (@JohnStossel) August 15, 2024

270

Biden: I served in the senate for 270 years. I know I only look 40, but I'm a little bit older. For the longest time I was too damn young because I was only 29 when I got elected, now I'm too damn old. pic.twitter.com/IVPD3qc1HZ

— Acyn (@Acyn) August 15, 2024

Benz
https://twitter.com/i/status/1824271248265822586

Tucker

Casey Means was a Stanford-educated surgeon. Her brother Calley was a lobbyist for pharma and the food industry. Both quit their jobs in horror when they realized how many people were being killed by the systems they participated in. This is an amazing story.

(0:54) Who Are… pic.twitter.com/1oIVLvPlAv

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) August 16, 2024

“The Ghost of Hubert Humphrey Is Stalking Kamala Harris”

• The Politics of Joy (Solomon)

Like Hubert Humphrey six decades ago, Kamala Harris has remained in step with the man responsible for changing her title from senator to vice president. She has toed President Biden’s war line, while at times voicing sympathy for the victims of the Gaza war that’s made possible by policies that she supports. Her words of compassion have yet to translate into opposing the pipeline of weapons and ammunition to the Israeli military as it keeps slaughtering Palestinian civilians. As the Democratic standard-bearer during carnage in Gaza, Harris has been trying to square a circle of mass murder, expressing empathy for victims while staying within bounds of U.S. government policies. Last week, Harris had her national security adviser declare that “she does not support an arms embargo on Israel.”

If maintained, that stance will continue to be a moral catastrophe — while increasing the chances that Harris will lose to Donald Trump. In effect, so far, Harris has opted to stay aligned with power brokers, big donors and conventional political wisdom instead of aligning with most voters. A CBS News / YouGov poll in June found that Americans opposed sending “weapons and supplies to Israel” by 61 to 39 percent. Last week, Harris described herself and running-mate Tim Walz as “joyful warriors.” Many outlets have heralded their joyride along the campaign trail. The Associated Press reported that “Harris is pushing joy.” A New York Times headline proclaimed that “joy is fueling her campaign.” The brand of the Harris campaign is fast becoming “the politics of joy.”

Such branding will be a sharp contrast to the outcries from thousands of protesters in Chicago outside the Democratic National Convention next week, as they denounce U.S. complicity with the methodical killing of so many children, women and other civilians in Gaza. Campaigning for joy while supporting horrendous warfare is nothing new. Fifty-six years before Vice President Harris called herself a “joyful warrior,” Vice President Humphrey declared that he stood for the “politics of joy” when announcing his run for the 1968 Democratic presidential nomination.

At that point, the Pentagon was several years into its massive killing spree in Vietnam, as Humphrey kicked off his campaign by saying: “here we are the spirit of dedication, here we are the way politics ought to be in America, the politics of happiness, politics of purpose, politics of joy; and that’s the way it’s going to be, all the way, too, from here on out.” If Kamala Harris loses to Trump after sticking with her support for arming the slaughter in Gaza, historians will likely echo words from biographer Offner, who wrote that after the 1968 election Humphrey “asked himself repeatedly whether he should have distanced himself sooner from President Johnson on the war. The answer was all too obvious.”

Getting closer… don’t like this one bit.

“..there is reliable reporting that the enemy infantry is made up of NATO special forces from the United States, Britain, France, and Poland alongside the NeoNazis of Ukraine..”

“This is as close to World War Three taking place as it can get..”

• Biden’s Incriminating Admission Of US Involvement In Offensive On Russia (SCF)

It is breathtaking what is going on with the offensive into the Kursk and Belgorod regions of the Russian Federation. This is as close to World War Three taking place as it can get, if not already happening. This week American President Joe Biden admitted deep U.S. involvement in the invasion of Russia by Ukrainian forces. The complacent, casual admission is shocking. Biden told media that his officials were in “constant contact” with the Kiev regime on the offensive that began on August 6. Biden added with undisguised pleasure that the incursion had created a “real dilemma” for Russian leader Vladimir Putin. It seems likely that the summer offensive will go the same ill-fated way as last year’s offensive by Ukraine that took place in the main war zone area of Donbass, the region which was formerly eastern Ukraine but is now legally part of the Russian Federation.

The offensive last summer turned out to be a disaster for Ukrainian forces as superior Russian defenses decimated them. As with this summer’s offensive, there has been much Western media hyping of the initial gains. But the optimism is giving way to the reality that Russian forces are containing the cross-border foray and will eventually expel Ukrainian troops. There are indications that the Ukrainian side has lost over 2,000 casualties over the past 10 days and incurred heavy losses of destroyed NATO military equipment. Nevertheless, it is alarming what has been embarked on by the NATO-backed regime. This is the first time that Russia has been invaded by a foreign enemy since the Great Patriotic War when Nazi Germany waged its genocidal war. Ironically, a turning point in that war was in the Kursk region when the Red Army defeated the Wehrmacht.

The symbolism of today’s events in Kursk and Belgorod is horrifying. Here we have Ukrainian militants who glorify the Third Reich wearing Nazi helmets while they terrorize Russian civilians. Video footage shows deliberate shelling of civilian homes and apartment blocks in what can only be described as a scorched earth campaign. Up to 200,000 civilians have been evacuated from the Kursk and Belgorod regions. The invasion force is equipped with NATO tanks and armored vehicles. This is an incredible echo of history whereby German, British, and American tanks are marauding on Russian soil and terrorizing towns and villages. Furthermore, there is reliable reporting that the enemy infantry is made up of NATO special forces from the United States, Britain, France, and Poland alongside the NeoNazis of Ukraine. In short and shocking terms: NATO has invaded Russia with a terror campaign replicating Nazi Germany.

[..] Even Western media reports are conceding that the initial Ukrainian-NATO gains are slowing down. There are also Western reports expressing concern that the futile foray will only weaken the already overstretched Ukrainian lines in the main battle region of Donbass which will accelerate Russia’s advances in Ukraine. Moscow is indicating that it will push on without stopping to defeat the Kiev regime. As with Nazi Germany’s Kursk offensive, the NATO-backed regime will be seen to have recklessly overplayed its hand. The last reserves of its best battalions are taking severe losses in Kursk. From Russia’s perspective, the NATO invasion per se is not a serious threat. It is a barbaric violation of Russian territory and its citizens. But the assault in itself does not in any way constitute a national security threat. It will be dealt with harshly.

“Ukraine is going to lose another 30 percent or more of its territory when this is done because Russia has basically determined that Ukraine can’t be trusted, the West can’t be trusted, that Russia can never believe in the notion of a Ukraine willing to live in peace with its Russian neighbor,” Ritter claimed. “So Russia is going to destroy Ukraine..”

• Scott Ritter: Russia Obliterates NATO Fighters, Weaponry (Sp.)

Kiev’s incursion has given Moscow the opportunity to destroy strategic reserves of troops and weapons. Ukraine was forced to expend some of their most well-trained soldiers and advanced technology in a failed effort to capture the Kursk nuclear power plant, highlighted former US Marine intelligence officer Scott Ritter. Such was the former UN chief weapons inspector’s analysis on Sputnik’s The Critical Hour program Thursday, where Ritter discussed the latest desperate maneuver of the failing Western proxy war. “A NATO-created, trained, equipped and directed force of not just Ukrainians, but Polish, French, Americans [and] British has invaded Russia,” said the American dissident, who faced persecution in Washington after challenging the George W. Bush administration’s claims of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction during the runup to the United States’ disastrous war on the Middle Eastern country.

“This force could be up to 20,000-strong,” Ritter noted. “It looks like the Ukrainians are seeking to reinforce it as we speak with thousands of more people drawn from the Zaporozhye front. It’s an invasion of Russia. And that should scare the heck out of everybody who just heard that statement.” “This is how you trigger nuclear war. Now, fortunately, the Russians aren’t panicking… the incursion has been contained. Not only that, it’s been blunted.”Ritter noted that Moscow quickly responded to the attack, taking the opportunity to destroy Ukrainian supply lines running from the Sumy region. Russia has also neutralized some of the regime’s most well-trained troops and high-tech NATO weaponry, such as a British Challenger tank, US M1 Abrams tanks and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles. The ongoing conflict against the Western client state has served as a showcase for Russian defense technology, which has fared well against Ukraine’s dwindling supplies of expensive NATO weaponry.

“They gave it to us. They handed it to us,” said Ritter of Kiev’s strategic reserves of troops and armaments. “The Russians are winning. The Ukrainians are dying. And there’s nothing Ukraine will have to replace these troops.” “These troops have been trained and prepared for well over a year and a half. These are NATO equivalent troops. Many of them are NATO troops, sheep-dipped Polish troops, sheep-dipped French troops, American mercenaries recruited as soon as they leave the active duty of the United States Armed Forces… This is a NATO unit, literally a NATO unit that was sent into Ukraine and the Russians are destroying it. That’s the reality of what’s going on in Kursk right now.” Ritter claimed Moscow had uncovered Ukrainian troops’ plans to seize a nuclear power plant in the Kursk region, essentially holding it hostage in exchange for the return of territory in Crimea, Kherson or Zaporozhye.

The Kiev regime would “threaten Russia and the world with a nuclear catastrophe if Russia wouldn’t come to the negotiating table,” the analyst claimed, calling the gambit “an insane plan.” The former intelligence officer compared Ukraine’s plan to the Battle of the Bulge, during which a weakened Nazi regime desperately attempted to cut British and American troops off from a supply base at the port of Antwerp. “I think most people, when the Kursk battle is evaluated, would say that the capture of the Kursk nuclear power plant was always a bridge too far,” Ritter claimed. “It wasn’t going to happen. But that appears to be the actual operational battle plan and goal and objective of the Ukrainian forces.”

The analyst claimed Ukraine’s repeated intransigence would force Moscow to capture more territory, noting Russia’s repeated attempts to reach a diplomatic solution with Kiev both before and after it launched its special military operation in early 2022. “Ukraine is going to lose another 30 percent or more of its territory when this is done because Russia has basically determined that Ukraine can’t be trusted, the West can’t be trusted, that Russia can never believe in the notion of a Ukraine willing to live in peace with its Russian neighbor,” Ritter claimed. “So Russia is going to destroy Ukraine. And, sadly, that is probably the way this war is going to end.”

“President Putin’s reaction to the Kursk invasion was visible in his body language. He was furious: for the flagrant military/intel failure; for the obvious loss of face; and for the fact that this buries any possibility of rational dialogue about ending the war. Yet he managed to turn the upset around in no time…”

• So What Really Happened In Kursk? (Pepe Escobar)

An extremely serious debate is already raging among selected circles of power/intelligence in Moscow – and the heart of the matter could not be more incandescent. To cut to the chase: what really happened in Kursk? Was the Russian Ministry of Defense caught napping? Or did they see it coming and profited to set up a deadly trap for Kiev? Well-informed players willing to share a few nuggets on condition of anonymity all stress the extreme sensitivity of it all. An intel pro though has offered what may be interpreted as a precious clue: “It is rather surprising to see such a concentration of force was unnoticed by satellite and drone surveillance at Kursk, but I would not exaggerate its importance.” Another intel pro prefers to stress that “the foreign intel section is weak as it was very badly run.” This is a direct reference to the state of affairs after former security overseer Nikolai “Yoda” Patrushev, during Putin’s post-inauguration reshuffle, was transferred from his post as secretary of the Security Council to serve as a special presidential aide.

The sources, cautiously, seem to converge on a very serious possibility: “There seems to have been a breakdown in intel; they do not seem to have noticed the accumulation of troops at the Kursk border”. Another analyst though has offered a way more specific scenario, according to which a hawkish military faction, spread across the Ministry of Defense and the intel apparatus – and antagonistic to the new Minister of Defense Belousov, an economist – let the Ukrainian invasion proceed with two objectives in mind: set a trap for Kiev’s top enemy commanders and troops, who were diverted from the – collapsing – Donbass front; and put extra pressure on Putin to finally go for the head of the snake and finish off the war. This hawkish faction, incidentally, regards Chief of the General Staff Gerasimov as “totally incompetent”, in the words of one intel pro. There’s no smoking gun, but Gerasimov allegedly ignored several warnings about a Ukrainian buildup near the Kursk border.

A retired intel pro is even more controversial. He complains that “traitors of Russia” actually “stripped three regions from troops to surrender them to the Ukrainians.” Now, these “traitors of Russia” will be able “to ‘exchange’ the city of Suzha for leaving the fake country of Ukraine and promote it as an inevitable solution.” Incidentally, only this Thursday Belousov started chairing a series of meetings to improve security in the “three regions” – Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk. Hawks in the siloviki apparatus don’t make it a secret that Gerasimov should be fired – and replaced by fabled General Sergey “Armageddon” Surovikin. They also enthusiastically support the FSB’s Alexander Bortnikov – who de facto solved the extremely murky Prigozhin affair – as the man now really supervising The Big Picture in Kursk.

Well, it’s complicated. President Putin’s reaction to the Kursk invasion was visible in his body language. He was furious: for the flagrant military/intel failure; for the obvious loss of face; and for the fact that this buries any possibility of rational dialogue about ending the war. Yet he managed to turn the upset around in no time, by designating Kursk as a counter-terrorist operation (CTO); supervised by the FSB’s Bortnikov; and with an inbuilt “take no prisoners” rationale. Every Ukrainian in Kursk not willing to surrender is a potential target – set for elimination. Now or later, no matter how long it takes.

“..Herr Hitler, the petty Bohemian corporal with the same psycho-sexual neuroses we see in Kiev’s cross-dressing, coke-sniffing Zelensky..”

• Prussian Field Marshals Do Not Mutiny. But Ukrainians Generals Must (Hayes)

Kursk, Kharkov and Belgorod, Russian cities that are back in the news, just as they were this time 80 years ago when Manstein, Model, Hauser and Guderian, the cream of the Wehrmacht’s High Command, slugged it out with their Red Army equivalents, before seeing their forces battered there and, shortly afterwards, mauled beyond hope of redemption in Western Ukraine as well. Manstein, the architect of the Wehrmacht’s victory in the Third Battle of Kharkov, was, like Napoleon at Austerlitz, the master of the counter-attack but, also like Napoleon at Austerlitz, he had the tools at hand to get the job done. In his case, those tools consisted of SS divisions Das Reich and Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, which crashed into the Red Army’s flank and put them on the ropes.

Whereas Manstein was an operational genius, who had the men at hand to do what was required of him, the same cannot be said of Ukraine’s High Command, who recently sent their best soldiers to their doom in Kursk for no hope of a strategic, operational or even tactical advantage. Because those Ukrainians and the Russian prisoners they took are stuck in Kursk with no hope of escape or reinforcements, the rank stupidity of those Ukrainians generals, who placed their men’s necks into a Russian noose, knows few precedents. Having allowed the Ukrainians have their day in the Kursk sun, the Russian Army will hunt them down, just as their great grandfathers hunted down the 7,000 or so SS stragglers, who did not surrender alongside Paulus at Stalingrad.

Although that is a particularly high price for Zelensky to pay for a few meaningless headlines in NATO’s press, there is one very important analogy to the trials Manstein faced, when he subsequently tried to establish a defensive line in Western Ukraine for the Red Army juggernaut heading his way. Instead of being let to his own considerable devices to stem the Red Army tide, Manstein and his fellow Prussian field marshals had to waste valuable time and resources dealing with the non-stop interference of Herr Hitler, the petty Bohemian corporal with the same psycho-sexual neuroses we see in Kiev’s cross-dressing, coke-sniffing Zelensky, who has personally claimed credit for the Kursk debacle.

The situation, as I write, is that the Russian Army continues not only to grind down their Ukrainian counter-parts but to undermine their key defensive lines at Pokrovsk and Niu-York. When the Ukrainian lines collapse there, as they will later this month, the Ukrainians, deprived of their strategic reserves wantonly sacrificed in Kursk, will be in headlong retreat, but with no Manstein or Model to stem the Russian advances. This is not to deny Ukraine the right to a counter attack but it is to say that such decisions should be the preserve of their competent generals, not of cross-dressing Zelensky or the desk generals he answers to in NATO’s Ramstein air base who, like him, have no real skin in the game.

Although Kursk will not be the end of this grizzly show, the end result of a Russian victory has already been determined, just as it was with Kursk in 1943. Only days prior to Herr Hitler blowing his brains out, Marshal Ferdinand Schörner‘s 12th Wehrmacht Army were able to inflict catastrophic casualties on the Poles at the Battle of Bautzen and it was that same month of April 1945 that the Americans suffered their highest fatalities of the European war at the hands of the Wehrmacht, who felt they still had to fight on. Also in April 1945, de Gaulle, not wanting to be upstaged in the division of spoils which would follow Germany’s surrender, launched a mini-D-Day attack on the isolated Royan pocket, which by any yardstick was a horrendous war crime not only because of the 1,500 French citizens the Yanks wantonly incinerated there but because Germany’s unconditional surrender was known to be only days away.

“..the only hope for a prosperous future is through reintegration into Russia..”

• Ordinary Serbians Understand What The Ukrainian Farmers Still Do Not (SCF)

In Serbia, people took to the streets to protest against an agreement between the Serbian government and investment “giants” Blackrock and Rio Tinto. Pressure from large investment funds against state sovereignty is raising concerns among ordinary Serbian citizens, who are protesting to prevent their country from becoming a hostage of global financial predators. It is curious to observe the situation in Serbia and compare it with the terrible Ukrainian reality. One of the most serious and ignored issues regarding the current conflict is the active participation of private investment funds in military aid contracts between Western countries and Ukraine. Contrary to what the pro-Kiev media claims in their lying propaganda, Ukraine is not receiving anything “for free”. Kiev will have to pay for every dollar received in weapons from the US and Europe.

Obviously, Ukraine will not be able to actually pay all these debts. What remains of the country in the post-war period will be an economically devastated nation, unable to maintain its own basic living expenses. It would be naive to think that Western financial predators would not think of this when drafting their abusive contracts with Ukraine. So, to solve this problem, there are several clauses in Western contracts literally establishing the concession of Ukrainian territories and natural resources to international investment funds as a condition of guaranteeing payment.In other words, if Ukraine is unable to pay its billion-dollar military debts – and obviously it won’t be able to – Kiev will have to hand over land and resources to investment companies like Blackrock. This is already happening. Several hectares of fertile Ukrainian territories were transferred to Blackrock and other companies.

Financial predators especially prefer areas of the so-called “black earth” – a Eurasian region where the most fertile soil in the world is located. Millions of tons of black earth have already been exported from Ukraine as part of the process of “paying off” the regime’s exorbitant debts. This tends to get worse and worse, as the Ukrainian regime continues to receive successive military “aid” packages, further increasing its international debt. It is curious to think what global investment funds will do with productive Ukrainian territories. It is known that many of these properties are already being handed over to agricultural giants such as Monsanto. It is possible that Western companies will invest in these regions to receive profits from food production.

However, unfortunately, amid the advancement of the agendas of organizations like the WEF, the possibility of Western elites trying to foment a global food crisis cannot be ruled out. It is very likely that these fertile lands will stagnate and become unproductive to drive Ukraine out of the world market and create a food crisis situation. There are several recent actions that make it clear that the West, for some reason, wants to cause hunger in the world. European countries illegally blocked Russian ships carrying grain and fertilizers to poor states in Africa and Asia. In the same sense, sanctions on Russian and Belarusian fertilizers have harmed several emerging countries dependent on this technology to produce food. For the West, the more hunger, the more dependence and, therefore, the easier it is to impose ideological agendas and political hegemony. In other words, hunger in poor countries is a strategic weapon for Western elites.

It remains to be seen when Ukrainian farmers will discover the malign plan behind all the foreign support for Kiev. Perhaps the Ukrainian agrarian elite has not yet understood that they will be one of the biggest losers of the regime’s actions in this conflict. While the media talks about Russia “annexing” regions in the east, all the remaining territory of Ukraine is being quickly annexed by Blackrock and other investment funds. It seems clear that for Ukrainian farmers and rural workers, the only hope for a prosperous future is through reintegration into Russia. In everything that is left for Ukraine, there will be no more space for rural production and work in the fields. When farmers finally understand this reality, perhaps a wave of protests similar to what is happening in Serbia will begin in Ukraine. Or, in a more extreme case, perhaps farmers and rural workers will form popular militias and begin a partisan war against the neo-Nazi regime.

“..this is not only not true, this cannot be true.”

• Western Governments Sell Farfetched Nord Stream Tale to Wary Public (Sp.)

Two-thirds of European Union citizens remain concerned over the lack of clarity surrounding the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline explosion, recent opinion polling reveals. A survey conducted in May found large numbers of Europeans were troubled by the lack of results from recent investigations into the matter, including 75% of Greeks, 74% of Hungarians, and 72% of Portuguese people who were still worried over the state of affairs. In Germany, perhaps Ukraine’s most important European backer, a full 71% of people said they were concerned over the lack of an explanation for the incident. It was in this context that German officials revealed a surprising break in the case this week, claiming a Ukrainian diving instructor known as Volodymyr Zhuravlev was responsible for the pipeline’s sabotage.

“My feeling is that this is a cover for something, whether for Kursk or something else that they’re planning,” said Serbian-American journalist Nebojsa Malic on Sputnik’s The Final Countdown program Thursday.[..] “They’re trying to wrap up the Nord Stream stuff because maybe the Germans arrested this guy on suspicion of something,” Malic speculated. “Maybe the story is unraveling. Nobody’s really yet offered a rebuttal to Seymour Hersh’s allegations from last year that pretty much conclusively point a finger to either the British or the Americans.” “He says Americans. Other people have put his information together and pointed a finger to the British. But it definitely wasn’t the Russians blowing up their own pipeline.” Host Ted Rall doubted German officials’ claim that an amateur diver could have been responsible for the sabotage, noting the difficulty of the operation.

“The Nord Stream 2 pipeline explosion took place at a depth of 260 feet”, Rall said, noting the pipeline was twice as deep as the 130-foot depth limit for recreational divers. “We’re being told that these are not professional [divers]… You think about the logistical challenge. You have to go to 260 feet. It’s pitch dark. It’s freezing cold. It’s freezing cold in the Caribbean at 260 feet. But this is the Baltic Sea, so it’s bitter.” Then, you have to locate this thing. You have to break through the external casing of the thing. You have to plant the bomb. And you have to get away from it, you know, before it blows up and kills you and the rented pleasure craft that you got from Poland or wherever… this is not only not true, this cannot be true.

At least not using the laws of physics as they exist on our planet. So, why on earth are they so lame at their cover story?” “They’re counting that most people are idiots,” said Malic. “When you’ve been deceiving the public for so long, you don’t have to bother to try very hard. And this is what these Western media have become basically, victims of their own success. They don’t have to be very creative with their deceptions because they rarely get challenged.” Malic speculated that pinning the blame on a Ukrainian diver could serve as a way to further discredit Volodymyr Zelensky, “whose legitimacy has expired in May” after his previous mandate as president ended, he noted.

Like the firemen set homes ablaze and then offer to put the fire out.

• Harris Unveils Plan To Fix Last 4 Years Of Economic Destruction (ZH)

With the election right around the corner and the average American choking on inflation, Vice President Kamala Harris has unveiled several galaxy brain policies aimed at “lowering costs for American families,” which she and her teleprompter will present at a Friday speech in North Carolina – just days before the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. While we know about Harris stealing Donald Trump’s plan to eliminate taxes on tips (after she was the tie-breaking vote on legislation to supercharge IRS enforcement), the proposals also include; Communist price controls to crack down on ‘corporate price-gouging in the food and grocery industries.’ (Except…)

Here's your "price gouging" narrative: average costs paid by businesses have risen just as much as costs charged to consumers – if businesses are being "greedy," they're doing it all wrong… pic.twitter.com/ALiw72MXSf

— E.J. Antoni, Ph.D. (@RealEJAntoni) August 14, 2024

• A $25,000 subsidy for first-time home buyers, under which those who have a two-year history of on-time rent payments would be eligible for “down-payment support.”
• A cap on prescription drug costs and the elimination of medical debt for millions of Americans
• Child tax credit that would provide $6,000 per child to families for the first year of a baby’s life (after JD Vance suggested an increase from $2,000 per child to $5,000)

Other items include efforts aimed at lowering the cost of rent and helping renters who are struggling financially, according to NBC News. She will also propose plans to stop data firms from driving up lease rates, as well as stopping Wall Street firms from buying and flipping homes in bulk. As part of the rollout, Harris will call on Congress to pass the Preventing the Algorithmic Facilitation of Rental Housing Cartels Act, a bill introduced by Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Peter Welch, D-Vt., that they said would prevent corporate landlords from using private equity-backed price-setting tools to raise rents dramatically in communities across the country.

Harris will also call on Congress to pass the Stop Predatory Investing Act, a bill introduced by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and several other Democratic senators. The bill is designed to stop communities from being taken advantage of by Wall Street investors and distant landlords. The bill would curtail those practices by removing key tax benefits for major investors who acquire large numbers of single-family rental homes. Harris will also call for the construction of three million new housing units via construction tax incentives – as well as a $40 billion proposal for local governments to build or preserve affordable housing units. We’re sure that won’t be a giant cash grab.

As even the Washington Post notes – “Harris has thus far surrounded herself with many former aides to Biden, and her team had made some overtures to business leaders that they hoped reflected a more centrist approach. But the policy positions she embraced Friday suggest she will continue, if not deepen, the party’s transformation under Biden, who pushed for more aggressive government intervention in the economy on industrial, labor and antitrust policies.” Meanwhile, according to a Gallup survey taken earlier this year, just 21% of Americans say it’s a good time to buy a house – while just days ago, July’s inflation reading showed that shelter prices jumped 0.4% from the previous month. According to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, it might take ‘several years’ for the pandemic-era rent increases to abate.

“..it is about the mainstream media working in close coordination with the US government to deceive the American people about a war..”

• Scott Ritter: Biden Administration Declaring War on Journalism (Sp.)

Recent FBI raids on properties belonging to Russian-American political scientist Dimitri K. Simes and Scott Ritter, who both challenge the mainstream US political propaganda, are meant to squash dissent on Ukraine, former UN weapons inspector Ritter told Sputnik. The conflict in Ukraine – in which the US has become deeply involved by providing the Kiev regime with billions of dollars – reportedly has people questioning Washington’s hawkish policy that the government seeks to suppress. “What is our crime? Our crime is to have an opinion that is opposite of that of the United States government when it comes to Ukraine,” Ritter emphasized. It is not just about the government deceiving the American people, it is about the mainstream media working in close coordination with the US government to deceive the American people about a war, Ritter noted.

‘This is a very dangerous time for all Americans’: Scott Ritter

“Understand that the US government doesn't trust you. Doesn't believe you're capable of thinking. The US government is actively trying to deceive you and manipulate you,” Ritter told Sputnik, commenting on the… pic.twitter.com/HCqa2kXdkq

— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) August 16, 2024

“That’s where independent journalists come in. That’s where a genuinely free press [comes in], a press that isn’t subordinated to the US government, that doesn’t serve as a stenographer of US government policy, a free press that questions the official narrative,” he pointed out. Ritter concluded that the US government does not trust common people, irrespective of their political leanings, and is actively trying to deceive and manipulate the public. Earlier, Simes, a Channel One presenter in Russia and the founder and ex-president of the Center for the National Interest (USA), told Sputnik that he had not been to the United States since 2022, and had not been notified ahead of time that FBI agents would be conducting a search of his property in Rappahannock County, Virginia, this week.

“..employ Bobby for, at least, cleaning up the public health and pharma sectors of the blob — an epic task he’s ideally suited for.”

• The No Prisoners, End of the Road Election (Kunstler)

It’s fun to muse on the torrent of panicked, deranged texting between Democratic Convention delegates as a runaway train of malignant fates, bad choices, insane policies, delusional ideas, and feral emotion drives them to nominate a moron for president. The confusion and self-doubt must be epic. Are we really gonna do this? Is this really happening? You must imagine this is the same state of mind as, say, a car-full of drunken bridesmaids fishtailing down the highway at 70mph toward a telephone pole. The mis-plays and subterfuges that brought them to this pass cannot be undone: the insult of letting “Joe Biden” front for a criminal blob government, the many hoaxes and the exorbitant lawfare lawlessness, the gross mismanagement of public affairs, wreckage of institutions, ruined economy, devalued dollar, destruction of households and communities, sexual lunacy and programmed mental illness — this is the party’s legacy.

Are none among them even a little bit ashamed of the damage they’ve done to this nation? And maybe wondering about it between one another? Perhaps even anxious to make it stop? And so, the delegates head to Chicago, a city in civic freefall, to either pretend to celebrate the capricious selection of utterly dubious leaders imposed on them by unseen hands, or, just maybe, to revolt against the evil cabal affecting to “defend our democracy” by squashing it. Of course that’s inside the convention. Lord knows what hijinks are being concocted for outside the United Center arena by the various tribes that run on hot yellow bile these dog days of summer — the Hamas mob, the sex freaks, Antifas, BLMs, assorted Bolsheviks, anarchists, utopians, climate change sob-sisters, Gramscian culture stompers, Spartacists, Trotskyites, Jacobins, Fabians, and plain old riffraff out for fun and loot. The gigantic parking wasteland surrounding the United Center on West Madison Street has the look of a perfect battlefield.

All that commences on Monday. In the meantime, much misdirection zings around the Trumpian opposition and the outlier Robert F Kennedy, Jr., as the intel blob that runs mainstream media attempts to seed dissension and confusion amongst them. It includes rumors that Mr. Trump made “a deal” with the blob to go all flabby in exchange for getting let off the hook on his many blob-contrived lawfare problems. The chance of that being true must be zero, even though New York Judge Juan Merchan has an opportunity to send the former president to jail on September 18. I would like to see him try that. It will surely prompt the most momentous and memorable tableau of symbolic resistance in US history since John Paul Jones yelled to the British ship Serapis requesting his surrender, “I have not yet begun to fight.”

As for RFK, Jr., stories circulate that Mr. Trump tried (and failed) to make a deal that would have got Bobby on-board as veep, or some other juicy assignment, if he would drop out of the race. But it’s hard to see exactly how that discredits either of them, since just about everybody expects Mr. Trump, if elected, to employ Bobby for, at least, cleaning up the public health and pharma sectors of the blob — an epic task he’s ideally suited for.

“..Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi took a crucial phone call from Iranian Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani, during which he adamantly supported all of Tehran’s efforts to ensure regional peace and stability..”

• A BRICS Trio Is Staring Down Israel (Pepe Escobar)

The Global Majority is fully aware that the genocidals in Tel Aviv are trying as hard as they can to provoke an apocalyptic war – with full US military support, of course. Contrast that combative mindset with 2,500 years of Persian diplomacy. Iran’s acting Foreign Minister, Ali Bagheri Kani, has recently remarked how Tehran is trying hard to prevent “the Israeli regime’s ‘dream’ of triggering an all-out regional war.” But one should never interrupt the enemy when he is in total panic. Sun Tzu would have approved this maxim. Iran certainly won’t interfere as the US and G7 members pull out all stops to come up with some semblance of a Gaza ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel to prevent a serious military retaliation by Iran and the Axis of Resistance. Earlier this week, that warning bore fruit: Hamas representative in Lebanon, Ahmed Abdel Hadi, reported yesterday that Hamas will not show up at the tentative negotiation round on Thursday – today. The reason?

The clear climate is full of deceit and procrastination from Netanyahu, playing for time while the Axis prepares a response to the assassination of martyrs [Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail] Haniyeh and [Hezbollah Military Commander Fuad] Shukr… [Hamas] will not enter into negotiations that provide cover for Netanyahu and his extremist government. So the waiting game, actually a masterclass of strategic ambiguity to rattle Israel’s nerves, will persist. Beneath all the cheap drama of the collective west begging Iran to not respond, there is a void. Nothing is offered in return. Worse. Washington’s European vassals – the UK, France, and Germany – issued a statement straight out of Desperation Row, where they “call on Iran and its allies to refrain from attacks that would further escalate regional tensions and jeopardize the opportunity to agree a ceasefire and the release of hostages. They will bear responsibility for actions that jeopardize this opportunity for peace and stability. No country or nation stands to gain from a further escalation in the Middle East.”

Predictably, not a single word about Israel. In this neo-Orwellian formulation, it’s as if the recorded history of the planet started when Iran announced it would retaliate for the assassinations of Haniyeh in Tehran. Iranian diplomacy swiftly replied to the vassals, stressing its “recognized right” to defend national sovereignty and create deterrence against Israel, the real source of terrorism in West Asia. And crucially, emphasizing they “do not seek permission from anyone” to exercise it. The heart of the matter predictably escapes western logic: If Washington had forced a Gaza ceasefire last year, the risk of an apocalyptic war convulsing West Asia would have been avoided. Instead, the US on Wednesday approved a further $20 billion weapons package to Tel Aviv, showing exactly how committed the Americans are to securing a permanent ceasefire. The Israeli provocations, especially the assassination of Haniyeh, were a direct affront to three top BRICS members: Iran, Russia, and China.

So, the response to Israel implies a concerted articulation of the trio, deriving from its interlocked comprehensive strategic partnerships. Earlier on Monday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi took a crucial phone call from Iranian Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani, during which he adamantly supported all of Tehran’s efforts to ensure regional peace and stability. It also signals Chinese support for an Iranian reaction to Israel. Especially considering that the assassination of Haniyeh was seen in Beijing as an unforgivable slap to its considerable diplomatic efforts, taking place only a few days after the Hamas chief, alongside other Palestinian political representatives, signed the Beijing Declaration. Then, on Tuesday, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at his Novo-Ogaryovo residence in Moscow. What Putin told Abbas is a gem of an understatement:

“It is well known that Russia today, unfortunately, must defend its interests, defend its people with weapons in its hands, but what is happening in the Middle East [West Asia], what is happening in Palestine – certainly does not go unnoticed.” Yet there is a serious problem. The US- and Israeli-backed Abbas is like some sort of broken reed, enjoying scarce credibility in Palestine, with the latest polls revealing that 94 percent of West Bankers and 83 percent of Gazans demand his resignation. Meanwhile, less than 8 percent of Palestinians blame Hamas as responsible for their current, horrible plight. Overwhelming trust is placed in the new Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar.

Moscow is in a complex position – trying to boost a new political process in Palestine with its instrumental tools of statesmanship, in a much more forceful way than the Chinese. Yet Abbas is resisting it. There are some auspicious angles, though. In Moscow, Abbas said that they had discussed BRICS: “We have reached a verbal agreement that Palestine would be invited in the ‘outreach’ format,” and expressed hope that: A particular format of a meeting could be organized and it will be devoted exclusively to Palestine, so that all countries would voice their views on the developments that are taking place … It will all be as relevant as possible, considering the fact that the countries of this association [BRICS] are all friendly to Palestine.

“It’s a miracle and God had something to do with it and maybe it’s – we want to save the world.”

• Trump To Be Surrounded By Bulletproof Glass At Outdoor Events (MN)

The Secret Service is to implement a raft of new security measures for upcoming outdoor rallies featuring President Trump, including surrounding him with bulletproof glass, according to a source. The Washington Post reports that the USSS has begun storing the glass in locations around the country in order to prepare for Trump campaign events. The source stated “Former presidents and candidates don’t normally get bulletproof glass or support from DoD [Department of Defense],” adding “This glass needs to be brought in on trucks and vans.” The report further notes that acting USSS head Ronald Rowe has overseen the plans after convening with Trump’s team.The report claims that Trump aides said he wants to do more outdoor rallies again, including a return to Butler PA where he was almost assassinated.

However, he stated that he did not want to go on a stage outside again without the protective glass.Previous presidents, including Trump himself have utilised the glass before. Trump spoke about the assassination attempt again during a press conference at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club on Thursday afternoon. A reporter asked him “You’ve spoken about God saving your life and I’m wondering, have you put much thought into why God saved your life? As in for what purpose has he been shielding and protecting you?” “That was a miracle,” Trump responded, adding “It’s a miracle and God had something to do with it and maybe it’s – we want to save the world.”

BREAKING: A real reporter just asked Trump the greatest question EVER

Reporter: "You've spoken about God saving your life… have you put much thought into why God saved your life?"

And Trump says God saved him to help "Save The World"

WOW! pic.twitter.com/zrEkJetGGW

— George (@BehizyTweets) August 15, 2024

“..they “released the crime scene” after just three days and cleaned up the blood and other “biological evidence..”

• ‘Disturbing Fact’ Emerges In Trump Assassination Probe (RT)

The remains of Thomas Matthew Crooks, who tried to kill Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump last month, were released to his family for cremation in what appeared to be a cover-up, Congressman Clay Higgins has said. Crooks was killed by the US Secret Service on July 13 after he opened fire on Trump during his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. He managed to injure Trump and two rally-goers, while killing a third. Higgins is a Louisiana Republican with background in law enforcement, and a member of the congressional Task Force established to investigate the attempted assassination. He traveled to Butler earlier this month to examine the crime scene. His report on the trip was made public on Thursday. “My effort to examine Crooks’ body on Monday, August 5, caused quite a stir and revealed a disturbing fact,” Higgins wrote in the report. “The FBI released the body for cremation 10 days after J13. On J23, Crooks was gone. Nobody knew this until Monday, August 5, including the County Coroner, law enforcement, Sheriff, etc.”

Higgins noted that the county coroner “would have never released Crooks’ body to the family for cremation or burial without specific permission from the FBI.” The coroner’s report and the autopsy report were not ready as of August 5, and without the body there was no way to verify their accuracy, Higgins noted. Such actions by the FBI “can only be described by any reasonable man as an obstruction to any following investigative effort,” he wrote. Higgins was in Butler for three days and spent about 20 hours investigating the crime scene. According to his findings, Crooks fired eight shots from the roof of a building overlooking the fairgrounds where Trump spoke. The ninth shot came from a Butler SWAT operator and struck Crooks’ rifle, while the tenth shot from a Secret Service sniper killed him.

The FBI reportedly has the casings from the roof, but they “released the crime scene” after just three days and cleaned up the blood and other “biological evidence,” according to the report.Crooks did not use a ladder to climb the roof, but an air conditioning unit. He somehow knew to take a position that minimized his exposure to Secret Service snipers, Higgins wrote, noting that it is not usual practice to assign counter-snipers to former presidents. “I have not yet investigated Crooks’ origins, how he came to be a shooter, how he manufactured a remote trigger bomb, etc. I have not reviewed the harvested evidence, nor have I examined his home, his vehicle, spoken with his family, his neighbors, his classmates, examined his computer, his emails, or his closet,” Higgins wrote, vowing that he intends to do so.

Paul Craig Roberts has no internet service. He doesn’t like that.

• The Digital Revolution Is Satan’s Master Weapon (Paul Craig Roberts)

For the last three days I have been experiencing digital Hell. The Internet has been down for three days and there is no information. The company provides such minimum customer service that it has been difficult even to reach a robot. You have to leave a number for a call back as “all our representatives are busy helping other customers.” When the call comes you learn that there is an outage in a large area and given an estimated repair time. They put you on a message list for cell phone texts. The repair time estimates lengthened four times from August 13 into August 14 and have now ceased. The morning of the 14th a text informed me that my service was restored. It wasn’t. I called the service provider who, after a call back, eventually was able to confirm that the service was not restored.

What has happened, I believe, is that in order to boost the company’s profits and thus the “performance bonuses” of the executives and board, the company spends minimal money on maintenance and has replaced its own repair servicemen with outside contractors, reporting the cost savings as profits. In other words, the company is being sucked dry by its executives. Moreover, maintenance and improvements might have been deferred so long that parts for the existing equipment are no longer available or are hard to come by. This is America today. I drove several miles to a county library to check emails and found one saying my service was restored. Of course, it wasn’t. I tried to check foreign news sources to see what was going on, as US media is useless. The library’s firewall wouldn’t let me connect to some sites. Researchers have told me that Trump’s few accomplishments during his first term can no longer be found online except for a few branded disinformation by “fact checkers.” To spell it out for you, a fictional world of false narratives is being created for us while we sit there, insouciant as always, scrolling our cell phones.

In the old analog world this was impossible. Every newspaper had a morgue. Every library had printed evidence as did everyone who had books, newspapers, magazines. Today the information is in a cloud subject to denial of access and erasure. Google is putting our actual history in the Memory Hole and creating a new fictional history consistent with the official narratives. This is the price we pay for the ability to scroll cell phones. In the midst of my Internet frustration, BMW’s software engineers added another. My 6-year old BMW’s screen flashed “danger, tire inflation problem.” I am informed I can drive 80 mph, ten miles above Interstate speed limit, but must attend to the problem. I suppose there might be some danger on a German autobahn at 150 mph on under inflated tires, but on track weekends we always let air out of our tires for better grip. I never had any problem on under inflated tires at the 135-140 mph I could reach on the short straightaways.

To fix the problem, you have to attend to all four tires. But you are far from finished. The software can tell when inflation falls below the specified number, but it cannot tell when you inflate to the specified number. In other words, you can’t turn the warning off. The software doesn’t believe you. You have to prove it to the software by driving the car a distance so the system can recalibrate its tire inflation readings to confirm you are not taking an easy way out by turning off the warning. It wasn’t possible for the wonderful analog cars I had to waste a person’s time like this any more than it was possible for a corporation’s “customer service” department to waste hours of a customer’s time with what was in analog days accomplished in a three-minute (answered by the third ring) landline telephone call that always connected. Moreover the person who answered the phone was not a robot and was capable of handling whatever your problem was, and you didn’t have to wait another 20 minutes to reach the person in the department that handled only the one problem.

Try it yourself, call your bank, your Internet service. This is what you will get: do you want office hours, billing, to open an account, to close an account, to change an appointment, technical help or repair? You also have to indicate whether you speak English or Spanish, another indication of how far we are advanced in losing our country. Clearly, if there is any assimilation, it is white Americans assimilating to Immigrant-invaders. I am not just ranting. I am pointing out important and critical facts. The digital revolution has permitted corporations to shift the cost of customer relations to the customer. The customer pays for it in hours of wasted time and the stress of frustration. Even when you finally get a live person, it is someone in Asia you can barely understand and whose responses are automated and often difficult to realign to your problem.

The digital revolution has totally destroyed our privacy and our security. I have a notice in front of me from a financial corporation that reads: “The types of personal information we collect and share . . . can include: name, phone number, home and email addresses, marital status, family member information, Social Security number, driver’s license number, and driving records, healthcare information, credit information, and credit scores.” In other words, they put your entire identification on the Internet where any hacker can steal your identity, open accounts and credit cards in your name, and hack into your bank and investment accounts. I am told that I can “limit some but not all sharing.” Despite the privacy protection of the US Constitution, the digital revolution allows the NSA, the FBI, any foreign intelligence service, the State Department, Homeland Security, and just about anyone else to spy on us without a warrant and to compile a file on each of us containing our contacts, reading interests, purchases, travel, political orientation, affairs, and so forth.

Dumbshit nerds at Stanford University have actually created the ability to create a video of a person speaking in his own voice with lips matching the words speaking whatever offense authorities want to arrest him for. Imagine a defense attorney trying to convince a normal American jury that what they are seeing with their own eyes is a fabrication. Among Americans there doesn’t appear to be any awareness of what is off limits if freedom is to survive. I am convinced that whatever its advocates intend, the consequence of Artificial Intelligence is to displace humans from human functions and to commit us all to rule by tyrants. The few, tiny benefits of AI are not worth the destruction of human independence and freedom. Yet there is no way off this road to pure Hell and the destruction of mankind.

This is just about labeling. Big deal… But let’s see the Supreme Court throw out 58,000 claims…

• Bayer Shares Soar After Roundup Weedkiller Victory In Philadelphia Court (ZH)

Shares of Bayer AG have been pressured over the years after a tidal wave of litigation over its Roundup weedkiller. The company settled much of the Roundup litigation but still faces tens of thousands of lawsuits. Bloomberg reported on Thursday that the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia ruled in favor of Bayer’s Monsanto, shielding the German company from a lawsuit brought by a Pennsylvania groundskeeper. This decision could open the door for a crucial review by the US Supreme Court, potentially paving the way to finally resolve the ongoing litigation nightmare. Chief Judge Michael Chagares, writing for a unanimous three-judge panel, stated that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act mandates nationwide uniformity in pesticide warning labels, blocking any attempt from Pennsylvania to add the warning label to the Roundup weedkiller bottle.

Bayer pointed out that the decision conflicts with rulings from federal appeals courts in Atlanta and San Francisco. This ruling sets the stage for the case to be reviewed by the US Supreme Court. A Bayer spokesman told Bloomberg via an emailed statement that the ruling “creates a split among the federal appellate courts and necessitates a review by the US Supreme Court.” Years of litigation have weighed on shares of Bayer trading in Germany, which have been down nearly 80% since peaking at around $120 in 2017. Shares are up 10% to end the week at around the 29 euro handle. “On the single stock level, Bayer’s shares are rallying after the company won an appeal in Roundup litigation, driving the Pharma space higher,” Goldman’s Ananya Prakash wrote in a note this AM.

Bloomberg, citing a note from Holly Froum, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, highlights what might be next for Bayer… The next step could entail a more comprehensive review from the Philadelphia appeals court, which may take months and could push back trials scheduled in Pennsylvania, Holly Froum, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, said in a note. That could reduce Bayer’s ultimate exposure in the overall litigation, potentially keeping settlement costs within the company’s $16 billion outlay, Froum said. So far, Bayer has settled most of Roundup litigation for $10.9 billion but faces almost 58,000 claims. Another 114,000 claims have been settled or deemed ineligible.

When that photo was taken, JFK was still alive..

• James Baldwin at 100 (Patrick Lawrence)

Great writers, and I count Baldwin among these, are not to be put on shelves where they begin to gather dust — pigeon-holed, this is to say, by way of a few stock adjectives that save people the trouble of thinking very hard about them. Writer, civil-rights activist, gay advocate, witness, prophet: Yes, well. There is the elephant’s trunk, the elephant’s tail, and the elephant. It was Baldwin’s wholeness that made him James Baldwin, the man who lives among us by way of the best work. Many readers know Baldwin by his immensely powerful essays. In Notes of a Native Son, The Fire Next Time, No Name in the Street, The Devil Finds Work, The Evidence of Things Not Seen, and so on you find many sides of Baldwin: The pulpit sermonizer he trained early on to be, the man of letters, the journalist, the political philosopher, the media critic. There is enduring greatness in the best of these pieces. His sentences can come at you with the force of a controlled eruption. His diction is always masterful.

Along with this went the civil rights work, speaking and writing, the extended travels in the South, the fruitful friendships: King, Harry Belafonte, Brando, Medgar Evers, lots of others — altogether the unflinching solidarity. But Baldwin always wanted to be understood first as a novelist, David Leeming, a longtime friend, wrote in James Baldwin: A Biography (Knopf, 1994). It is debatable whether posterity will let Baldwin have his way, or whether he should. But I am struck — maybe a piece of evidence here — by how little the novels figure in the various remembrances marking his 100th. Go Tell It on the Mountain, 1953, was Baldwin’s first book and also his first published novel. Already he is in search of something more than what history handed him and the realities with which black life in mid-century America faced him.

Baldwin, right of center, with Hollywood actors Charlton Heston, left, and Marlon Brando, right, at the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Sidney Poitier, rear, and Harry Belafonte, right of Brando, can also be seen in the crowd.

He looked over the fence of protest literature and the political novel to infuse his writing with complexities of black experience hitherto unexplored in fiction. Baldwin was after, in a word I hope not too reductive, interiority. Go Tell It is the story of John Grimes, a teenager whose family was part of the prewar and immediate postwar Great Migration. He is eager to escape the fates of those around him: the confinements, the learned inferiority, the self-contempt, the domestic turmoil — all the consequences of an inherited black identity. Grimes’ project, as Leeming puts it, is “salvation from the chains and fetters.” Giovanni’s Room, 1956, continues Baldwin’s quest in a way that may not be immediately evident. David, the American protagonist, is in Paris and draws close to an Italian bartender named Giovanni even though he, David, is engaged.

The novel is in essence the story of David’s inner turmoil as he discovers and explores his love for another man, along with his own subliminal homophobia. Giovanni’s Room was well-received, despite Baldwin’s anxieties as he published a novel featuring the theme of homosexuality. And here is one of the most interesting things about this book. There are no black characters in it. David, Giovanni, Hella (David’s fiancée) are white. You can call Giovanni’s Room “a gay novel” if you like, but the phrase implies things about Baldwin that were not so, while missing a big part of his aspiration. Baldwin was openly gay but also a private man. In Giovanni’s Room he wanted to write a novel declaring that he was a writer, as against a black writer.

Job

The job is to know the technique. pic.twitter.com/L4ZPvLFr0g

— Learn Something (@cooltechtipz) August 16, 2024

Queen

This flower is called "Queen of the Night." It blossoms only at night and only one night a year. pic.twitter.com/zxQTZ7OwMK

— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) August 16, 2024

Duckling

Duckling is able to play dead long enough to escape Leopard pic.twitter.com/Iw1VwZ3XAr

— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) August 16, 2024

Swimming
https://twitter.com/i/status/1824446436018184463

King
https://twitter.com/i/status/1824280140383150380

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Debt Rattle April 19 2024

Apr 192024

April 19, 2024 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 8:51 am Finance Tagged with: Anne Boleyn, Assange, Bragg, Ciaramella, Nordstream, political show trial, Russiagate, Speaker Johnson, Trump 49 Responses »

Francesco Hayez The Death of the Doge Marin Faliero 1867

• Why the Fix Is in for Trump (Victoria Taft)

• N.Y. Gives Trump The Anne Boleyn Treatment (Porter)

• Ciaramella in the Loop of Biden-Ukraine Affairs Trump Wanted Probed (Sperry)

• Israeli Retaliatory Strike On Iran (Scott Ritter)

• Which Side God Is On Now (Helmer)

• Blinken Shelves Special Request To Probe Israeli War Crimes (Cradle)

• Texas Is Being Turned Into a Woke Democrat State (Paul Craig Roberts)

• On The Mayorkas Impeachment (Denninger)

• UK Insurers Won’t Pay Nord Stream Because Blasts Were ‘Government’ Backed (GZ)

• Aid to Ukraine May Deep-Six Another House Speaker (Sp.)

• Zelensky Blames EU For Russian Advance (RT)

• ECB Fires Back At Plans To Seize Russian Assets (RT)

• Top Military Official Lied About Jan. 6: Whistleblowers (ET)

• Desperation Behind European Politicians’ Latest Russiagate Hoax (Public)

• US Issues Assurances on Assange (Lauria)

O’Leary

BREAKING: “Mr. Wonderful” from Shark Tank, Kevin O’Leary, says Trump trial is sheer stupidity.

“This is about the American brand… We look like clowns. I hate this.”pic.twitter.com/U42iqXXuHC

— Leading Report (@LeadingReport) April 18, 2024

Bragg
https://twitter.com/i/status/1780977235949711525

Ritter

Scott Ritter The End of the War in Ukraine Approaches as NATO is Completely Defeated

Ukraine is going to die a miserable death thanks to the West.
Ukraine will never be a part of NATO.

Ukraine will never be a member of the European Union.

The ultra-nationalists will be… pic.twitter.com/fn7an8bvIr

— Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil (@ivan_8848) April 17, 2024

Samson

WATCH: How long before Israel uses its Samson Option and takes the world down with it? #Gaza #Iran https://t.co/yiE7NuXqDe pic.twitter.com/9M4uf05WlI

— Gerald Celente (@geraldcelente) April 18, 2024

America is undergoing a political show trial. For the whole world to see. There are three more waiting in the wings. The legal system should never allow for this. It is now on trial as much as Trump is.

• Why the Fix Is in for Trump (Victoria Taft)

Judging by the way the entire array of Democrat operatives at the federal, state, and local levels of law enforcement have scraped the bottom of the local pond, liberated copious amounts of scum, loaded DNC slingshots, and heaved the slime at former President Donald Trump, I’m thinking you might have low expectations for New York City trial, too. We can’t imagine why you’d feel that way.The 34 charges against Trump were magicked into felonies by the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who contends there’s an overarching federal election crime at play. That’s how he reanimated these misdys that had already run their statute of limitations. The judge in the case, Juan Merchan, then re-jiggered the statute of limitations, blaming COVID to add another year to the statute of limitations so Bragg could bring these charges against Trump. The New York State legislature made a similar move for E. Jean Carroll so the founder of LinkedIn and ardent leftist Reid Hoffman could bankroll a new round of lawfare. The move revived her ability to bring a sexual assault case against Trump for assaulting her in a dressing room sometime in the ’90s in a dress she swore she wore but which hadn’t been designed yet.

In the fraud case that isn’t fraud and which defrauded no one, Gov. Kathy Hochul assured New York businesses afraid the Jacobins would come for their businesses and assets that “New Yorkers who are business people have nothing to worry about because they’re very different than Donald Trump…” Attorney General Letitia James had never used this law to do to anyone what they’re doing to Trump. She also used another one-off law to pile on the penalties for the victimless non-crime. The judge in that case, who probably wears no underwear under that robe, pronounced Trump guilty before the trial began. And we haven’t even touched on the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago raid over documents Trump is allowed to have under the Presidential Records Act. Or the attempt to get Trump off the ballot using the 14th Amendment. Even the U.S. Constitution is fungible to these leftists. And now we’re in jury selection in Trump’s latest case, which is literally a bookkeeping case in which Trump paid his attorney over time for services rendered that included making sure Stormy Daniels and another woman signed non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and were paid for them.

Daniels has never been charged with extortion for breaking her NDA and demanding more money or she’d tell the media that she had a tryst or something with Trump. But Bragg lets murderers run the streets, so why are we surprised? Bragg doesn’t include his boffo legal theory in the 34-count indictment, but in his accompanying statement contends that Trump stole the 2016 election from Hillary Clinton. Hillary won New York in the 2016 election by a nearly two-to-one margin, but why let a fact like that get in the way of a great election-year lawfare effort on behalf of Democrats? Indeed, each of these prosecutors and their offices should be required to file with the Federal Elections Commission for in-kind donations to Joe Biden. We also might wonder why Bragg and his fellow conspirators haven’t been swooped up by the FBI and charged with whatever is the opposite of a 1512 c2 offense for starting an official proceeding — this trial — to carry out his violence upon a former president and current presidential candidate.

Trump’s being publicly humiliated and kept off the campaign trail — a feature, not a bug of this lawfare — because he booked payments to his lawyer in 2017, which, let’s note for clarity, is after the 2016 election. Bragg contends these payments were in furtherance of stealing an election. Hillary’s 2016 Russia collusion efforts in conspiracy with the CIA, FBI, DOJ, and White House somehow were left out of Bragg’s election-stealing bill of particulars, but He’s With Her so it’s just fine, whatareyoulookingat? The Federal Elections Commission, Justice Department, and Bragg’s own office have previously declined to pursue this lunacy. However, when George Soros poured money into his campaign, Bragg, like AG Letitia James, promised if he were elected by the Manhattan jury pool, he’d use any tool at his disposal to Get Trump. And now jury selection is underway, and we’ve got a couple of clunkers in that box of rocks that may be professional Trump haters.

Not that Trump can say anything about his latest case since Judge Merchan has put what looks to be a constitutionally suspect gag order on the former president. He’s been admonished by the judge that he should say nothing about his “child,” a grown-ass woman who works for a Democrat political consulting firm and does work for Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer and used the trial as a fundraising tool. Nothing to see here, obviously, so Trump should shaddup already. You can see what’s going on. The left has put what is tantamount to a gag order on us, too. At PJ Media, we’ve been censored, excoriated, “fact-checked” by feedback-loop lefties, and all but killed from social media. The Google gods demonetize us for their latest government-bankrolled censorship program—going after “mal” information. That’s information that is true but which they don’t like because it makes them look bad.

“..the whole point of the exercise was to lop off the head of someone who stood in the way of the regime’s continuity..”

• N.Y. Gives Trump The Anne Boleyn Treatment (Porter)

Jury selection is now complete in the case of The People of the State of New York vs. Donald J. Trump, which alleges that the defendant lied to his own check register, and lied to the general ledger of his own company, when the invoice given to him by his lawyer was paid and recorded by someone else, and that the misstatement he made to himself in his own records was done “with the intent to defraud and intent to commit another crime and aid and conceal the commission thereof.” [..] The prosecutor elected in New York County of New York state indicted Trump, after Trump announced his 2024 run for president, for allegedly violating New York Penal Laws 175.05 and 175.10 seven years ago.

That local prosecutor, Alvin Bragg, is a member of the Democratic Party – and the voters who elected Bragg and from whom the jury will be chosen support the Democratic Party. In 2016, the people of New York County voted 87% for Hillary Clinton and 10% for Donald Trump, and in 2020, 87% for Joe Biden and 12% for Donald Trump. In other words, the jury pool is chosen from one of the most partisan jurisdictions in the country – a place where almost all the judges are Democrats as well. So the Democratic prosecutor elected in the second most Democratic county in the United States will try the former Republican president and current putative Republican Party presidential nominee before a Democrat-appointed judge and a jury drawn from a pool 87% of whom voted against him (and who are being asked if they watch Fox News or listen to talk radio in the screening process).One wonders if the law even matters. But let’s review the two statutes at issue to highlight what the law requires the prosecution to prove.

First, the prosecutor must prove that Trump violated the relevant statute, which requires a finding that he falsified business records with intent to defraud – that he “makes or causes a false entry in the business records of an enterprise.” By the way, falsifying business records in the second degree is a misdemeanor, not a felony. Moreover, New York’s statute of limitations requires that misdemeanor prosecutions be commenced within two years of the commission of the act, meaning that under the last provision, this case should never have been filed. Bragg elevated this misdemeanor into a felony by including New York Penal Law 175.10 in the indictment – falsifying business records in the first degree. That statute reads this way: “A person is guilty of falsifying business records in the first degree when he commits the crime of falsifying business records in the second degree, and when his intent to defraud includes an intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal the commission thereof.”

There are other obvious difficulties with this case beyond the credibility of the witnesses (a porn star who denied any affair numerous times and a disbarred lawyer convicted of perjury). For example, why does the entry in the check register or the general ledger matter at all? When would those entries, as opposed to the allegedly false invoices, be shown to anyone for any nefarious purpose? And were the entries even false? Was there any intent to fool someone to obtain something in making the entries – who was the target of the allegedly false entry in private books and records? If there’s no mark, no victim, then how could there be an “intent to defraud”? Defraud whom? And what is the other crime that the person making the book entry intended to commit or hide? If the other crime is not a New York crime but a federal crime, does every county prosecutor in the United States, including Alvin Bragg, have the jurisdiction to enforce an alleged federal crime indirectly through a state crime?

We shall see. The political nature of this trial is obvious, and unprecedented in the United States. Even with irrefutable DNA evidence that Bill Clinton committed perjury, the special prosecutor declined to press criminal charges against him. In America’s recent past, prosecutors tended to exhibit a modicum of restraint. Those days are apparently gone. I reviewed an interesting law review article of political show trials down through history, from the trial of Socrates in Athens to the famous show trials in the 1930s Stalinist Soviet Union, curious to see if I could find historical precedent for this trial. The closest precedent is probably Anne Boleyn’s trial for adultery in 1536. It was about sex, the trial was in a hostile jurisdiction controlled by her accuser, and the whole point of the exercise was to lop off the head of someone who stood in the way of the regime’s continuity. But that’s what Democrats have lusted for since Donald Trump first arrived on the scene, isn’t it? They made no secret of it.

“..Ciaramella effectively helped cover up a scandal far worse than what Trump was impeached over..”

• Ciaramella in the Loop of Biden-Ukraine Affairs Trump Wanted Probed (Sperry)

The ‘whistleblower’ who sparked Donald Trump’s first impeachment was deeply involved in the political maneuverings behind Biden-family business schemes in Ukraine that Trump wanted probed, newly obtained emails from former Vice President Joe Biden’s office reveal. In 2019, then-National Intelligence Council analyst Eric Ciaramella touched off a political firestorm when he anonymously accused Trump of linking military aid for Ukraine to a demand for an investigation into alleged Biden corruption in that country. But four years earlier, while working as a national security analyst attached to then-Vice President Joe Biden’s office, Ciaramella was a close adviser when Biden threatened to cut off U.S. aid to Ukraine unless it fired its top prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, who was investigating Ukraine-based Burisma Holdings. At the time, the corruption-riddled energy giant was paying Biden’s son Hunter millions of dollars.

Those payments – along with other evidence tying Joe Biden to his family’s business dealings – received little attention in 2019 as Ciaramella accused Trump of a corrupt quid pro quo. Neither did subsequent evidence indicating that Hunter Biden’s associates had identified Shokin as a “key target.” These matters are now part of the House impeachment inquiry into President Biden. “It now seems there was material evidence that would have been used at the impeachment trial [to exonerate Trump],” said George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley, who has testified as an expert witness in the ongoing Biden impeachment inquiry. “Trump was alleging there was a conflict of interest with the Bidens, and the evidence could have challenged Biden’s account and established his son’s interest in the Shokin firing.” Ciaramella’s role – including high-level discussions with top Biden aides and Ukrainian prosecutors – is only now coming to light thanks to the recent release of White House emails and photos from the National Archives.

The emails show Ciaramella expressed shock – “Yikes” is what he wrote – at Biden’s move to withhold the $1 billion in aid from Kyiv, which represented a sudden shift in U.S. policy. They also show he was drawn into White House communications over how to control adverse publicity from Hunter taking a lucrative seat on Burisma’s board. Yet there is no evidence Ciaramella raised alarms about the questionable Biden business activities he witnessed firsthand, which is in sharp contrast to 2019. In that instance, he was galvanized into action after being told by White House colleague Alexander Vindman of an “improper” phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. During the call, Trump solicited Zelensky’s help in investigating Burisma and Hunter Biden’s role in the company.

Some former congressional investigators say Ciaramella effectively helped cover up a scandal far worse than what Trump was impeached over. What’s more, he failed to disclose that he had a potential conflict of interest stemming from his connection to the matter Trump asked Zelensky to probe when he lodged his complaint against Trump. RealClearInvestigations was the first to identify the then-33-year-old Ciaramella as the anonymous impeachment “whistleblower,” something major media continue to keep under tight wraps.

X thread. News will keep coming in through the day.

• Israeli Retaliatory Strike On Iran (Scott Ritter)

Reports of an Israeli retaliatory strike on Iran appear to be related to a very limited attack in the vicinity of the Iranian city of Isfahan on military targets not related to Iran’s nuclear program. The weapons used in this strike are unknown at this point, although Iran claims to have shot down at least three drones of an undetermined type. Israel has not taken public credit for the attack. Indeed, the only link to Israel comes from anonymous statements from sources claimed to be US officials.

While Iran has stated it would strike Israel with immediate and decisive force if Israel were to attack, the extremely limited and anonymous nature of this attack may provide Iran with the opportunity to dismiss this attack as nothing of consequence, thereby eliminating the necessity of an Iranian retaliation. The Iranian Foreign Minister had issued a statement about decisive retaliation at the UN which constitutes official declaratory policy on Iranian deterrence policy which may be deemed sufficient for the moment. If the action in Isfahan is the limit of the Israeli action, then this matter may be concluded.

“..there should be no counting by the Israeli and US side on a divine miracle to keep Jerusalem’s lights burning..”

• Which Side God Is On Now (Helmer)

Israel is rattled. It’s now up to Iran, leader of the Arab resistance and warfighting alliance – Hamas, Hezbollah, Ansar Allah (Houthis), and the Syrian and Iraqi groups – to demonstrate that they can stop the genocidal schemes of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), and the Jewish theocracy it enforces as a state; or failing that, to neutralize Israel’s capacities to fight a war of attrition over everything states must have – electricity, ports, money, firepower, defences. The Arab leadership understood this before the Iranians. In 1983 Saddam Hussein told a meeting of Iraqi Army generals: “Human nature represented by the heart of the families and sisters of the Iraqi martyrs in their own weeping and mourning will always be felt; but the Iraqis are better prepared than ever to deal with it. If it ever happens that the Iraqi people were in a conflict with their Israeli enemy, then the Iraqis would be able to withstand three years of fighting in a war. However, the Israelis cannot withstand one year of fighting in a war.”

Seven years later in 1990, Hussein was talking in Baghdad with Yasser Arafat of the Palestine Liberation Organization: “[Arafat]: [Israel] has 240 nuclear warheads, 12 out of them for each Arab capital…[Hussein]: I say this and I am very calm and wearing a civil suit [everyone laughs]. But I say this so that we can get ready at this level.” Readiness at this level was not achieved by the Iraqis, or by Hussein himself. Hamas has demonstrated since last October that the Israelis are unready. Iran demonstrated this again last weekend, despite what Israel claims to have been a near-perfect interception rate: enough missiles got through to strategic targets to prove that with hypersonic speed, higher yield warheads, and better accuracy, the next round of Iranian missiles will be unstoppable. This prospect is what is rattling the Israelis now. As of today’s broadcast on Gorilla Radio and writing this, it is 3:30 on Thursday morning in Tehran: the Israeli attack which has been telegraphed through the British foreign minister, Baron Cameron, has not yet materialized.

When it happens – if it happens — the evidence to gather, before the scope of the Iranian response can be calculated, includes what types of targets were struck, military or civil; where the attack was launched from; what role US intelligence and military support played in execution of Israel’s operation; and what role Russia is playing in early warning, missile tracking, electronic countermeasures, and defence on the Iranian side. When the Iranian counterattack happens, if it happens, there should be no counting by the Israeli and US side on a divine miracle to keep Jerusalem’s lights burning. The last one of those, according to the religion of the Israeli state (and also of presidential candidate Donald Trump), was the Chanukah one. That was in 164 BC, when the Judaean rebels recaptured the Temple in Jerusalem from the Seleucid Greek army. In trying to relight the menorah they found they had only one container of oil — enough fuel for one candle for one day.

God was asked for resupply, so Prime Minister Netanyahu and General Gallant believe. He then delivered by stretching the one-day fuel stock to last for eight days – enough divine miracle time for the Judaeans to refine a new supply for themselves.

“..special mechanisms have been used over the last few years to shield Israel from US human rights laws.”

• Blinken Shelves Special Request To Probe Israeli War Crimes (Cradle)

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has failed to act on a State Department proposal to bar certain Israeli police and army units from receiving US funds over human rights abuses of Palestinians. Blinken has disregarded this despite the growing concern over Israeli army conduct in Gaza, according to current and former State Department officials. A special panel at the State Department made the proposal months ago. Recommendations for action against Israeli units were sent to Blinken in December but have “been sitting in his briefcase since then,” one official told ProPublica on 17 April. The Israeli rights abuses in question mainly took place in the occupied West Bank before Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on 7 October. They include the execution of Palestinians by Israeli border police, as well as torture and rape during interrogation.

“This process is one that demands a careful and full review … and the department undergoes a fact-specific investigation applying the same standards and procedures regardless of the country in question,” ProPublica cites a State Department spokesman as saying. “Blinken’s inaction has undermined Biden’s public criticism [of Israel], sending a message to the Israelis that the administration was not willing to take serious steps,” according to several officials at the department who have worked on Israeli relations. US President Joe Biden has publicly expressed frustration with the unprecedented number of Palestinian civilians killed in the Gaza Strip. However, US funds and arms continue to fuel the Israeli war effort, and no formal effort has been made to investigate the growing number of documented war crimes committed by Israel against Palestinians in the strip. On Tuesday, the Washington Post published an in-depth investigation detailing Israel’s role in the killing of a six-year-old and her family who were trapped in a car in northern Gaza.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Washington will ask Tel Aviv “for further information” on the matter. The US has said it would look into several incidents, including late February’s Flour Massacre against dozens of starving and desperate aid seekers. Yet no US probe has been launched into the matter since an internal Israeli army investigation absolved Israel of blame, and Washington refused to condemn the killings. The Guardian reported in January, citing interviews and State Department documents, that “special mechanisms have been used over the last few years to shield Israel from US human rights laws.” The ProPublica report comes days after dozens of Palestinians detained by Israel in Gaza were released, with many giving testimonies of horrific treatment by Israeli forces, including humiliation and torture.

“..many Americans still vote Democrat. When a people vote for their own-self destruction, it is clear that the country is finished..”

• Texas Is Being Turned Into a Woke Democrat State (Paul Craig Roberts)

The Biden Regime is using federal money to bribe the Aggies, Texas A&M University, to come up with ways to advance “race-based hiring” in public schools. Possible you remember or have heard that Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement was about judging “people by their character and not the color of their skin.” Once perhaps, but it has been a long time since. For half a century skin color has had preference, if it is non-white, in university admissions, employment and promotion. Feminists latched onto the scheme and the female gender was also privileged. This is not to say that no blacks and no females are qualified for their position. Many of them are. It is to say that they are in their position despite their qualifications because they constitute a privileged category before the law, a total violation of the US Constitution and its 14th Amendment.

The emphasis on “diversity” has prevailed over the merit-based system into which I was born and grew up. Today merit is considered racist, a white supremacy tool. Many gifted student programs and high schools for the exceptional have been shut down because two few blacks are qualified, and small presence of blacks violates the sacredness of “diversity” and “equity.” A country whose education, employment and promotion is based on diversity and not on merit is a country that is failing, and most certainly America has long been a failing country. For example, we now have “diversity” appointments to prosecutorial offices such as prosecutors and attorney generals and as judges who have no understanding of law as a shield of the people, but who see it is a weapon to be used against disapproved parties. We see the total collapse of justice in America in the many examples of the Democrats’ Stalin show trials against President Trump and against the alleged “insurrectionists” who attended the Trump rally..

To the few remaining people of my generation it is astonishing that merit, which made America great and a ladder of upward mobility, has been officially cast aside for “diversity” in which advance is based on skin color, gender or self-proclaimed, non-biological gender. Have the people who have created this deplorable situation ever wondered how a non-merit based mediocre society can be a superpower, an unipolar, a hegemony whose exceptional and indispensable existence gives it right to hegemony over the world? China, the host of most of American manufacturing must wonder at the American Delusion. Russia, whose power and economy have been greatly elevated by the mindless American sanctions, must wonder if the USA even qualifies as an opponent. Even Iran no longer fears the US. If you are so unfortunate as to live in New York City or other blue cities, your home and your rental properties can be stolen from you by the Democrats’ massive and ongoing wave of immigrant-invaders who can occupy your property in your absence and occupy your rental property between leases and you cannot evict them.

Regardless of the reality in which they live, many Americans still vote Democrat. When a people vote for their own-self destruction, it is clear that the country is finished.

“..it is first, last and only about a Cabinet official’s deliberate refusal to enforce laws as written..”

• On The Mayorkas Impeachment (Denninger)

The Senate appears to have a rather odd view of the Executive — then again so does the House, and both are not only toxic they’re demonstrably false. Mayorkas is the first Cabinet secretary to be impeached in almost 150 years. House Republicans voted to impeach Mayorkas in February over his handling of the southern border by a narrow margin after failing to do so on their first try. Democrats have slammed the impeachment as a political stunt, saying that Republicans had no valid basis for the move and that policy disagreements are not a justification for the rarely used constitutional impeachment of a Cabinet official. The impeachment of Mayorkas has nothing to do with “policy disagreements”; it is first, last and only about a Cabinet official’s deliberate refusal to enforce laws as written, including 8 USC §1324.

That statute mandates felony criminal penalties carrying prison sentences for anyone who assists, harbors or transports illegal immigrants. Other sections of US law forbid the Federal Government and its agencies from “paroling” into the United States an illegal immigrant unless that have a facially-reasonable claim to asylum. There is no capacity in the law to permit DHS to do so simply because there are a lot of people illegally crossing. Policy is defined by legislation and thus has to pass both House and Senate and either be signed by the President or a veto must be overridden. It is absolutely true that different Administrations will have different policies but the Constitution is clear and each person in all three branches of Government takes an oath to uphold and enforce all of the laws and thus the means to express policy isn’t to ignore laws you don’t like but rather to work to change them through the legislative process.

If you can’t find agreement via that process then until you can the existing policy stands whether you agree with it or not and if you take an oath to enforce the law as written and you refuse to do so on a deliberate basis impeachment is the peaceful and appropriate action to remove you from said office. Neither the House or Senate acting alone can change policy, no matter which party controls said chamber. Only both, acting in concert, can do so. This is intentional in the design of our Republic; policy changes of significant importance to society are described in our laws, and it is both wildly unreasonable and destructive to civil order to change them on a whim when one person wins or loses an office, no matter the office.

The Senate’s Schumer led his caucus to toss the entire thing as “unconstitutional” on a part-line vote. Big shock, right? When you boil it down essentially everything wrong with this nation comes down to this same issue: Various politicians and paid employees of the government simply ignore any law they disagree with either in its entirety or as applies to some favored group while using it as a cudgel against anyone they dislike. Our national foundation rests on that never being tolerated by anyone, anywhere and for any reason.

I fully understand that these policy matters have serious and vehemently-expressed opinions on all sides. That’s a good thing: Freedom of expression is in fact also a foundation of America. But no public official is empowered to take that disagreement and turn it into a malicious abuse of existing law whether by intentional omission or weaponization against disfavored persons or those who hold a different point of view. Down that road lies a line that cannot be foreseen in advance in that the people may, at some point, determine that the strictures of polite society no longer apply to them by that very example set by our officials. You do not want this; it is precisely through that road that essentially every civil conflict and social destruction has occurred and if you believe you’ll be immune to it if it happens, no matter how wealthy or poor you might be, you’re wrong.

“..lawyers for Lloyd’s and Arch suggest that even if they were required to pay up, anti-Russian sanctions would leave their hands tied..”

• UK Insurers Won’t Pay Nord Stream Because Blasts Were ‘Government’ Backed (GZ)

The legal team representing high-powered insurers Lloyd’s and Arch says that since the Nord Stream explosions were “more likely than not to have been inflicted by… a government,” they have no responsibility to pay for damages to the pipelines. To succeed with that defense, the companies will presumably be compelled to prove, in court, who carried out those attacks. ritish insurers are arguing that they have no obligation to honor their coverage of the Nord Stream pipelines, which were blown up in September 2022, because the unprecedented act of industrial sabotage was likely carried out by a national government. The insurers’ filing contradicts reports the Washington Post and other legacy media publications asserting that a private Ukrainian team was responsible for the massive act of industrial sabotage.

A legal brief filed on behalf of UK-based firms Lloyd’s Insurance Company and Arch Insurance states that the “defendants will rely on, inter alia, the fact that the explosion Damage could only have (or, at least, was more likely than not to have) been inflicted by or under the order of a government.” As a result, they argue, “the Explosion Damage was “directly or indirectly occasioned by, happening through, or in consequence of” the conflict between Russia and Ukraine” and falls under an exclusion relating to military conflicts. The brief comes a month after Switzerland-based Nord Stream AG filed a lawsuit against the insurers for their refusal to compensate the company. Nord Stream, which estimated the cost incurred by the attack at between €1.2 billion and €1.35 billion, is seeking to recoup over €400 million in damages. Swedish engineer Erik Andersson, who led the first private investigative expedition to the blast sites of the Nord Stream pipelines, describes the insurers’ legal strategy as a desperate attempt to find an excuse to avoid honoring their indemnity obligations.

“If it’s an act of war and ordered by a government, that’s the only way they can escape their responsibility to pay,” Andersson told The Grayzone. Following a report by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh which alleged that the US government was responsible for the Nord Stream explosion, Western governments quickly spun out a narrative placing blame on a team of rogue Ukrainian operatives. Given the lack of conclusive evidence, however, proving that the explosions were “inflicted by or under the order of a government” would be a major challenge for defense lawyers. Even if the plaintiffs in the case are able to wrest back the funds in court, they are likely to face other serious hurdles. Later in the brief, lawyers for Lloyd’s and Arch suggest that even if they were required to pay up, anti-Russian sanctions would leave their hands tied.

“In the event that the Defendants are found to be liable to pay an indemnity and/or damages to the Claimant,” the brief states, “the Defendants reserve their position as to whether any such payment would be prohibited by any applicable economic sanctions that may be in force at the time any such payment is required to be made.” After they were threatened with sanctions by the US government, in 2021 Lloyd’s and Arch both withdrew from their agreement to cover damages to the second of the pipelines, Nord Stream 2. But though they remain on the hook for damages to the first line, the language used by the insurers’ lawyers seems to be alluding to a possible future sanctions package that would release them from their financial obligations. “Nord Stream 1 was not affected by those sanctions, but apparently sanctions might work retroactively to the benefit of insurers,” observes Andersson.

The plaintiffs may face an uphill battle at the British High Court in London, the city where Lloyd’s has been headquartered since its creation in 1689. As former State Department cybersecurity official Mike Benz observed, “Lloyd’s of London is the prize of the London banking establishment,” and “London is the driving force behind the transatlantic side of the Blob’s “Seize Eurasia” designs on Russia.”

“..hardline Republicans may force a vote on the motion to vacate shortly before the aid bills for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan hit the House floor..”

• Aid to Ukraine May Deep-Six Another House Speaker (Sp.)

Despite his repeated pledges to bring foreign aid bills to the House floor only when a solution to the border crisis is found, Speaker Johnson unveiled three separate funding packages, namely $26 billion for Israel, $61 billion for Ukraine, and $8 billion for Taiwan and allies in Indo-Pacific, at the time when the US southern frontier still remains wide open. “Republican speaker Mike Johnson went into that secured room with a bunch of guys in gray suits from the deep state, and he came out of that room after the meeting as Uniparty speaker Mike Johnson and no longer a Republican,” Michael Shannon, a political commentator and Newsmax columnist, told Sputnik. “That’s the only explanation for it that makes sense, because he’s completely turned around, and now he’s on the Washington agenda of the Uniparty and no longer listens to or tries to do what the base wants,” the commentator continued. “That’s what’s happening here. Once they get into a position of leadership, they abandon the base,” he maintained.

Shannon explained that Ukraine is obviously not on the GOP’s base priority list right now, given that Republican voters are much more concerned about the influx of illegals into the US, inflation, and budget deficit spending. A recent YouGov survey indicated that 61% of Republicans don’t approve of sending more weapons and other military assistance to Ukraine. Among them, 69% of self-identified MAGA Republicans and 55% of non-MAGA Republicans said they don’t want to send more military aid to the Kiev regime. A group of House conservatives confronted Mike Johnson on Thursday, namely, Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) advocating the motion to vacate in order to sack the incumbent speaker in the same way they ousted his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy. Massie told journalists that there would be more Republican votes to remove Speaker Johnson than there were to boot out McCarthy last October.

“If I had my wish, MTG’s motion to vacate the speakership, which I believe Representative Chip Roy from Texas also supports, would be successful, and the speaker’s chair would be vacated, and it would stay vacated until after the election,” said Shannon. “It’s obvious we can’t pass any conservative legislation with this House and this Senate. So not passing any bad legislation as far as I’m concerned, and as Daniel Horowitz of the Conservative Review mentioned, is probably the most viable alternative. That being said, I don’t know if MTG has the votes to vacate the speakership. I think we’ll just have to see how that develops.” According to Axios, hardline Republicans may force a vote on the motion to vacate shortly before the aid bills for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan hit the House floor.

Some Democrats, who hailed Johnson’s maneuver regarding the Ukraine aid bill, said they would help the speaker save his job. For his part, Johnson said he would not resign and branded the effort to oust him as “absurd”. However, the timing is crucial, a senior House Democrat said, as quoted by the media outlet: the Dems are much more likely to “save” Johnson after the aid bills are passed, not before that. Massie warned Johnson against relying on Democrats, stressing that the speaker would become “toxic to the conference.” “For every Democrat who comes to his aid, he’ll lose 2-3 more Republicans,” the congressman said, as quoted by NBC News’ Sahil Kapur.

Massie

GOP Gives up on Johnson: @RepThomasMassie says Mike Johnson has betrayed the Republican conference on 2 big occasions and he is about to do it a third time. Massie has called on Johnson to resign as John Boehner did and allow the GOP to elect a new speaker. #TheGreatAmericaShow pic.twitter.com/Xz2RY2kJAG

— Lou Dobbs (@LouDobbs) April 18, 2024

Petulant child.

• Zelensky Blames EU For Russian Advance (RT)

A shortage of Western arms supplies and unkept promises by EU members have allowed Russia to advance on the battlefield, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky told senior European officials on Wednesday. Zelensky made the claims during a video conference address to national leaders and senior members of the EU bureaucracy, who have convened for a two-day summit in Brussels. The Ukrainian leader reiterated that his country needs more Western material and financial assistance to continue its armed conflict with Russia. “Now the Russian army feels its strength in almost everything related to the armed component. And it is precisely because of this strength – in artillery, in equipment, in the ability to operate in the sky – that they are putting pressure on us at the front and are gradually moving,” he said.

Although he thanked Kiev’s donors for their aid, Zelensky also complained of unfulfilled promises. “Unfortunately, we have not yet seen a million artillery shells from the European Union that were discussed so much. Also, some other initiatives have not yet been fully implemented, and this is primarily reflected in what our soldiers can use at the front,” he stated. Russian President Vladimir Putin believes “he will succeed in his counteroffensive,” Zelensky claimed, adding that “the only root of this hope is the shortage of weapons among our soldiers.” In addition to offensive systems, Kiev wants more Western air defenses to protect its industrial base, as well as investment and technology to launch domestic arms production. It also requires electricity to compensate for the destruction of power facilities destroyed by Russian precision strikes, and according to Zelensky needs “energy of spirit” in the form of accelerated accession to the EU.

“We need the European Union to deliver what it had promised, and our people need to see Ukraine moving closer to full membership,” Zelensky insisted, urging Brussels to progress to the next phase of talks in June. Analysis published by Politico on Wednesday cited the refusal of Ukrainians to enroll into the military as a major problem for Kiev. EU statistics body Eurostat estimates the number of fighting age Ukrainian men living in member states at some 650,000. Most of them arranged to be smuggled across the border, the outlet said. This week, Zelensky signed into law a bill that makes it easier for conscription officials to issue summonses and imposes harsh punishments for avoiding the draft.

“..breaking the international order that you want to protect; that you would want Russia to respect..”

• ECB Fires Back At Plans To Seize Russian Assets (RT)

US-backed proposals to seize frozen Russian assets could undermine the international order, European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde has cautioned. Her comments came during a meeting in Washington on Wednesday, where the G7 finance ministers and central bank governors were discussing the issue of using the immobilized assets of the Russian central bank to support Ukraine. In a joint statement, the finance ministers and regulators said they would continue working on “all possible avenues” to make use of Russian sovereign assets, according to Reuters. The push to seize Moscow’s money has been led by the US and has caused a rift among the G7 and the EU political elite. Washington and its allies have blocked some $300 billion of Russian central bank assets due to sanctions adopted in response to the launch of Moscow’s special military operation against Kiev in February 2022.

Around $200 billion of that money is held in the EU. The US has been insisting for months that international law allows for the confiscation of the funds, but Germany and France have expressed concerns that such a move could set a dangerous precedent. ”I have seen four different schemes or proposals to circumvent what many other jurists or lawyers… regard as a very serious legal obstacle that can be construed as a violation of the legal international order,” Lagarde, a former lawyer, said, as quoted by the Financial Times. Moving from freezing the assets to confiscating them could entail “breaking the international order that you want to protect; that you would want Russia to respect,” she added. During the meeting in Washington, a senior US Treasury official outlined the options the finance ministers were “doing technical work” on.

”One of them is seizure, but another is collateralizing, or even using the windfall profits or the interest from these assets to fund a loan,” Deputy US Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said, as quoted by Reuters. The outlet reported earlier that the US and its allies were considering using the interest due on the frozen Russian assets as collateral for loans or bonds issued to help Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly said that the seizure of its funds would amount to theft and would further undermine global trust in the Western financial system. Russia has also warned that if necessary, it might respond in kind to such a move by the US and its allies.

The mess gets bigger by the day. We need Liz Cheney under oath.

• Top Military Official Lied About Jan. 6: Whistleblowers (ET)

The secretary of the Army on Jan. 6, 2021, lied about multiple details regarding what unfolded as the U.S. Capitol was breached, National Guard whistleblowers said during a congressional hearing on April 17. Then-Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy made multiple false claims, including that he spoke to the commanding general of the District of Columbia National Guard on two separate occasions after officials requested that the Guard be deployed to the Capitol, the whistleblowers said. After Maj. Gen. William Walker conveyed a request from the U.S. Capitol Police for Guard personnel, Mr. McCarthy called Maj. Gen. Walker at 2:14 p.m. and instructed the Guard to stand by, according to a Guard timeline of Jan. 6, 2021. But that call and others that Mr. McCarthy or one of his top advisers were said to have made later authorizing the Guard for mobilization and deployment did not happen, according to the Guard officials.

“At no time did Gen. Walker take any calls, nor did we ever hear from the secretary on any of the ongoing conference calls or the secure video teleconferencing throughout the day,” Capt. Timothy Nick, who served as Maj. Gen. Walker’s personal assistant on Jan. 6, 2021, said during the hearing. “This I know because I was with the command general the entire time recording the events.” Capt. Nick has not previously discussed publicly what transpired on Jan. 6, 2021, and neither has Brig. Gen. Aaron Dean, who was the National Guard’s adjutant general on the day that the Capitol was breached. The Department of Defense (DOD) inspector general report on Jan. 6, 2021, which relied heavily on Mr. McCarthy and other military officials, was rife with “inaccuracies,” Brig. Gen. Dean said. “I believe it is my duty and moral obligation to stand before you today and illuminate the truth,” he told the hearing, which was held by the House Administration Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight.

Despite Mr. Walker conveying the request for assistance at about 1:50 p.m., the Guard was not deployed to the Capitol until about 5:10 p.m. “This was a dereliction of duty by the secretary of the Army,” Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.), one of the members of the committee, said. Mr. McCarthy refused to appear before the panel, Dr. Murphy said. Christopher Miller, the acting secretary of defense at the time, authorized Guard deployment at 3:11 p.m., but Mr. McCarthy took the order and decided to draw up a plan before ordering the deployment, according to military timelines and testimony from Mr. McCarthy and others. “You never would employ our personnel, whether it’s on an American street or a foreign street, without putting together a [plan],” Mr. McCarthy told the now-disbanded House Jan. 6 committee.

The whistleblowers also testified that Army officials Lt. Gen. Walter Piatt and Gen. Charles Flynn, during a 2:30 p.m. conference call on Jan. 6, 2021, expressed concern about the optics of having the Guard at the Capitol. “I did hear the word optics. And they did use it. Specifically, Gen. Piatt said ‘optics.’ And his concern was that he did not want soldiers or airmen on Capitol grounds, with the Capitol in the background,” Brig. Gen. Dean said. “They were giving every other reason why we should be around the Capitol, away from the Capitol, and not responding to the Capitol.”

“..von der Leyen has conceded that there is no proof of a Russian bribery network. “They have carried [Putin’s] propaganda into our societies,” she said. “Whether they have taken bribes for it or not.”

• Desperation Behind European Politicians’ Latest Russiagate Hoax (Public)

European politicians claimed late last month that Russia bribed European politicians to spread disinformation and interfere in the upcoming June elections. “Russian influence scandal rocks EU,” screamed a March 30 Politico headline. Russia “is using dodgy outlets pretending to be media [and] using money to buy covert influence,” claimed European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova. The BBC agreed: “Russian network that ‘paid European politicians’ busted, authorities claim.” Heads of state hyped the alleged scandal. “We uncovered a pro-Russian network,” claimed Petr Fiala, the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, “that was developing an operation to spread Russian influence and undermine security across Europe.” Poland’s intelligence agency said it had conducted searches in the Warsaw and Tychy regions and seized €48,500 (£41,500) and $36,000 (£28,500).

However, following an investigation by Public, the head of the Czech Intelligence Agency (BIS), Michal Koudelka on Monday admitted that his agency has no information about any bribery scheme. “I cannot confirm anything,” he said. It’s true that Russia’s media influence in Europe intensified considerably during the Covid-19 pandemic. At that time, a number of marginalized voices found space on the German broadcasts of the Kremlin’s propaganda television, Russia Today, which the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, promptly shut down in 2022. But von der Leyen has conceded that there is no proof of a Russian bribery network. “They have carried [Putin’s] propaganda into our societies,” she said. “Whether they have taken bribes for it or not.” Public asked von der Leyen what evidence she has for her allegations. What was the misconduct or illegal activity if there were no bribes? Von der Leyen did not respond to Public’s requests for comment.

“..one of the things that the British courts don’t understand is the U.S. doctrine of separation of powers..”

• US Issues Assurances on Assange (Lauria)

The United States Embassy on Tuesday filed two assurances with the British Foreign Office saying it would not seek the death penalty against imprisoned WikiLeaks‘ publisher Julian Assange and would allow Assange “the ability to raise and seek to reply upon at trial … the rights and protections given under the First Amendment,” according to the U.S. diplomatic note. Assange’s wife Stella Assange said the note “makes no undertaking to withdraw the prosecution’s previous assertion that Julian has no First Amendment rights because he is not a U.S citizen. Instead,” she said, “the US has limited itself to blatant weasel words claiming that Julian can ‘seek to raise’ the First Amendment if extradited.” The note contains a hollow statement, namely, that Assange can try to raise the First Amendment at trial (and at sentencing), but the U.S. Department of Justice can’t guarantee he would get those rights, which is precisely what it must do under British extradition law based on the European Convention on Human Rights.

The U.S. Department of Justice is legally restricted to assure a free speech guarantee to Assange equivalent to Article 10 of the European Convention, which the British court is bound to follow. But without that assurance, Assange should be freed according to a British Crown Prosecution Service comment on extraditions. In USAID v. Alliance for Open Society, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that non-U.S. citizens outside the U.S. don’t possess constitutional rights. Both former C.I.A. Director Mike Pompeo and Gordon Kromberg, Assange’s U.S. prosecutor, have said Assange does not have First Amendment protection. Because of the separation of powers in the United States, the executive branch’s Justice Department can’t guarantee to the British courts what the U.S. judicial branch decides about the rights of a non-U.S. citizen in court, said Marjorie Cohn, law professor and former president of the National Lawyers’ Guild.

“Let’s assume that … the Biden administration, does give assurances that he would be able to raise the First Amendment and that the [High] Court found that those were significant assurances,” Cohn told Consortium News‘ webcast CN Live! last month. “That really doesn’t mean anything, because one of the things that the British courts don’t understand is the U.S. doctrine of separation of powers,” she said. “The prosecutors can give all the assurances they want, but the judiciary, another [one] .. of these three branches of government in the U.S., doesn’t have to abide by the executive branch claim or assurance,” Cohn said. In other words, whether Assange can rely on the First Amendment in his defense in a U.S. court is up to that court not Kromberg or the Department of Justice, which issued the assurance on Tuesday. “The United States has issued a non-assurance in relation to the First Amendment,” said Stella Assange.

Japan
https://twitter.com/i/status/1781068681931293121

Huajiang
https://twitter.com/i/status/1780929621610955001

Emperors

How Roman emperors would’ve looked like in real life.

According to Netflix, they must look different. pic.twitter.com/bB63dC9hOm

— iamyesyouareno (@iamyesyouareno) April 18, 2024

Family
https://twitter.com/i/status/1780913695993852363

Parrots

Group of parrots in a palm tree. pic.twitter.com/mB00qMUuUw

— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) April 18, 2024

Hedgehogs

Baby hedgehogs look pretty much different from the grown up ones.

They are born a pale pink colour, and over the first few weeks of life, fur grows, and the skin gradually darkens as the brown spines come through.pic.twitter.com/irEuwwIVI6

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) April 18, 2024

Tiger
https://twitter.com/i/status/1780890045454471561

Bald Eagle Walking

Bald Eagle Walking pic.twitter.com/wn9qTcwqEA

— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) April 18, 2024

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Debt Rattle February 7 2024

Feb 072024

February 7, 2024 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 9:50 am Finance Tagged with: animalization, dehumanization, Elon Musk, immunity, Lvov, Nordstream, Putin, Trump, Tucker Carlson, veto, Zaluhzny 72 Responses »

Claude Monet Houses of Parliament (Sun Breaking through the Fog) 1904

• Trump Immunity Denied By DC Appeals Court In Election Case (ZH)

• Tucker Carlson Reveals Putin Interview Plans (RT)

• Tucker Carlson Reveals Elon Musk’s Putin Interview Pledge (RT)

• Tucker Carlson’s Exclusive Interview With Vladimir Putin – Full Transcript (LM)

• NYT Fantasy: Germany Gearing Up for Military Confrontation with Russia (PCR)

• Biden Threatens To Veto GOP Israel Aid Bill (RT)

• Zelensky To Fire His Top General’s Deputies – MP (RT)

• Ukraine’s Top General Sparing Neo-Nazis From Frontline Slaughter (RT)

• Lvov May Become Ukraine’s New Capital (Sp.)

• Sweden To Close Nord Stream Sabotage Probe – German Media (RT)

• NYT’s Friedman Hits New Low With Animalization of Arabs, Iranians (Juan Cole)

• Western Spin Doctors Dehumanize Select Peoples To Justify War (Bowes)

• Gold & Silver Fight Tyranny – Catherine Austin Fitts (USAW)

• Why Burn Books When You Can Bury Them? (Turley)

• America Is Undergoing Genocide (Paul Craig Roberts)

Trump pathetic
https://twitter.com/i/status/1754910639565263099

Tucker RFK
https://twitter.com/i/status/1754923481957871793

RFK

I’m going to find the common ground that unites us and then lead everybody over that wall and take back our country from the people who’ve stolen from us #Kennedy24 pic.twitter.com/BidAnw2Ybo

— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) February 6, 2024

I’m trying to follow the logic here. It’s not easy.

“..the charges relate to official acts performed while he was president..”

“..”For the purpose of this criminal case, former President Trump has become citizen Trump..”

“If POTUS doesn’t have immunity they’ll be incapable of action for fear of future partisan reprisal..”

“Two of the judges on the panel, J. Michelle Childs and Florence Pan, were appointed by President Joe Biden. The third, Karen LeCraft Henderson, was appointed by President George H.W. Bush.”

• Trump Immunity Denied By DC Appeals Court In Election Case (ZH)

A three-judge panel for the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled on Tuesday that former President Trump does not have immunity from prosecution related to his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. “We have balanced former President Trump’s asserted interests in executive immunity against the vital public interests that favor allowing this prosecution to proceed,” the judges wrote in a 57-page opinion reported by CNBC. “We conclude that ‘[c]oncerns of public policy, especially as illuminated by our history and the structure of our government’ compel the rejection of his claim of immunity in this case,” the judges continue, upholding a trial judge’s previous ruling. Special Counsel Jack Smith brought the election interference case against Trump in US District Court in Washington DC, where the chances of him receiving a fair trial are slim to none.

“Trump is charged in the case with four counts of crimes including conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding. He has pleaded not guilty. Defense lawyers, seeking to dismiss the case, had argued to Judge Tanya Chutkan that Trump has “absolute immunity” from prosecution because the charges relate to official acts performed while he was president. After Chutkan declined to dismiss the charges, Trump’s attorneys brought the immunity argument to the appeals court. That move put the case on hold in Chutkan’s court. -CNBC. Trump’s legal team is expected to quickly ask the Supreme Court to overturn the decision, in which the former president’s legal team put forth three separate immunity arguments “both as a categorical defense to federal criminal prosecutions of former Presidents and as applied to this case in particular.”

“For the purpose of this criminal case, former President Trump has become citizen Trump, with all of the defenses of any other criminal defendant,” wrote the panel. “But any executive immunity that may have protected him while he served as President no longer protects him against this prosecution. “Donald Trump Jr. took to X to rail against the decision, posting: “If POTUS doesn’t have immunity they’ll be incapable of action for fear of future partisan reprisal. That endangers the United States and sets a terrible precedent. If this becomes the norm would a Trump DOJ prosecute Obama for droning an American? If not why not?”

High expectations..

• Tucker Carlson Reveals Putin Interview Plans (RT)

The Ukraine conflict has reshaped the military and economic balance of power around the world but most Americans have no idea because their media has fawned over Vladimir Zelensky and refused to talk to his Russian counterpart, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson said on Tuesday. Carlson, who launched his own network on X (formerly Twitter), posted a short video from Moscow, explaining the logic behind his upcoming interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Most Western media outlets are corrupt and “lie to their readers and viewers,” mainly by omission, Carlson argued. There has been no effort to speak to Putin since the conflict started in 2022, while US outlets have conducted many “fawning pep sessions” posing as interviews with Zelensky, he added.

“That is not journalism. It is government propaganda – propaganda of the ugliest kind, the kind that kills people,” said Carlson. “Because no one has told them the truth,” most people in English-speaking countries are unaware of “history-altering developments,” according to Carlson. “That’s wrong. Americans have the right to know all they can about a war they are implicated in,” he added, noting that freedom of speech is the American birthright that can’t be taken away no matter who sits in the White House. Carlson reminded his viewers that the US government spied on his text messages in 2021, when he attempted to interview Putin. He urged Americans to watch the entire interview on X, which will not be censored or paywalled, and decide for themselves, “like a free citizen, and not a slave.”

Carlson was first spotted in Moscow on Saturday, but has played coy about his plans. Asked about the hysterical calls to have him banned from returning to the US or jailed – advanced by some prominent establishment commentators – he called them “crazy.” The Kremlin has neither confirmed nor denied any plans to have Putin give an interview to Carlson, telling reporters that any such engagements will be announced in the fullness of time. Carlson was the highest-rated evening cable show host in the US when he was fired by Fox last April, without explanation. He has since returned as one of the most popular interviewers on X, the formerly censorious platform Musk bought in 2022.

“..X has significantly increased its compliance with government content takedown requests since his takeover, honoring 80% of such orders compared to 50% under his predecessors..”

• Tucker Carlson Reveals Elon Musk’s Putin Interview Pledge (RT)

Billionaire owner of X (formerly Twitter) Elon Musk has pledged not to censor Tucker Carlson’s interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin when it is posted on the platform, the American journalist claimed in a video he posted from Moscow on Tuesday. Carlson has been in Moscow for at least 4 days, sparking rumors that he planned to interview the Russian president. He confirmed his intention in the video, which has received over 260,000 likes. He praised Musk for his pledge “not to block or suppress the interview once we post it on his platform X,” confirming that the video would be available without a paywall to anyone who chose to watch it on the journalist’s own website as well.

“Western governments, by contrast, will certainly do their best to censor this video on other less principled platforms, because that’s what they do – they are afraid of information they can’t control,” the journalist continued, encouraging Americans to watch the interview in order to educate themselves on the “history-altering developments” unfolding in Russia and Ukraine. After assuming control of what was then called Twitter in late 2022, Musk famously partnered with a group of journalists to release internal communications that were widely accepted as proof that multiple US government agencies had been unconstitutionally suppressing the spread of narratives they found undesirable on social media. Musk’s decision to allow numerous prominent banned users back on X – including former US president Donald Trump and, more recently, Infowars host Alex Jones – was praised by free speech advocates, including Carlson.

The former Fox News host launched an independent talk show streaming on X last year after he was unceremoniously fired from hosting the number-one prime-time show in the US for reasons that have still not been made public. While Musk presented himself as a free-speech absolutist when buying the platform, X has significantly increased its compliance with government content takedown requests since his takeover, honoring 80% of such orders compared to 50% under his predecessors, according to a report published last year by tech outlet Rest of World. This has not stopped western governments, including the EU, from demanding he crack down on “disinformation” and “hate speech,” threatening severe penalties for noncompliance.

Like Carlson, Musk has been a vocal advocate for peace in Ukraine, repeatedly warning Washington against provoking a direct conflict with Moscow that could spiral into a third world war. Accordingly, while he provided Ukraine with free access to his company SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service, he has refused to enable the system near Crimea, lest Kiev use it to facilitate attacks on the Russian fleet, arguing in September that to do so would render his company “explicitly complicit in a major act of war and conflict escalation.”

pic.twitter.com/OAky3fBywu

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 6, 2024

From a French-Canadian site. We don’t know the authenticity.

• Tucker Carlson’s Exclusive Interview With Vladimir Putin – Full Transcript (LM)

TUCKER: What would you say to the people who run America?
PUTIN: Our message is that Russia is not your enemy. We don’t want war. We are ready for peace. Your leaders seek conflict. This is not what we want. Russia defends its own people. We don’t want what doesn’t belong to us.
TUCKER: Would you like to visit Washington?
PUTIN: Yes, of course. I have already been to the United States. I love visiting and have met every president except Joe Biden. If I was invited, I would go. Yes.
TUCKER: What is your opinion of President Biden?
PUTIN: We are convinced that he does not lead the country. Let’s say we have good sources that confirm this, but obviously everyone can see it for themselves. The United States has now entered a dark period. His leadership is unaccountable.
TUCKER: Do you think Joe Biden won fairly?
PUTIN: I would prefer not to get into US domestic politics, but I will say that my embassy reported that your southern border was better managed than the 2020 elections. (laughter)

TUCKER: US poll shows you more popular than Biden – reaction?
PUTIN: (laughs) I don’t know if this should be taken seriously, but Russian ideals have support. We believe in traditional values; Marriage is between a man and a woman: men are men and women are women.
TUCKER: Who would you like to see as the next president of the United States?
PUTIN: Once again, it is not our place to say or get involved. Contrary to long-standing accusations, we are not interfering in your elections. We don’t need it, because it’s the same people who end up running things anyway.
TUCKER: Why did you invade Ukraine?
PUTIN: Did we invade or were we invaded? Look at the story. Look at the people who live there. Historically, we are the ones who were invaded and are only fighting back now. The lands and people are Russian and we will regain what has always been ours.

TUCKER: How would you feel, lol, if Trump won again?
PUTIN: We had good relations when Mr. Trump was president. There was no war. Our relationships were at a high point. That said, nothing is predictable and the statistics are the same. We’ll have to see.
TUCKER: What do you think of Mr. Zelensky and what would be your message to him?
PUTIN: I remember laughing at his jokes when he was a comedian in Russia. Back to the laughter.
TUCKER: Why is that?
PUTIN: There are strong financial entities that have an interest in keeping us as adversaries. One of your presidents warned against this. We Russians don’t have this problem.

“The Russian population in Ukraine was suffering persecution, and that is why the Kremlin intervened.”

• NYT Fantasy: Germany Gearing Up for Military Confrontation with Russia (PCR)

I forget what year it was that the New York Times ceased being a newspaper and became a shill for the military/security complex. Now the former newspaper has teamed up with German war minister Boris Pistorius and two presstitutes to hype German rearmament to counter the Russian Threat. In one of the silliest articles I have ever read, the NYT reports that Pistorius is warning Germans to prepare for decades of confrontation with Russia and quickly rebuild Germany’s military “in case Vladimir V. Putin does not plan to stop at the border with Ukraine.” Let’s stop here for a minute and remember the Third Reich when Germany was a major military power capable of defeating Poland, France, and Great Britain in a few weeks. Germans were proud and highly motivated, but confrontation with Russia brought a quick end to the Third Reich.

In contrast, today Germany is a deracinated state taught guilt and self-loathing by decades of American and Jewish control over German education and overrun with third world immigrant-invaders. Germany has been an American puppet state since 1945, and is being de-industrialized by American sanctions allegedly aimed at Russia but hitting Germany. The notion that Germany would be capable of confronting Russia militarily is hilarious. Note the assumption that “a newly aggressive Russia” might not stop with Ukraine. As Putin has made clear both with words and by how he has limited Russian military action in Ukraine, Putin’s goal is limited to the previous Russian territories that Soviet leaders placed into the Ukrainian Soviet Republic. The Russian population in Ukraine was suffering persecution, and that is why the Kremlin intervened.

Washington still thinks in 19th century terms that power is gained by the conquest of land. That is not the way Russia and China think. For Russia and China influence is obtained through economic and financial cooperation, not by occupying land or controlling governments. Washington and Israel are the only two militarily aggressive countries in the world. The head of Germany’s intelligence service, Bruno Kahl, is even sillier than the war minister. Kahl said, according to the NYT, “If Ukraine were forced to surrender, that would not satisfy Russia’s hunger for power. If the West does not demonstrate a clear readiness to defend, Putin will have no reason not to attack NATO.”

Clearly, the chief of German intelligence, if it can be called that, has no idea of the dynamics of power. Ukraine is defeated. Russia is not pursuing its advantage. Putin is just sitting there waiting for the realization to soak in. The most preposterous aspect of the NYT’s article is the assumption that “hard power” is military power and that military power is independent of economic power. Germany’s only strength was its economy. Washington has taken that away by blowing up the Nord Stream Pipeline and by forcing Germany to abandon lucrative business deals with Russia. With Germany joining Britain in war talk about Russia, it is Washington pulling the puppet strings. Sooner or later Europeans will figure out that it is NATO, not Russia, that will bring war to Europe.

“The security of Israel should be sacred, not a political game..”

Funny, I would say that about the children of Gaza. Their lives should be sacred.

• Biden Threatens To Veto GOP Israel Aid Bill (RT)

US President Joe Biden has vowed to veto a Republican-proposed standalone aid package for Israel if it manages to pass through Congress. The idea to pass a “clean” aid package, not tied to border security or Ukraine, was floated by speaker of the US House of Representatives Mike Johnson last week. A number of GOP lawmakers have been opposing a $118 billion national security package, which includes $60 billion in Ukraine military aid, $14 billion for Israel and roughly $20 billion for funding US border policy changes. The package is set to be voted on in the Senate this week. In a statement published by the Office of Management and Budget on Monday, the White House urged both chambers of Congress to reject Johnson’s Israel-only bill, calling it “another cynical political maneuver” after the Biden administration spent “months working with a bipartisan group of Senators to reach a national security agreement that secures the border and provides support for the people of Ukraine and Israel.”

The bipartisan package also includes $10 billion in humanitarian assistance for civilians in Gaza, the West Bank and Ukraine. “The security of Israel should be sacred, not a political game,” the statement read. As early as November, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby indicated that Biden “would veto” a stand-alone Israel aid bill. Johnson responded to the president’s veto threat this week by calling it “a betrayal of our great ally and friend Israel in their time of desperate need.” “The idea that Joe Biden would suggest that he would not send a clean funding measure to assist them is just outrageous,” the House speaker told CNN, warning that the Senate border package would be “dead on arrival” in Congress.

He also previously criticized the Senate bill, saying it would not even “come close to ending the border catastrophe the president has created.” The speaker urged the Senate to take up the standalone Israel aid bill, asking senators to abandon their efforts to keep Israeli aid linked with other issues. While US lawmakers have been entangled in negotiations over the new security supplement for months, EU leaders last week signed off on a €50 billion ($54 billion) support package for Kiev “within the EU budget.” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who originally vetoed the proposal arguing that Brussels has no idea how the monies will be spent, was reportedly “blackmailed” into accepting the deal.

Zelensky is more likely to blindly do the US’ bidding.

• Zelensky To Fire His Top General’s Deputies – MP (RT)

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky reportedly plans to fire his top general Valery Zaluzhny in the next few days and will likely also dismiss all of the commander’s deputies, a member of the country’s parliament, the Rada, claimed in a Telegram post on Tuesday. The expected firing of Zaluzhny was initially reported last week by several media outlets. However, due to a leak to the press, Zelensky appears to have postponed the decision. Nevertheless, he admitted on Sunday that he would be replacing his top commander and conducting a “serious” overhaul of the country’s leadership. According to MP Alexey Goncharenko, in tandem with Zaluzhny’s sacking, the president intends to fire all of the general’s deputies as well, including Evgeny Moysyuk, Nikolay Balan and Mikhail Zabrodsky.

Goncharenko denounced any attempts to diminish Zaluzhny’s achievements and called the prospect of his firing a “complete disgrace” for Zelensky, adding that it was “wrong” to “spin up negativity, play political games and raise tensions in society during a war.” While Zelensky has not yet made it clear when Zaluzhny would be let go, another Rada MP, Evgeny Shevchenko, has suggested that the commander will be relieved of his position sometime this week. He will then reportedly travel to the UK to serve as Kiev’s ambassador, Shevchenko said, noting that such a position would essentially be a “political pension” for the general. Zaluzhny’s firing comes after months of strained relations with the Ukrainian president. The two fell out over their respective assessments of the battlefield situation, following Kiev’s failed summer counteroffensive. In an article for The Economist in November, Zaluzhny described the situation on the ground as a “stalemate” while Zelensky vehemently rejected that depiction.

In an interview with Italy’s RAI TG1 news channel on Sunday, however, Zelensky appeared to have changed his tune and admitted that there were issues on the front line. In order to solve them, he said that there needs to be a complete overhaul of the country’s leadership, which would not be focused on replacing just a single person, apparently referring to Zaluzhny. The top Ukrainian commander, meanwhile, has reportedly told the president, as per the Washington Post, that no amount of leadership changes would result in any rapid improvements on the battlefield, insisting that Kiev’s forces needed more recruits to gain an advantage. He also stressed that Ukraine needs to prepare for a rise in the rate of personnel losses in 2024. According to Russia’s Defense Ministry, Kiev lost more than 23,000 soldiers in January. In December, the ministry estimated that since the start of the conflict, over 383,000 of Ukraine’s troops had been killed or wounded.

”The guy with the gun usually wins and last time I checked Zaluzhny’s got more guns than Zelensky..”

• Ukraine’s Top General Sparing Neo-Nazis From Frontline Slaughter (RT)

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, who has reportedly been attempting to fire his top general, Valery Zaluzhny, could find himself out of a job before the nation’s top military commander, considering that the latter is backed by armed neo-Nazis, former CIA analyst Larry Johnson has argued. Amid widespread reports that Zelensky had unsuccessfully tried to sack Zaluzhny, Ukrainian and foreign media described a tense meeting between the pair, with the general reportedly rejecting a call to resign voluntarily and the president hesitating to remove him under pressure from military top brass. Zelensky has since told the press that a major overhaul of the military command was imminent.

In conversation with Nima Alkhorshid, the Brazil-based host of the YouTube channel, Dialogue Works on Sunday, Johnson claimed the soap opera would be hilarious “if hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians weren’t dead and maimed.” ”The guy with the gun usually wins and last time I checked Zaluzhny’s got more guns than Zelensky,” Johnson said. Comparing the two men, he said the general should not be seen as a “great guy.” “I don’t want to present Zaluzhny as some sort of military genius or really a good-hearted man,” the commentator remarked. He is “a bit of a scumbag” who “embraces the neo-Nazi ideology,” Johnson claimed. ”He’s been very careful to not insert the most ideologically driven troops – the Azov and the Kraken units – into the front lines where they get killed, because he wants to preserve them. Instead, he is sending the cannon-fodder guys.”

Whether or not Zaluzhny shares the radical nationalist ideology of the Ukrainian far-right is hard to tell from his public statements, but he is believed to have considerable support in those circles. A social media post on Friday by Andrey Stempitsky, a Ukrainian military leader and prominent member of the nationalist Right Sector group, featured a photo of him giving Zaluzhny an honorary ID, certifying the general as the first member of Stempitsky’s brigade. A portrait of Stepan Bandera, a Ukrainian nationalist leader and Nazi collaborator, was in the background of the image. Zelensky was elected president in 2019 on a platform of reconciliation with rebels in the east and with Russia, but threats of violence by the extreme right made his office pull back from early attempts to deliver on that promise.

“..a new USAID-Ukraine project for the construction of a railway connecting the EU and Ukraine has Lvov and not Kiev as its endpoint..”

• Lvov May Become Ukraine’s New Capital (Sp.)

In December 2023, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and a major Ukrainian railway company signed an agreement for the construction of a 75-kilometer section of the European-gauge railway. The railroad will be part of a larger trans-European project (Mediterranean Corridor) starting in southern Spain and finishing in Lvov. Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev believes that Lvov is set to become Ukraine’s new capital city. His conclusion is based on the fact that a new USAID-Ukraine project for the construction of a railway connecting the EU and Ukraine has Lvov and not Kiev as its endpoint. According to Medvedev, business sometimes reacts to unraveling geopolitical developments more quickly and pragmatically than politicians, and much can be understood from the project details and their reasons.

“It looks like the first confirmation that Lvov-Lemberg will be the new capital of Ukraine within the borders of the Lvov region… It’s just that business is much more prescient than politicians,” Medvedev wrote on X (former Twitter). Lvov-Lemberg is the old name for the city from when the region was part of the Austrian monarchy. Allegations hinting at the capital city being moved away from Kiev are old news for history enthusiasts. After all, national borders and political affiliations have altered dramatically across the continent even throughout the 20th century. Ever since Russia launched its special military op, EU officials have frequently voiced opinions pertaining to the fact that some of today’s Ukrainian lands historically belong to other EU nations. Such is the case with Eastern Galitsia, Transcarpathia (Zakarpattia), Bessarabia, or North Bukovina.

We’re not supposed to know.

• Sweden To Close Nord Stream Sabotage Probe – German Media (RT)

Sweden will this week announce the end of its investigation into the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, German media claimed on Tuesday. The reports come after Swedish prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist told the Expressen national newspaper on Monday that he will disclose a major development in the case within days. Built to deliver Russian natural gas to Germany via the Baltic Sea, the Nord Stream pipelines were damaged by a series of powerful explosions in September 2022. Germany, Sweden, and Denmark each launched their own national probes into the incident after failing to agree on a joint effort. Several leading German news outlets, including Suddeutsche Zeitung, NDR, WDR and Zeit, have predicted that Sweden will close its investigation after failing to identify any suspects.

The move will benefit German investigators, according to the news outlets, as Sweden will be able to share evidence with them once its own case is closed. Investigators are reportedly focusing their attention on a yacht named Andromeda, which was allegedly rented in Poland by a Ukrainian citizen before the bombing, and may have carried the team responsible for it, according to a working theory. Warsaw has been accused of stonewalling requests for assistance from fellow EU members and feeding them disinformation to scapegoat Russia, the Wall Street Journal claimed last month.

Skeptics of the Andromeda theory have argued that the depth at which the pipelines were blown up would have made it impossible for divers lacking highly specialized skills and equipment to plant the explosives. American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh claimed in February 2023 that the incident was actually a clandestine US-Norwegian operation, personally ordered by President Joe Biden to ensure the EU’s decoupling from Russian energy supplies. Washington and Oslo have rejected the allegations, although senior officials in Moscow have said they find Hersh’s reporting plausible. Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that the sabotage was “most likely” carried out by the US “or someone at their instruction.”

“Such language proliferates in times of tension and war. The impulse to it should be resisted by ethical persons, and even just by normal non-psychopathic human beings..”

• NYT’s Friedman Hits New Low With Animalization of Arabs, Iranians (Juan Cole)

Calling people animals is a way to dehumanize them, and probably helps convince individuals that the other people around them approve of treating the animals badly. In ways that aren’t entirely clear, this way of speaking is certainly wrought up with violence and even genocide. Israel’s Defense Minister called the Palestinians of Gaza “human animals” when he announced a “complete siege” of Gaza after the horrid Hamas terrorist attack of October 7. Galant’s willingness to destroy most of the homes in northern Gaza and to displace over a million people, leaving them cold, hungry, thirsty and increasingly victims of disease, surely was enhanced by his conviction that he is dealing with animals rather than human beings. Some might defend him, saying that he only called Hamas “human animals.” But if that were true, why is he treating all Palestinians in Gaza worse than dogs?

The Nazi dehumanization of Jews is notorious. They called them rats, lice, cockroaches, foxes, vultures. Such language proliferates in times of tension and war. The impulse to it should be resisted by ethical persons, and even just by normal non-psychopathic human beings. Prominent New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman, alas, fell victim to the seductions of such language in his Friday column. He openly said that he approaches the Middle East at times from the perspective of the Warner Brothers’ Animal Planet channel. Friedman actually wants a two-state solution and so wants something for Palestinians more than what they now have, and he is hated by the Israeli far right (which is increasingly the Israeli mainstream) for these stances.

So it is unfortunate that he deployed the language of insects for Iran and Hamas members. He might defend himself by pointing out that he called the United States an “old lion” of which no one in the region is afraid any more, or that he caricatured Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu as a lemur. But in his column, the old lion and the lemur are not depicted as vicious or disgusting. The three-time Pulitzer prize-winner compares Iran to a parasitoid wasp that lays its eggs in caterpillars. He says that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps is like the wasp, and the caterpillars are Lebanon’s Hezbollah, the Iraqi Shiite militias, and Yemen’s Helpers of God (Houthis). How does this language add to understanding? If he is saying that Iran has fostered Shiite militias in nearby countries on the model of its Revolutionary Guards, this is true.

But why would Lebanese be interested in Iranian training, weapons and monetary support? In 1947-1948 Zionist militias ethnically cleansed over half of Palestinians, expelling them from their homes and farms and forcing some of them to Lebanon, where they dwelled in camps. As a liberal Zionist, I presume that Friedman applauds this ethnic cleansing, though the liberal part of the equation makes him sympathetic to Palestinians getting a state on 22% of the land of the British Mandate of Palestine, all of which was promised to the Palestinians by the British White Paper of 1939.

“..Ukrainians are treated as fellow human beings while thousands of brown Muslims drowning in the Mediterranean struggle to hold column inches in the same newspapers..”

• Western Spin Doctors Dehumanize Select Peoples To Justify War (Bowes)

Anyone watching the ebb and flow of Western coverage of the Ukrainian conflict will notice the emergence of a centrally formed, “fact-light” narrative that suggests Ukrainians are utterly blameless, in a conflict which did not, in fact, begin on February 24, 2022, but with a CIA-back coup in Kiev in 2014, powered by ultra-nationalists and the far right. Its roots stretch even deeper, decades back, to the attempts at the destabilization of the Ukrainian SSR by Western intelligence agencies. Of course, the Western viewer is conveniently spared such details. The skill of deceit by omission of fact has been well honed by the likes of the BBC and CNN. Additionally, the Western media has also been adept at memory-holing Kiev’s crimes against its own people in the aftermath of the 2014 Maidan coup. There is no space to report the gross corruption, the punitive neo-Nazi battalions unleashed on the Donbass region, or the murder, abduction and rape deployed against the Russian-speaking populations who refused to accept the illegitimate mandate of the post-Maidan government.

So, while The Western media gleefully attaches itself to this centralized narrative, there are very hard questions to be asked about the motivations and psychological tools being used in licensing and peddling the justification of war, and when it comes to Palestine, one of these uncomfortable realities is the deployment of subconscious racism. Let’s look at the convenient demonization of Islam. It is by no means an accident that the majority of victims of America’s catastrophic post-9/11 “war on terror” were Muslim. Decades of demonization of Islam as a savage religion bent on world domination have had a subconscious effect on the “collective mind” of the West. This is then energetically exploited by the Western media as required. When Syrian and African refugees from wars stimulated by the Western powers sought refuge in Europe, they were met with protest and in many cases violent objection.

However, when it came to the Ukrainian conflict, some Western commentators openly talked about the fact that the Ukrainian refugees “looked like us,” that they could be “our own people,” that they were blonde-haired and blue-eyed. It was a jarring display of how Ukrainians are treated as fellow human beings while thousands of brown Muslims drowning in the Mediterranean struggle to hold column inches in the same newspapers. The intimate relationship between the client media and the military industrial complex also requires deep investigation and analysis. Media empires such as Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp exert vast and overwhelming influence on the public discourse when it comes to the justification of war.

The relationship between the critically important military industrial complex and the creation of a defensible war narrative is undeniable yet persistently denied. So as the world shifts its gaze from Ukraine towards the Middle East, it’s remarkable how quickly the Ukrainian conflict has slipped from the top of the news feeds in the West. It’s also remarkable how criticism of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has become suddenly acceptable, whereas the same criticism only months ago was universally suppressed in the Western media.

“The federal government is being run as a criminal enterprise. . . .not just a little criminal, but a lot criminal.”

• Gold & Silver Fight Tyranny – Catherine Austin Fitts (USAW)

Catherine Austin Fitts (CAF), Publisher of The Solari Report, financial expert and former Assistant Secretary of Housing (Bush 41 Admin.), says, “The federal government is being run as a criminal enterprise. . . .not just a little criminal, but a lot criminal.” CAF thinks now is the time for state governments to act to protect their citizens from the dangers of a falling dollar and increasing central control over “We the People.” CAF explains, “One of the things we are talking with the states about is Sovereign State Banks, so they can protect their transactions in dollars. We are also talking about State Bullion Depositories. This is so states can protect their rainy-day reserve and, ultimately, their transaction ability with gold and silver. Under the Constitution, the states have those powers.

This is very important if we are going to have sovereignty as individuals and not wake up one day and find ourselves in the same spot as the Canadian truckers who had their bank accounts shut down for protesting the CV19 lockdowns and mandates. More and more, we are seeing people say the ‘wrong things,’ and suddenly they find their bank account is shut down. So, if we are going to have individual sovereignty, we need governments that can provide sovereignty. . . . . The states have the power to implement financial transaction arraignments to protect our financial transaction freedom. Without our financial transaction freedom, we are literally going to lose all of our freedoms.”

CAF says there are many reasons to be concerned for the dollar as the world reserve currency system. Fewer and fewer countries are paying for oil trade in dollars. The US now has record debt and likely it cannot be paid back—ever. CAF also points out, “We are seeing a serious loss of confidence for the US federal government to keep its word. As we see this erosion of confidence, we see the US government and central banks assert more and more control in a way which is nothing but tryanny. . . . The challenge in the dollar system is that the dollar system has been managed in a very corrupt way. That corruption has made the dollar system much more expensive and much less efficient than it could be.

The corruption is destroying the productivity of the dollar system. That is telling people all over the world that this is a system you cannot rely on and you can’t trust. It is also devastating to the brand of the dollar system for the military not to look strong. . . . What you are watching is a diminishing of trust all around the world. . . . People are wondering how we are going to survive if the dollar system is going to continue to erode?” CAF also talks about the CV19 murder and disability program and how that is going to affect the economy and the November 2024 Election. CAF says, “A lot can happen before November. . . .I had a preacher who once told me, ‘If we can face it, God can fix it.’”

“[i]s the [Biden] Admin asking us to remove books, or are they more concerned about search results/order (or both)?”

• Why Burn Books When You Can Bury Them? (Turley)

The House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government on Monday revealed yet another facet of the Biden Administration’s sprawling censorship system that targeted dissenting books. It appears that, as with social media companies, it succeeded in getting the company not to promote disfavored books. Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan revealed on X that the White House was directly involved in the censorship campaign. That includes a 2021 email from one Biden official asking to discuss “the high levels of propaganda and misinformation and disinformation of [sic] Amazon?” Amazon in turn appears to ask only how high the Biden White House wants it to jump on censorship: “[i]s the [Biden] Admin asking us to remove books, or are they more concerned about search results/order (or both)?”

After the meeting, Amazon confirmed in an email that it was actively doing what the government demanded in suppressing sales by not promoting disfavored books: “As a reminder, we did enable Do Not Promote for anti-vax books whose primary purpose is to persuade readers vaccines are unsafe or ineffective on 3/9, and will review additional handling options for these books with you.” This effort notably parallels demands from Democratic leaders who have called for enlightened algorithms to frame what citizens access on the internet. In 2021, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) objected that people were not listening to the informed views of herself and leading experts. Instead, they were reading views of skeptics by searching Amazon and finding books by “prominent spreaders of misinformation.”

Warren blamed Amazon for failing to limit searches or choices: “This pattern and practice of misbehavior suggests that Amazon is either unwilling or unable to modify its business practices to prevent the spread of falsehoods or the sale of inappropriate products.” In her letter, Warren gave the company 14 days to change its algorithms to throttle and obstruct efforts to read opposing views. It is important to keep in mind that these efforts at censorship targeted scientists who have been vindicated in many of their objections to policies and claims of the government. For example, a new scientific review by 12 researchers from leading universities found little support for the claims that masks reduced Covid exposures. The Centers for Disease and Control Prevention (CDC) initially rejected the use of a mask mandate. However, the issue became a political weapon as politicians and the press claimed that questioning masks was anti-science and even unhinged.

In April 2020, the CDC reversed its position and called for the masking of the entire population, including children as young as 2 years old. The mask mandate and other pandemic measures like the closing of schools are now cited as fueling emotional and developmental problems in children. The closing of schools and businesses was also challenged by some critics as unnecessary. Many of those critics were also censored. It now appears that they may have been right. Many countries did not close schools and did not experience increases in Covid. However, we are now facing alarming drops in testing scores and alarming rises in medical illness among the young. Masks became a major social and political dividing line in politics and the media. Maskless people were chased from stores and denounced in Congress. Then-CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said during a Senate hearing that “face masks are the most important powerful health tool we have.”

The head of the World Health Organization even supported censorship to combat what he called an “infodemic.” A lawsuit opposing these efforts was filed by Missouri and Louisiana and joined by leading experts, including Drs. Jayanta Bhattacharya (Stanford University) and Martin Kulldorff (Harvard University). Yet, universities joined social media companies and politicians in targeting dissenters and silencing opposing voices. Bhattacharya previously objected to the suspension of Dr. Clare Craig after she raised concerns about Pfizer trial documents. Those doctors were the co-authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, which advocated for a more focused Covid response that targeted the most vulnerable population rather than widespread lockdowns and mandates. Many are now questioning the efficacy and cost of the massive lockdown as well as the real value of masks or the rejection of natural immunities as an alternative to vaccination. Yet, these experts and others were attacked for such views just a year ago. Some found themselves censored on social media for challenging claims of Dr. Fauci and others.

” Just as nothing will be done about the genocide of the Palestinians, nothing will be done about the American genocide. White people are an endangered species..”

• America Is Undergoing Genocide (Paul Craig Roberts)

It is not a conspiracy theory that the 300,000 immigrant-invaders (official count) entering the US unopposed each month are recruits organized by NGOs and not refugees from political persecution. The NGOs that are underwriting the invasion provide maps of the routes along which food and shelter are provided. Roads and bridges are being constructed to aid the invasion. One of the NGOs is the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), of which the current director of the US Department of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, himself a Jew, was a board member until December 2020. According to an article on substack, HIAS has received $100,000,000 from the US government in the past three years. Mayorkas is foreign born and himself an immigrant-invader. Yet, he is the director of Homeland Security for the United States. On January 31, the House Committee on Homeland Security voted to approve articles of impeachment of Mayorkas for “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” in enforcing border policy and “breach of public trust.”

There has been no investigation of whether it was Mayorkas who gave $100,000,000 of US taxpayers money to a Jewish NGO engaged in the organized invasion of the US. According to the report on substack, HIAS has a processing center in the Darien Gap used to collect the immigrant-invaders and to send them on their guided and provisioned way. Apparently, Mayorkas is aware of this, and possibly is helping to finance it. But don’t expect Congress to investigate anything that might reflect unfavorably on a Jewish organization. Another problem is Vanita Gupta, daughter of Indian immigrants, who is Associate Attorney General of the US. Gupta has been active in investigating police departments, in enforcing LGBTQ2 rights and hate crime prosecutions, and winning settlements for illegal immigrant children. Her father is a director of Avantor, a company that makes in Mexico acetic anhydride, a product used in producing heroin and methamphetamine.

As the Democrats’ open border policy facilitates the drug trade, the question is whether an associate attorney general who fights for immigrant-invaders and whose father is involved in a corporation that produces a product used in the drug trade has a conflict of interest. Governance in a tower of babel is problematic, especially when the most recent citizens are people of color with racial privileges that give them preferred entry into top positions. Many of the immigrant-invaders arrive from countries in which it is commonplace that officials privatize their offices for money or for ideological and social agendas. When a Western government has so many government officials from countries outside the Western tradition, how does the country remain Western? Isn’t it transformed into something else?

Under the Democrats, each and every month illegal immigrants are permitted to enter the US in numbers (official, the real number might be higher) equal to the population of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Think about it. Every year the Democrats’ open border policy saddles us with 12 cities the size of Pittsburgh full of third world immigrants who know nothing of Western ways. it is a new form of genocide that America is undergoing. It is unclear to me if there is enough of America left to be able to rescue itself. Rescue is certainly impossible as long as gullible, insouciant, hapless Americans continue to vote Democrat. Not that the Republicans are much different. As far as I can tell, the only difference between the two parties is that Republicans do not hate white people, and it is not their policy to destroy them and to replace a white country with people of color. But Republicans lack a fighting spirit. They themselves are part of the Establishment, and they are content to milk the situation to their own end. Just as nothing will be done about the genocide of the Palestinians, nothing will be done about the American genocide. White people are an endangered species. Their governments are conspiring against them.

Rancourt
https://twitter.com/i/status/1754727126152945732

Lily
https://twitter.com/i/status/1754886443133018498

Ostrich

Father Ostrich protecting his babies pic.twitter.com/NybUgeHxZd

— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) February 6, 2024

Engineering

An amazing engineering, China. pic.twitter.com/Nv9SBkVniT

— The Best (@ThebestFigen) February 6, 2024

Grey whale

Making Eye Contact with a Grey Whale pic.twitter.com/iQM46EzOj2

— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) February 6, 2024

Hammock

Bear cubs getting in a hammock is one of the greatest videos of all time. pic.twitter.com/yR2LjBHNVf

— Fascinating (@fasc1nate) February 6, 2024

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Debt Rattle January 9 2024

Jan 092024

January 9, 2024 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 9:56 am Finance Tagged with: Fani Willis, House Freedom Caucus, Hunter Biden, immunity, Mexico, Nordstream, obesity, SPR, Trump 75 Responses »

René Magritte Youth 1924

• Ukraine Has Lost 500,000 Troops – Ex Prosecutor General (RT)

• Ukraine May Resort to Printing Money if Western Cash Dries Up (Sp.)

• Russia Must Be Asia’s Peace Maker (Hayes)

• Poland Covered Up For Nord Stream Attackers – WSJ (RT)

• Biden Refills Strategic Petroleum Reserve At Twice The Historic Average (Sp.)

• Biden Is Asking For Mexican Help To Stop The Record Surge Of Migrants (NBC)

• 27 States File to Oppose Colorado’s Disqualification of Trump (Turley)

• Donald Trump Will Attend Tuesday Arguments For Immunity Motion In J6 Case (PM)

• Trump Co-Defendant: Improper Relationship Between Georgia DA, Prosecutor (NYP)

• Musk Responds To WSJ ‘Hit Piece’ (RT)

• Hunter Biden Contempt Resolutions Introduced In House (ZH)

• Most Germans Want Scholz To Step Down – Poll (RT)

• House Freedom Caucus Slams Speaker Johnson’s Proposed Spending Deal (JTN)

• “It’s Okay to Be Fat” and Obesity Should be “Normalized” (MN)

Tucker Jan 6

We don’t need to guess about what happened on January 6th. It was one of the most videotaped events in human history. A new documentary proves that most of what you’ve heard about that day is a lie. pic.twitter.com/924EyuNrKf

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) January 8, 2024

Riveted
https://twitter.com/i/status/1744415213053522390

Biden plagiarism

“They plunder, they slaughter, and they steal: this they falsely name Empire, and where they make a wasteland, they call it peace.”
– Tacitus

To achieve what?

• Ukraine Has Lost 500,000 Troops – Ex Prosecutor General (RT)

Ukraine’s leaders should frankly admit that they have lost 500,000 service members since the start of the conflict with Russia, and that the monthly casualty rate is at around 30,000, former prosecutor general Yury Lutsenko has said. President Vladimir Zelensky’s goverment could convince reluctant citizens to join the fight by publicly admitting the heavy losses on the battlefield and declaring that the country’s very existence is in jeopardy, he believes. Ukrainians “must know how many have died, and then all debates about the mobilization will be settled,” he added. Speaking to the country’s media on Wednesday, the former official proposed a number of steps to address the draft-dodging and corruption that is hampering the country’s conscription efforts.

He suggested that new legislation must be introduced by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, the country’s defense minister, and top army general to emphasize the seriousness of the situation. “They should say how many Ukrainians have died. I know that this news will be received badly. But there is no other way to bring out of the comfort zone millions of those who hide behind bogus stories that everyone can serve except me,” Lutsenko said. According to Lutsenko, this “shock” would lead to large queues at recruitment offices, as had occurred in February 2022. Another important measure, according to the former official, would be the campaign to send members of the Ukrainian elite to the frontline.

“The army should not be all workers and peasants. Everyone should fight for Ukraine,” he stated, arguing that this would encourage ordinary citizens who he said have a very strong sense of justice. Zelensky said in December that the Ukrainian military had asked him to mobilize another 450,000 or 500,000 soldiers to make up for battlefield losses. Later that month, the government introduced a mobilization bill proposing to lower the recruitment age from 27 to 25 and eliminate exemptions for some categories of disabled people. The initiative comes after Ukraine launched a large counteroffensive in early June, which failed to gain any substantial ground. Moscow has described Kiev’s losses as catastrophic, estimating them at around 160,000 since the start of the push. Ukraine, however, has been reluctant to officially publish data on its casualties.

Ukr TV
https://twitter.com/i/status/1744313678021660797

“The West reportedly pays for a whopping 70 percent of the Ukrainian government’s expenses..”

• Ukraine May Resort to Printing Money if Western Cash Dries Up (Sp.)

The Wall Street Journal has crunched some numbers on the Ukrainian crisis and concluded that Ukraine might have to resort to drastic measures if Western support stops flowing. Pointing to “dwindling” Western financial assistance; lesser interest in continuing to fund the proxy crisis; and Russia outguning Ukraine militarily and economically, the outlet warned that “without sufficient support, Ukraine may have to resort to painful spending cuts or even printing money to fill its deficit” to keep the lights on and the war effort going. Such a policy “would pose a grave risk to the health of its economy,” the newspaper said, hinting at the danger of hyperinflation which traditionally hits countries that print money to try to fill budget gaps.

The analysis likewise showed that Russia’s military budget and weapons manufacturing capacity has expanded dramatically. On the other hand, Ukraine’s production has been stagnant since 2022 and today is “no match for a much larger Russian military-industrial complex running at full steam.” The study found, for example, that Russian forces are presently producing and using five times more shells than Ukraine on the front. Politically too, the paper’s analysis pointed to dropping support for the proxy war in both the US and Europe. Meanwhile, in Ukraine, there have been “some declines” in “trust levels” for President Zelensky’s government. Internal polling conducted late last year found Zelensky’s approval rating had sunk to just 32 percent.

US lawmakers have been wrangling with the White House over President Biden’s request to commit another $61 billion in military backing to Kiev. Ukrainian officials have admitted they “don’t have a plan B” if the support, which they insist is “not charity” but “an investment in the protection of NATO,” falls through. In Europe also, deliveries of fresh military and economic support have dropped dramatically in recent months, with the Kiel Institute for the World Economy’s Ukraine Support Tracker showing nearly a 90 percent drop in Western assistance overall between August and October 2023 compared to the same period a year earlier. Western officials have repeatedly warned that Ukraine would be “certain to fail” without a renewed IV drip of financial and military support – confirming nearly two years of statements by Russian officials that the NATO-backed regime would collapse without Western backing.

Ukraine’s deputy prime minister warned last month that salary and pension delays were imminent if Western support was not immediately forthcoming. At the front, foreign mercenaries have reportedly been trickling out of the country after payments to them were halted and they found more lucrative opportunities elsewhere. The West reportedly pays for a whopping 70 percent of the Ukrainian government’s expenses, with Kiev racking up a record-high debt of $157 billion in 2023 – less than ten percent shy of the 100 percent of GDP mark. Debt is forecast to grow precipitously in the coming years, reaching up to $313 billion by 2028.

“Contrary to what our Nazi-saluting, cat-strangling, welfare cheque-cashing friends in Kiev might think, there is no other power beside Russia in a position to get all sides in Asia to come together to cool things down..”

• Russia Must Be Asia’s Peace Maker (Hayes)

Although China and its adversaries have a number of symmetric and asymmetric options available to them that range from Nordstream style no claim no blame attacks on hostile shipping to blowing up, in pre-emptive strikes, the Three Gorges Dam and thereby drowning the 1 billion or so Chinese unfortunates who live in the Lower Yanzgtse Valley, outside the lunatic asylums of Washington, most of those are not realistic choices. That said, China’s reaction to the results of Taiwan’s pending 13 January elections might bring unwanted fireworks to bear on what already is a tense tinderbox. Should William Lai Ching-te, the incumbent vice president and the candidate of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), prevail over Hou Yu-ih from the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) Party, China will most likely spit the dummy again and launch massive military drills around the island or even grab Penghu Island as a sign it is serious about subjugating Taiwan.

Though China certainly carries a big stick, it doesn’t yet seem to grasp the notion that one should speak softly and only wave or use the stick as a last recourse. That is where the diplomats of Russia, which currently chairs the loose and untested BRIICS alliance, comes in. As a long standing ally of Vietnam, China and India, and as one which understands the nuanced goals of all three of those countries, Russia can bring a lot to the table. Not only did Russia help broker peace in the 1965 2nd Kashmir war between Pakistan and India but Russia fully understands that India and Vietnam both want strategic autonomy, and that neither will ever submit to being a vassal of a revanchist China. Taiwan currently leads the world in the crucial field of semiconductors and that is unlikely to change any time soon.

And nor is Taiwan’s status as, for Taiwan to revert to the 1683-1895 era when it paid tribute to the Qing Dynasty, would mean empowering China to annex the entire region as Imperial Japan did in late 1941 from its Taiwanese/Formosan base. Because Japan, India, Vietnam and even the Philippines cannot accept that, China is thereby opening up the door for NATO’s carrier groups and sundry other legacy defence systems and that is far from being an optimal state of affairs if peace and trade, rather than war and all it entails are the goals. There are two or even three ways out of this morass, only one of which is really acceptable. The first of these is to duke it out across the Taiwan Strait and every other strait or reef that is deemed important along the String of Pearls from Siberia to Somalia.

The second way is for China to goose step ahead with its neomercantalism until the global economy revolves around it and it alone. The third and best way is for the BRIICS and allied countries to take the opportunity Russia’s chairmanship of that group offers and chart some way through all the straits and reefs they might sink or run aground on. Contrary to what our Nazi-saluting, cat-strangling, welfare cheque-cashing friends in Kiev might think, there is no other power beside Russia in a position to get all sides in Asia to come together to cool things down. And, because there is still a pivotal role not only for diplomacy but for those like Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and his standing army of fellow Russian diplomats who retain those vital skills the West so stupidly jettisoned, there still mind be time to avoid this looming Armageddon of the Eastern Seas and all it entails.

The story of the little yacht must be kept alive. It is used to cast doubt on US involvement.

• Poland Covered Up For Nord Stream Attackers – WSJ (RT)

Polish officials have withheld evidence and attempted to stall an international probe into the bombing of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, making investigators “suspicious of Warsaw’s role and motives,” the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas lines – which linked Russia with Germany through the Baltic Sea – were destroyed in a series of explosions near the Danish island of Bornholm in September 2022. A joint inquiry by Germany, Denmark, and Sweden is ongoing, with investigators theorizing that a Ukrainian team rented a yacht in Germany from a Polish company, which they used to transport explosives to the blast sites. When these alleged leads were chaned in Poland, investigators were stonewalled by government officials and law enforcement agents, the Journal reported, citing sources within the investigation.

Polish authorities failed to turn over testimony from eyewitnesses who allegedly encountered the yacht’s six-person crew in the Polish port of Kolobrzeg until pushed to do so by German police, the sources said. CCTV footage from the port was then withheld, and Poland’s internal security agency, the ABW, “failed to answer queries, obfuscated or gave contradictory information,” the newspaper stated. Polish prosecutors said they found no traces of explosives on the yacht, despite never having boarded it to check, the investigators claimed. The investigation would later find explosive residue on the vessel, according to media reports. The prosecutors reportedly told European investigators that the boat arrived in Kolobrzeg at 4pm September 19, when it actually moored seven hours earlier. Later in the investigation, the ABW told its sister agencies in Europe that the yacht “had links with Russian espionage,” the newspaper reported, adding that investigators considered this “disinformation.”

According to all available information, no Western governments or intelligence agencies suspect that Russia was behind the bombings. Gas sold to Europe via the Nord Stream lines was a lucrative source of revenue for Moscow, and was seen as a powerful instrument of leverage for the Kremlin. Poland’s efforts to hinder the investigators have made them “increasingly suspicious of Warsaw’s role and motives,” the Wall Street Journal noted. All of the alleged misdirection and obfuscation took place under Poland’s previous government, however, and unnamed “senior European officials” told the newspaper that they are considering contacting Poland’s new prime minister, Donald Tusk, in the hope that he will grant them access to police and security personnel who may have previously been pressured to stay silent.

According to an alternate theory put forward by American journalist Seymour Hersh, the CIA was responsible for the Nord Stream blasts. Citing sources within the intelligence community, Hersh argued that CIA divers working with the Norwegian Navy planted remotely-triggered bombs on the lines last summer, using a NATO exercise in the region as cover. Bolstering this theory was a tweet by former Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, who within hours of the explosions shared an image of a giant gas leak at the blast site along with the caption “Thank you, USA.” Russian President Vladimir Putin has backed this explanation, stating last month that the sabotage operation “was done, most likely, by the Americans or someone at their instruction.”

“They could have picked up several hundred million barrels at $15, but because it was what President Trump wanted, Congress said no..”

“..it will take a whopping 75 months to bring the SPR back to the level at which it was before US President Joe Biden started draining it..”

“..the Biden administration is buying oil at twice the historic average to replenish the SPR..”

• Biden Refills Strategic Petroleum Reserve At Twice The Historic Average (Sp.)

The US Department of Energy (DOE) is currently buying three million barrels a month to refill the nation’s SPR in the wake of Joe Biden’s release of over 225 million barrels of oil between March 2022 and August 2023, dumping levels in the reserve to the lowest in 40 years. Tim Stewart, president of the US Oil and Gas Association, alleges that Team Biden is doing nothing short of damage control ahead of the 2024 election given that the nation’s depleted SPR has recently become the public’s concern. “Prior to 2022, the average person knew nothing about the SPR. That has completely changed. When the lovely 75-year-old blue-haired lady at church complains to me how Biden has drained the SPR – they must have caught the public’s attention,” Stewart told Just the News, an independent US media outlet founded by award-winning investigative journalist John Solomon.

Apparently, the Biden administration would have bought “refill barrels” at a greater pace, but it is facing limits on how much crude can be funneled into the reserve per month. That means it will take a whopping 75 months to bring the SPR back to the level at which it was before US President Joe Biden started draining it. To sweeten the pill, the US administration triumphantly claims that it is buying oil for the SPR at an average price of $77.31 per barrel, which is considerably below the average of $95 per barrel it was in 2022. Per Stewart, it’s by no means “a good deal for American taxpayers”: one should bear in mind that the average price paid per barrel in the SPR has been $29.70 per barrel, the expert pointed out. It appears that the Biden administration is guided by its own political interests rather than those of the nation.

It began draining the SPR in spring of 2022, ahead of the midterm election: at the time gasoline prices went up and American voters were not happy with that. Still, Just the News failed to mention that the hike in prices was partially caused by Team Biden’s energy sanctions slapped on Russia over Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine. If one digs deeper, one would learn that the special military operation started after the Biden administration snubbed Moscow’s draft security agreement aimed at safeguarding Europe’s peace, protecting Russia’s borders and restoring the balance of forces vis-à-vis NATO. Now, the Biden administration is buying oil at twice the historic average to replenish the SPR before the 2024 presidential election in a bid to look good in the eyes of the US voters.

The crux of the matter is that the US administration and the Democratic Party in general may have avoided this tricky situation ahead of the election if it had green-lighted Donald Trump’s initiative to fill the SPR at the time when oil prices were extremely low, per Stewart. Back in 2020, in the midst of the COVID pandemic, then US President Donald Trump moved to buy oil for the SPR when West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil prices were under $25 per barrel. Trump requested $3 billion from the US Congress to jump at this lucrative opportunity, but Democratic lawmakers nipped the president’s endeavor in the bud. Per Just the News, Democratic lawmakers bragged at the time that they had “eliminated a $3 billion bailout for big oil.” “They could have picked up several hundred million barrels at $15, but because it was what President Trump wanted, Congress said no,” Stewart told the media outlet.

At the same time that they’re suing Texas for trying to… “Stop The Record Surge Of Migrants..”

• Biden Is Asking For Mexican Help To Stop The Record Surge Of Migrants (NBC)

The Biden administration is increasingly leaning on Mexico to curb the record flow of migrants crossing into the U.S., but Mexico has its own lists of ambitious asks for the U.S., say officials from both governments familiar with the discussions. Previous measures taken by the Biden administration to stem the migrant surge have led to only temporary dips in the numbers, and in late December, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Secretary of State Antony Blinken went to Mexico to meet with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to ask for greater assistance. Those conversations were “preliminary,” the officials said, and did not result in hard promises from either side. In a press conference on Friday, López Obrador called on the U.S. to approve a plan that would deploy $20 billion to Latin American and Caribbean countries, suspend the U.S. blockade of Cuba, remove all sanctions against Venezuela and grant at least 10 million Hispanics living in the U.S. the right to remain and work legally.

All of those are extremely tall demands of an administration headed into a re-election campaign that may hinge on how firmly Biden is able to get control of the southern U.S. border, which saw a record 300,000 migrants processed by Customs and Border Protection in December. Responding to those requests, a senior Biden administration official told NBC News that AMLO, as López Obrador is commonly called, “has a very ambitious agenda. For some of these things, we would need Congress to act. We share the vision that we need to lift up the region.” The two countries are expected to continue talks in Washington later this month. Mexico brings significant leverage to the negotiations, the U.S. and Mexican officials said. López Obrador’s administration would prefer that President Joe Biden win re-election in November, given Donald Trump’s rhetoric and actions during his time in office.

But Biden is quickly running out of options to fix a problem that is driving down his poll numbers without increased support from Mexico, three U.S. officials told NBC News. On Capitol Hill, negotiations over border security measures between Republicans and Democrats continue into their second month with no clear breakthrough. And new asylum policies introduced by the Biden administration in May failed to deter migrants, as evidenced by the record surge. To bring the numbers down, the Biden administration needs Mexico to let it push more non-Mexican immigrants back across the U.S. southern border, as the U.S. was able to do through early 2023. During the Covid pandemic, the Trump and Biden administrations used a public health order known as Title 42 to push migrants back into Mexico without an asylum screening. During that policy, which ended in May, Mexico took back migrants over 1 million times each year for three years. Under current policies, Mexico has agreed to take back 30,000 migrants per month, but that is only 10% of December’s tally.

“.. The Western elites have become a symbol of total, unprincipled lies.”

• DC Has Resurrected the Specter of Nuclear Armageddon (Paul Craig Roberts)

The US and Israel have isolated themselves as the two most evil governments on earth. By complying with Washington’s foreign policy, the European puppet governments find themselves despised by their citizens. Eleven months ago Russia’s president Vladimir Putin described the West to the Russian Federal Assembly: “They behaved just as shamelessly and duplicitously when destroying Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, and Syria. They will never be able to wash off this shame. The concepts of honor, trust, and decency are not for them. Over the long centuries of colonialism, diktat and hegemony, they got used to being allowed everything. They grew accustomed to spitting on the whole world.

“It turned out that they treat people living in their own countries with the same disdain, like a master. They cynically deceived them too, tricked them with tall stories about the search for peace, about adherence to the UN Security Council resolutions on Donbass. The Western elites have become a symbol of total, unprincipled lies.” It took Russian politicians and journalists a long time to recover from their delusion that with the demise of communism the world was a community governed by agreed-upon rules. Many Russian intellectuals and journalists had an idealized picture of the United States which kept the Russian government off balance in understanding Washington’s intentions toward Russia. How else to explain Russia’s lack of preparedness when Washington overthrew the elected government of Ukraine and when Georgia invaded South Ossetia?

As Putin now understands, the consequences of the Russian government’s mistaken expectation of fair and honorable relations with the West have been severe. Unless the West’s degradation results in collapse, war is inevitable. American and European peoples have no impact on their governments who serve the agendas of the financially powerful. Now that the West has demonstrated for all to see that the West suffers no shame from participation in genocide, even the most westernized Russians are likely to keep a safe distance from Washington’s snares. Now that the West has completely shattered the trust built during the Soviet era, the threat of nuclear Armageddon again holds sway over the Earth. In the face of this threat, all other threats recede into nothingness.

“The attorneys general of Indiana, West Virginia and 25 other states, warn the court that this novel theory will produce “chaos” in the country.”

• 27 States File to Oppose Colorado’s Disqualification of Trump (Turley)

The majority of Americans oppose the decisions in Colorado and Maine to disqualify former President Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot. Other polls put the balance slightly in favor, but all polls show a deeply divided country on this effort. The Maine decision will now be reviewed by the Maine state courts, but the Colorado decision is scheduled for oral argument in a matter of weeks. A reversal of the Colorado decision is now supported by 27 states, which filed with the Supreme Court to oppose the underlying theory under the Fourteenth Amendment. It is relatively rare to see states opposing the expansion of their own authority vis-a-vis Congress. The brief reinforces the view of states like Colorado as outliers in the country in embracing this anti-democratic theory. The attorneys general of Indiana, West Virginia and 25 other states, warn the court that this novel theory will produce “chaos” in the country.

“The Colorado Supreme Court has cast itself into a ‘political thicket,’ Evenwel v. Abbott, 578 U.S. 54, 58, (2016), and it is now up to this Court to pull it out. ‘Confidence in the integrity of our electoral processes is essential to the functioning of our participatory democracy.’ Purcell v. Gonzalez, 549 U.S. 1, 4 (2006) (per curiam). If the Colorado decision stands, that critical confidence will be harmed. Many Americans will become convinced that a few partisan actors have contrived to take a political decision out of ordinary voters’ hands.” Advocates are pushing this dangerous theory at a time of deepening divisions in our country. As I have previously said, the four Colorado justices are recklessly throwing matches at a powder keg. That is why I am hopeful that at least one of the liberal justices will follow the lead of the three democratically appointed Colorado justices, who dissent from this anti-democratic decision.

Federal appeals court.

• Donald Trump Will Attend Tuesday Arguments For Immunity Motion In J6 Case (PM)

Former President Donald Turmp will be attending Tuesday’s arguments regarding his presidential immunity motion in the Jan. 6 case being led by Jack Smith. In a post to Truth Social, Trump made the announcement that he would be attending the arguments come Tuesday.

Crazy story of the day.

• Trump Co-Defendant: Improper Relationship Between Georgia DA, Prosecutor (NYP)

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis had an “improper” and “clandestine” relationship with the married special prosecutor who assisted in securing the Georgia grand jury indictment against former President Donald Trump, a co-defendant in the election interference case alleged Monday. The bombshell court filing made by former Trump 2020 campaign official Michael Roman argues that Willis should be disqualified from the case and the charges against him dropped because “the district attorney chose to appoint her romantic partner, who at all times relevant to this prosecution has been a married man” to the case.

Roman contends that Nathan Wade, a private attorney with the Atlanta-based Wade & Campbell Firm, used some of the nearly $654,000 in legal fees that he’s been compensated for by the Fulton County DA’s office for his work on the Trump case to take Willis on lavish vacations to “Napa Valley, California, Florida and the Caribbean.” “Mr. Roman … moves the Court for an order disqualifying the district attorney, her office, and the special prosecutor from further prosecuting the instant matter on the grounds that the district attorney and the special prosecutor have been engaged in an improper, clandestine personal relationship during the pendency of this case, which has resulted in the special prosecutor, and, in turn, the district attorney, profiting significantly from this prosecution at the expense of the taxpayers,” the 127-page filing states.

“Accordingly, the district attorney and the special prosecutor have violated laws regulating the use of public monies, suffer from irreparable conflicts of interest, and have violated their oaths of office under the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct and should be disqualified from prosecuting this matter,” it continues. Roman’s filing claims that “sources close to both the special prosecutor and the district attorney” have confirmed that Willis and Wade had an ongoing fling, and that Wade filed for divorce in Cobb County, Ga., “a day after his first contract with Willis commenced” in November 2021. “In addition, the district attorney and the special prosecutor have been seen in private together (in a personal relationship capacity) in and about the Atlanta area and believed to have co-habited in some form or fashion at a location that neither of them owned,” the filing alleges.

“@WSJ is not fit to line a parrot cage for bird,” he concluded, adding a “poop” emoji.”

• Musk Responds To WSJ ‘Hit Piece’ (RT)

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk hit back at the Wall Street Journal in a post on his X platform (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, a day after the paper published a lengthy article detailing company executives’ purported concerns over his use of illegal drugs. Referring to an infamous 2018 interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, during which Musk smoked marijuana on camera, the Tesla tycoon explained: “after that one puff with Rogan, I agreed, at NASA’s request, to do 3 years of random drug testing. Not even trace quantities were found of any drugs or alcohol.” “@WSJ is not fit to line a parrot cage for bird,” he concluded, adding a “poop” emoji.

In its article, headlined: “Elon Musk Has Used Illegal Drugs, Worrying Leaders at Tesla and SpaceX,” the Journal claimed multiple company executives and board members at both companies were concerned that what they viewed as Musk’s erratic behavior was caused by the use of illegal drugs. These supposedly included not only the cannabis he was seen smoking with Rogan, but also ketamine – for which he has claimed to have a legal prescription – LSD, cocaine, ecstasy, and magic mushrooms. Musk’s brother Kimbal and at least one current SpaceX board member reportedly took drugs with Musk, though it was not stated whether they were among those supposedly concerned about the billionaire’s habits. Musk has allegedly used drugs at “private parties around the world,” where attendees were made to sign non-disclosure agreements or turn in their phones.

While “people close to Musk” were said to be “concerned [his drug use] could cause a health crisis,” the Journal focused more on the potential implications for his businesses, specifically the fate of $14 billion in government contracts enjoyed by SpaceX. “Drug abuse” – the use of controlled or illegal substances “in a manner that deviates from approved medical direction” – could jeopardize Musk’s security clearance and would violate federal contractor requirements. Following the Rogan incident, SpaceX randomly deployed drug-sniffing dogs on company property and executives “began warning employees to follow company rules at all times, including to not use illegal drugs even outside of the office,” insider sources told the WSJ.

Despite focusing on drugs, the report acknowledged that even those concerned about Musk’s behavior were not sure whether to attribute it to substance use or other issues like his “consistent lack of sleep,” being on the autism spectrum, or (self-diagnosed) bipolar disorder. Few investors complained about his behavior when his companies were performing as well as they were in recent years, it admitted. Musk fans on X have condemned the “hit piece,” which think-tank director Jeffrey Tucker decried as “the kind of vicious thing you would expect to see in East Germany or the old Soviet Union.”

“..by pulling a Bannon, Hunter now faces the expectation in many circles that he will get the full Bannon treatment from Garland.”

• Hunter Biden Contempt Resolutions Introduced In House (ZH)

House Republicans on Monday introduced contempt resolutions against Hunter Biden, recommending that he be held in Contempt of Congress for failing to comply with subpoenas and appear for testimony in front of the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees on Dec. 13. Hunter, who was handsomely compensated for doing nothing on the board of Ukrainian energy giant Burisma (right before his father strong armed the Ukrainians into firing their chief prosecutor – who was investigating Burisma), skipped out on his closed-door deposition, and instead said he would only appear for public testimony – where questions would be far more limited. According to the committees, “Biden has violated federal law, and must be held in contempt of Congres.”

The committees said they want to get information from Hunter Biden to determine whether his father, President Joe Biden, was involved in any bribery schemes, abused his positions of political power as president or vice president, or knowingly participated in any scheme to enrich himself or his family, including through contact with foreign entities. -Just the News. As Constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley noted in December; “Few people expected Hunter to testify in the deposition. The evidence against him is overwhelming, as shown in his second federal indictment on tax charges. He and his uncles were allegedly engaged in one of the largest influence-peddling operations in history involving millions of dollars from various foreign sources. Hunter simply could have done what prior witnesses have done: Go in and take the Fifth. That is what attorney and former IRS official Lois Lerner did — twice — when House Republicans wanted to ask her about the Obama administration targeting conservative groups.”

It was a no-brainer that someone appears to have radically over-thought on the Hunter Biden legal team. Hunter can now be held in contempt of Congress. That will force the hand of Attorney General Merrick Garland, who aggressively pursued Trump figures for contempt, including former Trump adviser Steve Bannon. Despite some of us writing to the contrary, Bannon claimed his lawyers told him he did not have to appear before a House committee. He was swiftly charged and convicted by Garland’s prosecutors. In this instance, the contempt case would go to the U.S. Attorney in D.C., Matthew Graves, who previously declined to assist in bringing tax charges against the president’s son. Yet by pulling a Bannon, Hunter now faces the expectation in many circles that he will get the full Bannon treatment from Garland.

Sounds like Biden: “Bild described Scholz as “the most unpopular chancellor of all time.”

• Most Germans Want Scholz To Step Down – Poll (RT)

Public support for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has fallen to record lows, the tabloid Bild reported on Monday, citing a fresh survey conducted by the INSA polling institute. Almost two-thirds of Germans want him to resign before the next federal election, scheduled for October 2025, the data suggests. As many as 64% of respondents told INSA that Scholz should vacate his position and hand it over to Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who is a fellow Social Democrat. Less than a quarter of Germans opposed that prospect. Scholz would also lose an election versus any of his major rivals, the poll showed. Only 23% of Germans would support the current chancellor against Friedrich Merz, the leader of the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Merz himself would enjoy the backing of 26% of voters.

Should Scholz face off against Markus Soeder, leader of the Christian Social Union (CSU) – the traditional CDU ally in Bavaria – Soeder would secure a clear victory with 36% to 20%. Pistorius would claim a narrow victory against Merz with 25% to 23%, but would still lose to Soeder 25% to 34%, the survey said. Under German law, the chancellor is confirmed by MPs on the proposal of the federal president. Soeder currently serves as governor of Germany’s most populous state and is known for his criticism of Scholz’s policies. In November, he warned that Germany was in a “serious crisis,” particularly slamming the chancellor’s cabinet over its budget and police failures, adding that the “government has gone bankrupt.” The Bavarian politician also criticized the federal government’s strategy of using only subsidies to combat price hikes resulting from forgoing Russian energy supplies. He also criticized Berlin for, as he said, prioritizing military aid to Ukraine over the nation’s own security.

The INSA poll showed that Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) had the support of just 16% of Germans, 15 percentage points behind the CDU and seven percentage points behind the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Scholz has been losing public support for quite some time. In early December, a YouGov poll showed that 74% of Germans believed he was doing a poor job as chancellor, with only 20% seeing his performance in a positive light. As many as 73% said they were unhappy with his entire cabinet. Some 77% said they placed little or no trust in the way Scholz is governing Germany. Even among SPD supporters, this figure reached 60%. Later in the month, Der Spiegel reported that Scholz’s personal approval had slipped to just 30%, down from 44% in June 2023. On Monday, Bild described Scholz as “the most unpopular chancellor of all time.”

“This is total failure.”

• House Freedom Caucus Slams Speaker Johnson’s Proposed Spending Deal (JTN)

The conservative House Freedom Caucus slammed House Speaker Mike Johnson’s proposed top-line spending deal with Senate Democrats as a “total failure,” arguing the potential agreement costs about $68 billion more than the Louisiana Republican said it would.Johnson told members of Congress on Sunday that he reached a $1.590 trillion spending deal with the Senate and White House, but the Freedom Caucus slammed the proposal later that evening in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “It’s even worse than we thought,” the caucus wrote. “Don’t believe the spin. Once you break through typical Washington math, the true total programmatic spending level is $1.658 trillion — not $1.59 trillion. This is total failure.”

At the end of last month, the Freedom Caucus released a statement titled, “House GOP’s New Year Resolution Must Be Cutting Spending,” which stated that the U.S. is “on the path to fiscal ruin” but that Congress has “done little to force a course correction from this calamity.” With a slim Republican majority, the 45-member Freedom Caucus holds a significant amount of sway in the 435-member House, and most recently played an integral role in deciding the House speaker. Now, the House needs to pass a deal before government funding completely expires on Feb. 2.

Johnson

Thankfully @elonmusk Is Bringing A Lot Of Awareness To Illegals Being Imported To Vote Today. Don't Forget:

Multiple States Have Already Voted To Allow Illegal Immigrants (Non-Citizens) To Vote & Many More States Currently In Process Of Passing Legislation To Allow Them To Vote… pic.twitter.com/ZcA8N3jLoL

— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) January 9, 2024

“The medical field is determined to kill whatever shred of credibility it still has left. And it is succeeding.”

• “It’s Okay to Be Fat” and Obesity Should be “Normalized” (MN)

A doctor at Cedars-Sinai posted a TikTok video saying “it is okay to be fat,” and that being fat “needs to be normalized,” despite obesity-related diseases being the biggest killer in America. Yes, really. “Here’s my hot take as a doctor, I totally agree, it is okay to be fat, we don’t say that enough, but it needs to be normalized,” remarked Dr. Nicole Vangroningen. Vangroningen went on to claim that being fat is “typically not a problem that requires immediate solving.” Presumably, it only needs “solving” once an obese person has developed numerous fat-related diseases that greatly increase their risk of dying. Perhaps even more ludicrously, the doctor said “it is okay to not be healthy,” suggesting that people who suggest otherwise are engaging in “healthism,” adding “a good doctor will not judge you for being fat, they will not judge you for being unhealthy.”

Internal medicine doctor at @CedarsSinai says it’s totally ok to be fat and unhealthy.

According to the CDC, obesity related disease is the leading cause of death in America. https://t.co/r2aClqIZO0. pic.twitter.com/1R888AQIld

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 8, 2024

Vangroningen completely removes any responsibility from the equation, telling potential patients, “We are also here to help you if you decide to not make any changes at all”. God forbid anyone end up under her “care”. According to the CDC, “In the United States and worldwide, obesity is also associated with the leading causes of death, including deaths from diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some types of cancer.” “We now have doctors speaking out against “healthism,” commented Matt Walsh. “The medical field is determined to kill whatever shred of credibility it still has left. And it is succeeding.” As we document in the video below, the ‘body positivity’ movement has been triumphed by the culture and the establishment despite literally killing some of its leading advocates.

Picnic
https://twitter.com/i/status/1744318846268285388

Gorilla mom

First time Gorilla mum kisses her baby son
pic.twitter.com/kBLvUxIFly

— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) January 8, 2024

Orchestra

She is amazing, like a solo orchestra …pic.twitter.com/02ibAWZ0ea

— Figen (@TheFigen_) January 8, 2024

Microlight
https://twitter.com/i/status/1744307961122443769

Reminder that experiencing awe quite literally improves your health.
Awe, which has only been studied properly in the last two decades, has been shown to:
• Reduce stress
• Trigger the release of oxytocin
• Lower levels of inflammatory cytokines

Being made to feel small (experiencing “self-diminishment”) even quells our negative self-talk, by deactivating the part of the cortex involved with how we perceive ourselves. Through awe we become less attuned to ourselves and more attuned to the wider world. Dacher Keltner at UC Berkeley said: “We are at this cultural moment of narcissism and self-shame and criticism and entitlement; awe gets us out of that.” Neuroscientists define awe it as the emotional response to something vast that defies (and changes) our existing frame of reference of something.

What’s one way to experience it? Travel to your nearest cathedral and gaze upwards. Gothic architecture was built for this very purpose – through maximum height and maximum light. Achieving this at vast scale was a critical breakthrough by medieval engineers, who pioneered the flying buttresses, the pointed arch, and various other innovations which made taller and thinner walls possible. Those builders also believed that light itself was divine, and that when it poured in through the great windows it elevated one’s consciousness to the heavens. As English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge said: “The principle of the Gothic architecture is infinity made imaginable.”

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Debt Rattle November 12 2023

Nov 122023

November 12, 2023 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 10:08 am Finance Tagged with: Hunter Biden, Israel, Nakba, Nordstream, resistance, Spartacus, Tiktok, veto 40 Responses »

Canaletto Venice, View of the Churches of the Redentore and San Giacomo 1750

• We Are ‘The Resistance’ (Julian Rose)

• Self-defence and the Right to Resist in Palestine (Sinclair/Cohn)

• West Asian Governments Take Stance Against Israeli Occupation (Rahman)

• Israel Acting Like ‘Spoiled Child’ Of The West – Erdogan (RT)

• WaPo Calls Ukrainian Colonel ‘Coordinator’ of Nord Stream Attacks (Sp.)

• Ukraine Risks Losing Entire Fleet of Leopard Tanks (Sp.)

• EU Can Circumvent Hungarian Veto On Ukraine Aid – Media (RT)

• Next Month Could Decide Ukraine Conflict – Macron (RT)

• Germany Wants To Send Asylum Seekers To Africa – WSJ (RT)

• From The Testimony of Special Counsel David Weiss (Techno Fog)

• David Weiss and America’s First Nihilist Prosecutor (Turley)

• NBC Compares Hunter’s Influence Peddling to Haley’s Daughter’s TikTok (Turley)

• Gerald Celente Withdraws Support due to Kennedy’s Israel War Position (Dick)

• We are Spartacus (John Pilger)

Nakba

Avi Dichter, Israeli Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development: "We are now rolling out the Nakba of Gaza." pic.twitter.com/IbXV1UskL6

— Uncaptured News (@UncapturedNews) November 12, 2023

Arab

The idea that "the West and the Jews are the reason why we have dysfunctional countries in the Arab world” is a dishonest deflection.

How many innocent women and girls are supposed to be murdered by their families in the name of honor for us to realize that our problem is… pic.twitter.com/unoPlokoJx

— Luai Ahmed (@JustLuai) November 11, 2023

Norway

Doctor Mads Gilbert:

"We just got the report from Shifa Hospital that the Israeli attack forces have placed snipers around the hospital, these snipers are shooting through the windows of the hospital, killing, targeting, damaging health care workers trying to save lives inside. pic.twitter.com/cM7efmi9ip

— Eva Karene Bartlett (@EvaKBartlett) November 11, 2023

Gaza gas

Israel stole Palestine’s natural
Gas fields. Surprised? pic.twitter.com/l5q27xXMTx

— Patrick Henningsen (@21WIRE) November 12, 2023

Assad

ASSAD: "Rights cannot be restored when the criminal has become a judge and the thief has become a referee, and this is the state of the West today." pic.twitter.com/Ui1AJkkfYo

— The_Real_Fly (@The_Real_Fly) November 11, 2023

London protest

Helicopter footage from London today.

Hundreds of thousands of people out on the streets. This is the biggest protest in decades.

Something big is happening. pic.twitter.com/fuZWpkX5IY

— Alan MacLeod (@AlanRMacLeod) November 11, 2023

https://twitter.com/i/status/1723377760653942956

Patrick Henningsen @21WIRE: “All of the main “so horrific” narratives attributed to Hamas on Oct 7th & subsequently used by Israel and western warmongers to justify the carpet bombing and genocide in #Gaza – have been proven to be completely fabricated. Thats right: total fake news.”

“..the most telling indicator of the bankruptcy of what is considered to be ‘civilised society’”

• We Are ‘The Resistance’ (Julian Rose)

As one attempts to make sense of the horrors of war that the global media flashes across screens and newsprint, day and night 24/7, one can feel a numbing sensation closing down one’s ability to respond, as an organic human being should respond. The breathtaking volume of bombs, blood and brutality that form the centrepiece of the devastation in Gaza, comes on top of the seemingly interminable hostilities playing-out their realities in Ukraine. In all of this, any sign of a credible, reasoned and rational intervention is lost beneath a sea of soulless, hypocritical statements from those in positions of ‘authority’ on the world stage. National or geopolitical ‘positions’ taken by rolled-out representatives of the status quo, are held to be more important than responses that have some link to heart felt emotions.

Scenes of mass genocide and ethnic cleansing are condoned as ‘acceptable’ if those responding to the bloodbath see some political or geopolitical advantage in backing the cause of the chief protagonist. Those who for long periods of their lives are deeply repressed and isolated, seek reprisals if ever the chance comes their way to breakout of slavery. This is, under permanent conditions of inhuman containment, an almost inevitable reaction. One cannot judge behaviour patterns of those suffering under conditions of persistent repression, as being in any way comparable to what are considered acceptable behaviour patterns in times of relative peace and freedom. The human struggle for a basic degree of liberty is forced into taking the form of a violent struggle when no other support intervenes to bring justice to bear.

This lack of coordinated intervention to end a massacre is the most perilous aspect of the ‘Israel-Hamas’ conflict, and it the most telling indicator of the bankruptcy of what is considered to be ‘civilised society’. A fear of going against the dogma of what constitutes the pecking order of the global power pyramid, appears to paralyse nations from coming together to enforce a humane path of conflict intervention and resolution, however tenuous that might initially be. But the truth is, that behind this implausible state of impasse, is a small anti-life global cult that wishes to prolong the pain and destruction for its own ends, and covertly backs both sides of the conflict in order to produce the maximum disruption, chaos and death.

Yes, this is pure evil in action. It is the manifestation of a long standing, once covert, but now overt demonic ambition – whose roots go far back in human history – and which has recently emerged as the chief protagonist of disruptive chaos and division now manifesting at the foundational level of our daily lives. The problem for all of us who are determined to resist the manifestations of such dark actors, is that this cult is very clever, highly deceptive and well disguised. Its main agents wear a fixed smile, a pressed shirt and are very well rehearsed in powers of communication. Psychopaths in a suit. One would never guess that they harbour an abiding hate for a creative, loving humanity. But they do.

“A state cannot invoke the right of self-defence to defend against an attack which originates inside a territory it occupies..”

• Self-defence and the Right to Resist in Palestine (Sinclair/Cohn)

[..] The UN charter requires all states to settle their international disputes peacefully so as not to endanger international peace and security. That doesn’t just apply to states, but also to the settlement of any international disputes. The charter says no state can use military force against the territorial integrity or political independence of another state “or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the UN.” Although Israel denies that Palestine is a state, the Israeli Supreme Court in the Targeted Killings case recognised the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians to be of an international character. Israel cannot use the Palestinians’ lack of statehood to justify its use of military force.

The only two exceptions to the prohibition on the use of force are when a state acts in self-defence or the [UN] security council authorises force. A state may use military force in self-defence under Article 51 of the charter “if an armed attack occurs” against a state. The use of armed force for reprisal or retaliation is prohibited. For an armed attack to give rise to the right of self-defence, it must be directed from outside the territory under the control of the defending state. A state cannot invoke the right of self-defence to defend against an attack which originates inside a territory it occupies. Because Israel has continued to occupy Gaza, it has relinquished its right to claim self-defence in response to the Palestinian attacks.

In its 2004 advisory opinion on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) established the non-applicability of “self-defence” under Article 51 in the situation between Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Israel remains an occupying power in Gaza despite its unilateral removal of settlements. After the 2005 election of Hamas, Israel imposed a blockade against Gaza which is specifically listed as an act of aggression under UN general assembly resolution 3314. An occupying force has a duty to protect the people it occupies; it cannot claim self-defence against the occupied.

Actions taken by Palestinians to resist the blockade are not “acts of aggression” so they do not allow Israel to claim it is acting in self-defence. Aside from the illegality of targeting and killing civilians, what does international law say about Palestinians resisting the occupation, including with armed force? Whether the use of force in the first instance is lawful is a separate question from how that force is carried out. For targeting and killing civilians and taking hostages, Hamas leaders can be charged with war crimes. The Palestinians, however, have the right to self-determination and the right to resist Israel’s occupation of their territory, including through armed struggle.

Driving the Arab world together.

• West Asian Governments Take Stance Against Israeli Occupation (Rahman)

The responses to Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza from some of the West Asian countries have set an interesting pattern. These responses defy a decades long trend of muted opposition and behind the curtain compromises. More importantly, this is yet another indication of growing assertion and independence of these countries from US hegemony. Since the 1980s, the US was able to use its military and economic power to create a complete hegemony over the ruling classes in the West Asian region. The countries which maintained their independence were exceptions, such as Syria and Iran. The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) was forced to seek a compromise with the occupation, after governments in the region threatened to withdraw their support, under clear US pressure.

In this sense, the signing of the Oslo accords in 1993 and in 1995 is seen as a part of the US scheme for the region. The absence of any strong opposition to Israel’s repeated wars and large scale human rights violations in Gaza and other occupied Palestinian territories in the intervening period can be explained in the context of that US hegemony. In a general way, one can see that the countries which did not fall in line with the US were forced into endless wars starting with Iraq, then Yemen, Libya, and Syria or isolated through prolonged sanctions such as in Iran. Egypt and Jordan, highly dependent on the US, had long established diplomatic relations with Israel in 1979 and 1994 respectively and played a crucial role in forcing Palestinians to accept the unviable Oslo agreements.

Those who could not establish formal relations with Israel were persuaded to maintain a kind of neutrality by not criticizing Israeli war crimes in the occupied territories. The dependence on the US arms and military assistance led some of the Gulf countries and Morocco to even sign a normalization deal with Israel in recent years. Ever since the beginning of the Israeli war on Gaza, however, the positions of tacit and explicit compliance with Israel have changed. Many countries in the region, including those who had signed the so-called Abraham Accords, have taken assertive positions on the issue, with many calling Israel an aggressor and demanding an end to the occupation. The visits of the US president Joe Biden and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken were ineffective in getting any public assurances from the regional leaders prompting the US to deploy more armed personnel and more warships in the region.

Egypt has refused to open Rafah borders as requested by Israel and the US so that they could push millions of Palestinians out of Gaza for an indefinite period. Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi even advised Israel to relocate the displaced Palestinians in its Negev desert. Egyptian authorities allowed large scale gatherings of people in solidarity rallies for Palestine, perhaps for the first time since the military coup in 2013. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly called the bombings in Gaza a massacre and criticized Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu as someone “not worth talking to.” Turkey eventually withdrew its ambassador from Israel.

“It is a shame that Western countries, always a voice for human rights and freedoms, remain silent on the massacre in Palestine..”

• Israel Acting Like ‘Spoiled Child’ Of The West – Erdogan (RT)

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has hit out at the collective West for inaction amid what he said was an ongoing “massacre in Palestine,” adding that the Israeli government is behaving like a “spoiled child” in its response to Hamas’ cross-border attack on October 7. Speaking at a joint Arab-Islamic summit in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh on Saturday, Erdogan accused Western nations of double standards and highlighted what he sees as contrasts in their responses to other global conflicts. He added that “the Israeli government is acting like the spoiled child of the West, and it has to compensate for the damages that it causes.” “It is a shame that Western countries, always a voice for human rights and freedoms, remain silent on the massacre in Palestine,” Erdogan said, according to the Anadolu news agency.

“We are faced with unprecedented barbarism in history, where hospitals, schools, and refugee camps are bombed and civilians are massacred.” Saturday’s emergency summit at which the Turkish leader spoke was jointly organized by the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) as representatives of the Arab and Islamic world convened to discuss the Israeli-Hamas conflict. In his comments, Erdogan added that Western countries “are not even making a call for a ceasefire to Israel.” On Thursday, US President Joe Biden told reporters at the White House that he currently sees “no possibility” for a ceasefire in Gaza, arguing that this would only benefit Hamas. Erdogan also stressed the importance of supplying fuel to places in urgent need in Gaza, particularly hospitals, and said that Türkiye will provide ten flights of essential supplies to El Arish airport in Egypt to be dispatched to Gaza.

He also suggested the establishment of an OIC fund to help with the rebuilding of Gaza, saying that Türkiye would provide comprehensive support. Israel has launched an unprecedented military bombardment of the densely-populated Gaza enclave in retaliation for Hamas’ assault on its territory last month and as part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s resultant pledge to destroy Hamas. Israeli officials said on Friday that about 1,200 of its citizens –mostly civilians– died in the attack, revising downwards its prior estimates. In excess of 11,000 people have died in more than four weeks of artillery and airstrikes in Gaza, Palestinian health officials have said, with about 40% of them children. Independent aid organizations have also warned of a deepening humanitarian crisis as vital supplies dwindle and more and more people seek medical treatment in a health system already over capacity.

Let’s cut a deal. If Seymour Hersh says he was wrong, we can talk about alternative narratives. Until then, this is just one of many suspicious stories.

• WaPo Calls Ukrainian Colonel ‘Coordinator’ of Nord Stream Attacks (Sp.)

Ukrainian colonel Roman Chervinsky was the alleged coordinator of the attack on the Nord Sream pipelines, the Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing Ukrainian and European Officials as well as other people familiar with details of the operation. The newspaper, which called Chervinsky a senior Ukrainian military officer with close ties to the country’s intelligence, reported that the colonel allegedly played a key role in the attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines last year. Chervinsky was the “coordinator” of the operation, and he did not act alone, the report also said. The Ukrainian officer took orders from more senior officials, who ultimately reported to Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny, the newspaper reported, citing people familiar with how the attack was carried out. The Nord Stream pipelines, built to deliver gas under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, were hit by explosions in September 2022.

The pipeline’s operator, Nord Stream AG, said that the damage was unprecedented and it was impossible to estimate the time repairs might take. Denmark, Germany and Norway have left Russia out of their investigations into the attack, prompting Moscow to launch its own investigation with charges of international terrorism. No official results of the investigations have yet been announced, but Pulitzer Prize-winning US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh published a report in February 2023 alleging that the explosions had been organized by the United States with the support of Norway. Washington has denied any involvement in the incident. In mid-July, media reported that Dutch military intelligence had informed the CIA of Ukraine’s plans to sabotage the Nord Stream pipelines – months before the attacks happened.

“..a quarter of Ukraine’s Leopard 2 tanks, including the Leopard 2A6 modification, had been destroyed by Russian forces within two weeks..”

• Ukraine Risks Losing Entire Fleet of Leopard Tanks (Sp.)

Ukrainian soldiers still cannot use German-made Leopard tanks properly and face a risk of completely losing these armored vehicles, Forbes magazine has reported. With Kiev using both Leopard 1 and 2 tanks in the Russian special operation zone, the US magazine recalled that Ukraine is due to receive 195 more Leopard 1A5s in the foreseeable future. “All those Leopard 1A5s represent an opportunity, albeit a risky one,” the magazine noted, referring to the fact that Ukraine has already lost at least 13 “of its best Leopard 2 tanks” since the beginning of Kiev’s now-botched summer counteroffensive.

Now, Forbes went on, what Ukrainian soldiers should not do is “what they frequently have done with the Leopard 2s: drive them in small groups, without much infantry support, directly toward Russian positions—often across minefields and artillery and drone kill-zones.” The news outlet also cautioned that almost two hundred Leopard 1A5s “will disappear quickly if the Ukrainians don’t deploy them the right way.” This comes after the outlet reported that a quarter of Ukraine’s Leopard 2 tanks, including the Leopard 2A6 modification, had been destroyed by Russian forces within two weeks in the special operation zone.

In all, Western countries pledged to provide the Zelensky regime with 85 Leopard 2s. To date, they have delivered a total of 71. Kiev’s summer counteroffensive, which Russian President Vladimir Putin said had ended in total failure, led to the Ukrainian Army losing more than 500 tanks and almost 1,900 armored vehicles of various classes. The US, along with its NATO allies, ramped up their supplies to Kiev shortly after the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly warned that such assistance adds to the prolongation of the conflict.

Got to keep the sinkhole open.

• EU Can Circumvent Hungarian Veto On Ukraine Aid – Media (RT)

The EU will be able to grant Ukraine €50 billion ($53.4 billion) in aid even if Hungary vetoes it, Reuters reported on Friday, citing unnamed officials in the bloc. The European Commission has proposed giving Ukraine further grants and loans to help in the conflict with Russia, although Hungary and Slovakia vetoed the move last month. The EU’s 27 members will next vote on the €50 billion aid package at a summit in Brussels in December. If Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has repeatedly called for a ceasefire and peace talks in Ukraine, vetoes the move again, the bloc could circumvent this by asking each of the other EU governments to set up their own aid packages for Kiev, two EU officials told Reuters.

According to the news agency, one official said “people get fed up with Budapest holding everyone hostage,” adding that “the workaround is tiresome, but we have it if need be.” A second official agreed, insisting that “the issue of money for Ukraine will be solved one way or another, Kiev will get EU support.” Orban previously explained that he had blocked the aid package for Ukraine because it was “obvious” that Kiev “will not win on the frontline,” and that Brussels’ strategy of sanctioning Russia while pumping Ukraine with money and weapons had failed.

The EU has authorized a total of €83 billion in military, economic, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s military operation in February 2022, according to the European Commission. Despite Western assistance, Kiev’s much-hyped summer counteroffensive failed to meet its objectives. The Russian Defense Ministry has estimated that Kiev has lost more than 90,000 troops since June, as well as over 55 tanks and 1,900 armored vehicles. Ukraine’s top military commander, General Valery Zaluzhny, acknowledged last week that Kiev’s troops were unlikely to make a “deep and beautiful breakthrough,” adding that an attritional trench war could “drag on for years” and grind down his country.

It was decided ages ago.

• Next Month Could Decide Ukraine Conflict – Macron (RT)

The Ukraine conflict could reach a turning point by the end of this year, French President Emmanuel Macron has predicted, several months into Kiev’s counteroffensive, which has so far failed to make significant gains. However, he ruled out the possibility of Ukraine opening talks with Russia in the foreseeable future. In an interview with the BBC released on Friday, Macron claimed that if Moscow prevails over Kiev, “you will have a new imperial power” in Europe that, he argued, would threaten many of its neighbors, including former Soviet republics. The French leader reiterated that the West should continue to support Ukraine with military assistance, arguing that next month will be critical in the conflict. However, he did not specify how events in December could affect the eventual outcome.

Regarding a possible cessation of hostilities, Macron suggested that it is “not yet” time for Ukraine to come to the negotiating table with Russia, and that a decision on the matter should be made by Kiev independently. However, he said that at some point it might be possible to “have fair and good negotiations, and to come back to the table and find a solution with Russia”. Ukraine’s counteroffensive has been underway since early June, but the frontline remains largely unchanged. Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has estimated Ukrainian losses at more than 90,000 service members as well as 600 tanks and 1,900 armored vehicles since the start of the push. US network NBC News reported last week that Western officials were engaged in “delicate” talks with Kiev to see whether it could consider some concessions to Russia to end the fighting.

According to the article, the calls were driven by fears in the West that the hostilities have “reached a stalemate,” and that Ukraine is “running out of forces.” Russia has repeatedly said it is open to talks with Kiev. Last autumn, however, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky signed a decree banning all negotiations with the current leadership in Moscow after four former Ukrainian regions overwhelmingly voted to join Russia in public referendums. Last year, Macron suggested that any peace talks on Ukraine would have to include discussions on security guarantees for Russia, especially regarding the positioning of NATO forces in Europe. Ukrainian officials, however, rejected the idea out of hand.

Creative solutions.

• Germany Wants To Send Asylum Seekers To Africa – WSJ (RT)

Germany is working on a plan to send some asylum seekers to Africa while their cases are pending, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. Berlin is considering asking Kenya, Ghana, Senegal, Morocco, and other African countries to house some asylum seekers while their applications are processed, as the procedure can take “years,” the newspaper said, citing unnamed German officials. The proposals are still being negotiated but could include the permanent resettlement in these countries of people who do not win refugee status, according to the WSJ’s sources. The scheme could also be used to encourage those who are eligible for protection in Germany to settle in third countries.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz, his top aides and key ministers “have been exploring deals to reroute some refugee flows through Africa for months and are now drafting offers to various governments,” unnamed officials told the WSJ. News of the potential change in Germany’s migration policy comes after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced plans to set up reception centers for asylum seekers in Albania. She insisted that the agreement “could become a model of cooperation between EU and non-EU countries in managing migration flows.” The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has criticized the deal, accusing Italy and Albania of focusing on “preventing people from arriving in the EU rather than creating safe and legal avenues for those seeking refuge.” It added that the idea of “processing migrants” was “deeply dehumanizing.”

At the same time, the UK government is fighting a court battle to be allowed to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda. Attempts to arrange a flight carrying migrants to the East African country was blocked last year after legal challenges, although the UK High Court is expected to make a final decision next week. According to The Times, Germany’s immigration system is facing major challenges due to a rise in the number of asylum seekers, as well as the arrival of more than 1 million Ukrainian refugees who have fled their country since the start of Russia’s military operation in February 2022. Many local German authorities reportedly say they have reached full capacity and can no longer accept irregular migrants, while the number of people seeking asylum in the country over the course of 2023 is expected to exceed 300,000, The Times said.

“..Weiss has investigated Hunter Biden for approximately five years..”

• From The Testimony of Special Counsel David Weiss (Techno Fog)

Ever since explosive whistleblower testimony detailing DOJ efforts to sabotage the Hunter Biden investigation was released this summer, the US Attorney (and now Special Counsel) in charge of that investigation – David Weiss – has been under siege. Beset with allegations of misconduct by those who had been part of his investigative team, and self-inflicted mistakes such as allowing the statute of limitations on tax crimes to pass, Weiss (who was appointed Special Counsel in August) provided closed-door testimony this week before the House Committee on the Judiciary, led by Jim Jordan.It was a rare opportunity to obtain testimony from a Special Counsel – they typically only testify after their reports have been completed.

And while he refused to answer specifics concerning Hunter’s plea deal, the status of his investigation, and why he allowed the statute of limitations to pass on some of Hunter’s tax crimes, Weiss’s testimony does provide important context regarding what has transpired since his investigation began. For background, Weiss has investigated Hunter Biden for approximately five years. According to the testimony of whistleblower Gary Shapley, a highly-credentialed IRS Criminal Supervisory Special Agent, this investigation “has been handled differently than any investigation I’ve ever been a part of for the past 14 years of my IRS service.” Agent Shapley explained:

“Some of the decisions seem to be influenced by politics. But whatever the motivations, at every stage decisions were made that had the effect of benefiting the subject of the investigation. These decisions included slow-walking investigative steps, not allowing enforcement actions to be executed, limiting investigators’ line of questioning for witnesses, misleading investigators on charging authority, delaying any and all actions months before elections to ensure the investigation did not go overt well before policy memorandum mandated the pause. These are just only a few examples.”

As we noted back in June, the preferential treatment included: denials of normal investigative steps like looking into Hunter Biden’s communications; tipping off the Biden Transition Team that Hunter Biden would be interviewed; and refusing search warrants of Joe Biden’s home, though the Assistant US Attorney (Lesley Wolf) helping with the case admitted it was “likely” there would be evidence. One of the biggest revelations from the whistleblowers was that Weiss, who was the Delaware US Attorney at the time, was denied authority to file charges against Hunter Biden in DC or California.

“Congress was scheduled to hear from Weiss when Garland suddenly made him a special counsel [..] That allowed Weiss to delay any appearance..”

• David Weiss and America’s First Nihilist Prosecutor (Turley)

The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once said that all things are matters of mere interpretation and “whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth.” One has to understand Nietzsche and his nihilistic rejection of meaning to fully appreciate this week’s interview with special counsel David Weiss. Indeed, Weiss may be the first openly nihilistic prosecutor, who views justice itself as a mere matter of interpretation. Weiss appeared before the House Judiciary Committee, which is looking into the handling of the investigation into Hunter Biden’s alleged criminal conduct. The one thing that both Republican and Democratic members appear to agree upon is that the Weiss investigation was an unmitigated mess — years of delay and internal dissension over the indictment of the president’s son.

Indeed, after years of denial, some Democratic members and the journalists are now admitting that Hunter Biden clearly broke the law. The Weiss investigation, however, languished for years even as some of us were pointing out that the statute of limitations was about to pass on felonies. At the same time, Attorney General Merrick Garland steadfastly refused to appoint a special counsel into the expanding corruption scandal involving Hunter and other Biden family members selling influence and access. Congress was scheduled to hear from Weiss when Garland suddenly made him a special counsel, though the attorney general did not expressly extend his mandate to cover the corruption allegations. That allowed Weiss to delay any appearance. He would bring gun charges against Hunter, but he has inexplicably still not brought the tax charges that he did not previously allow to expire or charges under laws like the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

Weiss has shown no signs of movement as evidence has piled up. Most recently, Hunter’s own tax accountat gave incriminating evidence on his former client from claimed the payment of prostitutes as “a business expense” to allegedly misrepresenting payments as “loans.” As expected, Weiss continued to refuse to answer questions about his lackadaisical approach. That includes obvious questions like why, when whistleblowers said the defense had agreed to an extension of the statute of limitations, Weiss let felonies expire. Those crimes included some of the most serious allegations of influence peddling and corruption facing the Biden family.

“..objectivity is now considered reactionary and even harmful..”

• NBC Compares Hunter’s Influence Peddling to Haley’s Daughter’s TikTok (Turley)

We have often discussed (and even marveled at) the determined effort of mainstream media to ignore the evidence of a massive corruption scandal surrounding the Biden family. However, even at this late date, NBC seems to have achieved singular distinction with a comparison between the criticism of the daughter of Nikki Haley for using TikTok and the criticism of Hunter Biden for influence peddling. During the Republican presidential debate, Vivek Ramaswamy responded to Haley’s criticism of his use of the Chinese-linked social media app, TikTok, by pointing out: “she made fun of me for joining TikTok, while her own daughter was actually using the app for a long time, so you might want to take care of your family first.” Haley responded by calling Ramaswamy “scum.” Later Gov. Ron DeSantis said that children need to be out of bounds.

NBC saw an immediate opportunity to denounce the investigation into Hunter Biden: “Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says he believes going after an opponent’s children is ‘out of bounds’ in political warfare. DeSantis, however, goes after President Biden’s son on a weekly basis.” The comparison perfectly captured the all-hands-on-deck effort of the media in resisting coverage of the Biden scandal. A major network wanted the public to see the criticism of Haley’s daughter for using TikTok as the same as criticism of Biden’s son for influence peddling. One child was posting playful social media posts while the other was orchestrating massive payments from foreign figures. This is why polls have shown the media at record lows in terms of public trust. Gallup and the Knight Foundation found that 50% of Americans believe that the news media lies in order to promote an agenda.

Only 25% of Americans reject that premise. The public has largely rejected the mainstream coverage (or lack thereof). A majority believes that Hunter has received special protection in the investigation. We have often discussed the increasing bias and advocacy in major media in the United States. While cable networks have long catered to political audiences on the left or right, mainstream newspapers and networks now openly frame news to fit a political narrative. We previously discussed the release of the results of interviews with over 75 media leaders by former executive editor for The Washington Post Leonard Downie Jr. and former CBS News President Andrew Heyward. They concluded that objectivity is now considered reactionary and even harmful. Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, editor-in-chief at the San Francisco Chronicle said it plainly: “Objectivity has got to go.”

It’s kryptonite for Kennedy’s run. Even as Trump and Biden are just as blind to Israel.

• Gerald Celente Withdraws Support due to Kennedy’s Israel War Position (Dick)

Back in December of 2022, virtually nobody was even thinking of the possibility that Rober F. Kennedy, Jr. may run in the 2024 presidential race. One of the few individuals who was thinking of this possibility was political commentor and trends forecaster Gerald Celente. Speaking with host David Knight at the David Knight Show, Celente then not only mentioned the possibility, he enthusiastically recommended that Kennedy run with legal scholar Andrew Napolitano, a former New Jersey state judge, as his vice president running mate. Four months later, Kennedy announced his decision to seek the presidency in a speech that included some strong expression of antiwar sentiment. That expression of sentiment would appeal to Celente, a peace advocate who has hosted peace rallies in Kingston, New York, where Celente’s trends forecasting operation is located.

Come October, though, Kennedy made clear that so far as Israel goes he would not be a noninterventionist president. Instead, he would back the Israel government to the hilt in its pursuit of its new war. This followed Kennedy in a July interview with Schmuley Boteach making clear that he is a big booster of Israel and declaring that he would try as a candidate “to bring the Democratic Party back to its traditional support of Israel and to explain to my children’s generation the historical context and the moral case for Israel.” Later in the week, Kennedy wrote the following at Twitter: “As President, my support of Israel will be unconditional.” No reasonable person after seeing that declaration would have hope that Kennedy supports seeking peace across-the-board.

But, hope at least could be held out that Kennedy’s unconditional support for Israel would not materialize as support for war because Israel could remain relatively at peace. That last bit of hope was dashed in October after a Hamas attack on Israel and Israel’s ensuing, and ongoing, massive military attack on Gaza. Indeed, on October 7 — the day of the Hamas attack — Kennedy immediately proclaimed at Twitter that as president he would be absolutely committed to supporting the Israel government in its new war effort, stating:

“This ignominious, unprovoked, and barbaric attack on Israel must be met with world condemnation and unequivocal support for the Jewish state’s right to self-defense. We must provide Israel with whatever it needs to defend itself — now. As President, I’ll make sure that our policy is unambiguous so that the enemies of Israel will think long and hard before attempting aggression of any kind.” I applaud the strong statements of support from the Biden White House for Israel in her hour of need. However, the scale of these attacks means it is likely that Israel will need to wage a sustained military campaign to protect its citizens. Statements of support are fine, but we must follow through with unwavering, resolute, and practical action. America must stand by our ally throughout this operation and beyond as it exercises its sovereign right to self-defense.”

Thus we come to Celente, an early and enthusiastic supporter of a Kennedy run, commenting on Wednesday, in his weekly video discussion with Andrew Napolitano, that he no longer supports Kennedy becoming president. “As you well know, I was a huge supporter of RFK Jr. because I believed that he was pro-peace and antiwar,” said Celente early in the discussion. Responding, Napolitano, who is an Advisory Board member for the Ron Paul Institute, confirmed, “he was, he was — at the time that you and I communicated with him — he was the champion of pro-peace and antiwar, and, then. after the Hamas attack to Israel, he did a 180 and now supports the genocide that the Israeli military is perpetrating on the Palestinian people in Gaza.” Watch here Celente and Napolitano’s full discussion, which also includes Napolitano describing his exchange of texts with Kennedy about Kennedy’s Israel war position and Celente proposing that Napolitano now run for president:

“The grotesque injustice meted out to David McBride is minted from the injustice consuming his compatriot, Julian Assange..”

• We are Spartacus (John Pilger)

Afghanistan was where the West sent young men weighed down with the ritual of “warriors” to kill people and enjoy it. We know some of them enjoyed it from the evidence of Australian SAS sociopaths, including a photograph of them drinking from an Afghan man’s prosthetic. Not one sociopath has been charged for this and crimes such as kicking a man over a cliff, gunning down children point-blank, slitting throats: none of it “in battle.” David McBride, a former Australian military lawyer who served twice in Afghanistan, was a ‘true believer’ in the system as moral and honourable. He also has an abiding belief in truth, and loyalty. He can define them as few can. This coming week he is in court in Canberra as an alleged criminal.

“An Australian whistleblower,” reports Kieran Pender, a senior lawyer at the Australian Human Rights Law Centre, “[will face] trial for blowing the whistle on horrendous wrongdoing. It is profoundly unjust that the first person on trial for war crimes in Afghanistan is the whistle blower and not an alleged war criminal.” McBride can receive a sentence of up to 100 years for revealing the cover-up of the great crime of Afghanistan. He tried to exercise his legal right as a whistleblower under the Public Interest Disclosure Act, which the current attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, says “delivers on our promise to strengthen protections for public sector whistleblowers.” Yet it is Dreyfus, a Labor minister, who signed off on the McBride trial following a punitive wait of four years and eight months since his arrest at Sydney airport: a wait that shredded his health and family.

Those who know David and know of the hideous injustice done to him fill his street in Bondi near the beach in Sydney to wave their encouragement to this good and decent man. To them, and me, he is a hero. McBride was affronted by what he found in the files he was ordered to inspect. Here was evidence of crimes and their cover-up. He passed hundreds of secret documents to the the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and The Sydney Morning Herald. Police raided the ABC’s offices in Sydney while reporters and producers watched, shocked, as their computers were confiscated by the Federal Police. Attorney-General Dreyfus, self-declared liberal reformer and friend of whistleblowers, has the singular power to stop the McBride trial. A Freedom of Information search of his actions in this direction reveals little, at most, an indifference.

You can’t run a fully-fledged democracy and a colonial war; one aspires to decency, the other is a form of fascism, regardless of its pretensions. Mark the killing fields of Gaza, bombed to dust by apartheid Israel. It is no coincidence that in rich, yet impoverished Britain an “inquiry” is currently being held into the gunning down by British SAS soldiers of 80 Afghans, all civilians, including a couple in bed. The grotesque injustice meted out to David McBride is minted from the injustice consuming his compatriot, Julian Assange. Both are friends of mine. Whenever I see them, I am optimistic. ‘You cheer me,’ I tell Julian as he raises a defiant fist at the end of our visiting period. ‘You make me feel proud,’ I tell David at our favourite coffee shop in Sydney.

Their bravery has allowed many of us, who might despair, to understand the real meaning of a resistance we all share if we want to prevent the conquest of us, our conscience, our self respect, if we prefer freedom and decency to compliance and collusion. In this, we are all Spartacus. Spartacus was the rebellious leader of Rome’s slaves in 71-73 B.C. There is a thrilling moment in the Kirk Douglas movie Spartacus when the Romans call on Spartacus’s men to identify their leader and so be pardoned. Instead hundreds of his comrades stand and raise their fists in solidarity and shout, ‘I am Spartacus!’ The rebellion is under way.

UFC

Tonight at UFC fights at Madison Square Garden pic.twitter.com/Jj3Ga5oSgo

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) November 12, 2023

The lowland nyala or simply nyala, is a spiral-horned antelope native to southern Africa that you might have never seen. As a herbivore, the nyala feeds upon foliage, fruits and grasses. A shy animal, it prefers water holes rather than open spaces.

The Giant Hand of Vyrnwy: There was this tree in Wales that was 124 years old, it reached higher than a 20 storey building (63.7m (209ft). It was damaged in a storm and had to be felled. Artist Simon O’Rourke carved what remained into this hand as a memorial, a last attempt to reach the sky.

Piano

Paul Barton, once a concert-pianist, lives in the jungle of Thailand where he plays music to blind, injured and orphaned elephants of a sanctuary with extraordinary resultspic.twitter.com/GtsEQtZzjR

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) November 11, 2023

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Debt Rattle October 8 2023

Oct 082023

October 8, 2023 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 9:17 am Finance Tagged with: climate cult, Covid vaccine, Hamas, Hezbollah, Israel, Nordstream, one-and-done, Palestine, sanctuary city 43 Responses »

Leonardo da Vinci A Copse of Trees 1508

• Biden Blames The Press For Bad Poll Numbers (RT)

• Biden Mulls Asking $100 Billion Check For Ukraine – Telegraph (RT)

• Will Donald Trump Win by Waging War on American Institutions? Sp.)

• Appeals Court Rules for Trump Amid NY Fraud Trial (ET)

• Judge Who Will Hear Trump’s Jan 6 Case Is the Pot Calling Him Black (Kelly)

• Western Officials Pressure Media On Ukraine’s Battlefield Failures – WaPo (RT)

• Medvedev Blames US for Israel-Hamas Fighting (RT)

• Hezbollah Next To Attack? War Could Spiral Into Biggest In Decades (ZH)

• Time to Tell America’s Climate Cult ‘Stop!’ (ET)

• Bill Maher: “Democrats Look Like Sanctuary City Hypocrites” (ZH)

• One Year On, EU, US Collude To Sweep Nordstream Under The Rug (Bowes)

• ‘No Lives Were Saved’ by COVID-19 Vaccines, 17 Million Deaths (ET)

How Bad is US intel on Ukraine?

Macgregor: The Russians Press On And Take Odessa

Buffett

“I could end deficit in 5 minutes. You just pass a law that says that anytime there's a deficit of more than 3% of GDP all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for reelection. Now you've got the incentives in the right place right? So it's capable of being done” – Warren… pic.twitter.com/RbixhhBF4V

— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) October 6, 2023

Rand Paul Fauci
https://twitter.com/i/status/1710475596466147791

RFK

It's time to become the peaceful nation that JFK and RFK envisioned. #Kennedy24 pic.twitter.com/TfjyMJkTlx

— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) October 7, 2023

4 short years ago, we had:
Peace in Europe
Peace in the Middle East
1% inflation
$1.75 a gallon gasoline
2.5% mortgage rate
A growing economy
Full employment
What the hell happened?

Years ago, anthropologist Margaret Mead was asked by a student what she considered to be the first sign of civilization in a culture. The student expected Mead to talk about fishhooks or clay pots or grinding stones. But no. Mead said that the first sign of civilization in an ancient culture was a femur (thighbone) that had been broken and then healed. Mead explained that in the animal kingdom, if you break your leg, you die.

You cannot run from danger, get to the river for a drink or hunt for food. You are meat for prowling beasts. No animal survives a broken leg long enough for the bone to heal. A broken femur that has healed is evidence that someone has taken time to stay with the one who fell, has bound up the wound, has carried the person to safety and has tended the person through recovery. Helping someone else through difficulty is where civilization starts, Mead said.” We are at our best when we serve others. Be civilized.

Biden has 98% of the media on his side. But that’s apparently not enough.. His poll numbers have nothing to do with not knowing where he is half the time, it’s uber-friendly media still not being friendly enough.

“You turn on the television, and there is not a whole lot about ‘boy saves dog because he swims in the lake.’ It’s about, ‘somebody pushed the dog in the lake.’ I mean, I get it.”

• Biden Blames The Press For Bad Poll Numbers (RT)

US President Joe Biden has argued that Americans aren’t recognizing his strong performance on the economy heading into the 2024 election because of media negativity. Biden touted the latest US employment report in a White House press briefing on Friday, then suggested that public perceptions of the economy have been dimmed by the negative tone of media coverage. “You all are not the happiest people in the world, which you report,” he said. “And I mean it sincerely: You get more legs when you report [that] something is negative. I don’t mean you’re picking on me. It’s just the nature of things.” The president made his comments on the same day that a Real Clear Politics poll showed that his approval rating had dropped to 40.5%, the lowest level since August 2022. An Economist/YouGov poll released on Wednesday showed that only 16% of Americans believe the US economy is “getting better,” while 56% see it as “getting worse.”

Perhaps even more concerning for Biden, voters perceive that his top Republican rival in the 2024 race, former President Donald Trump, is superior on handling the economy, inflation and border security, among other key issues. Trump has a 23- to 24-point lead over Biden on the economy and inflation, according to a Marquette University poll released this week, and he leads by 19 percentage points in voter confidence in his ability to create jobs. Biden leads by nine to 15 points on abortion policy and climate change. Biden’s Democratic Party is also taking a beating in public perceptions on the economy. A Gallup poll released this week found that Republicans had a 14-point lead over the Democrats in terms of public confidence in their ability to keep the nation prosperous. That margin marked the largest lead for the Republican Party since 1991, Gallup said.

Biden told reporters that, while his positive economic message isn’t getting through to some voters, the many Americans landing new jobs “feel better about the economy.” He added that the media’s negative tone is to be expected: “You turn on the television, and there is not a whole lot about ‘boy saves dog because he swims in the lake.’ It’s about, ‘somebody pushed the dog in the lake.’ I mean, I get it.” Critics have long accused major media outlets of favoring Biden and other Democrats after years of vilifying Trump. “Corporate media’s behavior as we head into 2024 – their willingness to endlessly lie, propagandize and be more overt in their liberal political activism – will shock even the most jaded haters,”independent journalist Glenn Greenwald said earlier this week.

“one-and-done”.

• Biden Mulls Asking $100 Billion Check For Ukraine – Telegraph (RT)

US President Joe Biden is reportedly plotting a potential “one-and-done” Ukraine aid request that would be so big that he wouldn’t need to seek any more funding approvals from Congress until after the 2024 election, The Telegraph has reported on Saturday. The new Ukraine aid request could be as large as $100 billion, enough to avoid continued legislative controversies that could hinder Biden’s re-election bid next year, the British newspaper said, citing people familiar with the White House discussions. Such a proposal would dwarf the $24 billion funding request that US House lawmakers stripped out of the stopgap spending bill that they passed last week to avert a government shutdown.

“The big package idea is firmly supported by many throughout the administration,” the newspaper’s source said. “Supporters of Ukraine want this to be a one-and-done, big bill, and then not have to deal with it until after the next election.” Biden’s administration is scrambling to find temporary ways to keep the money and weapons flowing to Kiev, supporting Ukraine’s fight against Russian forces, until a major aid bill is passed by Congress. For instance, a US State Department grant program could reportedly be tapped to provide about $650 million in funding. The White House officials were quoted by the media as saying that only a few weeks remain before a potential lapse in Ukraine funding, which they have warned could have devastating consequences on the battlefield.

Republican lawmakers have become increasingly critical of Biden’s Ukraine policy, with some arguing that massive aid to Kiev is only prolonging the bloody conflict at the expense of bigger domestic priorities. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was voted out of his leadership post earlier this week, the first such congressional ouster in US history, reportedly after some of his fellow Republicans heard that he had promised Biden a separate Ukraine aid bill to be approved after passing the stopgap funding measure. The Biden administration won’t decide on whether to propose a one-and-done aid package for Ukraine until after a new House speaker is elected, possibly next week, according to The Telegraph’s report. Getting a $100 billion bill passed might require the president to make concessions to conservative Republicans on such issues as illegal immigration.

US Representative Lauren Boebert, one of the Republicans who have been critical of Biden’s Ukraine policy, suggested in an interview on Friday that the new House speaker might have to pledge opposition to passing more funding for Kiev. She noted that a majority of Republicans in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted against a $300 million Ukraine aid bill last week. “For the first time, we saw that Ukraine funding alone does not have a majority of the majority’s support,” Boebert told US podcast host Steve Bannon. “Any speaker has to recognize that and not allow more funding for Ukraine to come to the floor. We are absolutely tired of spending it.” Congress has already approved four rounds of Ukraine funding, totaling about $113 billion. The Pentagon warned last week that it had exhausted “nearly all available security-assistance funding for Ukraine.”

“The courtroom has replaced his rallies and that’s what the next 14 months are going to look like. He’s a showman; he loves this s***. This will be his campaign and it could work.”

• Will Donald Trump Win by Waging War on American Institutions?

Observers saw shades of Trump’s victorious 2016 campaign as the former president spoke to US media outside of a New York courtroom this week. “It’s a scam, it’s a sham,” said the former president to reporters huddled outside of a Manhattan courtroom. “It’s a witch hunt and a disgrace.” The tenor of his comments was familiar as he opined on the civil fraud case that saw him accused of inflating the value of his businesses by millions of dollars. But the subject of his ire was somewhat new. A longtime critic of the United States’ media and political establishments, former president Donald Trump has recently added the American judicial system to his list of targets in a campaign season that once again seems poised to position the iconoclastic businessman as an outsider candidate.

It’s a role Trump is all too eager to play. He briefly waded into US politics in 2000, forming a presidential exploratory committee and promising to challenge the then-bipartisan consensus around free trade, among other issues. He waged his 2016 campaign against perhaps the most well known living representative of the Washington political establishment (former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton). And he spent his turbulent four years as president constantly at odds with detractors from all sides of the political spectrum. Now Trump can add judges and prosecutors to his long list of adversaries. “Every time he’s in a courtroom, he’s campaigning,” said Joe Walsh, a former Republican congressman from Illinois who became a fierce critic of Trump from within his own party. “The courtroom has replaced his rallies and that’s what the next 14 months are going to look like. He’s a showman; he loves this s***. This will be his campaign and it could work.”

Trump’s civil case compounds his recent legal woes, which include 91 criminal charges from four separate indictments and another civil trial that saw the former president held liable for sexually abusing and defaming columnist E. Jean Carroll earlier this year. Then, as now, he decried the case as part of a witch hunt to derail his 2024 presidential candidacy. The legal proceedings create an unprecedented dynamic in next year’s campaign. In any other election, with any other candidate, they might spell certain doom. Yet Trump currently remains the overwhelming favorite to win his party’s presidential primary. Most recent polling shows him running even with Biden in the general election, if not leading him. In 2020 Trump ran as an incumbent, forced to defend his political record and handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. But recently, events have conspired to once again give him the aura of an outsider, running against a political figure who was first elected to national office in 1972.

In the context of 2024’s presidential contest, the judiciary becomes just another aspect of Trump’s audacious challenge to America’s political and social system. Polling has long shown sharply declining trust in a broad swath of US institutions. Congress, the presidency, and the Supreme Court remain among some of the least-respected institutions in American public life, but most others fare no better. Such wide skepticism could create the perfect environment for Donald Trump to triumphantly return to the White House. But whatever the outcome of next year’s contest, the American public may be ready for deep reform in almost every corner of society. Whether our institutions permit such change may dictate their very survival.

“If the statute of limitations is applied correctly, the majority of the prosecutor’s claims are “subject to dismissal as untimely..”

• Appeals Court Rules for Trump Amid NY Fraud Trial (ET)

After a hearing on Friday, an appeals court granted a stay, or pause, on a judge’s order that former President Donald Trump’s businesses be dissolved. This was only a partial victory for President Trump, as the appeals court said the trial that began this week could continue. The prosecutors had opposed the request for a delay, accusing the defense attorneys of attempting “to sow chaos” and disruption. The Trump Organization issued a statement after the pause, calling the judge’s order to cancel the Trumps’ business certificates “overzealous.” “Judge Engoron’s order erroneously sought to adjudicate the rights of non-party business entities that employ nearly 1,000 hard-working New Yorkers, have never been accused of any wrongdoing and, were never given their day in court – in clear violation of their fundamental Constitutional rights and Due Process. We will continue to vigorously defend our company and our incredible employees from this politically-motivated persecution,” the statement reads.

President Trump’s attorneys appealed the civil fraud case against him on Oct. 4 and Oct. 5, filing a 1,154-page document in a bid to pause the currently ongoing trial. “[New York] Supreme Court’s Sept. 26 and Oct. 5, 2023 decision impose unauthorized, undemanded, overbroad relief without proper factual or legal predicate, which will result in significant, irreparable harm,” states the reason for requesting a stay on the case. President Trump had already previously sought to delay the trial, and the appeal had been denied just days before the trial began. New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron’s Sept. 26 decision not only found President Trump liable for fraud, but ordered the dissolution of the Trump Organization and related LLCs, which means the 45th president will lose his entire real estate empire in a matter of days unless the appeal is granted. Furthermore, attorneys argue, hundreds of employees will be affected.

“Supreme Court clearly does not comprehend the scope of the chaos its decision has wrought,” the filing reads, describing the summary judgment as a “miscarriage of justice.” President Trump’s business certificates have already been canceled, and the judge’s Oct. 5 order requires him to notify the court before applying for a new one, even outside New York. His sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., executive vice presidents in the Trump Organization, face similar penalties. The buildings they stand to lose include Trump Tower, 40 Wall Street, the Seven Springs family estate upstate, and private residences belonging to Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. The case began when President Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen made claims that his boss inflated his net worth. New York Attorney General Letitia James, who declared that she would sue the former president for fraud when she was campaigning for her position, brought forth a civil lawsuit in September 2022 accusing him of defrauding the state by artificially inflating his net worth to get more favorable terms from insurers and banks.

[..] A June appeals court decision had defined the statute of limitations to allegations from 2014 onwards. The prosecutors’ original lawsuit covered the decade from 2011 to 2021. During the trial, the judge acknowledged the statute of limitations, but said he would allow evidence from before 2014 if the prosecutors could connect it to later crimes. The prosecutors had argued for bringing in this evidence under the “continuing wrongs doctrine.” In the appeal, President Trump’s attorneys argue that the doctrine does not delay or extend the period allowed, citing other court rulings. Furthermore, the court is now treating the individual financial statements as “separately actionable claims,” rather than “continuing wrongs,” they argued. If the statute of limitations is applied correctly, the majority of the prosecutor’s claims are “subject to dismissal as untimely,” they argued.

“On numerous occasions, the judge has insisted the 2020 election was legitimate and fully vetted by the court system – a claim disputed by Trump that lies at the heart of the case she is now hearing..”

• Judge Who Will Hear Trump’s Jan 6 Case Is the Pot Calling Him Black (Kelly)

At her first appearance in the criminal case against Donald Trump for his alleged attempt to overturn the 2020 election, U.S. District Court Judge Tanya S. Chutkan repeatedly warned the former president’s lawyers that politics would not be tolerated in her courtroom. But even as she warns Trump about his “inflammatory” language, Chutkan has routinely issued politically charged rulings and made incendiary statements of her own while presiding over some 30 cases involving Trump supporters charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, melee at the U.S. Capitol. These include her public assertions that the 2020 election was beyond reproach, that the Jan. 6 protests were orchestrated by Trump, and that the former president is guilty of crimes. She has described Jan. 6 as a “mob attack” on “the very foundation of our democracy.”

Chutkan’s strident language raises questions about her impartiality in handling the case against the presumptive GOP nominee for president in 2024. Chutkan blamed Trump for the Jan. 6 violence while sentencing Robert Palmer, who pleaded guilty in June 2021 to one count of assaulting police officers with a dangerous weapon (a fire extinguisher). In that case, Palmer’s lawyer sought a reduced prison sentence by echoing the judge’s view of Trump. “Mr. Palmer went to the Capitol at the behest of the former president,” attorney Bjorn E. Brunvand wrote in a December 2021 sentencing memo to Chutkan. “Like many others who participated in the Capitol riot, Mr. Palmer blindly followed the many figures who falsely but persistently claimed that the election had been stolen from the president.”

Palmer apologized to Chutkan for his conduct and begged for mercy. His plea fell on deaf ears. Chutkan expressed no sympathy for Palmer, whom she sent to prison for more than five years. Chutkan’s references to the former president aren’t the only area of concern for Trump. Her comments from the bench also suggest that she shares the same view of Jan. 6 as the man prosecuting Trump in her courtroom, Special Counsel Jack Smith. Tasked by Attorney General Merrick Garland with investigating “whether any person or entity unlawfully interfered with the transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election or the certification of the Electoral College vote held on or about January 6, 2021,” Smith indicted Trump in the District of Columbia on three conspiracy counts and one obstruction count last month.

Throughout the 45-page indictment, Smith repeatedly accused Trump of knowingly promoting falsehoods about the 2020 presidential election. Chutkan clearly shares that view. On numerous occasions, the judge has insisted the 2020 election was legitimate and fully vetted by the court system – a claim disputed by Trump that lies at the heart of the case she is now hearing. She has accused individuals who believe the 2020 election was “stolen” as promoting “conspiracy theories.” In the case of Donna Bissel, who pleaded guilty to the nonviolent petty offense of “parading” in the Capitol, Chutkan cited Bissel’s personal beliefs as reason to sentence her to 14 days in jail rather than impose the three-year probation sentence recommended by prosecutors.

Here, too, the regime has 98% of the media on its side. But that’s not enough..

“..urged the media to depict Ukraine’s faltering counteroffensive in a more charitable light..”

• Western Officials Pressure Media On Ukraine’s Battlefield Failures – WaPo (RT)

Western officials have urged the media to depict Ukraine’s faltering counteroffensive in a more charitable light, the Washington Post has reported. The US newspaper claimed the efforts are aimed at preventing a decline in public support for providing further military aid for Kiev in the coming months. In an article on Saturday, the Post alleged that “Ukrainian and Western officials in recent weeks have focused on reshaping the narrative” amid Kiev’s underwhelming progress so far. The implementation of the supposed new strategy presumably has to do with increased criticism in some Western countries, which has called into question the continuation of military aid for Kiev.

According to the media outlet, while Ukraine’s Western backers are publicly putting a brave face on the counteroffensive, privately they are increasingly concerned that the conflict could become a frozen one, with Kiev’s forces unable to breach Russian defenses. The Post noted that several Western officials had recently paid an unusual amount of attention in their press briefings to the way the media is covering the Ukrainian military’s progress. In one example cited by the newspaper, an unnamed official urged journalists to “lift up the conversation a bit” and stop focusing too much on the day-to-day developments on the ground, lest they miss the “fuller picture.” The same official also reportedly tried to lower expectations in the briefing, saying that a Ukrainian victory would not necessarily mean the recapture of “every bit of territory by X date” – despite Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s insistence that this is the only acceptable scenario.

Ukrainian officials have been limiting journalists’ access to the front line, citing security reasons, the Post continued. Special officers are making sure that sensitive topics, such as Kiev’s losses, are kept quiet. Late last month, the New York Times reported that a slowdown in the counteroffensive “comes with huge risks for Ukraine.” The newspaper explained that “if it looks unlikely to recapture large areas of the country, Western support could wane, either through lack of political will or unwillingness to donate more weapons.” Meanwhile, Kiev’s already slow progress may be further impeded by autumn rains in the region, the NYT pointed out, adding that such adverse weather conditions would make the ground almost impassable for heavy Western-supplied tanks and other hardware.

I could add 1,000 words to the 1,000,000 already written in the past 24 hours. But for now I’ll stick with Macgregor’s ”Make peace, you fools.”

• Medvedev Blames US for Israel-Hamas Fighting (RT)

US foreign policy is partly to blame for the latest violent flare-up between Israel and the Palestinians, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has suggested. The official, who is currently Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said Washington should have channeled its energy into ensuring a lasting peace in the Middle East but chose to focus on Ukraine instead. Commenting on Saturday’s escalation between Israel and the Hamas militant group from Gaza, Medvedev wrote on his Telegram channel that these events were predictable. “This is what Washington and its allies should have dealt with,” he explained, adding that the Israel-Palestine conflict has lasted for decades, with the US being a “key player there.”

According to Medvedev, instead of this, “these morons got involved in our region and are actively helping neo-Nazis, pitting two close peoples against one another.” The former president brought his remarks to a conclusion with the thought that “apparently only a civil war on US territory” would help quell “America’s manic passion for igniting conflicts all around the planet.” On Saturday morning, Hamas militants launched a massive attack on Israel, firing thousands of missiles and then breaching the border fence and overrunning multiple Israeli towns bordering the Gaza enclave. According to Israeli emergency service Magen David Adom, at least 40 Israelis have been killed and 740 others wounded. In his address to the nation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country is at war. He also vowed that the “enemy will pay a price like they have never known before.”

An IDF spokesperson revealed that fighting is ongoing, with Hamas militants still present in multiple localities. Meanwhile, the Israeli air force has conducted air strikes on Gaza. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has insisted that the Palestinian people have a right to defend themselves against what he described as the “terror of settlers and occupation troops.” The White House issued a statement, condemning what it termed “unprovoked attacks by Hamas terrorists against Israeli civilians.” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin reassured Israel that the US’ commitment to its security remains “unwavering.” In the coming days, he promised, the Pentagon will “work to ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself and protect civilians from indiscriminate violence and terrorism.”

Kim Dotcom: “Understanding the Hamas attack on Israel: Iran is aiming for a confrontation with Israel and the US. The success of Russia in Ukraine is encouraging Iran to undo decades of hostile US foreign policy in the Middle East. A bankrupt US Govt has just been invited to another war. The timing is opportunistic. The US Govt is forced to print trillions of USD as it struggles to raise new debt. Another war would lead to a significant increase in inflation and an accelerated economic decline of the US.

If Iran mines the Strait of Hormuz the global energy crisis would become critical. The Biden administration has used the majority of US oil reserves to stabilize domestic oil prices. Iran can increase the pain for the US Govt significantly. Ukraine is turning into a major defeat for the US and NATO. A new front in the Middle East would accelerate the US decline. The US Govt and its western partners simply cannot afford it. Russia and China would benefit most. Iran understands this and is playing into the hands of its partners.”

• Hezbollah Next To Attack? War Could Spiral Into Biggest In Decades (ZH)

It appears at the very least, we are in the midst of a third intifada. But one big question will linger in the coming days and weeks as Israel is sure to escalate its response into a ground invasion Gaza: will the war escalate beyond Gaza and southern Israel? Already both Hezbollah and the Islamic Republic of Iran have sent “congratulations” messages to Hamas and the Palestinians. Hezbollah’s statement in particular condemned Arab states who have normalized relations with the Jewish state. The Wall Street Journal reports on Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah’s statement as follows: “Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which like Palestinian militant groups also vows Israel’s destruction, praised the operation by Hamas inside Israel, according to Arab media. Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah said it served as a warning against recognizing Israel.

“It sends a message to the Arab and Islamic world, and the international community as a whole, especially those seeking normalization with this enemy, that the Palestinian cause is an everlasting one, alive until victory and liberation,” Nasrallah said in a statement.” At the moment Israel’s northern border with Hezbollah remains quiet, but if a shooting war starts out of southern Lebanon, Israel will find itself in a war on two fronts. Already there are allegations from Western pundits that Iran is financing this expanded Hamas operation… [..] A potential broader war could also draw in Syria, given already Israeli jets have struck the country almost on a weekly basis. Israel has long said it is attacking Iranian targets and assets inside Syria. If Hezbollah and Israel enter a war, this would increase the likelihood of it expanding into already war-torn Syria.

Mashiach

If the attack from HAMAS is truly over the alleged building of the “Third Temple of Solomon on the ruins of the first mosque for Muslims Al Aqsa or near it,” then we approaching the last war according to the Bible.

I am also reading reports that some Israelis are claiming “The… pic.twitter.com/dhlmLJtSfw

— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) October 7, 2023

“..the first city in America to [insert costly, new, crackpot, ‘green’ energy notion here].”

• Time to Tell America’s Climate Cult ‘Stop!’ (ET)

Rishi Sunak, Britain’s Tory prime minister, seems to have bravely adopted at least some of that mission by challenging Britain’s radical climate agenda. It’s a lesson for the United States. Addressing Britain’s sanguine climate policy, Mr. Sunak said, “there’s nothing ambitious about simply asserting a goal for a short-term headline without being honest with the public about the tough choices and sacrifices involved and without any meaningful democratic debate about how we get there.” Mind you, Mr. Sunak isn’t what the climate cult types call a “climate change denier”; far from it. But he understands that aspirations without means are merely pipe dreams. And he also understands that imposing climate mandates without public discourse or debate is antithetical to the democratic principles that underlie his republic, as they do ours.

Unfortunately, the mismatch between means and aspirations, as well as the disregard for democratic principles, characterizes much of what passes for the national climate policies of both the UK and the United States. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency set the CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) standards for model year 2026 automobiles at 55 miles per gallon for sedans and 39 mpg for trucks and light-duty trucks/SUVs. Those are enormous increases of 25 percent and 28 percent, respectively, just since 2020. The clear intention in raising the CAFE standards so quickly is to force consumers into buying new cars that are either fully or partially electric, hybrids, or fully electric. But there’s clear resistance, as reflected even by Kyle Bass, an avid environmentalist and chief investment officer of Conservation Equity Management, a private equity fund focused on “facilitating conservation investment”: “The advertised ranges of EVs have turned out to be pure fantasy (we own two Teslas). After a couple of years, the batteries degrade even more (think about your iPhone). I will never give up my combustion engine.”

State and local governments in so-called “blue” states have been even more aggressive in forcing radical lifestyle changes on the people in their jurisdiction. In New York, for example, it’s something of a race to “make history,” with elected officials lauding the city’s status as “the first city in America to [insert costly, new, crackpot, ‘green’ energy notion here].” For example, in a social media post on June 27, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul lauded an expensive “congestion pricing” tax scheme that the city will impose next year, whereby drivers who go below 6oth Street in Manhattan will have to pay a congestion pricing toll of $26 to “reduce fuel consumed and pollutant emissions.” “New York City is leading the nation by becoming the first city in America with a congestion pricing program—setting the standard in the fight for cleaner air, better transit, and less traffic,” Ms. Hochul wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “As we so often do here in New York, today, we’re making history.”

Another “green” initiative bans new construction in New York City from having natural gas hookups, even though natural gas reserves are estimated at 300 years and natural gas burns far cleaner than many alternatives. New York’s legendary pizzerias, some serving pizza from coal-fired ovens for more than a century, will likely be forced to adopt electric pizza ovens. Another initiative will force New Yorkers to hold onto their garbage for up to a week for mandatory composting of organic waste, since the city’s plan only allows for compost pick-ups just once a week. Imagine the smell. And the vermin!

“New York City is very expensive. You are better off going to a more affordable city”..

• Bill Maher: “Democrats Look Like Sanctuary City Hypocrites” (ZH)

Real Time” host Bill Maher blasted President Biden and ultra-radical progressives for their massive policy U-turn on the southern border this week. He said border state Republicans who bused migrants to sanctuary metro areas (mainly in the Northeast) “called the Democrats’ bluff about sanctuary cities,” and the Democrats “look like sanctuary city hypocrites.”

“Here’s how serious the situation is: You know, they’ve been busing the migrants to the cities now. They kind of called the Democrats’ bluff about sanctuary cities, and they said oh, you love them so much? Here you go. And the cities don’t like it so much. NYC Mayor Eric Adams said this is going to destroy our city … Eric Adams … went to Mexico today. He’s going to Mexico, Ecuador, and Colombia, I think door-to-door, no, really, just to tell people personally, we don’t have room, I’m not kidding, don’t come. That’s pretty amazing. No, he’s telling these people, we don’t have room. This is New York City. Don’t you know our catchphrase? We’re the Little Apple. And our theme song, if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere, so go anywhere, don’t come here,” Maher said in his opening opening monologue on Friday evening.

Maher continued, “The border crisis has become a national crisis. It was always something like oh, it’s down there, and yes, it’s bad. But it’s – and now it’s all over the country because they’ve been busing the migrants and so forth.” He said this all “feels like a disaster for the Democrats.” The Biden administration’s reversal to now support former President Trump’s southern border wall comes as radical progressives, for years, called anyone who praised Trump’s wall ‘racist’ and other terrible names. The policy U-turn by the president and radical leftists comes as it appears polling data is not moving in their favor ahead of the election cycle, as disastrous open border policies have transformed many metro areas into chaotic areas that resemble third-word-like conditions. [..] Maher said, “Trump today said he wants Biden to apologize because it looks like Biden was adopting his policy. This does not look good for the Democrats.”

Bill Maher …

"Democrats look like Sanctuary City Hypocrites" ..pic.twitter.com/YksPxODjVa

— Lawyerforlaws (@lawyer4laws) October 7, 2023

“More than a year after these attacks, it’s apparent that the manner in which this reality has been suppressed is possibly more sinister than the attack itself.”

• One Year On, EU, US Collude To Sweep Nordstream Under The Rug (Bowes)

It’s been more than a year since one of the biggest pieces of energy infrastructure in Europe was destroyed in what can only be described as a terror attack. One would imagine that no stone would be left unturned to investigate a crime of such magnitude and attribute responsibility. You would also think that the countries that stood to lose most from Nord Stream’s destruction would be at the forefront of these investigations. Well, welcome to the Europe of 2023 where, in a weird case of Stockholm syndrome, it seems neither the alleged perpetrator nor indeed one of the main victims wants any more “trouble” when it comes to Nord Stream. The consensus is to let sleeping dogs lie, and considering the evidence of US involvement in the attack, that’s entirely unsurprising.

On September 26, 2022, the world’s news feeds erupted with reports of the powerful explosions which tore the landmark Russian-German gas pipelines apart, dealing a devastating blow to Berlin’s, and by extension the entire EU’s, energy security. Within a couple of days, Western media had seemingly solved the mystery. Publications such as Politico eagerly proclaimed that “Everything is pointing to Russia,” embracing the utterly delusional anti-logic that would make it plausible that Russia would destroy a piece of its own energy infrastructure that had been bringing it steady income. This reality, widely accepted by objective, nonaligned observers, was however lost on a slew of NATO-, US-, and EU-aligned commentators and officials. A mere four days after the explosions, US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told the BBC that it “seems” Russia was behind the destruction of its own multibillion-dollar investment.

When we roll the clock forward to today, it is now patently clear that Western media have been tasked with memory-holing the entire Nord Stream affair, with Germany, Sweden, and Denmark quietly conducting separate “investigations” which conveniently exclude Russian officials while also remaining strangely low-key in Western newsfeeds. These obviously declawed investigations continue as it is increasingly accepted in the West that Russia had nothing to do with the sabotage, it now being obvious that the US and/or a proxy partner were actually behind this terror attack on European soil. More than a year after these attacks, it’s apparent that the manner in which this reality has been suppressed is possibly more sinister than the attack itself.

An often-overlooked element of the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines is the devastating environmental impact that resulted from the explosions. Over 100,000 tons of methane gas was released into the atmosphere as four huge blasts tore through the two pipelines. A far less well known, or publicized, fact is that these pipelines were laid near an area where tons of toxic chemical weapons waste from the First World War had previously been dumped. The scale of the resulting short- and long-term impact on the seabed and atmosphere is difficult to establish, but both this and the single-biggest release of methane into the atmosphere in recent history seem to have gone generally unnoticed by the Green lobby in the EU and US. Anyone doubting the influence of this bunch should recall that on Joe Biden’s first day in office, he canceled a huge pipeline project, Keystone XL, jeopardizing thousands of construction jobs in what was seen as payback to environmentalists, whose cash and influence had been critical in his narrow electoral success.

The silence of the Green lobby on the catastrophic impact of the Nord Stream attack thus seems all the more unusual. Environmental activists across the US have rallied around calls to prevent the construction of pipelines in various regions, citing their negative environmental impact, but those same people seem remarkably quiet when it comes to the biggest pipeline-related environmental catastrophe in decades. The lack of any significant challenge regarding this act of eco-terrorism speaks volumes about the West’s selective approach to the Ukraine conflict. Green moral outrage is instantly shelved once Russia or China is the target and not the perpetrator.

There is a video with this, but I couldn’t find an embeddable version. Go here to watch.

• ‘No Lives Were Saved’ by COVID-19 Vaccines, 17 Million Deaths (ET)

A new scientific report challenges the idea that COVID-19 vaccines have prevented deaths after researchers assessed all-cause mortality in 17 countries and found COVID-19 vaccines did not have any beneficial effect on reducing mortality. Instead, researchers found that unprecedented peaks in high all-cause mortality in each country—especially among the elderly population when COVID-19 vaccines were deployed—coincided with the rollout of third and fourth booster doses. The report, published Sept. 17 by Correlation Research in the Public Interest (not yet peer-reviewed), quantified the vaccine-dose fatality rate (vDFR) for all ages—which is the ratio of inferred vaccine-induced deaths to vaccine doses delivered in a given population.

After analyzing mortality data, the researchers calculated a mean all-ages fatal toxicity by injection of vDFR of one death per 800 injections across all ages and countries. This equates to 17 million COVID-19 vaccine-related deaths worldwide from 13.25 billion injections as of Sept. 2, 2023. “This would correspond to a mass iatrogenic event that killed (0.213 ± 0.006) % of the world population (1 death per 470 living persons, in less than 3 years), and did not measurably prevent any deaths,” the authors said. They found the overall risk of death induced by COVID-19 vaccines is 1,000 times greater than previously reported in data from clinical trials, adverse event monitoring, and cause-of-death statistics obtained from death certificates.

All-cause mortality is the death rate from all causes of death for a population in a specific time period. This is the most reliable data for detecting and epidemiologically characterizing events driving death and for measuring the population-level impact of any surge or collapse in deaths from any cause. “All-cause mortality is a good feature to use in statistical medical analyses since there is no ambiguity in whether someone has died or not,” Stephanie Seneff, a senior research scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), told The Epoch Times in an email. “It is highly disturbing that these authors have found a consistent trend among seventeen countries showing a significant increase in all-cause mortality coinciding with extensive COVID vaccine rollout. Their estimate of one death for every 800 injections globally is alarming.”

[..] “There is no evidence in the hard data of all-cause mortality of a beneficial effect from the COVID-19 vaccine rollouts. No lives were saved,” Denis Rancourt, co-director of Correlation Research in the Public Interest with a doctorate in physics, told The Epoch Times in an email. “On the contrary, the evidence can be understood in terms of being subjected to a toxic substance. The risk of death per injection increases exponentially with age. The policy of prioritizing the elderly for injection must be ended immediately.”

Ibex
https://twitter.com/i/status/1710560060710019158

Dog star

A star is born. pic.twitter.com/spNebzEi17

— Figen (@TheFigen_) October 7, 2023

FishingVillage
https://twitter.com/i/status/1710598084231671813

Wall building
https://twitter.com/i/status/1710614273930490009

Cat shades
https://twitter.com/i/status/1710692933215600738

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Debt Rattle September 27 2023

Sep 272023

September 27, 2023 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 9:04 am Finance Tagged with: Abrams, Black Sea Fleet, Canada, Giuliani, Hunter Biden, nazi, Nordstream, Seymour Hersh, Trump, X 46 Responses »

Frederick Carl Frieseke Girl In Blue Arranging Flowers 1915

• Hersh Reveals US Motive For Destruction Of Nord Stream Pipelines (MoA)

• Biden Planned On Blowing Nord Stream Before Ukraine Conflict Began – Hersh (RT)

• Nord Stream Blast: Why the West Still Can’t Name the Culprit (Sp.)

• Canadian Parliament Speaker Resigns After Honoring Ukrainian Nazi (RT)

• Russian Foreign Ministry Responds To Canada Honoring Nazi Veteran (RT)

• Nazi Hunter: Canada Failed Miserably in Bringing Nazis to Justice (Sp.)

• Russian Black Sea Fleet Commander Seen Alive and Well (Sp.)

• Nothing Is Off Table To Get Ukraine Into EU – Parliament President (G.)

• How Russia Will Deal With American Tanks in Ukraine (Sp.)

• US Judge Finds Trump Committed Fraud by Inflating Wealth, Assets (Sp.)

• Hunter Biden Sues Rudy Giuliani for Spreading Contents From Laptop (Sp.)

• Hunter Biden Used Dad’s Classified Doc House For $250K China Wire Transfer (ZH)

• EU Warns Elon Musk After X Found To Have Highest Rate Of Disinformation (G.)

NYC Sanctuary

JUST IN: New York City is gearing up to pay over $1,000,000,000 on just hotels over the next 3 years to house illegal immigrants.

Good! That’s what happens when you call yourself a “Sanctuary City.”

But that’s just the hotel costs. NYC Mayor Eric Adams estimates the total cost… pic.twitter.com/SOE4MJoqP1

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) September 26, 2023

Yeadon
https://twitter.com/i/status/1706538481135104245

Russell

In this clip of @jimmy_dore talking to @rustyrockets he hits on so much: RFK, independent media, Canadian truckers and so much more! pic.twitter.com/x4DwdiTRq8

— Ellie A (@EllieGAnders) September 25, 2023

On the first anniversary of the Nordstream blast, lots of articles. Also about “alternative explanations”. But Sy Hersh doesn’t make things up. That’s not his MO at all.

“And thus followed the ultimate fear: that America would lose its long-standing primacy in Western Europe.”

• Hersh Reveals US Motive For Destruction Of Nord Stream Pipelines (MoA)

It was no surprise to the agency’s secret planning group when on January 27, 2022, the assured and confident Nuland, then undersecretary of state for political affairs, stridently warned Putin that if he invaded Ukraine, as he clearly was planning to, that “one way or another Nord Stream 2 will not move forward.” The line attracted enormous attention, but the words preceding the threat did not. The official State Department transcript shows that she preceded her threat by saying that with regard to the pipeline: “We continue to have very strong and clear conversations with our German allies. … The German leader was considered then—and now—by some members of the CIA team to be fully aware of the secret planning underway to destroy the pipelines.
…
What I did not know then, but was told recently, was that after Biden’s extraordinary public threat to blow up Nord Stream 2, with Scholz standing next to him, the CIA planning group was told by the White House that there would be no immediate attack on the two pipelines, but the group should arrange to plant the necessary bombs and be ready to trigger them “on demand”—after the war began. “It was then that we”—the small planning group that was working in Oslo with the Royal Norwegian Navy and special services on the project—“understood that the attack on the pipelines was not a deterrent because as the war went on we never got the command.” After Biden’s order to trigger the explosives planted on the pipelines, it took only a short flight with a Norwegian fighter and the dropping of an altered off-the-shelf sonar device at the right spot in the Baltic Sea to get it done.

By then the CIA group had long disbanded. By then, too, the official told me: “We realized that the destruction of the two Russian pipelines was not related to the Ukrainian war”—Putin was in the process of annexing the four Ukrainian oblasts he wanted—“but was part of a neocon political agenda to keep Scholz and Germany, with winter coming up and the pipelines shut down, from getting cold feet and opening up” the shuttered Nord Stream 2. “The White House fear was that Putin would get Germany under his thumb and then he was going to get Poland.”
…
All of this explains why a routine question I posed a month or so after the bombings to someone with many years in the American intelligence community led me to a truth that no one in America or Germany seems to want to pursue. My question was simple: “Who did it?” The Biden administration blew up the pipelines but the action had little to do with winning or stopping the war in Ukraine. It resulted from fears in the White House that Germany would waver and turn on the flow of Russia gas—and that Germany and then NATO, for economic reasons, would fall under the sway of Russia and its extensive and inexpensive natural resources. And thus followed the ultimate fear: that America would lose its long-standing primacy in Western Europe.

“We realized that the destruction of the two Russian pipelines was not related to the Ukrainian war..”

• Biden Planned On Blowing Nord Stream Before Ukraine Conflict Began – Hersh (RT)

US President Joe Biden initially planned on destroying the Nord Stream gas pipelines to deter Russia from launching its military operation in Ukraine, American journalist Seymour Hersh reported on Tuesday. However, Hersh alleged that the sabotage operation went ahead later not to deter Russia, but to harm the German economy. The Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, which connected Russia and Germany under the Baltic Sea, were destroyed in a series of underwater explosions exactly a year ago on Tuesday. Competing theories have emerged as to who was to blame, with mainstream media in the West blaming a Ukrainian commando unit and Seymour Hersh claiming that the CIA carried out the operation under direct orders from Biden.

In a blog post on Tuesday, Hersh alleged that US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan convened a series of meetings in late 2021, tasking intelligence officials with coming up with a means of deterring Russian President Vladimir Putin from sending troops into Ukraine. “The White House’s policy was to deter Russia from an attack,” an intelligence source told Hersh. “The challenge it gave to the intelligence community was to come up with a way that was powerful enough to do that, and to make a strong statement of American capability.” By January, as Russian forces were massing on the Ukrainian border, the CIA had “solved the problem,” the source said. With a plan in place to plant remotely-detonated explosives on the pipelines under the Baltic Sea, Biden warned in early February that in the event of military action by Russia, “there will no longer be a Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it.”

Following Biden’s statement, which was delivered alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the CIA team tasked with sabotaging the pipelines received new orders, Hersh claimed. Instead of immediately destroying Nord Stream, the team was instructed to plant the explosives for detonation at a later date. “It was then that we understood that the attack on the pipelines was not a deterrent because as the war went on we never got the command,” a member of the team told Hersh. “We realized that the destruction of the two Russian pipelines was not related to the Ukrainian war,” the source continued. “But was part of a neocon political agenda to keep Scholz and Germany, with winter coming up and the pipelines shut down, from getting cold feet and opening up.”

According to Hersh’s earlier reporting, CIA divers planted the explosives last summer with the help of the Norwegian navy, using a NATO exercise in the region as cover. By the time the bombs were triggered in September, the flow of Russian gas to Germany via Nord Stream 1 had already been slowed to a trickle by Russia in response to Western sanctions, while Nord Stream 2 was never certified to begin operation by Scholz’s government. However, with the German economy heavily dependent on Russian gas, Biden reportedly feared that Scholz would choose reproachment with Moscow over support for Ukraine. “The President of the United States would rather see Germany freeze than [see] Germany possibly stop supporting Ukraine,” Hersh declared earlier this year.

“Giraldi said that he feels that Hersh’s narrative is “correct in every detail.”

• Nord Stream Blast: Why the West Still Can’t Name the Culprit (Sp.)

Gas leaks from the Nord Stream pipeline system were detected on 26 September 2022, with the EU leadership admitting that this could be the result of a “deliberate attack”. Two days later, on 28 September, the Kremlin announced that Russia was ready to consider applications from EU countries for a joint investigation into the Nord Stream incident. However, not only did the West snub Moscow’s request but also blamed Russia for destroying its own pipelines. Later, European and American officials backtracked on their accusations but fell short of naming a potential perpetrator. On 12 October 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the incident “an act of international terrorism”. Meanwhile, as gas prices soared and US energy producers secured lucrative LNG contracts with European countries, it became clear that Washington had been the major beneficiary from the Nord Stream destruction. Furthermore, the US leadership had previously issued several threats that it would destroy the pipelines.

“We know that the United States President Joe Biden, threatened openly that he would stop Nord Stream 2 if the Russians were to militarily intervene in Ukraine,” Philip Giraldi, former CIA station chief and now an executive director of the Council for the National Interest, told Sputnik. “That was repeated by Victoria Nuland, who was Number Three at the State Department. She said basically the same thing. So we had the President and a senior official both saying that they would stop the pipeline if this were to happen. So we have a statement coming from the government itself saying it would do this.” “And then I would say on top of that, the United States – given its military capabilities – had the capability to do this. They sent divers down to attach explosives and to arrange for a drone satellite that would ignite the charges and blow up the pipelines.

“It had the capability to do it. And it also had the motive, which was basically to weaken Russia’s ability to use its energy resources to affect politics in Europe. So this is what it was all about,” Giraldi continued. On 8 February 2023, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh dropped a bombshell, detailing an apparent plot by Team Biden and the US intelligence community to blast the Nord Stream pipelines with the help of Norwegian operatives. Reflecting on Hersh’s version, Giraldi said that he feels that Hersh’s narrative is “correct in every detail.” “And I can confirm to you that Sy Hersh, whom I know somewhat, has excellent sources inside CIA and inside the Pentagon. So what he’s telling us comes straight from people who know about it,” the CIA veteran said.

Scapegoat.

• Canadian Parliament Speaker Resigns After Honoring Ukrainian Nazi (RT)

Canadian House Speaker Anthony Rota stepped down on Tuesday after a Nazi veteran was his invited guest at a speech by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. The invitation has faced widespread condemnation. Rota apologized on Monday for the presence of 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka at Zelensky’s address to Canadian lawmakers on Friday, but refused to resign. Although lawmakers from all parties – including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – cheered and applauded Hunka at the event, calls for Rota’s resignation grew over the weekend as the incident drew worldwide attention, particularly from the governments of Russia and Poland. Rota eventually announced his resignation on Tuesday afternoon, stating that he would leave his position at the end of Wednesday’s session.

“The work of this house is above any of us. Therefore, I must step down as your speaker,” Rota said. “I reiterate my profound regret for my error.” Politicians from the opposition New Democrats and Bloc Quebecois parties issued the loudest demands for Rota’s resignation, with New Democrats leader Peter Julian describing the invitation as “an unforgivable error which puts the entire House in disrepute.” Trudeau, who leads the Liberal Party, of which Rota is a member, did not call for the speaker’s resignation, but described the ceremony as “deeply embarrassing for the House and for Canada.” During the event, Rota hailed Hunka as “a Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero… who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians.”

Rota did not mention that Hunka fought in Hitler’s elite Waffen SS, but the nonagenarian was identified by the Associated Press as a member of the First Ukrainian Division, a volunteer unit created by the Nazis in 1943. Also known as the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, the unit is known to have committed atrocities against Jews and Poles during its campaign on the Eastern Front. “There should be no confusion that this unit was responsible for the mass murder of innocent civilians with a level of brutality and malice that is unimaginable,” the Toronto-based Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) said in a statement on Sunday.

The Ukrainian Postal Service is now issuing stamps of Waffen SS Nazi Galicia Yaroslav Hunko

“..the ultra-liberal ideology propagated in Canada and permeated with hatred for Russia, its culture, religious and traditional values, essentially has the same roots as Nazism.”

• Russian Foreign Ministry Responds To Canada Honoring Nazi Veteran (RT)

The Canadian Parliament’s public celebration of a Ukrainian Nazi veteran last week is a cynical abuse of the memory of the victims of Nazism and an example of the blatant Russophobia embraced by the Canadian government, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement published on Tuesday. The message comes after the Canadian House of Commons on Friday gave a standing ovation to 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka, a member of the 14th Waffen Grenadier division of the SS, which was responsible for countless war crimes during the second half of World War II. The commemoration took place during a visit by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that the incident was “the best possible way to characterize the regime of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has embraced unbridled Russophobia.”

After facing backlash from Jewish and Polish communities over the incident, House Speaker Anthony Rota apologized for inviting the Nazi veteran, while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described the situation as “profoundly embarrassing.” The Russian ministry stressed, however, that despite Canada’s apologies, “the fact remains that the ultra-liberal ideology propagated in Canada and permeated with hatred for Russia, its culture, religious and traditional values, essentially has the same roots as Nazism.” Moscow added that it was “no coincidence” that Canada has monuments to Ukrainian nationalist leaders while the government allows the overwhelming majority of Nazi veterans like Hunka, who was granted asylum in Canada after the end of World War II, to live out their days “in safety, honored and cared for (in particular, by Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland) as ‘fighters against Russian Communism.’”

The ministry concluded its statement by stressing that the “hostile actions” of the Canadian government, such as the continuous expansion of anti-Russian sanctions and blacklists of Russian nationals will not be left unanswered and that Moscow will not tolerate the fact that “Canadian liberals are flirting with Nazism.” “We expect that healthy forces in Canadian society will speak out against the ‘Nazification’ of history and daily life encouraged by the country’s officials, which goes hand-in-hand with aggressive Russophobia,” it said.

Russia to Canada
https://twitter.com/i/status/1706499953432924204

“Canada is not a unique situation. Ten thousand Nazi war criminals emigrated to the United States, thousands to Australia, Great Britain, and in fewer numbers to New Zealand.”

• Nazi Hunter: Canada Failed Miserably in Bringing Nazis to Justice (Sp.)

Ninety-eight-year-old Ukrainian Nazi veteran Yaroslav Hunka, who fought in the ranks of the Schutzstaffel’s (SS) 14th Waffen Grenadier Division, was enthusiastically hailed by Canadian lawmakers and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The incident triggered a wave of fierce criticism, prompting House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota to apologize for featuring a Nazi soldier in the Canadian legislature. Sputnik reached out to Dr. Efraim Zuroff, a legendary Nazi hunter of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the director of its Israel Office, to ask why the scandalous honoring of a Nazi became possible in a modern Western state. “It’s no secret that hundreds, at least hundreds, if not thousands of people who committed Holocaust crimes and/or collaborated with the Nazis were able to emigrate to Canada,” Dr. Zuroff told Sputnik.

“And by the way, Canada is not a unique situation. Ten thousand Nazi war criminals emigrated to the United States, thousands to Australia, Great Britain, and in fewer numbers to New Zealand.” Dr. Zuroff is unfamiliar with the particular case of Yaroslav Hunka, but it is still well known that the Waffen SS Galicia Division was “very involved in the mass murder of Jews and Poles in eastern Poland and Galicia,” he pointed out. “And it’s a very sad thing that the heroes, the leadership of the Ukrainian nationalists during World War II, which was headed by Stepan Bandera, for example and the UPA*, the army raised by the Ukrainians to fight with the Germans, with the Waffen SS, which was led by Roman Shukhevych, these are the heroes of Ukraine,” the Nazi hunter highlighted.

It is common knowledge that Nazi Germany played the lead role in the Holocaust – the systematic state-sponsored killing of European Jews in the Second World War. Still, Westerners are not fully aware of the incredibly important role played by local collaborators in the mass murder of the Jewish people, according to Dr. Zuroff. Nazi Germany’s Einsatzgruppen, mobile killing units organized by the SS (tasked with the “final solution of the Jewish question, i.e. the genocide of the ethnic group), “covered an area from Tallinn in the north of Estonia, all the way down to Odessa, near the Black Sea, a front of 1,500 kilometers, and murdered 1.5 million, primarily Jews, in less than two years,” the expert said.

“There were only several thousand people who served in the Einsatzgruppen, and they were working in territory, which they didn’t know the language, they didn’t know the topography. They needed help from the locals,” he explained, adding that this help was provided. “And they’re [locals] the ones who carried out these murders, in many cases without any Germans present. We know in Lithuania, for example, that there were less than a thousand Germans in Lithuania. In Lithuania, there were 220,000 Jews who lived under the Nazi occupation, of whom 212,000 were murdered, 90% of them by shooting near their homes.”

The Black Sea Fleet command convenes in an underground bunker.

• Russian Black Sea Fleet Commander Seen Alive and Well (Sp.)

Western media reported that Russian Black Sea Fleet commander Admiral Viktor Sokolov was killed in Ukrainian attack on Sevastopol, citing Ukrainian officials, without verifying the information. Ukraine used several British-sourced Storm Shadow cruise missiles to target the HQs building of the Russian Fleet in Sevastopol, Crimea last Friday. Russian Black Sea Fleet commander Admiral Viktor Sokolov has turned up alive and well, taking part in a Defense Ministry board meeting alongside Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Tuesday. Sokolov’s appearance follows claims in dozens of Western media outlets quoting Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces claiming that he had been killed in last week’s strike on the Black Sea Fleet’s HQ in Sevastopol.

The Russian Defense Ministry said six people were injured in the September 22 attack, with one person unaccounted for and the HQ’s historic building suffering damage. These figures are a far cry from estimates made by Kiev – which claimed that dozens of servicemen and officers were killed and over 100 injured. US reconnaissance forces were spotted in the area near the HQ two days prior to the attack, prompting Russian and US military observers to tell Sputnik that they suspect direct NATO involvement in the strike. The UK approved the delivery of Storm Shadow cruise missile systems to Ukraine in May, with Ukraine’s armed forces subsequently using them liberally, including to attack built-up civilian areas in the Donbass. Despite generous arms deliveries, intelligence and other support to Kiev, the United States and most of its allies refuse to admit that the Ukrainian crisis is a NATO proxy war against Russia.

Where do they find these people?

• Nothing Is Off Table To Get Ukraine Into EU – Parliament President (G.)

The European Union must begin a major wave of change to prepare for the arrival of Ukraine as a member state, the leader of its parliament has said, with “nothing off the table”, including removing trade tariffs and giving Kyiv access to internal markets before full membership. Speaking exclusively to the Guardian, Roberta Metsola, an MEP from Malta who became the European parliament’s youngest ever president last year, said she expected member states to begin formal negotiations with Ukraine as soon as December. “If they are going fast, we should match that speed,” she urged. Metsola was the first political leader to visit Ukraine after Russia’s invasion, meeting the country’s president, President Zelenskiy, in Kyiv on 1 April 2022, when the capital was still under curfew and surrounded by tanks.

She has made the images of that encounter a symbol of her presidency: a poster of the pair in military green, shaking hands, hangs over the Parliament courtyard. Defying caution and outright antagonism from some member states, she has given unequivocal support to Ukraine’s attempt to join the EU, a process which has advanced even as the country’s attempts to join Nato have stalled. Ukraine is one year into a what many expect will be four or five year journey. But Metsola reflects fresh thinking among some EU leaders that the bloc needs to accelerate access to Ukraine- and the Balkan states that have also applied- in order to curb the risk of Russian interference in these former Soviet territories.

“Pushing the can down the road” on enlargement will only fuel nationalism and the far-right, she warned. “It increases the extremes on the political spectrum, the Euroscepticism. Campaigns in accession countries are fought, and lost or won, on the basis of the dream and hope of the EU.” Metsola wants formal talks to begin before Christmas. The decision rests with EU ministers, who will meet formally in December after a public report in October on Ukraine’s progress in reforming its judiciary, curbing corruption and opening its markets. “I expect a concrete outcome because the worst signal could be that we have given these people targets and deadlines which we can’t meet ourselves,” said Metsola.

They strip off the protective parts before shipping them to Kiev.

• How Russia Will Deal With American Tanks in Ukraine (Sp.)

Ukraine has received some of its long-promised Abrams tanks, with the rest scheduled to be delivered later this fall. The long wait began in January, when US President Joe Biden announced that a battalions’ worth of America’s best tanks would be sent to “improve” Ukraine’s “ability to maneuver in open terrain.” The Abrams are the last of three NATO heavy tank platforms to be delivered to Ukraine to date, with Washington using promises about their deployment to get the alliance’s European members, particularly Germany, to approve the sending of their Leopard series MBTs (hundreds of Leopard 1 and Leopard 2 tanks have been sent to Kiev since then). The UK also joined in, sending 14 of its fearsome Challenger 2s – boasting the status of one of the only major MBTs in NATO armies’ service never to have been destroyed by the enemy in battle.

Russian forces taking on Ukraine’s NATO-equipped army during the summer counteroffensive soon changed all that, with dozens of Leopard 1 and Leopard 2s knocked out, and at least two of Britain’s “unbeatable” tanks taken out in fierce fighting in Zaporozhye after finally appearing on the battlefield earlier this month. [..] The Abrams tanks that Ukraine is getting aren’t up to the same standard as those used by the US military. While its tanks are receiving the same controversial depleted uranium munitions which the US and NATO have already successfully used to poison vast swathes of the former Yugoslavia and Iraq, they are not equipped with the same layer of ultra-thick DU armor plates for enhanced protection of the tank and its crew that US Army Abrams have.

Ukraine’s Abrams are made from refurbished hulls and turrets from California’s Sierra Army Depot, with their DU armor plating removed for secrecy reasons. With the tanks proving vulnerable to enemy anti-tank systems even with the DU armor installed, Russian forces should have no problem using any or all of the above-mentioned weapons systems to target them.

Wonder what’s in the tax filings (not inflated numbers!). Wonder if the banks saw those. And if not, why.

• US Judge Finds Trump Committed Fraud by Inflating Wealth, Assets (Sp.)

A New York state judge on Tuesday found former US President Donald Trump liable for fraud in a civil lawsuit that accuses the one-time commander of intentionally inflating his wealth and asset value. The 35-page ruling, brought forward by the New York Attorney General’s Office, determined Trump and company submitted multiple misleading valuations for real estate assets in official statements to insurers and other financial institutions in order to secure favorable loans and lower insurance premiums throughout the years. Properties listed in the suit included Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Florida resort, his golf course in Scotland, Trump Park Avenue, and his Seven Springs property in New York’s Westchester County, among other sites.

“In defendants’ world, rent-regulated apartments are worth the same as unregulated apartments; restricted land is worth the same as unrestricted land; restrictions can evaporate into thin air,” Judge Arthur Engoron wrote in the decision. “That is a fantasy world, not the real world.” In granting a partial summary judgement to NY Attorney General Letitia James, Engoron outlined that such business maneuvers violated the law and as such canceled the business certificates of Trump and listed defendants, including those of his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. Also named were Allen Weisselberg, who served as the chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, and company executive Jeff McConney. Additionally, Engoron ordered individual sanctions of $7,500 against lawyers who represented the listed Trump defendants and required that within 10 days’ time each defendant submit three independent receivers to manage the dissolution for the business certificates.

The Trump camp has argued claims laid out in the civil filing are barred due to the statute of limitations, with lawyer noting banks involved in the Trump-affiliated deals were far from victims as the same entities turned profits. The former president has also rejected committing any wrongdoing, instead claiming James’ suit is a politically-driven attack. The Tuesday ruling, which denied a request by Trump to end the civil fraud lawsuit, did not settle six other claims at the center of James’ lawsuit. In fact, a non-jury trial set to start on October 2 will address the remaining key points. The New York attorney general is seeking about $250 million in damages and is looking to enforce a ban on Trump doing any business in the Empire State.

He should have given the laptop to WikiLeaks.

• Hunter Biden Sues Rudy Giuliani for Spreading Contents From Laptop (Sp.)

The lawsuit, which relies on the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, was filed in the Central District of California. Neither Rudy Giuliani nor Hunter Biden live in that district and the alleged crimes took place in Delaware. Whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld told Sputnik the choice was the result of “venue shopping.” Embattled first son Hunter Biden is continuing to file lawsuits against individuals he blames for the release of the contents of a laptop he reportedly abandoned at a Delaware computer repair store. The lawsuit is against former New York City mayor and Donald Trump lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. The suit, filed in the Central District of California, accuses the former mayor of “looking for, hacking into, tampering with, manipulating, copying, [and] disseminating … data that was taken or stolen,” thereby violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

It is the latest string of lawsuits brought by Hunter Biden against individuals surrounding his laptop. He also sued the owner of the non-profit Marco Polo, which has been publishing the contents of the laptop, the owner of the computer repair shop where Biden reportedly abandoned the laptop and the FBI for allegedly violating his privacy when two FBI agents told Congress and the media they were concerned the agency was slow-walking the investigation. The laptop in question first made headlines in October 2020, shortly before the 2020 presidential election. Reportedly, the computer repair shop owner had given the laptop to the FBI months before, but after not hearing anything about it on the news, contacted Giuliani’s lawyer at the time Bob Costello and provided him a copy of the computer’s hard drive. Costello is also a defendant in Biden’s latest lawsuit.

Contents of the laptop were published by the New York Post, showing the future first son smoking what appears to be crack cocaine, fornicating with suspected prostitutes and other salacious details. Further reporting on the laptop revealed emails related to Hunter Biden’s foreign business deals and financial records showing the Biden family received millions of dollars from foreign businesses, including those in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, China and Russia. Some of the email and text messages found on the iPhone backup implied that current US President Joe Biden may have joined in on some business calls with his son and references to payments made to “the big guy” have been pointed to by critics as proof the elder Biden was more involved in his son’s business deals than the president claimed. As recently as August, the US president has reiterated he “never talked business” with his son.

The laptop was originally called “Russian disinformation” by multiple media outlets in the United States, and more than 50 former senior intelligence officers signed a letter saying it had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.” One by one, the various outlets who discredited the laptop as disinformation quietly admitted it was legitimate and a former CIA official testified to the House Judiciary Committee that former Biden campaign adviser and now-Secretary of State Antony Blinken “played a role in the inception.” Giuliani’s spokesman Ted Goodman pointed to the changing story of the laptop’s detractors when responding to the lawsuit. “Hunter Biden previously refused to admit ownership of the laptop. I’m not surprised he’s now falsely claiming his laptop hard drive was manipulated by Mayor Giuliani, considering the sordid material and potential evidence of crimes on that thing,” Goodman said.

My son is the smartest man I know.

• Hunter Biden Used Dad’s Classified Doc House For $250K China Wire Transfer (ZH)

Hunter Biden used his Dad’s Delaware home where classified documents were found strewn about the garage to receive more than $250,000 in Chinese wire transfers, according to the House Oversight Committee. The wires were from Wang Xin and Jonathan Li, the latter of whom ran a Chinese private equity fund (BHR) which Hunter was listed as being on the board of directors. Hunter also arranged for a meeting between Li and Joe Biden while Joe was VP, while Joe allegedly gave Li’s son a letter of recommendation. Here’s the breakdown of events from the Committee:

• 2009-2017: During his time as Vice President and prior to later payments to Hunter Biden, evidence shows Joe Biden developed a familiar relationship with Jonathan Li. Devon Archer, a Biden business associate, described how Joe Biden met with Jonathan Li for coffee in Beijing, China, had a phone call with him, and wrote college recommendation letters for his children.
• April 25, 2019: Joe Biden announced his candidacy in the 2020 presidential election.
• July 26, 2019: Wang Xin wired $10,000 with Joe Biden’s home listed on the wire.
• August 2, 2019: Jonathan Li wired $250,000 with Joe Biden’s home listed on the wire.
• October 13, 2019: George Mesires, who served as Hunter Biden’s lawyer, stated, in part, that Hunter Biden served with BHR “only as a member of its board of directors,” which was purportedly an “unpaid position.”
• October 22, 2020: During a presidential debate, Joe Biden said, “My son has not made money […] in China.”

Of note, Hunter was living at the Wilmington house while he was raking in millions of dollars from CCP-linked business dealings. Hunter was living there… Seamus Bruner (researcher for legendary bombshell-dropper Peter Schweizer), reports via Breitbart News, that “While addicted to drugs, cavorting with prostitutes, and making deals with businessmen tied to the highest levels of Chinese intelligence, Hunter Biden lived in the house where Joe Biden stored classified documents.” Second, the Washington Free Beacon reported in January that photos from Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop place him at the Wilmington House in July, 2017. Of note, the classified documents were reportedly brought to the house in January of that year. The photos ‘are the most concrete evidence to date’ that Hunter – who was actively negotiating a deal with a CCP-linked Chinese energy company – had access to areas of his father’s home where classified documents were stored.

I know there’s the EU’s Code of Practice on Disinformation, and I know there’s the Digital Services Act, but I don’t know who decided that Musk is violating either.

Oh, and it’s basically all Russia Russia. Ring a bell? It’s like Trudy reacting to the Nazi he celebrated by saying we should all be wary of Russian disinformation. Same thing. Diversion. Squirrel!

• EU Warns Elon Musk After X Found To Have Highest Rate Of Disinformation (G.)

The EU has issued a warning to Elon Musk to comply with sweeping new laws on fake news and Russian propaganda, after X formerly known as Twitter was found to have the highest ratio of disinformation posts of all large social media platforms. The report analysed the ratio of disinformation for a new report laying bare for the first time the scale of fake news on social media across the EU, with millions of fake accounts removed by TikTok and LinkedIn. Facebook was the second worst offender, according to the first ever report recording posts that will be deemed illegal across the EU under the Digital Services Act (DSA), which came into force in August.

Nevertheless, Facebook and other tech giants, including Google, TikTok and Microsoft, have signed up to the code of practice the EU drew up to ensure they could get ready in time to operate within the confines of the new laws. Twitter left the code of practice but it is obliged under the new law to comply with the rules or face a ban across the EU. Mr Musk knows he is not off the hook by leaving the code of practice, said the European commissioner Vera Jourova, who is responsible for the implementation of the new anti-disinformation code. There are obligations under the hard law. So my message for Twitter/X is you have to comply. We will be watching what you do.

X, formerly Twitter, is the platform with the largest ratio of mis/disinformation followed by Facebook, she told reporters. The 200-page report is an account of the work the large platforms have done in the first six months of 2023 to prepare for compliance with the new law and lifts the lid on the behind-the-scenes efforts made by Facebook and others to crack down on Russian propaganda, hate speech and other disinformation. The Russian state has engaged in the war of ideas to pollute our information space with half truth and lies to create a false image that democracy is no better than autocracy, said Jourova.

This five-month-old bar-tailed godwit smashed the record for long-distance migration following a non-stop, 11-day flight from Alaska to Tasmania: a 13,560 km journey beating the previous record, a godwit which flew 13,000 km

Burzynski

The cure for cancer was discovered in 1976 pic.twitter.com/7LmR2byjMo

— illuminatibot (@iluminatibot) September 25, 2023

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Debt Rattle May 5 2023

May 052023

May 5, 2023 Posted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer at 8:18 am Finance Tagged with: Assange, China, FBI, impunity, Kremlin, Nordstream, Poland, regional banks, smart bombs 31 Responses »

Mark Chagall Peace window, UN 1967

• Beijing Ready To Settle Ukrainian Crisis Jointly With Russia – FM (TASS)

• Pepe Escobar: US Outmatched by Russia, China (Sputnik)

• The Worst Kind Of Peace Is Better Than Any War – Exiled Ukraine Dissident (RT)

• Washington Responsible For Attack On Kremlin – Moscow (RT)

• US Has Nothing To Do With Attack On Kremlin – White House (TASS)

• West Has Fueled ‘Sense Of Impunity’ In Kiev – Zakharova (RT)

• Ukraine Helpless Against Russian Smart Bombs – Official (RT)

• Zelensky Calls For Creation Of International Tribunal Against Russia (TASS)

• West’s Attempts To Revive Neo-nazi Ideology Lead To Global Catastrophe (TASS)

• Putin Compares Russian And Western Debt (RT)

• Oh Countrywide, Is That Your Ghost? (Denninger)

• FBI File Ties Biden To ‘Criminal Scheme’ To Trade Money For Policy (WT)

• The Polish ‘Zeitenwende’ Connection (Jorge Vilches)

• Nord Stream Sabotage ‘Secret Teams’ Revealed (Ponton)

• State Department Slams Assange On World Press Freedom Day (Gosztola)

Drew
https://twitter.com/i/status/1654300820114948099

100% of all regional banks in the United States had their stocks in the red May 4, for the first time ever. This comes a day after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the US banking system was stronger than ever.

Orban

"I'm sure if Donald Trump was president today, there would be no war in Ukraine, or in Europe. Mr. President, come back, make America great again and bring peace back to Europe." – Viktor Orban Prime Minister . pic.twitter.com/FnA3dNlJNp

— Spriter (@Spriter99880) May 4, 2023

Yeadon

Former Vice President at Pfizer, Dr. Mike Yeadon:

"We're in the middle of the biggest crime in history. It's global. It has the intent of control, removing everybody's freedom, and will involve killing further millions, if not billions of people. It is long planned."

"If you… pic.twitter.com/6MKA6pmGuo

— Wide Awake Media (@wideawake_media) May 4, 2023

China inserts itself step by step..

“We are ready to make a practical contribution into the political resolution of the Ukrainian crisis through contacts and coordination with Russia..”

• Beijing Ready To Settle Ukrainian Crisis Jointly With Russia – FM (TASS)

During Thursday’s talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in India, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said the Chinese side was ready to make a practical contribution into the Ukrainian crisis settlement in cooperation with Russia, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Friday.”China will persistently assist and promote peace talks. We are ready to make a practical contribution into the political resolution of the Ukrainian crisis through contacts and coordination with Russia,” the ministry’s website quoted Qin Gang as saying. During the meeting, the top Chinese diplomat said ties between Beijing and Moscow had intensified after Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent visit to Russia.

“China and Russia have been maintaining active contacts at all levels, promoting cooperation in all directions,” Qin Gang said. “China is ready <…> to intensify strategic contacts with Russia, to strengthen and deepen cooperation in all areas,” the diplomat added. Both sides have reaffirmed their intention to improve coordination within the framework of important international organizations and formats, such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), the Group of Twenty (G20) and the United Nations. Beijing and Moscow will jointly “resist all manifestations of hegemony, defend common interests of countries with emerging markets and developing nations, defend equality and justice in the world,” the minister said.

“The Biden administration’s policy of simultaneously confronting both Russia and China is doomed to fail, Pepe Escobar, geopolitical analyst and veteran journalist, told Radio Sputnik’s New Rules podcast.”

• Pepe Escobar: US Outmatched by Russia, China (Sputnik)

Under the Biden administration Washington’s relations with Moscow and Beijing hit a new low. Having snubbed Russia’s security draft proposals concerning NATO enlargement and Ukraine’s neutrality, the US ramped up military aid to the Kiev regime after the beginning of Moscow’s special military operation (SMO) to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine. The Biden administration not only slapped Russia with sanctions and derailed the March 2022 Istanbul preliminary peace accords between Moscow and Kiev but openly called for bleeding Russia white and imposing strategic defeat on the nation. Simultaneously, Washington resorted to a series of provocations against China over Taiwan, the island located at the junction of the East and South China Seas, which Beijing regards as an inalienable part of the People’s Republic.

House Speakers Nancy Pelosi and Kevin McCarthy met with Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen in what was seen by Beijing as a clear defiance of One China principle, while President Joe Biden issued repeated “gaffes” that the US is ready to “protect” the island militarily from the People’s Republic. Recently, the Pentagon has speeded up the provision of weapons to Taipei as the latter is bracing for the January 2024 presidential elections. Despite these provocative moves, the US military is not ready for a full-fledged confrontation with China, according to Escobar. “They won’t fight real wars,” the veteran journalist said. “And now they are even more freaked out because they know, for instance, if they try something in the South China Sea, the Chinese have the famous carrier killers all over the coast. So, if you have three or four American complexes navigate over there, they can be sunk in 30 minutes. And the Pentagon knows that, they gamed it.”

Likewise, Washington has failed to defeat Moscow either militarily or economically despite a set of unprecedented measures taken by the US, its NATO allies and partners against Russia. “Russia survived everything that the West threw against it after the start of the special military operation, especially the economic war, the financial war,” Escobar said. “And Russia survived and resisted. And now it’s even growing again with the 3% inflation, where we have nations in Europe with 10-20-30% inflation and floundering.” What’s more, the Biden administration’s provocations and bellicose rhetoric against Russia and China has served to push the two great powers closer together. In March, Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a three-day visit to Moscow at the invitation of his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. Observers have drawn attention to the fact that Russia became the first foreign state visited by Xi after his historic reelection on March 10.

Commenting on the development, Chinese observers told Sputnik that Russia and China “have entered a new stage of comprehensive cooperation and strategic partnership.” That is how Team Biden has turned Brzezinski’s nightmare scenario of a “grand coalition” between Moscow and Beijing into reality. According to Escobar, Moscow has spent much of the past decade preparing for the West’s hybrid and financial war. Russian policy makers began game planning for a potential showdown shortly after a US-backed coup in Kiev usurped power in Ukraine. “If the SMO had been launched in 2014, Russia would not have been ready economically, financially and even militarily for it. Now they are. I’m sure that Elvira Nabiullina, at the Russian central bank, knew exactly what she did. This probably had been discussed for at least two years at the highest level at the Security Council level,” he said.

“As a result of this tragedy, Ukraine has lost the attributes needed for statehood..”

• The Worst Kind Of Peace Is Better Than Any War – Exiled Ukraine Dissident (RT)

In Kolomyia, a small town in Ukraine’s Western Ivano-Frankovsk Region, a court is hearing the case against Ruslan Kotsaba, who is accused of treason and crimes against the Armed Forces of Ukraine. However, the defendant is not present, having fled to the US in August 2022. The details of the charges brought against the journalist are still unknown. An advisor to the Head of the Security Service of Ukraine, Markiyan Lubkivsky, has stated that documents which “may indicate” treason and espionage were seized during his arrest. However, they have not been made public. Meanwhile, Kotsaba insists he’s being persecuted for his pacifist views. Since 2014, he has been a war correspondent working on both sides of the front in Donbass. During Pyotr Poroshenko’s presidency, the authorities persecuted him for issuing calls to boycott conscription.

Meanwhile, Kotsaba was also often attacked by nationalists. Under Vladimir Zelensky, the crackdown has continued, and Amnesty International has recognized him as a prisoner of conscience. In a conversation with RT, Kotsaba discussed the internal conflicts tearing Ukrainian society apart, the possibilities for pacifism in the country, and its post-war future. RT: This year will mark the ten-year anniversary of the start of the Euromaidan [a series of violent Western-backed protests which overthrew the elected government]. You took an active part in those events as a journalist. How do you feel about them now? Ruslan Kotsaba: The Ukrainian language has two different words for positive and negative kinds of anniversaries. We call the anniversary of a positive event “rychnitsa,” and the anniversary of a bad one “rokovina.” The Euromaidan anniversary is doubtlessly a “rokovina.”

As a result of this tragedy, Ukraine has lost the attributes needed for statehood. The so-called “Revolution of Dignity” was just a political strategy. Millionaires wanted to become billionaires, and the rest of the people were just used as extras. In regard to the Maidan, we need to clearly separate the people on the stage from the people in front of the stage. The actors on the stage used political methods to spark mass hysteria. The crowd merely jumped up and down under the xenophobic slogans. The media empires of the oligarchs all worked to take down President Viktor Yanukovich. At the time, people believed that they could elect someone who would make things better. But in Ukraine, the power vertical has progressively deteriorated – every new politician is worse than his predecessor.

This whole political strategy was based on the belief that new people would come and things would improve. But as we can see now, it’s only getting worse. The strategy has exhausted itself. I hope we were its last guinea pigs. At first, the Maidan looked like a festival, but it all ended with mass killings. To this day, no one knows who is responsible for the deaths, why no one has been punished, and why the authorities ordered to cut down the trees that proved that the shots were fired from the building where the deputies of the [Ukrainian far-right] ‘Svoboda’ party were positioned.

“.. it is important that the US “clearly understands” that Russia is aware of its involvement in Ukraine and “how dangerous such direct involvement is.”

• Washington Responsible For Attack On Kremlin – Moscow (RT)

All of Kiev’s decisions are ultimately dictated by Washington, including which targets to hit and by what means, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov claimed on Thursday. His comments came after two Ukrainian drones unsuccessfully attempted to strike the Kremlin in the early hours of Wednesday morning. “Such decisions – the definition of goals, the definition of means, and so on – all this is dictated to Kiev from Washington, and we are well aware of this,” Peskov told reporters. The spokesman for President Vladimir Putin dismissed attempts by US and Ukrainian officials to “disown” Wednesday’s attack as “laughable,” insisting that “we know full well that decisions to carry out such terrorist actions are made not in Kiev, but in Washington.”

Peskov asserted that it is important that the US “clearly understands” that Russia is aware of its involvement in Ukraine and “how dangerous such direct involvement is.” The spokesman said that Kiev’s attempted drone strike on the Kremlin is being thoroughly investigated, but did not provide estimates on when any conclusions would be officially announced. Peskov reiterated that Moscow reserves the right to respond to the attack with “a variety of steps.” Although declining to specify what those measures might be, the Kremlin official insisted they would be carefully considered and “in line with Russia’s interests.” Putin’s office reported on Wednesday that two Ukrainian UAVs had been disabled by air defenses while trying to strike the president’s Kremlin residence in Moscow in the early hours of the morning. Putin was not in the Kremlin at the time of the incident and no one was hurt, the statement added.

Russia described the failed drone strike as “a pre-planned terrorist act” and an attempt on Putin’s life perpetrated by Kiev. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has denied his country’s involvement in the attack, while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that Washington could not “in any way validate” Russia’s claims. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has also stated that the US is unable to confirm the “authenticity” of the incident. The Kremlin has vowed that Moscow will retaliate to the raid “anywhere and anytime it deems necessary,” while senior Russian lawmaker Vyacheslav Volodin has called for the use of “weapons capable of stopping and destroying the Kiev terrorist regime.”

You paid for it, provided the intelligence, but you have nothing to do with it?

“Moscow knows that Kiev chooses the means and targets for its strikes exactly as it’s told by Washington..”

• US Has Nothing To Do With Attack On Kremlin – White House (TASS)

The US has nothing to do with the recent drone attack on the Kremlin, US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said on MSNBC television on Thursday. “We still don’t really know what happened,” he said, adding that Washington is still assessing the situation. Kirby said he had seen comments by Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday, which stated Washington was involved in the incident. “I can assure you that there was no involvement by the United States in this. Whatever it was did not involve us,” he said. “We had nothing to do with this.” In a separate interview with CNN, Kirby was asked if the US regarded Putin as a legitimate military target. “We don’t endorse, we do not encourage, we do not support attacks on individual leaders,” he replied.

The Russian presidential press service said earlier that Ukraine sent two drones overnight into Wednesday to attempt a strike on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residence in the Kremlin. Russian military and security personnel promptly disabled them. Putin was unharmed and is carrying on with his work as usual. The Kremlin regards the incident as a premeditated terrorist attack and an assassination attempt on the head of state. Russia reserves the right to retaliate when and how it sees fit. Peskov said statements by Ukrainian and US officials that they weren’t involved in the drone attack on the Kremlin were laughable. Moscow knows that Kiev chooses the means and targets for its strikes exactly as it’s told by Washington, he said.

Kremlin roof

I’m literally speechless. pic.twitter.com/vQwdnf3dZP

— (((Tendar))) (@Tendar) May 3, 2023

“They destroyed the lawful government in Ukraine [in 2014], put crooks and bandits in charge, provided them with money and weapons, imbued them with a sense of absolute impunity and provided political cover and military support..”

• West Has Fueled ‘Sense Of Impunity’ In Kiev – Zakharova (RT)

The US and its allies are ultimately responsible for the actions of the “Kiev regime,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has claimed. “They destroyed the lawful government in Ukraine [in 2014], put crooks and bandits in charge, provided them with money and weapons, imbued them with a sense of absolute impunity and provided political cover and military support,” Zakharova said on Thursday. The official stressed that Russia holds “Washington, London, and NATO in general” accountable for all of the Ukrainian government’s actions. On Wednesday, the office of President Vladimir Putin accused Kiev of launching two drones at the Kremlin in an attempt to assassinate the Russian leader.

Ukrainian officials have rejected the allegation, claiming that their country does not attack targets in Russia. Moscow has warned that it reserves the right to retaliate in a way it deems appropriate and at a time and place of its choosing. Ukrainian troops are expected to launch a long-touted counteroffensive against Russian forces within the coming weeks. Foreign allies have pledged to support Kiev for as long as it takes to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia. Leading Western media outlets have suggested that the operation could be a decisive moment for the conflict, and that Ukraine may find it difficult to secure future aid, should it fail to make significant gains on the ground.

Send F-16s!

• Ukraine Helpless Against Russian Smart Bombs – Official (RT)

Kiev has no way to counter Russian high-precision guide bombs, Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Colonel Yury Ignat admitted on Tuesday, reiterating longstanding requests for modern American jets. Speaking at a press briefing, Ignat claimed that Russia launches up to 20 guided bombs on the frontline every day. The official pointed out that those munitions can travel some 70km and hit critical infrastructure facilities and other targets. “We cannot counter this kind of ammunition… and air defense is ineffective,” the spokesman noted, adding that to prevent such strikes, Ukraine has to directly take on the planes that deliver the bombs, usually the Su-34, Su-35, and other tactical aviation aircraft. To do this, Ignat said that Ukraine needs “a long hand to reach the enemy at a distance further than we can do it now.”

He pointed out that one of the longest-range air defense weapons Kiev has is the Soviet-era S-300 missile system, which can reach targets at a distance of up to 100km. He added that Ukraine’s air defense capability had been further reinforced by Western-made weapons with a range of 150km, but that these are in short supply. In light of this, he reiterated that the problem could be solved if the West were to provide Ukraine with modern jets. “F-16s can effectively counter Russian aviation all along the forward edge of the battle area,” the spokesman said, adding that such jets could discourage Moscow’s aircraft from approaching the Ukrainian border. “It’s not necessary to down the enemy aircraft, but we just have to have a strong counter argument,” he added.

In February, US President Joe Biden said that Ukraine “does not need F-16s now,” adding that Washington was concentrating on sending to Kiev “what our seasoned military thinks [it] needs,” including tanks and artillery. Moscow ramped up its strikes against Ukrainian energy and military infrastructure last October after Kiev carried out several acts of sabotage on Russian soil, most notably the deadly bombing of the strategic Crimean Bridge. Russia has repeatedly warned the West against supplying Ukraine with weapons, arguing that this will only prolong the hostilities while making it a direct participant in the conflict.

“..Western countries themselves created this regime, and now they support those who commit extremist and terrorist acts.”

• Zelensky Calls For Creation Of International Tribunal Against Russia (TASS)

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has urged to create an international tribunal against Russia. “The aggressor must feel the full power of justice. This is our historical responsibility. <…> Only one institution is capable of responding to the original crime, the crime of aggression: a tribunal,” Zelensky told the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday during his visit to The Hague. The Russian side has previously repeatedly pointed out that the the Kiev regime would soon face a tribunal and its methods would be recognized in the future as extremist and terrorist. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the West would not be able to wash itself of what has become part of its activities. According to her, Western countries themselves created this regime, and now they support those who commit extremist and terrorist acts.

Patrushev.

• West’s Attempts To Revive Neo-nazi Ideology Lead To Global Catastrophe (TASS)

West’s experiments to revive the neo-Nazi ideology must be curtailed, because they lead to a global catastrophe, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev said in an interview to the Izvestia newspaper, published on Wednesday. “The Anglo-Saxons have been actively reviving the neo-Nazi ideology in order to fulfill their modern geopolitical tasks. Such experiments to not lead to dominance, they lead to a global catastrophe and must therefore be curtailed in a tough and uncompromising manner,” Patrushev said. In his words, numerous facts prove that many members of Western political elites shared the Nazi ideology and provided financial and organizational support to Adolf Hitler. “Today, they need to keep their ‘democratic’ face,” he said. “Nazi ideology remains an absolute evil, no matter how you disguise it.”

“It’s 121.7% [of GDP] in the US, the eurozone 90.9%, Germany’s and France’s total 66.5% and 111.1% respectively, Russia 14.9%..”

• Putin Compares Russian And Western Debt (RT)

Russia is in better economic shape than many large Western nations in terms of inflation and the level of sovereign debt, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday. During a working meeting with Economy Minister Maksim Reshetnikov, Putin noted that Russia’s state debt is only a fraction of its GDP. “It’s 121.7% [of GDP] in the US, the eurozone’s debt amounts to 90.9%, Germany’s and France’s total 66.5% and 111.1% respectively, Russia’s 14.9% is a well-performing indicator,” the leader stated. Putin also drew attention to the rate of inflation in Russia, noting it is among the lowest compared to numerous other countries – including in the West. “As of March, [inflation] is 3.5% in Russia, 7.4% in Germany, the euro area as a whole recorded 6.9%, while inflation in France and the US amounted to 5.7% and 5% respectively,” Putin pointed out. Central bank data cited by Russian media in March showed that the country’s foreign debt has dropped to its lowest level since 2007. It reportedly decreased by 21.1% last year to $380.5 billion, representing a fall of $101.8 billion.

“..trying to force the rest of it on the public will cause enough of them to starve that a revolt is quite likely..”

• Oh Countrywide, Is That Your Ghost? (Denninger)

Bear Stearns is not the banking system — it is contained. Subprime is contained. “We’re gonna OWN subprime lending — Mozilo” Uh huh. Who remembers me over on the Countrywide Yahoo finance forums back in 2007 before it all blew — when I was shorting into price ramps on that stock because from where I sat they were a zero. They were a zero. It was a nice trade. Who remembers me calling out WaMu in early 2007 when they were paying dividends with money they didn’t have, and regulators did nothing? That article is still here, if you look for it. They were also a zero. But First Republic is isolated, just like SVB. Uh huh. Sure it is. How’s PacWest doing? Oh, not so good. Let’s see…oh, looks sort of like an impending zero. But wait — First Republic was it, right? Sure it was.

There’s no real problem here, right? The TNX was down a full percent yesterday because….. the Fed will save it all, right? No they won’t. Not because they don’t want to. They can’t this time. Oh, you think not eh? How’s your homeowner’s insurance premium? Your car insurance? Your food bill? You know, all that stuff you have to buy? Yeah, you’re reading this and you’re probably middle class or better. You’re doing mostly ok. You’re on the right side of the bell curve, right? Half the people are on the left, and they’re not ok. For them that 20% increase means they are taking payday loans to buy food, effectively and sometimes literally. That ends the game folks. If The Fed tries it we get government and social collapse. The ramp in asset prices can’t just stop: It has to come back out. All of it. And yes, that will mean lots of firms — and people — blow up.

This is not fixable with any sort of deposit guarantee. That’s not the problem. The problem is that the banks loaned out a lot of money at 2% and thus can’t pay 4% or so or they will go broke. But other, equally safe or more-so investments do pay that 4-5%; for example, a government money-market fund that has daily liquidity equal to that of a bank and only holds US Treasuries. Having made those loans at uneconomic rates in the first place there isn’t anything they can do about it now. As was the case in 2006-2007 and which I pointed out in Leverage losses are made when bad loans are originated; they are often not recognized at that time but the loss has been incurred. What’s left to argue over is who is going to eat it, and unlike the 2008 blow-up trying to force the general public to eat it will not work because they are already under the inflationary pressure from the BS run during the pandemic that led to the problem and trying to force the rest of it on the public will cause enough of them to starve that a revolt is quite likely.

“The FBI has been sitting on the report … for several years..”

• FBI File Ties Biden To ‘Criminal Scheme’ To Trade Money For Policy (WT)

The FBI has been sitting on a report detailing a scheme involving then-Vice President Joseph R. Biden to accept money in exchange for policy decisions on behalf of a “foreign national,” two senior Republicans said Wednesday. Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican, and Rep. James Comer, Kentucky Republican, said their information was “highly credible” and came from whistleblowers who pointed to a confidential human source report that the FBI has had for several years. They did not say when the alleged dealing occurred nor what country was involved. They did say the information that the FBI obtained was detailed enough to have been verified. “Based on those disclosures, it has come to our attention that the DOJ and the FBI possess an unclassified FD-1023 form that describes an alleged criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions. It has been alleged that the document includes a precise description of how the alleged criminal scheme was employed as well as its purpose,” the lawmakers wrote.

“However, it remains unclear what steps, if any, were taken to investigate the matter,” the lawmakers said. The FBI uses form 1023 to collect information from a human source. Mr. Comer, acting as chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, issued a subpoena ordering FBI Director Christopher A. Wray to turn over the form by May 10. The FBI said it received the letter and subpoena but declined to comment beyond that. It is a rough period for the FBI, which feverishly pursued Donald Trump as a candidate and as president. That included lying to a court to obtain a surveillance warrant on a Trump campaign figure and pursuing the now-discredited Steele dossier, a Democratic opposition research document that fabricated lurid stories about Mr. Trump and dealings with Russia.

Mr. Grassley, in particular, has been critical of the FBI’s decisions. He and Mr. Comer said they are now investigating the FBI’s handling of the report on Mr. Biden. “The DOJ and the FBI appear to have valuable, verifiable information that you have failed to disclose to the American people. Therefore, Congress will proceed to conduct an independent and objective review of this matter, free from those agencies’ influence,” they said. Mr. Comer’s subpoena covers “all FD-1023 forms, including within any open, closed or restricted access case files, created or modified in June 2020, containing the term ‘Biden,’ including all accompanying attachments and documents to those FD-1023 forms.”

“Today the son of Zbigniew Brzezinski [..] is the current US Ambassador to Poland.”

“The idea is to establish Poland as the military & political leader of a brand new yet again US-managed Europe which would leave ´doubtfull´ Germans aside.”

• The Polish ‘Zeitenwende’ Connection (Jorge Vilches)

The idea is to establish Poland as the military & political leader of a brand new yet again US-managed Europe which would leave ´doubtfull´ Germans aside. Actually, both the US and Poland have lately actively required Germany – now desperate for energy and commodities — to get out of their way and to just obediently contribute to the new ´European´ project with Poland as steering wheel and the US in the driver´s seat. So Germans just stay put and abstain. And there were no effective means to ever achieve the above other than by cutting Germany off very cheap, high-quality and reliable supplies from a truly resourceful and energy-rich Russia. Now, after hundreds of pummeling sanctions and the NS1 & NS2 gaspipes non-sanctum sabotage, this has finally been achieved yet definitely against European and German best interests. So clear enough this time around no soup and no dice either for Germany.

But still, geopolitically and trade-wise the US so far has developed an attractive (and manageable) scenario. And this may also clearly explain the role planned out for a willing Poland – which Germans and the world at large have not yet quite understood – as part of the US strategy for the provoked Russian “invasion” of Ukraine. Because NATO losing an important chunk of Ukraine was always in the military cards. But Poland would still always end up conveniently next to the Russian border as an effective European gate-keeper and a highly destructive NATO Offense Team in every sense of the term. Today the son of Zbigniew Brzezinski -former U.S. National Security Adviser and author ofThe Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives- is the current US Ambassador to Poland.

Both Mark Brzezinski and his father Zbigniew have always ardently maintained that no Eurasian challenger in any way should ever be allowed to emerge and eventually dominate Eurasia and thus challenge U.S. global pre-eminence. Clear enough? Through unilateral and blatantly wrong decisions imposed by US vested interests, the current Green leadership of the German traffic-light ruling coalition has self-inflicted a needless energy crisis which will prove to be disastrous both for Germany and Europe… although to the great (supposed) “benefit” of Poland as briefly explained above. And at the same time it has allowed to miss the enormous opportunity for Germany to become a 21st. century world-leading nation as the outstanding bond between Europe and Eurasia… instead of turning into an obsolete vassal state at the mercy of colonial-minded, basement-crazy,´ exorbitantly privileged´ neo-con Atlanticists eternally dollar-indebted with impunity, unipolar and exceptionalistic with “(their) rules-based world” and 750 US military bases in 80 countries plus.

Even worse, chances are that Germany may turn itself into a poorly-developed, over-populated and highly polluted society with no gravity upon the rest of the world. In such case Germans at large should know and fully accept that their Greens did not do this all by themselves but rather with a very broadly-based German political base. So yet once more Germans should only blame themselves for their astonishing defeat. No, Germany´s current messy mess is not about Russia or Russians and it is not about Ukraine or Ukranians. Actually, it is about German politics and its “360 degree” fecal-grade leadership which comfy Germans agree to be governed by as if nothing had ever been concluded despite their historical experience in the twentieth century. Meanwhile, Poland enjoys the scene and prepares for its US-dictated role as leader of the “new” Europe as if this were the “Zeitenwende” sea-change Germany was to expect after the now infamous speech delivered to the Bundestag by Chancellor Olaf Scholz on 27 February 2022.

A pretty incredible in-depth investigation.

• Nord Stream Sabotage ‘Secret Teams’ Revealed (Ponton)

Initially, our investigation’s aim was to put a face on some of the key story points made by renowned investigative journalist Seymour Hersh in his Nord Stream incident report published on 8 February 2022. In Part 1 of our investigation, we presented data and evidence which validated the main elements of Hersh’s story, including the CIA-led Navy diving team out of Panama City in Florida, and also that the explosives were planted on the Nord Stream pipelines at a depth of 260 feet just a few miles off the coast of Denmark’s Bornholm Island – under the cover of the annual NATO BALTOPS-22 drill in the Baltic Sea held in June 2022. We also confirmed the validity of Hersh’s accusation that NATO ally Norway was in fact intimately involved in this covert military operation.

There were parts of Hersh’s story which we did not go into detail in Part 1 of our investigation, but which we have been able to do here. This includes substantiating Hersh’s claim that the C4 explosives attached to the pipelines during the BALTOPS exercise in June would be triggered in late September by a sonar buoy dropped by a Boeing Poseidon P8 aircraft. We will also demonstrate how specialists from the deep sea oil and gas industry were also consulted and would have, at least, participated in the planning of this operation. In addition to this, we will also show how NATO member Denmark was also involved in the operation as well, as well as the cover-up alongside its close Nordic neighbour Sweden. Throughout this investigation, our strategy was never to crunch large amounts of flight data, or military and commercial ship logistical data, as there are many capable researchers who specialise in these areas, and we will be highlighting their work accordingly.

Rather, our strategy here is to review as much available and pertinent evidence we could gather, which has turned out to be substantial, while sticking to a plausible and common sense-based analysis, and see where this approach would eventually take us. In this article we will show how a CIA-led operation with highly trained divers and the latest Dry Combat Submersible (DCS) technology, was able, with the help of NATO allies, to operate under the cover of a major NATO Naval exercise BALTOPS-22, to take out the Nord Stream pipelines. In order to further validate Hersh’s story, we must first prove that NATO possessed all of the equipment and teams necessary, that these were all mission capable, and that they were positioned at the crime scene during BALTOPS-22.

S361 Manned Dry Combat Submersible (DCS1) from Msubs.

“The State Department basically dusted off a few talking points from 2010, when WikiLeaks first published U.S. State Embassy cables..”

“A 2011 review by the Associated Press of sources, which the State Department claimed were most at risk from the publication of cables, found no evidence that any person was harmed. The potential for harm was “strictly theoretical.”

• State Department Slams Assange On World Press Freedom Day (Gosztola)

On World Press Freedom Day, the United States State Department abandoned its policy of not commenting on the case against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and essentially backed the prosecution against him. Matthew Lee of the Associated Press asked State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel “whether or not the State Department regards Julian Assange as a journalist who would be covered by the ideas embodied in World Press Freedom Day.” “I’m not asking for the [U.S. Justice Department point of view. I’m asking for what the State Department thinks,” Lee said. It was not the first time Lee had posed this question. In 2021, on World Press Freedom Day, Lee asked if President Joe Biden’s administration was looking into the Assange case, “his detention, his extradition, the request for extradition here, the charges against him?”

“I realize you can’t speak for DOJ, but from the State Department’s perspective, is the current position still – does that still hold? Do you believe that Mr. Assange is a journalist?” Lee added. “And given the importance you place on accurate and factual information being disseminated, do you believe that the information that was published based on the U.S. government documents that he obtained and put out was either unfactual or inaccurate?” Jalina Porter, who was a spokesperson for the State Department, avoided the question. “So to your specific on Julian Assange, we’ll have to get back to you on that.” But now, with Biden going around repeatedly declaring that “journalism is not a crime,” Patel read a prepared response. “The State Department thinks that Mr. Assange has been charged with serious criminal conduct in the United States, in connection with his alleged role in one of the largest compromises of classified information in our nation’s history,” Patel declared. “His actions risked serious harm to U.S. national security to the benefit of our adversaries.”

Patel continued, “It put named human sources to grave and imminent risk and risk of serious physical harm and arbitrary detention. So it does not matter how we categorize any person, but we view this as something, he’s been charged with serious criminal conduct.” The response was lousy and stale. The State Department basically dusted off a few talking points from 2010, when WikiLeaks first published U.S. State Embassy cables that exposed the inner workings of U.S. diplomacy. To be clear, Assange’s “role” was that of a publisher who received documents from U.S. Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning. A 2011 review by the Associated Press of sources, which the State Department claimed were most at risk from the publication of cables, found no evidence that any person was harmed. The potential for harm was “strictly theoretical.”

Lee appropriately pushed back on the idea that being charged with “serious criminal conduct” made Assange a person unworthy of support on World Press Freedom Day. “Yeah, but anyone can be charged with anything. Evan Gershkovich has been charged with a serious criminal offense in Russia, and you say that he is a journalist, and he is obviously,” Lee replied. “And I just want to know whether or not you, the State Department – regardless of any charges that he faces – believe that he is a journalist, or he is something else.” Patel contended the two cases are “completely different.” He said, “The United States doesn’t go around arbitrarily detaining people, and the judicial oversight and checks and balances that we have in our system versus the Russian system are a little bit different.”

The U.S. government subjected nearly 800 people to rendition, indefinite detention, and torture and brought them to Guantanamo Bay military prison, which was established a legal blackhole for alleged terrorism suspects. It’s still open, continues to hold detainees not charged with any crimes, and in fact, the United Nations recently condemned the US for keeping Abu Zubaydah in arbitrary detention, which “may constitute crimes against humanity.” Yes—the U.S. does arbitrarily detain people. Just not people the U.S. thinks should be free from arbitrary detention.

Corinth Canal, Greece

Owl

A 98-year-old grandma is visited weekly by a friendly owl. pic.twitter.com/Id7W1oFW23

— B&S (@_B___S) May 4, 2023

Butterflies will sometimes land on a Caiman and drink its salty, crocodile tears to in order to survive. This helps the Caiman to feel both less sad and more fabulous.

Squid

While diving in the Ørstafjorden in Norway in 2019, Ronald Raasch stumbled upon a massive, transparent egg sac, presumably filled with thousands of baby squid

[full video: https://t.co/EYlOWvnPS4]pic.twitter.com/jSJIB1SDq3

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) May 4, 2023

In 2015, photographer Atif Saeed captured this intense photograph of a male lion moments before it launched an attack on him. He narrowly escaped with this incredible shot of a face-to-face with a lion about to kill.

Lion whisperer

A few times a year I like to give a shout out to a guy whose conservation work with Lions Leopards & Hyenas in South Africa is absolutely outstanding.

He’s KEVIN RICHARDSON, also known as ‘The Lion Whisperer’.

Here for more: https://t.co/K3SE5MWTif pic.twitter.com/UBzxciVOgI

— Michael Warburton (@MichaelWarbur17) May 4, 2023

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