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Debt Rattle January 29 2025

Jan 292025
 
 January 29, 2025  Posted by at 10:41 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,  73 Responses »


Pablo Picasso Visage 1928

 

• Biden Team Spent Aid Budget Like ‘Drunken Sailors’ – White House (RT)
• Trump To Offer Buyouts To All Federal Workers (ZH)
• Trump Executive Order Bans “Chemical And Surgical Mutilation” Of Children (ZH)
• Homan Defends ICE Raids, Says He Will Carry Out Mission ‘Without Apology’ (JTN)
• Trump Moves Undercut Dem Defense Of Biden (JTN)
• Comer Launches Investigation Into Sanctuary Cities, Invites Mayors To Testify (JTN)
• Biden Administration Tried To Kill Putin – Tucker Carlson (RT)
• Kremlin Responds To Carlson’s Claim Biden Admin Tried To Kill Putin (ZH)
• Ukrainian Energy Infrastructure On Verge Of Collapse – Forbes (RT)
• Putin: Direct Talks With Zelensky, But He Can’t Sign Peace Deal (Sp.)
• Ukraine Conflict Could End In Weeks – Putin (RT)
• Is Trump Positioning For A “No-Deal” With Russia – Or Not? (Alastair Crooke)
• Denmark Allows Russia’s Gazprom To Do Work On Damaged NS2 Pipeline (ZH)
• Dancing to Trump’s Disco Inferno (Pepe Escobar)
• How China Became Ideal Incubator for DeepSeek, US May Struggle to Follow (Sp.)
• Trump: Let’s Make Money In Gaza But First Dump The Palestinians (Jay)

 

 

 

 

Trump morning

Phone

Bongino

Vivek

DOJ

Tucker Tulsi

TuckerTaibbi

 

 

 

 

 

 

New White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt starts off with some catchy language.

• Biden Team Spent Aid Budget Like ‘Drunken Sailors’ – White House (RT)

The Biden administration spent the federal budget recklessly during its tenure, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday, defending President Donald Trump’s decision to temporarily freeze foreign aid.Speaking at a press briefing, Leavitt explained that Trump’s executive order, which suspends nearly all foreign aid expenditures for 90 days, is part of a broader effort to ensure fiscal responsibility and align spending with the administration’s “America First” agenda. “The past four years, we’ve seen the Biden administration spend money like drunken sailors. It’s a big reason we’ve had an inflation crisis in this country,” Leavitt said. Leavitt highlighted examples of what the Trump administration considers excessive spending under Biden. These include $37 million earmarked for the World Health Organization (WHO) and $50 million for condom distribution programs in Gaza.

“That is a preposterous waste of taxpayer money,” she added. The freeze, she noted, reflects the administration’s commitment to responsible use of public funds. President Trump signed the executive order shortly after being sworn in for his second term last Monday. The measure halts foreign development aid and other spending for 90 days, pending reviews by the newly established Department of Government Efficiency and the Office of Management and Budget. Some exemptions include military aid to allies like Israel and Egypt, as well as emergency food aid programs. Outlining the rationale for the freeze, Secretary of State Marco Rubio pledged to prioritize programs that directly benefit the United States while cutting unnecessary expenditures. “Every dollar we spend, every program we fund, and every policy we pursue must be justified with the answer to three simple questions: Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Does it make America more prosperous?” Rubio said last week.

The aid freeze has drawn criticism from some diplomats and organizations, particularly those involved in Ukraine-related programs. According to the Financial Times, several US diplomats have requested exemptions for critical development projects in Ukraine, even as military assistance to Kiev remains unaffected. These requests are reportedly under review. Since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, the US has provided over $65 billion in direct military aid and an additional $100 billion for various Ukraine-related projects. Trump, however, has expressed skepticism about continuing such levels of support, advocating for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict. His administration aims to broker a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia within 100 days, backed by threats of increased sanctions against Moscow.

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“..56 percent of the civil service is covered under collective bargaining agreements that include telework provisions, while a full 10% of federal jobs are now designated as fully “remote..

• Trump To Offer Buyouts To All Federal Workers (ZH)

Update (1750ET): According to CNBC, the buyout offer is for all 2 million federal workers. One senior administration official told the outlet that they expect 5-10% of the federal workforce to quit, which could lead to roughly $100 billion in savings.

* * *
In December, then-President-elect Donald Trump warned federal employees working from home that they would have to return to the office, or “they’re going to be dismissed.” Now, according to Axios, the Trump administration will send out a memo Tuesday afternoon offering to pay federal workers who don’t want to return to the office, in what would amount to an 8-month severance through Sept. 30, a White House official tells the outlet. “The government-wide email being sent today is to make sure that all federal workers are on board with the new administration’s plan to have federal employees in office and adhering to higher standards. We’re five years past COVID and just 6 percent of federal employees work full-time in office. That is unacceptable,” said the anonymous senior administration official.

More via Axios: It’s not clear how many workers would be eligible for this offer, or how it would be paid for. According to guidance posted on OPMs website, in order to be eligible for severance pay workers must have completed at least “12 months of continuous service,” as well as meet other requirements. Political appointees aren’t eligible for severance, per the website. Many federal workers are already feeling scared about the administration’s crackdown on DEI, its return-to-office policy and the effort to reclassify civil servants. That unease could increase take-up on this new offer. Earlier on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the president has the authority to fire federal employees. While that is true about at-will political appointees, federal workers have more protections.

Leavitt was defending Trump’s firings of at least a dozen agency inspectors general. During the pandemic, approximately 2.3 million federal employees shifted away from traditional office spaces. This shift was not just a temporary adjustment, but a transformational move that many hoped would persist post-pandemic due to its perceived benefits in work-life balance and reduced operational costs. The Biden administration, acknowledging these benefits, continued to support telework, facilitating the reduction of government-owned real estate and integrating flexible work arrangements into the fabric of federal employment. However, with Trump’s election, a quick pivot is on the horizon. Unsurprisingly, Trump’s call for a return to office has been met with resistance from federal employees and unions. Approximately 56 percent of the civil service is covered under collective bargaining agreements that include telework provisions, while a full 10% of federal jobs are now designated as fully “remote,” according to the Washington Post.

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The vast majority of Americans will agree with this, even Democrats.

• Trump Executive Order Bans “Chemical And Surgical Mutilation” Of Children (ZH)

Hours after signing an executive order restricting transgender service in the US military, President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a sweeping executive order banning the “chemical and surgical mutilation” of children, in a move that takes direct aim at pediatric gender transition treatments. The order, titled “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” yanks federal funding for so-called gender-affirming care. The EO prohibits federal funding, support, or promotion of pediatric ‘gender-affirming’ medical interventions. It outlines detailed measures across multiple federal departments, including Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Defense, and the Department of Justice (DOJ), to curtail treatments such as puberty blockers, hormone therapies, and gender-related surgeries for individuals under the age of 19. -Tampa Free Press. According to the report, the order includes:

• Defunding Medical Institutions: Federal research and education grants will be withheld from hospitals and schools performing pediatric gender-transition treatments.
• TRICARE Coverage Restrictions: The Department of Defense will exclude these treatments from military health insurance programs.
• Insurance Policy Changes: Federal Employee Health Benefits and Postal Service Health Benefits programs will bar coverage for transgender-related pediatric surgeries or hormone treatments.
• Consumer Protection: The DOJ is directed to prioritize investigations into deceptive practices or misinformation regarding long-term effects of gender-affirming care, including potential fraud or violations of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

“Across the country today, medical professionals are maiming and sterilizing impressionable children,” reads the order, which describes such procedures as a “stain on our Nation’s history.” The order also calls for a comprehensive review of scientific evidence surrounding gender dysphoria, and calls for the Department of Health and Human Services to publish updated guidance within 90 days. The Trump administration will replace the existing standards – such as those issued by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), which the order deems lacking in “scientific integrity,” the Free Press continues.

The executive order represents a significant escalation in the administration’s broader campaign to curtail diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, as well as gender-related policies, in government and public life. It builds upon earlier executive actions restricting DEI programs and eliminating gender-affirming policies in federal agencies and education. The order also authorizes federal law enforcement agencies to challenge states that support gender-affirming care for minors or policies that strip parental custody over disputes involving a child’s medical treatment. It tasks the DOJ with drafting legislation to allow parents and children affected by such procedures to file lawsuits against medical professionals. -Tampa Free Press. And of course, we’re sure it’s only a matter of hours before civil rights organizations file lawsuits to allow parents and doctors to continue abusing confused children.

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“This, what happened on the southern border the last four years, is the biggest national security threat this country’s seen, at least in my lifetime.”

• Homan Defends ICE Raids, Says He Will Carry Out Mission ‘Without Apology’ (JTN)

New border czar Tom Homan on Monday defended the immigration raids that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers carried out over the weekend, and said he will continue to carry out the raids “without apology.” Actress Selena Gomez posted a tearful video online Monday, which has since been deleted, where she apologized to her fans for the mass deportations, claiming she wished she could do something for the children impacted by the raids. Homan told Fox News that he was not aware of families being deported, and that the administration was focused on deporting national security and public safety threats. “Look, President [Donald] Trump won the election on this one issue: securing our border and saving lives,” Homan said. “This, what happened on the southern border the last four years, is the biggest national security threat this country’s seen, at least in my lifetime.”

Homan said he expects that the continued operations will result in lethal fentanyl overdoses decreasing, a decrease in crimes by illegal immigrants, and a decrease in sex trafficking. “We’re going to do this job. And we’re going to enforce the laws of this country. If they don’t like it, then go to Congress and change the law. We’re going to do this operation without apology. We’re going to make our communities safer,” Homan said. “It’s all for the good of this nation, and we’re going to keep going. No apologies. We’re moving forward.” The comment comes after ICE and a small handful of other federal agencies conducted raids over the weekend that resulted in the arrests of more than 2,000 people, including nearly 1,000 on Sunday.

Homan

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“Absolutely massive cleanup effort is underway in western North Carolina today!”“The Army Corps of Engineers are everywhere!”“Why didn’t Joe Biden do this 4 months ago?”

• Trump Moves Undercut Dem Defense Of Biden (JTN)

President Donald Trump’s whirlwind first week back in office has seen him move decisively to lock down the southern border, implement mass deportations, wrap up Middle Eastern conflicts, and deliver aid to storm-ravaged parts of the U.S., leaving many to ask why now-former President Joe Biden didn’t make the same moves months ago. During the 2024 presidential campaign, Biden and then-Vice President Kamala Harris repeatedly blamed Trump for torching a bipartisan immigration bill and insisted that the commander-in-chief could not move to secure the border without support from Congress. Trump rebutted that the president had broad executive authority on the matter and didn’t require any new legislation.

Biden also drew flak for his response to Hurricane Helene, which devastated western North Carolina and saw thousands of people lose their homes. The perceived sluggish and allegedly politicized handling of the disaster in light of the region’s Republican tilt fueled outrage among the residents and outside observers alike. In the Levant, moreover, the last days of the Biden presidency saw Israel and Hamas reach a ceasefire agreement to end the more-than-year-long conflict in the Gaza Strip, but only after then-President-elect Trump dispatched his own envoys to push the deal over the finish line. Most of the agreement’s terms fell within a previously-negotiated framework. The rapid, post-election turnaround on these keynote issues has many conservatives insisting that Biden had merely opted not to address the issues and that leaving them unresolved had simply been deliberate.

Since launching his 2016 campaign, Trump has focused on illegal immigration and vowed to crack down at the border, including by building a wall. The Biden administration saw more than 10 million people enter the U.S. illegally, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection figures. In 2024, Democrats worked with Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., to negotiate an immigration reform package that would have established an illegal crossings threshold for the Department of Homeland Security to implement stringent border controls. Republicans asserted that the bill essentially condoned a predetermined amount of illegal immigration and did little of substance. Lankford received widespread criticism over his perceived negotiating failure and Trump urged Republicans to sink the bill, which they did. Its failure led Democrats to blame Trump repeatedly for the border influx and insist he had undermined a credible solution to permit him to run on fixing the problem.

Amid debate on the bill, which occurred three years into the four-year term, Biden himself said it would “give me as president, the emergency authority to shut down the border until it could get back under control… If that bill were the law today, I’d shut down the border right now and fix it quickly.” At the time, Republican lawmakers dissented, arguing that Biden already had the authority to address the issue. “Anyone who says Biden needs new laws to stop the migrant crisis is a liar. The law RIGHT NOW says if the President finds that the entry of any aliens would be detrimental to the U.S. he can “suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens,” then-Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said at the time.

The bill did not pass, however, and Trump has moved to seal the border without so-called “emergency authority.” Footage from Trump’s first day in office showed border officials blocking ports of entry and declaring that anyone attempting to enter the U.S. would face arrest. He also deactivated the CBP One app, which Biden’s DHS had used to process illegal entrants. On Sunday alone, moreover, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported 956 arrests of illegal aliens, including many violent offenders. The agency had arrested 1,300 by Thursday, according to NewsNation. “The Biden admin knew exactly who these criminal illegal aliens were and where they lived. ICE was not allowed to make the arrests until President Trump entered office,” posted Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, in response to a video showing the arrest of a criminal illegal alien from Haiti.

Hurricane Helene proved devastating to western North Carolina in the leadup to the presidential election. The mountainous region rarely faces storms of that degree and was ill-prepared to handle the large-scale flooding that washed away entire towns, such as Chimney Rock. The death toll cleared 200 in early October, making it the deadliest storm to hit the mainland United States since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. High-profile figures such as Elon Musk took aim at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), contending it was blocking aid to the storm victims. Biden visited the Carolinas on the heels of a Trump trip to northwestern Georgia the same week and authorized the deployment of 1,000 troops to aid in the recovery effort.

Nonetheless, Biden faced blowback over his perceived failure of leadership, especially from now-Vice President JD Vance, who criticized the slow deployment of the 82nd Airborne to the region. “The 82nd Airborne is an hour away from western North Carolina, and it took six days to get them there,” he said in Greensboro while on campaign. “That doesn’t happen without a failure of leadership, but we gotta get to the bottom of exactly what that failure of leadership looked like.” Trump speedily deployed additional forces to the region to bolster rebuilding efforts and visited the area during his first week in office. Monday saw residents observe a large presence of federal troops working to rebuild key infrastructure and provide relief. “Absolutely massive cleanup effort is underway in western North Carolina today!” posted Matt Van Swol, a resident of the area who has documented the recovery efforts on social media. “The Army Corps of Engineers are everywhere!”“Why didn’t Joe Biden do this 4 months ago?” he asked.

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“The investigation is looking into the policies of sanctuary cities when it comes to federal immigration enforcement..”

• Comer Launches Investigation Into Sanctuary Cities, Invites Mayors To Testify (JTN)

House Oversight Chairman James Comer on Monday launched an investigation into sanctuary cities, requesting documents and communications related to their policies and their impact on public safety. Comer sent the requests to Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, and New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and invited the mayors to testify in front of the committee on Feb. 11. The investigation is looking into the policies of sanctuary cities when it comes to federal immigration enforcement. Sanctuary cities have largely promised not to work with the federal government in order to protect their illegal alien residents from deportation.

“The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is investigating sanctuary jurisdictions across the United States and their impact on public safety and the effectiveness of federal efforts to enforce the immigration laws of the United States,” Comer said in a statement. “Sanctuary jurisdictions and their misguided and obstructionist policies hinder the ability of federal law enforcement officers to effectuate safe arrests and remove dangerous criminals from American communities, making Americans less safe,” he added.

Adams has expressed a willingness to work with the Trump administration to deport illegal immigrants who commit dangerous crimes in his city, and previously met with Trump and his border czar Tom Homan to discuss the migrant crisis. Trump has also recently signed a flurry of executive orders that crack down on illegal immigration. “In addition to the efforts of the Trump Administration to ensure federal immigration enforcement can proceed unimpeded, Congress must determine whether further legislation is necessary to enhance border security and public safety,” Comer said. “It is imperative that federal immigration law is enforced and that criminal aliens are swiftly removed from our communities.”

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“Who takes over Russia? What happens to the nuclear arsenal in a country so complex that outsiders can’t even understand… That’s demented that you would even think about something like that..”

• Biden Administration Tried To Kill Putin – Tucker Carlson (RT)

The administration of former US President Joe Biden tried to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Ukraine conflict, American journalist and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson has claimed. In an interview with journalist Matt Taibbi on Monday, Carlson suggested that many former and current US officials have been rattled by President Donald Trump’s campaign to declassify numerous government papers, as they see the potential fallout as extremely dangerous. “I think this was one of the reasons [ex-Secretary of State] Tony Blinken was pushing so hard for a real war, trying to kill Putin, for example… The Biden administration did [it], they tried to kill Putin,” Carlson said, without providing any further details about the alleged assassination plot.

Carlson, who broadcast a bombshell interview with Putin last February, described the alleged move as “insane,” pointing to the potentially cataclysmic fallout for global security. “Who takes over Russia? What happens to the nuclear arsenal in a country so complex that outsiders can’t even understand… That’s demented that you would even think about something like that,” he added. US officials have never publicly acknowledged plans to assassinate Putin, or any other Russian or Soviet leaders. However, Newsweek reported in September 2022 that US defense officials had discussed a “decapitation strike” if Russia used nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly denied that such an option has ever been on the table, arguing that there are no targets in the neighboring country for such a weapon.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov interpreted the allegations of a “decapitation strike,” as “a threat to assassinate the head of the Russian state.” “If such ideas are really being considered, those involved must carefully think about the possible consequences,” he said at the time. In May 2023, Russia accused Ukraine – which has received massive aid from the US – of attempting to assassinate Putin in the Kremlin using a drone strike, although the aircraft was neutralized. While Ukraine has denied any involvement, Blinken said at the time that Washington had no prior warning of the raid, adding that Kiev was free to defend itself in any way it saw fit.

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..Antony Blinken had pushed for a “real war” with Russia and that the Biden administration sought to “kill Putin.”

“Russian President Vladimir Putin is well protected from any potential threats..”

• Kremlin Responds To Carlson’s Claim Biden Admin Tried To Kill Putin (ZH)

Tucker Carlson has unleashed international controversy this week when in an interview with journalist Matt Taibbi, Carlson claimed that former Secretary of State Antony Blinken had pushed for a “real war” with Russia and that the Biden administration sought to “kill Putin.” The former Fox News host described the plot as madness and insanity on the part of the prior Democratic administration. However, Carlson didn’t offer specifics or any evidence. Carlson stated firmly that the Biden White House “was pushing so hard for a real war, trying to kill Putin, for example… The Biden administration did [it], they tried to kill Putin.” Watch the clip with Carlson and Taibbi:

Last February Carlson went to Moscow to interview Putin one-on-one, and it’s unclear whether the Russian leader may have conveyed some specific information at that time. On Tuesday, the Kremlin responded to what was said in the Carlson interview, and the statements were cryptic and vague, neither confirming nor denying the claim of an assassination plot. Below is a Russian media summary of the Kremlin response: “Russian President Vladimir Putin is well protected from any potential threats, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday. He was responding to a claim by American journalist Tucker Carlson that the administration of former US President Joe Biden planned to assassinate the Russian leader. …The conservative journalist did not provide any details of the alleged plot. However, he denounced the purported plan as “insane,” considering the power vacuum it would create in Russia and the potential for Moscow’s vast nuclear arsenal to end up in the wrong hands.”

Asked to comment on Carlson’s remarks on Tuesday, Peskov would neither confirm nor deny US attempts to target Putin, nor reveal any knowledge of such plans by officials in Washington in the past. “Russian security services continuously take all necessary measures to ensure public safety and the safety of those under state protection. First and foremost, the head of state,” he told reporters. There was a past drone attack out of Ukraine which hit a building of the Moscow Kremlin complex. At that time it was seen as targeting Russian leadership, but it’s not clear that this episode is what Carlson had in mind. Carlson seemed to be saying something more significant was afoot – that Washington was will to risk a ‘decapitation strike’ or operation, perhaps especially if something like a Russian nuclear launch was imminent or likely. But if such a plan was an ‘option’ – it would be highly classified and the Biden admin wouldn’t want it to get out. If there had been such a secretive plot, it’s possible that President Trump could confirm or reveal it at a future date.

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“According to the International Energy Agency and the Office of the UN Human Rights Commissioner, Ukraine now has just one-third or less of its pre-war capacity.”

• Ukrainian Energy Infrastructure On Verge Of Collapse – Forbes (RT)

Ukraine’s energy infrastructure is reportedly nearing collapse following sustained Russian attacks, according to a report by Forbes on Monday. The article by energy analyst Gaurav Sharma suggested that the country’s power grid has suffered severe damage and will require billions of dollars to repair. Russia has been targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure since October 2022, shortly after the bombing of the Crimean Bridge, for which Kiev claimed responsibility. Moscow has since conducted a number of large-scale strikes on the country’s power grid with the aim of crippling Kiev’s military-industrial complex, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, which has maintained that its strikes are not directed at civilians.

In early 2024, Moscow also added Ukrainian power plants to its list of legitimate military targets as a response to Kiev’s continued drone incursions in Russian territory, which have targeted Russian energy infrastructure as well as residential areas. In its latest article on the state of Ukraine’s energy system, Forbes specifically highlighted a large-scale attack that Russia carried out on December 25. It involved more than 170 missile and drone strikes, causing extensive damage to Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Sharma described the attack as a major blow to the grid, which had already been weakened by previous strikes.

It is believed that Ukraine’s power capacity had already been cut in half due to Russia’s continued attacks by the beginning of 2024. Some 6GW of capacity was also lost after Moscow took over the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant at the beginning of the conflict. In subsequent attacks in March and May 2024, Kiev is believed to have lost another 9GW of power generation capacity. According to the International Energy Agency and the Office of the UN Human Rights Commissioner, Ukraine now has just one-third or less of its pre-war capacity.

Forbes noted that, while Kiev has not officially confirmed that its power systems are “on their knees,” it is “hard” to draw any other conclusion. The outlet added that, while efforts to repair the damage are ongoing, the scale of destruction has made full restoration difficult and costly. According to Forbes, citing sources in Kiev, the cost of the damage to Ukraine’s power infrastructure is thought to be in the region of $15 billion to $20 billion. This, coupled with the Ukrainian energy industry’s financial losses, means the total cost of reconstruction could reach $70 billion, according to the outlet.

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1/ Putin won’t be part of the talks, he’ll send underlings.
2/ Russia’s been cheated before.

• Putin: Direct Talks With Zelensky, But He Can’t Sign Peace Deal (Sp.)

Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree outlawing peace negotiations with Moscow in 2022, months after the West sabotaged a ready peace treaty to pursue an all-out proxy war against Russia. President Putin has expressed readiness to find negotiators to speak directly with Volodymyr Zelensky. “If he wants to take part in negotiations, I will select such people, it’s not an issue. The question is about the final signing of the documents,” Putin said in a TV interview Tuesday, noting that Zelensky’s legitimacy has expired, and he therefore “does not have the right to sign anything.” Under Ukrainian law, the end of the president’s term means his powers are transferred to the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada parliament, and in accordance with the Constitution, even martial law does not give him the right to extend his authority, Putin said.

Zelensky’s powers officially ran out last spring, but he remained in office after cancelling elections, citing martial law. “On the question of the final signing of the documents…there cannot be a single mistake or wrinkle. Everything must be polished,” Putin emphasized. Furthermore, direct talks cannot start if Zelensky does not lift his self-imposed ban, Putin said. “If there is a desire, any legal question can be resolved. So far, we simply don’t see such a desire” from the Ukrainian side, the president said. “Negotiations factually began immediately after the start of the Special Military Operation. Initially, we told the Ukrainian leadership at the time that the people of the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics don’t want to be part of Ukraine. Leave these territories, and that’s it, that’s where it ends. No fighting, no war,” Putin said.

The Ukrainian side rejected these terms, but Russia nevertheless agreed to talks. “This was at the end of February 2022,” Putin recalled. Russia was prepared to implement the peace deal reached in Istanbul in the spring of 2022, “even though there were things [in the draft deal, ed.] which we had issues with,” Putin revealed. “Nevertheless, I agreed that we were ready to implement this document. And on March 15 or 16 we informed Kiev that we were ready to refine and sign this document. There was practically nothing to change there,” he said. “Somewhere near the end of March [2022, ed.] we received a proposal from Kiev – the one with the signature of the head of the Ukrainian negotiations group, Mr. Arakhamia. And it was these Ukrainian proposals – I want to emphasize this, it’s very important, that formed the basis of the draft peace treaty developed at Istanbul,” Putin said.

The draft agreements also “had a small point proposed for consideration by the Ukrainian side on a personal meeting between the two presidents. I agreed to this,” Putin added.Russia also sent signals to Kiev’s Western sponsors, including now former US president Joe Biden, Putin said, saying he had made clear that “if they had a desire…to achieve peace, the path was very simple.” Today, Putin said, Ukraine’s sovereignty is “almost nil,” and without foreign sponsorship and weapons, the present conflict would “end in a month and a half or two months.” Putin also commented on Zelensky’s claims that he banned negotiations after the Russian military was stopped at the gates of Kiev in early 2022, pointing out that Russian forces withdrew voluntarily as an act of good faith for the sake of the peace treaty being negotiated in Istanbul, many months before Zelensky implemented his ban in October 2022.

“For us it was clear in principle that deception was a serious risk. Russia has been deceived in a similar manner for decades: they say one thing, they do something completely different,” Putin said. “Nevertheless, based on considerations of the need to prevent the bloodshed associated with a serious war, we agreed, and began to withdraw troops from Kiev at the end of March.” Subsequently, then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson flew to Kiev on NATO’s behest to tell Zelensky to scrap the peace plan, and Ukrainian and Western media blew up the Bucha Massacre controversy, accusing Russian forces of slaughtering unarmed Ukrainian civilians in a suburb of Kiev to justify continued fighting and Western support. Follow-up investigations revealed that the civilians killed at Bucha were murdered by Ukrainian neo-Nazi forces sent in to punish locals accused of ‘collaborating’ with Russian forces.

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“..without such a step, any proposed negotiations would be as illegitimate as Vladimir Zelensky..”

• Ukraine Conflict Could End In Weeks – Putin (RT)

The Ukraine conflict could end in two months of Kiev is deprived of the money and ammunition it depends on to continue fighting, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said. Speaking to reporter Pavel Zarubin on Tuesday, Putin was asked about the possibility of a negotiated end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. “They can’t exist without their Western sponsors. They won’t last a month if the money and ammunition run out,” Putin told Zarubin. “Everything can be over in a month and a half to two months. Ukraine practically has no sovereignty, in that sense,” the Russian president added. According to Putin, if Kiev’s western backers truly want peace, “this is very easy to do,” adding that Moscow has already spelled out its terms very clearly.

Kiev can signal its willingness to talk by canceling the decree banning all negotiations with Russia, Putin said. He explained that without such a step, any proposed negotiations would be as illegitimate as Vladimir Zelensky, whose presidential mandate expired last spring. The US and other backers of Ukraine have channeled more than $200 billion in aid to Kiev, ranging from weapons, equipment, and ammunition, to cash payments for the salaries of government employees and pensions. The Kremlin has pointed to this support as making the West “de facto a party to the conflict,” which both Washington and Brussels have officially denied.

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Trump has a short window to get out and blame it all on Biden. Very short by now.

• Is Trump Positioning For A “No-Deal” With Russia – Or Not? (Alastair Crooke)

Trump’s rhetoric about Russia having lost 1 million men in the Ukraine conflict is not just nonsense (the real number not even reaching 100,000), but his resort to it underlines that the usual meme of Trump being just woefully misinformed is looking less and less plausible. After touting the 1 million Russian deaths, Trump then suggests that Putin is destroying Russia by not making a deal. Adding (seemingly as an aside), that Putin may have already made up his mind ‘not to make a deal’. Instead, in a curiously disinterested way, Trump remarks that negotiations would depend entirely on whether Putin is interested or not. He further claims that Russia’s economy is in ruins, and most notably says that he would consider sanctioning or tariffing Russia, if Putin does not make a deal. In a subsequent Truth Social post, Trump writes, “I’m going to do Russia, whose Economy is failing, and President Putin, a very big FAVOR”.

This – plainly said – is a narrative of an entirely different order: No longer is it his Envoy Kellogg or another team member saying it; it is Trump’s own words as President. Trump answers a journalist’s question ‘Would [he] sanction Russia’ should Putin not come to the negotiating table? To which he responds, “that sounds likely”. What, we might ask, is Trump’s strategy? It seems more as though it is Trump that is preparing for a ‘no deal’. He must be aware that Putin repeatedly has made plain that he is both interested and open to talks with Trump. There is no doubt about that. Yet Trump subsequently contradicts the ‘loser discourse’ in yet another apparent after-thought: “I mean … it’s a big machine so, eventually things will happen …”. Here he appears to be saying that the Russian ‘big machine’ ultimately will win. Russia will be a winner – and not a loser.

Maybe Trump is thinking simply to let the dynamics of the military ‘trial of strength’ play out. (If that is his thinking, he cannot utter such sentiment out loud – explicitly – as the Euro-élites would sink even further into a pathological tailspin). Alternatively, were Trump to be seriously seeking productive negotiations with Putin, it is certainly not a good way to start by being deeply disrespectful towards the Russian people – depicting them and President Putin as ‘losers’ who desperately need a deal; whereas the reality was that it was Trump who earlier had touted getting a deal within 24 hours. His disrespect will rankle – not just with Putin – but for most Russians. The ‘loser narrative’ simply will stiffen Russian opposition to a Ukraine compromise.

The backdrop is that Russia in any case collectively eschews the idea of any compromise that “boils down to freezing the conflict along the line of engagement: that will give time to rearm the remnants of the Ukrainian army, and then start a new round of hostilities. So, that we have to fight again, but this time from less advantageous political positions”, as Professor Sergei Karaganov has noted. Moreover, “the Trump administration has no reason to negotiate with us on the terms we [Russia] have set. The war is economically beneficial to the U.S. … and [possibly] also to removing Russia as the powerful strategic support of America’s main competitor ? China”. Professor Dmitri Trenin similarly predicts that,

“Trump’s bid to secure a ceasefire along Ukraine’s battle lines will fail. The American plan ignores Russia’s security concerns and disregards the root causes of the conflict. Meanwhile, Moscow’s conditions will remain unacceptable to Washington, as they would effectively mean Kiev’s capitulation and the West’s strategic defeat. In response Trump will impose additional sanctions on Moscow. Despite strong anti-Russian rhetoric, U.S. aid to Ukraine will decrease, shifting much of the burden onto Western European nations”. So why cast Russia as contemptible ‘losers’, unless this forms Trump’s strategy for walking away from the Ukraine issue? If a clear-cut U.S. ‘victory narrative’ seems beyond reach, then why not invert the narrative?‘Mission accomplished’ being obstructed solely by Russia’s ‘loser streak’.

This inevitably leads to the question of what is the meaning – exactly – of the return of America’s “most famous criminal defendant to the White House”, and his promise of a “revolution of common sense”? “There is no doubt that it is revolutionary”, Matt Taibbi argues: “Trump galvanized [income mal-distribution] resentment, creating a political Sherman’s march that left institutional America smouldering. The corporate press is dead. The Democratic Party is in schism. Academia is about to swallow a giant bottle of bitter pills, and after the executive orders signed Monday: a lot of DEI instructors will have to learn to code” [i.e., will be unemployed].

Yes, Taibbi observes, “it makes me nervous to see a murderer’s row of censorious CEOs (particularly Bezos, Pinchai, and the repulsive Cook) sitting in front of Trump, together with other Wall Street luminaries … nonetheless, if the deal was support for Trump in exchange for platforms going back to being merely self-interested profit-gobblers, I’ll take it over the previous cabal. The Wall Street Journal was probably closest to capturing the essence of that idea of the event with yesterday’s header, “The New Oligarchy is a Vast Improvement on the Old””.

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Trump must have agreed with this?!

• Denmark Allows Russia’s Gazprom To Do Work On Damaged NS2 Pipeline (ZH)

In a very unexpected development Denmark is now working directly with Russia’s Gazprom to do environmental mitigation on the damaged Nord Stream pipelines, in the wake of the multiple underwater blasts that took them offline on September 26, 2022 – leading to years of accusations against Moscow and a Russia-West tit-for-tat. Denmark’s energy agency has granted Nord Stream 2 AG (which is under Gazprom) permission to engage in preservation work on Nord Stream 2 in the Baltic Sea. The agency described that there remain serious safety risks after the natural gas pipeline was filled with seawater and the remnants of natural gas. “The work aims to preserve the damaged pipeline by installing customized plugs at each of the open pipe ends to prevent further gas blow-out and the introduction of oxygenated seawater,” Denmark’s energy agency said.

The $11 billion pipeline project to pump Russian gas to Germany was hugely contentious for years, with Washington opposing it, before it was blown up in a ‘mysterious’ sabotage operation. The Western mainstream media has since backed off its repeat accusations that Moscow must have blown up its own vital pipeline, in light of revelations and a recent consensus that it was either a team of Ukrainian specialists on a ‘rogue’ yacht or else a major CIA op with help from the US Navy. While Scandinavian countries were once leading the accusations and investigations against Moscow related to the sabotage, suddenly Denmark appears to be working with ‘pariah’ Russia. All of this is happening as Washington still has far-reaching sanctions on Russia as well as the NS2 Russian operator, Gazprom’s Nord Stream 2 AG.

“The damaged line of NS2 is estimated to still contain approximately 9-10 million cubic meters of natural gas, while the intact line remains filled with gas, the Danish agency said,” Reuters notes. “The United States in December issued further sanctions on the operator and other Russian entities saying it considers Nord Stream 2 a Russian geopolitical project and opposes efforts to revive it,” the report adds. This has raised the crucial question of whether the Russian entity’s supposed environmental mitigation efforts are but cover to eventually revive the controversial project. This brings up other questions of context and timing. After all, the Danish government is currently locked in a very public battle and war of words with the new Trump administration over Greenland’s sovereignty. Is the tiny NATO country of Denmark in search of any and all possible leverage?

From close US ally to lashing out… And given the Ukraine war increasingly seems unwinnable from the Western perspective, is it time for a European reset vis-a-vis Russia and its heavily relied upon natural gas? The following hit Politico on Tuesday: “France has discussed with Denmark sending troops to Greenland in response to United States President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to annex the Danish territory, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said. Asked about calls to send EU troops to Greenland, Barrot said in an interview with France’s Sud Radio that France had “started discussing [troop deployment] with Denmark,” but that it was not “Denmark’s wish” to proceed with the idea. Barrot’s comments came as Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was in the middle of a lightning tour of European capitals to drum up support from allies in dealing with Trump.”

Essentially, at the very moment Denmark is trying to “drum up support” within Europe to stand up to Trump, the Danish government goes from condemning Russia’s sanctioned Gazprom to working with it and authorizing it to do work on NS2. But likely there will be a shrug from the White House, given the current broader context is Trump is trying to get Moscow to the negotiating table in hopes of quickly winding down the Ukraine war.

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Long from Pepe. This is just a small part.

• Dancing to Trump’s Disco Inferno (Pepe Escobar)

Now to the war against the Global Majority. Inestimable Prof. Michael Hudson is adamant: in an absolutely must read essay, he concisely explains that “when Trump promised his voters that the United States must be the ‘winner’ in any international trade or financial agreement, he is declaring economic war on the rest of the world.” The key Hudson take away: If nations in the Global South are to save their economy “from being plunged into austerity, price inflation, unemployment and social chaos”, they will have to “suspend payments on foreign debts denominated in dollars.” It’s a work in progress: “Circumstances…are forcing the world to break away from the US-centered financial order.

The US dollar’s exchange rate is going to soar in the short term as a result of Trump blocking imports with tariffs and trade sanctions. This exchange-rate shift will squeeze foreign countries owing dollar debts in the same way that Mexico and Canada are to be squeezed. To protect themselves, they must suspend dollar debt service.” There may be serious problems ahead for Mr. Disco Inferno: “Trump’s America First political theater that got him elected may get his gang unseated as the contradictions and consequences of their operating philosophy are recognized and replaced. His tariff policy will accelerate US price inflation and, even more fatally, cause chaos in US and foreign financial markets. Supply chains will be disrupted, interrupting US exports of everything from aircraft to information technology. And other countries will find themselves obliged to make their economies no longer dependent on US exports or dollar credit.”

Prof. Hudson notes how Trump “thinks that the US economy is like a cosmic black hole, that is, a center of gravity able to pull all the world’s money and economic surplus to itself. That is the explicit aim of America First. That is what makes Trump’s program a declaration of economic war on the rest of the world. There is no longer a promise that the economic order sponsored by US diplomacy will make other countries prosperous. The gains from trade and foreign investment are to be sent to and concentrated in America.” The EU, in the Global North, is even more vulnerable to “America First”. Davos came and went with a mere blip on the screen, apart from the odd US banker bragging about “peak pessimism” in Europe – linked to the incoming Trump tariff tsunami – and head of the European Central Bank Christine “Look at my new Hermes scarf” Lagarde wondering it was “not pessimistic” to say that Europe is facing an “existential crisis”.

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Trump offers Ellison and Altman et al $500 billion to make AI cheaper. Sounds like a joke, but they mean it. Now Oracle and OpenAI are not focused on cheap fast AI, but on what to do with all that money. With $500 billion on the table, why do it for $50 billion, even if you could?! And where’s Elon?

• How China Became Ideal Incubator for DeepSeek, US May Struggle to Follow (Sp.)

The seemingly out-of-nowhere rise of Chinese dark horse AI language model DeepSeek has tanked US tech stocks, with President Trump calling it “a wake up call for our industries that we should be laser focused on competing to win.” A leading technology expert tells Sputnik why may be easier said than done. “In a nutshell, China’s advances in AI highlight that tech leadership is not a birthright of the West anymore,” veteran independent cybersecurity expert and digital strategy advisor Lars Hilse said, commenting on DeepSeek’s emergence overnight to trump all of America’s most advanced large language models in coding, complex problem-solving and analysis benchmarks.

Hilse says China’s large language model breakthrough was made possible by: the state’s timely 2017 Next Generation AI Development Plan, “which prioritizes AI as a critical area for economic and tech dominance,” “China’s vast population, and digitized ecosystem generating unparalleled amounts of data, which is essential for training sophisticated AI models,” a “talent pipeline” assured by China’s “heavy investment into STEM education”, allowing companies like DeepSeek to pick from a pool of candidates “without compromising cutting edge R&D and cost efficiency, prioritization of software optimization, semiconductor production and chip stockpiling amid US restrictions. Globally, Hilse said, the model’s popularity stems from its open source nature, which can’t be said about its competitors.

Ultimately, the US now faces the prospect of a “fragmented global tech order,” and China setting tech standards in emerging markets, “which in turn erode both economic as well as ideological influence,” the observer said. Accordingly, “the upcoming decade will test whether the West can sustain its innovation edge or whether the sanction-induced improvisation efforts of China will yield technological dominance.” “Rapid scaling, state-backed resource mobilization – and most importantly – the adaptive resilience under pressure created by sanctions” – these are the factors that made DeepSeek’s success possible, Hilse said.

“Now, the US clearly retains advantages in creativity and foundational research but has to (like the West in general) chronic under-investment in manufacturing and infrastructure, fragmented policy and corporate thinking as well as over-reliance on sanctions as a ‘Swiss Army knife’, which in this case, too backfired in that it put China under pressure to improvise. Whether the US will win this race will depend on whether they can unify its entrepreneurial culture with strategic industrial policy, like Trump’s ‘Stargate’ initiative, and whether China can in that time transition from a fast follower to an actual pioneer in global tech standards,” the observer summed up.

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Jordan and Egypt don’t want 1,5 million Palestinians. But they get a lot of US aid money.

Reminder: the official policy is still the two-state solution.

• Trump: Let’s Make Money In Gaza But First Dump The Palestinians (Jay)

Trump’s serendipity is the only thing geopolitical analysts can bet on as if there’s one thing we can all agree that we can predict with certainty about how he will resolve all the world’s problems, is that he will not be predictable. He relies heavily on his own instincts and vanities and sees opportunity everywhere. His unfettered support for Netanyahu’s genocide might just yet still shock his more die-hard supporters, given that he posted unflattering social media clips about the Israeli leader in December and yet is ready to throw his weight behind Israel’s bolder ambitions of wiping every Palestinian off the surface of Israel. The big plan is no longer a conspiracy theory.

As months went by and the whole world witnessed the breathtaking depravity of Israeli soldiers murdering Palestinians – at least 100,000 by even the most conservative estimates – some, like myself, were bold enough live on TV to suggest that it seemed that the big plan was to completely eradicate Palestinians from Gaza, forcing neighboring countries to take what was left. For those of us who assumed this, we hoped we were wrong. And yet in the last couple of days, Trump has let the cat out of the bag and revealed this is in fact the plan, one which he supports – explaining perhaps why Netanyahu was never interested in discussing a two-state solution or what the make-up of an administration there might look like under the leadership of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.

Trump has suggested that neighboring Arab countries should take in Palestinian refugees and “clean out” the embattled Gaza. Speaking to journalists aboard Air Force One on 25th of January, Trump said he spoke to King Abdullah II of Jordan about the war and was planning to speak with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi the following day. “I’d like Egypt to take people, and I’d like Jordan to take people,” Trump said. “You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, we just clean out that whole thing. It’s a real mess.” What is worrying about this statement is how the idea itself, which he must have supported all along, like so many feral schemes that seem to appear from nowhere, is based on Trump being very badly briefed about the Middle East. If he listens to his advisers at all, they should have told him that neither Jordan nor Egypt would ever entertain the idea of taking huge numbers of Palestinians under any circumstances.

Any two-bit hack in the region can tell you that the current situation in neighboring countries which have taken Palestinian refugees since 1948 is very bad for both the refugees themselves and for the host countries. In Lebanon, they are kept in ‘camps’ which are off limits, normally, to Lebanese police and security forces, where the UN gives them the bare minimum to eat and where terrorism is rife – creating an internal security problem for the state which often raises its ugly head now and again. In Jordan, the King already has a difficult job keeping his country on an even keel with the high percentage of Jordanians originating from Palestine, which brings its own challenges itself politically; the last thing King Abdullah needs is more of them arriving as refugees.

In Syria too, Palestinians have settled in camps and accepted they are third class citizens although it is less clear how the new leaders of the country – who are the most extreme terrorists stemming from ISIS – will treat them, given they are broadly aligned politically with them. The Trump bombshell is revealing. One the one hand the vitriol that Trump is happy to show against Netanyahu on social media is probably a sham – he has a track record of pretending to not like certain world leaders in front of the cameras while admiring them in private; and secondly, unlike what we are lead to believe, the old doctrine that Israel controls U.S. foreign policy is still true, perhaps even more so under Trump than Biden. The plan to level Gaza and then turn to the international community and say ‘hey, look it’s uninhabitable, there’s nothing there now…it would be inhumane to put people there’ is now looking more and more like official policy.

The only real question is how weak western countries will be in supporting this plan. Will the EU just follow U.S. foreign policy blindly like it always has done in the past? It’s unimaginable that Spain and Ireland would allow this genocide to be swept under the carpet so that Israel can rebuild from the ground up a new Gaza for even more illegal settlers, while a new Suez-like canal mega project is built to compete with Egypt’s, right? Is Trump going to be part of this cash cow? Trump 2.0 appears to be even more about finding the deal, than its former term in office. Is it that Trump is listening to his advisors? But their mandate is not to advise him on what’s best for America, just what’s best for him? Show me the deal.

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Ozempic

 

 

RFK

 

 

Gain of function

 

 

Carr

 

 

Flow

 

 

Herding

 

 

Sleep

 

 

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Debt Rattle December 19 2024

Dec 192024
 
 December 19, 2024  Posted by at 10:21 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,  68 Responses »


Richard Oelze The expectation 1936

 

• ‘CALL THEIR BLUFF’: Trump And Vance Slam Pork-Filled House Bill (ZH)
• Congress’s First Gift To Trump Could Be Legislative ‘Kitchen Sink’ (JTN)
• Musk Brands Reuters ‘Paid Propaganda’ (RT)
• Kaja Kallas, Queen of Russophobia (RT)
• Kiev Regime Kills Russian General To Hide The Truth About Bioweapons (SCF)
• Trump’s Ukraine Envoy Condemns Murder of Russian General (RT)
• US Sets Conditions For Ukrainian NATO membership (RT)
• No Western Troops In Ukraine Without Russian Approval – Germany (RT)
• RT Winning ‘Cognitive War’ – BBC Director (RT)
• The Tone Regarding Ukraine’s Future Has Shifted Significantly And Fast (Rabo)
• “Free Speech Is A Human Right!” Professors Jonathan Turley & Dave Karpf (ZH)
• Clouds Form Over Bluesky (Turley)
• Almost 8 Million Illegal Aliens Live in American ‘Sanctuary Cities’ (AmG)
• Feds Quietly Ban Liability For Vax Makers Through Trump’s Full Term (JTN)
• Will Nuke False Flag Keep Trump Out of Office – Steve Quayle (USAW)
• CNN Suspected Of ‘Fabricating’ Syrian Jail Release Story (RT)

 

 

 

 

Speaker
https://twitter.com/i/status/1869414683054346727

Eric Adams
https://twitter.com/i/status/1869155321987358803

Revenge
https://twitter.com/i/status/1869198929667014946

Rogan

 

 

 

 

“Speaker Johnson Tries To Ram Through Insane Funding Package..”

“Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said he had “hoped to see @SpeakerJohnson grow a spine,” but “this bill full of pork shows he is a weak, weak man.”

• ‘CALL THEIR BLUFF’: Trump And Vance Slam Pork-Filled House Bill (ZH)

Speaker Mike Johnson, (R-LA), has unveiled a 1,547-page government funding bill that has Republicans seeing red – and not just because of the looming Friday midnight shutdown deadline. Packed with disaster relief, farmer aid, and a Christmas stocking full of legislative surprises, the short-term spending bill has set off a firestorm within Johnson’s own party. The bill, known as a continuing resolution (CR), keeps the federal government funded through March 14, buying Congress a little breathing room. But in classic Capitol Hill fashion, the measure is loaded with provisions unrelated to basic spending – and House conservatives are furious, according to Punchbowl News.

[..] They’ve also given themselves a pay raise: “It’s complicated, but Congress has proactively blocked lawmakers from getting a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) since 2009. This was done by including language in spending bills specifically preventing such pay increases, although other federal employees get them. However, the new CR includes a provision (page 15) that amends language in a previous CR that incorporated a provision from an earlier omnibus blocking any member COLA. Yes, that’s how it was done. Nothing as simple as “Members and senators will get a pay raise.” -Punchbowl

Johnson’s problems began Tuesday, when he sounded out hardliners on the House Rules Committee – Reps. Chip Roy (TX), Thomas Massie (KY), and Ralph Norman (SC) – to gauge their support for the bill. Unsurprisingly, the trio demanded a price for their cooperation:
• Adherence to the 72-hour rule to review the bill before voting.
• Spending offsets to counter the new funding.
• Restrictions on selling off border wall materials.
Johnson hasn’t agreed to these conditions, leaving him with little choice but to bring the CR to the floor under suspension of the rules, which requires a two-thirds majority for passage. A floor vote is expected Thursday, giving the Senate barely 24 hours to clear the bill before the clock strikes midnight Friday. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said he had “hoped to see @SpeakerJohnson grow a spine,” but “this bill full of pork shows he is a weak, weak man.” “It’s silly to pretend this is just a skinny CR,” one GOP staffer told Punchbowl News. “It’s a three-month spending bill with ornaments hanging all over it.”

Meanwhile, conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus (HFC) are fuming at the bill’s scope and the speaker’s handling of the process. And GOP moderates are frustrated by the party’s inability to settle on a clean solution. Johnson, for his part, has no easy out – having opted for neither a clean CR nor a comprehensive omnibus spending package, and instead delivering a stopgap bill stuffed with unrelated provisions. Some hardliners are already withholding public support for Johnson ahead of his January 3 re-election bid for speaker, signaling that his light-handed leadership style may be backfiring.

[..] Trump and Vance just came out against the pork too… A statement from President Donald J. Trump and Vice President-Elect JD Vance: The most foolish and inept thing ever done by Congressional Republicans was allowing our country to hit the debt ceiling in 2025. It was a mistake and is now something that must be addressed. Meanwhile, Congress is considering a spending bill that would give sweetheart provisions for government censors and for Liz Cheney. The bill would make it easier to hide the records of the corrupt January 6 committee—which accomplished nothing for the American people and hid security failures that happened that day. This bill would also give Congress a pay increase while many Americans are struggling this Christmas. Increasing the debt ceiling is not great but we’d rather do it on Biden’s watch. If Democrats won’t cooperate on the debt ceiling now, what makes anyone think they would do it in June during our administration?

Let’s have this debate now. And we should pass a streamlined spending bill that doesn’t give Chuck Schumer and the Democrats everything they want. Republicans want to support our farmers, pay for disaster relief, and set our country up for success in 2025. The only way to do that is with a temporary funding bill WITHOUT DEMOCRAT GIVEAWAYS combined with an increase in the debt ceiling. Anything else is a betrayal of our country. Republicans must GET SMART and TOUGH. If Democrats threaten to shut down the government unless we give them everything they want, then CALL THEIR BLUFF. It is Schumer and Biden who are holding up aid to our farmers and disaster relief. THIS CHAOS WOULD NOT BE HAPPENING IF WE HAD A REAL PRESIDENT. WE WILL IN 32 DAYS!

[..] Vivek Ramaswamy, who will be in charge of the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) along with Elon Musk, has analyzed the bill. Via X: “I wanted to read the full 1,500+ page bill & speak with key leaders before forming an opinion. Having done that, here’s my view: it’s full of excessive spending, special interest giveaways & pork barrel politics. If Congress wants to get serious about government efficiency, they should VOTE NO. Keeping the government open until March 14 will cost ~$380BN by itself, but the true cost of this omnibus CR is far greater due to new spending. Renewing the Farm Bill for an extra year: ~$130BN. Disaster relief: $100BN. Stimulus for farmers: $10BN. The Francis Scott Key Bridge replacement: $8BN. The proposal adds at least 65 cents of new spending for every dollar of continued discretionary spending.

The legislation will end up hurting many of the people it purports to help. Debt-fueled spending sprees may “feel good” today, but it’s like showering cocaine on an addict: it’s not compassion, it’s cruelty. Farmers will see more land sold to foreign buyers when taxes inevitably rise to meet our obligations. Our children will be saddled with crippling debt. Interest payments will be the largest item in our national budget. Congress has known about this deadline since they created it in late September. There’s no reason why this couldn’t have gone through the standard process, instead of being rushed to a vote right before Congressmen want to go home for the holidays. The urgency is 100% manufactured & designed to avoid serious public debate.

The bill could have easily been under 20 pages. Instead, there are dozens of unrelated policy items crammed into the 1,547 pages of this bill. There’s no legitimate reason for them to be voted on as a package deal by a lame-duck Congress. 72 pages worth of “Pandemic Preparedness and Response” policy; renewal of the much-criticized “Global Engagement Center,” a key player in the federal censorship state; 17 different pieces of Commerce legislation; paving the way for a new football stadium in D.C.; a pay raise for Congressmen & Senators and making them eligible for Federal Employee Health Benefits. It’s indefensible to ram these measures through at the last second without debate. We’re grateful for DOGE’s warm reception on Capitol Hill. Nearly everyone agrees we need a smaller & more streamlined federal government, but actions speak louder than words. This is an early test. The bill should fail.

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“We have to remove a clear majority of the people who snuck in here during the four years.”

• Congress’s First Gift To Trump Could Be Legislative ‘Kitchen Sink’ (JTN)

As Trump moves to implement his many campaign promises, some lawmakers hope to bundle a litany of conservative agenda items in a sort of “kitchen sink” legislative package early in his term. “We don’t have a lot of wiggle room. That’s why we have to get everybody on board with everything,” said Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., on the “Just the News, No Noise” television show. “You’ve got to remember, we can only afford to lose one person in the House. You know, we can only afford to lose, what about four people in the U.S. Senate? So we’ve got to get everything that we need to make America great again in that first big bill that is going to be passed in, presumably, February or March.”

The Trump White House and Congress have been negotiating over their approach to key legislative priorities, notably the pairing of immigration and border security with extending the 2017 Trump tax cuts. While the Senate and White House appear on the same page with a two-step approach of passing separate legislation, House conservatives on key committees have called for a single mega-bill, citing concerns that the administration could chicken out on immigration if the bill does not include it. “It’s important that the Trump administration does not cave in to the more weak-kneed open borders Republicans who say, ‘Well, you know, why don’t you kick out the murderers and the rapists, but otherwise we can let the 10 million people stay here,’” Grothman added. “No, no, no. We have to remove a clear majority of the people who snuck in here during the four years.”

Grothman is not alone in that sentiment. Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., a key member of the House Rules Committee, said Tuesday on the “Just the News, No Noise” television show that Congress ought to prioritize the border efforts “because I think the American people are going to demand it, and that has got to be done early on.” “Now it’s got to be handled,” he added. “And I think the tax cuts that Trump did a great job on, we take that up in the second reconciliation. But you’d handle first things first, and that’s one of them that’s leading the pack. And it would be, I think, Well, I would say easy to pass, but in Congress, I don’t think anything’s easy.”

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“..deep state traitors are coming after me, using their paid shills in legacy media.”

• Musk Brands Reuters ‘Paid Propaganda’ (RT)

US billionaire Elon Musk has expressed support for an online theory that links the Reuters international news agency with investigations into his businesses by the current administration of US President Joe Biden. Musk, a close ally of US president-elect Donald Trump, has called the purported connection “insane” and claimed it “explains a lot.” Reuters is “paid propaganda” that should be ashamed, he added. The connection was suggested by Mike Benz, who heads the self-described pro-free speech website Foundation For Freedom Online. On Tuesday, he alleged in a post on X that the outgoing Biden administration “paid Reuters over $300 million in government contracts” while simultaneously 11 US government agencies “targeted Elon’s businesses.”

Benz cited public records reported by the database usaspending.gov as evidence of his claim, as well as a series of reports by Reuters about the entrepreneur that won a Pulitzer Prize in May. The series on ‘The Musk Industrial Complex’ focused on “grave harms to consumers, workers and laboratory animals across Elon Musk’s manufacturing empire.” The billionaire emerged as a close ally of Trump after endorsing his candidacy in mid-July. He is slated to become a senior member of the incoming US administration responsible for cutting government inefficiency. Prior to picking a side in the US race, Musk was heavily criticized by left-leading public figures and media outlets for his management of X, formerly known as Twitter, which he purchased in 2022. The stated objective of his multibillion-dollar acquisition was to eradicate censorship on the platform, which he claimed was silencing pro-conservative voices.

Critics claim that Musk has turned X into a hotbed of right-wing extremism, while failing to live up to the promise of free speech. The EU has threatened the platform with legal penalties for allegedly failing to tackle “disinformation.” Last week, the Musk Foundation was accused of failing to meet US requirements for charitable organizations, based on its latest tax returns submitted to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The New York Times has since reported that the billionaire and his firm SpaceX are being investigated for compliance with US rules on classified information. Musk responded to the report by stating that “deep state traitors are coming after me, using their paid shills in legacy media.” In March, Musk stated that “The legacy media lies as easy as breathing,” and that “Reuters is the worst right now.”

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Hold on, Ursula would like to have a word. And Annalena Baerbock too. They can’t all be queens.

• Kaja Kallas, Queen of Russophobia (RT)

Since assuming the role of EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy on December 1, 2024, Kaja Kallas has swiftly implemented policies reflecting her firm anti-Russia stance and commitment to supporting Ukraine in its conflict with Moscow. Her policies with regard to Russia have long been harsh, and a number of media outlets have labeled her as a ‘Russophobe’. On her first day in office, Kallas visited Kiev alongside European Council President Antonio Costa, signaling the EU’s unwavering support for Ukraine amid the ongoing conflict. During the visit, she highlighted the EU’s commitment to bolstering Ukraine’s defense capabilities, announcing a substantial investment of €400 million ($420 million) for the current year and an additional €1.9 billion for the following year to enhance Ukraine’s defense industry.

Kallas praised the EU’s anti-Russia sanctions and has been a vocal advocate for utilizing frozen Russian state assets within the EU to aid Ukraine. She stated that these funds should be used to cover the damages inflicted by Russia, viewing them as a strategic tool to pressure Moscow. She expressed confidence that, despite certain sensitivities, progress would be made toward this objective. Moscow has called the freezing of its funds blatant theft and announced that there would be consequences. In February 2024, as prime minister of Estonia, Kallas was placed on a Russian wanted list due to her government’s efforts to remove Soviet-era World War II monuments. Russian officials accused her of “falsification of history,” viewing the removal of these monuments as a desecration of the memory of Soviet soldiers who fought against Nazi Germany.

In 2023, Kallas spoke at the first in-person meeting of the pro-Kiev online group ‘NAFO’ on Saturday, praising their efforts in the ‘information war’ against Russia. NAFO, founded by Kamil Dyszewski – who is known for having anti-Semitic and white supremacist views – has celebrated Russian civilian deaths and raised funds for individuals accused of war crimes. He has made numerous posts praising Nazi Germany and denying the Holocaust. ‘NAFO’ stands for the ‘North Atlantic Fellas Organization’ and consists of internet users known for their ‘Shiba Inu’ avatars and strong support for the Ukrainian military. Members – known as ‘Fellas’ – actively promote Ukraine’s messages on social media, pressure platforms to censor pro-Moscow accounts, and solicit donations for the Georgian Legion, a mercenary group led by an individual who has admitted to committing war crimes in Ukraine.

Critics have also scrutinized Kallas’ family history, alleging connections to nationalist movements during the early 20th century. Several researchers have highlighted her grandfather’s alleged role in the Estonian police and nationalist militia during the 1920s and 1930s. In August 2023, reports emerged that Stark Logistics, a transportation company in which Kallas’ husband Arvo Hallik held a 24.9% stake, continued operations involving Russia following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in early 2022. This revelation was particularly striking given Kallas’ strong public stance urging Estonian companies to cease all business activities with Russia in response to the conflict.

Stark Logistics was found to be facilitating the transportation of goods for AS Metaprint, an Estonian company with ongoing operations in Russia. Between February and November 2022, Metaprint reportedly sold approximately €17 million worth of goods to Russia. In response to the public outcry, Hallik announced he would divest his shares in Stark Logistics and resign from all positions within the company. Kallas addressed the situation by highlighting her commitment to transparency and denying any prior knowledge of her husband’s business dealings related to Russia.

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NATO bioweapons.

• Kiev Regime Kills Russian General To Hide The Truth About Bioweapons (SCF)

In a bold and lethal move, a terrorist attack carried out by Ukrainian intelligence operatives in Moscow killed Igor Kirillov, head of the Russian Federation’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Defense Forces, along with his main advisor. Kirillov, one of the most important figures in Russian national security, became a strategic target due to his investigations revealing the complex and shadowy ties between the West, Ukraine, and the bioweapons research laboratories. His death is not only a blow against Russia but also a critical turning point in international relations, involving the controversy surrounding biological laboratories, the pharmaceutical industry lobby, and, inevitably, Kiev’s connections to U.S. politics.

Since the beginning of Russia’s Special Military Operation in Ukraine in 2022, Igor Kirillov had been denouncing the existence of bioweapons research laboratories in Ukrainian territory. These laboratories, operating under the guise of “scientific research” and funded by global actors such as the Soros Foundation, Big Pharma companies, and even influential members of the Biden family, have been accused of developing biological weapons aimed at Russia.In public statements, Kirillov warned of the growing risk posed by these biolaboratories, pointing out that their goal was to create a “universal package” of genetically modified biological pathogens to target Russian people, cattle, and crops simultaneously. The development of such weapons could potentially cause a catastrophe of epic proportions, destroying Russian food production and decimating the population. Once Russia became aware of these activities, it had no choice but to launch a military operation to dismantle these dangerous research centers.

Moscow also raised suspicions that, without early intervention, Ukraine, with U.S. support, could have launched a large-scale biological attack against Russia. This attack would target Russian public health by releasing multiple lethal viruses and bacteria simultaneously, with the aim of creating catastrophic chaos. The greatest obstacle Russia faced in exposing these threats was the absolute silence of the Western media. In the European Union, the United States, and even the Global South, an iron curtain was raised on the subject, with most media outlets ignoring or discrediting Kirillov’s revelations. However, Russia believed that without its military operation and the dismantling of bioweapons laboratories in the early days of the conflict, the country would have been vulnerable to a biological attack of catastrophic magnitude.

Furthermore, during the eight years following the Euromaidan coup, citizens of Russian-majority regions in Ukraine were subjected to a series of biological experiments. These included tests of new chemical and biological substances, some of which were administered under the guise of “voluntary treatments” or even by force, as in the case of prisoners or ethnic Russian low-ranking soldiers. The ultimate goal of these experiments was to understand the genetic characteristics of Russians in order to develop even more lethal and ethnically targeted pathogens, thus creating ethnically directed mass destruction biological weapons.

In addition to the evidence of involvement by organizations such as the Soros Foundation, another crucial point in Kirillov’s reports was the connection with Big Pharma companies. He spared no effort in revealing the role of pharmaceutical giants such as Pfizer and Moderna in financing bioweapons research in Ukraine. The claim that these corporations were associated with the development of biological weapons was not merely speculative, having several captured documents proved the whole truth. In the same vein, the involvement of influential members of the U.S. government and their families, including Hunter Biden, in contracts and initiatives related to Ukrainian biolabs was a central issue in his revelations.

The U.S. president’s son was of the main financial supporters of the biolabs, which were part of his corruption schemes in Ukraine. Kirillov’s death, therefore, is not only a significant loss for Russia but also a grim reflection of global corporate interests and the biological risks the Western powers were willing to take in their reckless pursuit of hegemony. The pharmaceutical lobby, with its vast networks of influence, found itself in an uncomfortable position after 2022, when several countries began questioning the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines, as well as dismantling the mandatory vaccination campaigns that had been previously fervently promoted.

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“..there are rules of warfare and there are certain things that you just kind of don’t do.”

• Trump’s Ukraine Envoy Condemns Murder of Russian General (RT)

The assassination of Russian General Igor Kirillov in Moscow probably won’t impede peace talks, but was “not a good idea at all” for Kiev, US President-elect Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, has said. Kirillov, who commanded the Russian Radiological, Chemical, and Biological Defense Forces, was killed in an explosion in southeastern Moscow early on Tuesday. The Russian authorities have detained a suspect, whom they say was recruited by Ukrainian intelligence and paid to carry out the attack. In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Kellogg was asked whether the murder of Kirillov would hinder peace talks between Moscow and Kiev, which Trump hopes to broker once inaugurated next month. “I don’t think it’s really a setback,” he responded, “but I would say this: there are rules of warfare and there are certain things that you just kind of don’t do.”

“When you’re killing flag officers, general officers – admirals or generals – in their hometown, it’s kind of like you’re extending it and I don’t think it’s really smart to do it. It’s not kind of the rules of war,” he continued, reiterating that the bombing was “not a good idea at all, in my opinion.” In light of the murder, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has warned that “all NATO decision-makers” from countries assisting Ukraine “can and should be considered legitimate military targets for the Russian state.” Kellogg, formerly a lieutenant general in the US Army, confirmed to Fox News that he will travel to Kiev before next month’s inauguration on a “fact-finding” mission. Kellogg will not travel to Moscow, but according to a Bloomberg report earlier on Wednesday, he is open to the idea.

Previously a staunch supporter of increased military aid to Kiev, Kellogg was nominated as Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia last month. In an announcement on social media, the incoming president promised that Kellogg would help “secure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, and Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN!” Back in June, Kellogg told Reuters that he had advised Trump to use military aid as leverage to force Moscow and Kiev into peace talks. “We tell the Ukrainians: ‘You’ve got to come to the table, and if you don’t come to the table, support from the United States will dry up,’” he told the news agency.

“And you tell [Russian President Vladimir] Putin he’s got to come to the table and if you don’t come to the table, then we’ll give Ukrainians everything they need to kill you in the field.” Trump has repeatedly promised to end the conflict within a day of taking office, without providing any detailed plan as to how he intends to achieve this goal.Moscow maintains that any settlement must begin with Ukraine ceasing military operations and acknowledging the “territorial reality” that it will never regain control of the regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye, as well as Crimea. In addition, the Kremlin insists that the goals of its military operation – which include Ukrainian neutrality, demilitarization, and denazification – will be achieved.

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There are no such conditions that Russia would agree to.

• US Sets Conditions For Ukrainian NATO membership (RT)

Ukraine can only hope to join NATO if it reforms its military and succeeds in improving its democratic institutions, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said. Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Wednesday, Blinken rejected the idea that the US, Germany, or other NATO allies are “standing in the way” of Kiev’s accession to the bloc. Ukraine has long aspired to become a full-fledged NATO member, and formally applied to join in the autumn of 2022 after four of its former regions overwhelmingly voted to join Russia. The bloc, Blinken insisted, has “put Ukraine on a path to NATO membership” and taken concrete steps to advance this goal, while stopping short of clarifying the accession timeline.

“We set up for the first time in NATO’s history a dedicated command whose purpose is to help Ukraine along that path, to take the practical steps that it needs to take – in continuing to build and reform its military institutions, to continue to strengthen its democracy – that are necessary for membership,” he said. The secretary of state admitted that it would be “very challenging for Russia” to agree to a peace deal over Ukraine that would not explicitly remove the prospect of Kiev joining NATO. However, he argued that Ukraine could potentially receive “other kinds of assurances, commitments, guarantees” that would be similar to Article 5 of the NATO Charter, which states that an attack on one member of the bloc is an attack on all.

In October, Politico reported that some NATO allies were not particularly happy with Vladimir Zelensky’s ‘victory plan’, which calls for Ukraine to receive an immediate invitation to join the bloc. The article identified the US and Germany as the countries opposed to his request over fears that it would draw them into a direct conflict with Russia.

Publicly, NATO has ruled out full membership for Ukraine as long as it is embroiled in the conflict with Russia. However, some Western officials have floated an option of “partial membership” for Kiev, an idea rejected by Zelensky, who argued that this would essentially mean that the country recognizes all of its territorial losses to Russia. Moscow has long been opposed to NATO expansion towards its borders, seeing it as an existential threat. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Kiev’s ambition to join the bloc is one of the key reasons for the conflict, with Ukrainian neutrality, along with demilitarization and denazification, being Moscow’s main goals.

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Is that a warning? A threat?

• No Western Troops In Ukraine Without Russian Approval – Germany (RT)

Both Moscow and Kiev would need to be on board with any initiative involving the deployment of Western peacekeeping troops in Ukraine, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has said. Some EU leaders have raised the possibility of a Western peacekeeping force in Ukraine if a ceasefire is reached. Donald Trump, set to be sworn in as US president next month, recently stated that he wants to bring both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky to the negotiating table. Pistorius stressed that any discussion of a European troop presence in the conflict is premature, speaking at a press conference in Berlin on Monday. “If there is a ceasefire, then, of course, the Western community, NATO partners, possibly the United Nations, and the EU will have to discuss how such a peace, such a ceasefire can be secured,” he said.

Pistorius added that, as the EU’s largest economy, Germany “would play a role there,” without elaborating on what the role would entail. He noted that a mandate for a foreign peacekeeping force would also need to be defined. “It must be clear that the two nations negotiating for the ceasefire, Ukraine and Russia, have to agree on a mandate they would accept and on the participants of such a mandate,” Pistorius said.

On Tuesday, Zelensky stated that he expects to be in direct contact with the White House after Trump’s inauguration to find out which points of his so-called ‘peace formula’ the new US president supports. Moscow has previously dismissed Zelensky’s initiatives as completely divorced from reality. The Kremlin has argued that Kiev is not ready to negotiate. “The Ukrainian side still refuses to hold any negotiations,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Tuesday. He stressed that Zelensky has “legally forbidden himself from these negotiations,” referring to the Ukrainian leader’s 2022 decree banning any talks with Putin. Therefore, Peskov said, “it is premature to talk about everything else, namely peacekeepers, at this time.”

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Not something that can be solved with more money. But tell him that.

• RT Winning ‘Cognitive War’ – BBC Director (RT)

RT and Chinese media outlets are winning public trust and waging a “cognitive war” on Western audiences, the director of British state broadcaster the BBC, Tim Davie, has told parliament, at a hearing during which he asked for more taxpayer money. Davie appeared before lawmakers on Tuesday to argue for continued funding of the BBC World Service, which broadcasts in around 40 languages to a reported audience of 320 million people per week. Maintaining this service is vital to Britain’s interests, he claimed, arguing that “we are facing a tsunami of bad actors, disinformation, [and] fakery. The threats are overwhelming.” “As a nation we’ve got a public service broadcaster with the most trusted news service in the world. That’s something,” he said. “The trouble is around us… you’re seeing trust ratings for RT and other Chinese services grow as they just take over more slots.”

“It is cognitive warfare, as it’s been called, as people try and win the hearts and minds of populations and people around the world.” Davie made similar claims at a speech in London in October, stating that the BBC’s axing of more than 380 jobs and cancelation of radio broadcasts in ten languages, including Arabic and Persian, amounted to a loss in the “propaganda” battle against Russia and China. Davie told lawmakers that a recent £32.6 million boost in funding would preserve the World Service’s current language services, but that additional taxpayer money would be needed to keep these services running past 2026. The BBC is an almost entirely state-funded operation, financed by an annual license fee of £169.50 ($221) owed by every British household with a television or device capable of receiving broadcasts. The UK’s Office for National Statistics classifies the fee as a tax, and the BBC as part of the “central government sector” of the UK economy.

The British Foreign Office also pays £104 million ($135.5 million) of the World Service’s £334 million ($435.3 million) annual budget, and is the largest financial backer of the BBC’s ‘Media Action’ department. This department, which is also funded by the governments of the US, Canada, Norway, Sweden, the EU, UN, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, claims that it spends this money fighting “disinformation, division and distrust” in two dozen developing countries. Davie’s grievances echo those of the US State Department. After announcing a raft of sanctions on RT and its parent company in September, department official Jamie Rubin told reporters that “one of the reasons… why so much of the world has not been as fully supportive of Ukraine as you would think they would be… is because of the broad scope and reach of RT.”

In a report published on Tuesday, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a think tank funded by the US government and almost a dozen arms manufacturers, expressed concern that RT en Espanol is the second-most popular media outlet in Colombia, and along with Sputnik’s Spanish-language service, has an audience of approximately 32 million in Latin America and the Caribbean. US state-run Voice of America (VOA) is not even among the top 100 outlets in the region, CSIS noted. Like Davie, CSIS claimed that the problem can be fixed with more money. Ukraine and its Western backers, the report recommended, should invest in pro-Kiev news outlets in Latin America and hire local influencers and social media personalities to spread “high-quality” propaganda created in the US.

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“It is again a demonstration of Europe’s infamous lack of true leadership.”

• The Tone Regarding Ukraine’s Future Has Shifted Significantly And Fast (Rabo)

Since February 2022, the Western mantra was that Ukraine would be supported for as long as it takes and that it was up to Ukraine to decide whether it wanted to engage in negotiations with Russia. A logical argument for those who also continued to emphasize Ukraine’s sovereignty and, directly related to it, the right of self-determination. Both are crucial pillars of the concept of the nation state that has it roots in the Treaty of Westphalia. If the West would be as serious about upholding the international rules-based order as has been voiced so often, then Ukraine should be considered the litmus test. Not continuing or even stepping up support would in effect boil down to the alternative scenario in which the West would signal that they are unreliable guarantors of security alliances or partnerships (remember that Ukraine received those guarantees from the US and the UK in exchange for giving up its nuclear deterrent), that might makes right and that the West can be impressed and coerced by rattling the nuclear sabre, amongst others.

The negative consequences should be clear to anybody with even a basic understanding of security studies or international affairs. History also provides us with clues of what might be the result of such an approach. During the 1930’s, Germany felt humiliated because of the treaty of Versailles and the Nazis came with a fascist concept of a civilization state claiming territory based on both historic and ethnic grounds. After it could seize some territories without putting up a real fight, it eventually decided to test France and the UK by invading Poland. Back in the late 1930’s, the United Kingdom was still recovering from the impact of the Great War and the gradual loss of control over its empire and its hegemonic status. From Chamberlains point of view, another large war was to be avoided at all cost. But as all of us know by now, this attitude soon proved to be even more costly in a such a way that nobody could ever have imagined. The parallels with the current situation should be clear and as such have often been drawn by international relations observers.

Making a leap in time, Putin has been very clear all along about his views of the collapse of the Soviet Union which he calls the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century. So to be clear, apparently from the Kremlin’s point of view it is not the more than 25 million Russians that died during World War II fighting Nazi Germany but the nonviolent collapse of a communist block that subjugated many previously independent and sovereign states, that was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the (last) century. Eager to reverse what the Kremlin seems to consider as an unpalatable humiliation, Russia embarked on several ‘adventures’ in Georgia, Chechnya, and now clearly Ukraine. This is relevant because this point of view makes it less likely that a deal between Russia, Ukraine and the West will turn out to be a stable and durable one.

Taking all of the above into account it is the West that now seems to position itself as deal takers instead of deal makers when dealing with rule breakers. The majority of blame should go to Europe. While the war has already been dragging on for almost three years, many European member states continue to talk the talk instead of walk the walk. At the cost of precious lives and Europe’s own security. It is again a demonstration of Europe’s infamous lack of true leadership. We have plenty of Chamberlains and government officials dragging their feet but there is no Churchill in sight, except perhaps for some countries in the east that have been ignored in the past but have been warning the rest of us in Europe for many years.

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“[Social media companies] were one monolithic whole, and they were all working with the U.S. government in a censorship system that a federal court called ‘perfectly Orwellian’.”

• “Free Speech Is A Human Right!” Professors Jonathan Turley & Dave Karpf (ZH)

In a divide that says a lot about where Americans stand, depending on whom you ask “The Twitter Files” were a revolutionary exposé of government censorship or a “nothingburger”. George Washington law professor and favorite among ZeroHedge readers Jonathan Turley debated his left-leaning GW colleague, David Karpf, on the preeminent speech question of our age: how to secure free online discourse. Moderated by Gene Epstein of The SoHo Forum, they discussed Musk’s acquisition of Twitter and whether its new form — X — has been a net positive for society. We encourage readers to listen to the full debate, but for those short on time here were the key moments: After Musk released internal Twitter documents from the previous regime to journalists like Taibbi and Shellenberger, we often heard from the left and mainstream media that it was exaggerated excerpts from routine and banal content moderation discussions. Karpf shares this view.

Turley, on the other hand, argues that it was a pivotal moment in exposing a censorship apparatus that had grown out of hand. “The statement that the Twitter files was a ‘nothingburger’ is really breathtaking,” he says. “They were censoring jokes. They were censoring people who had dissenting views of COVID. People were barred and throttled and blacklisted.” “[Social media companies] were one monolithic whole, and they were all working with the U.S. government in a censorship system that a federal court called ‘perfectly Orwellian’.”

The question of Stanford physician Jay Bhattacharya was raised. The Context: A now-infamous leaked email between Francis Collins and Anthony Fauci, then-directors of National Institute of Health (NIH) and National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), respectively, revealed that the top Biden Admin scientists privately ordered a “devastating published take down” of Bhattacharya’s criticism of national lockdown policy. It was additionally revealed that he was shadow-banned on Twitter.

Asked whether these actions taken against Bhattacharya — now Trump’s pick to lead the NIH — constituted a free speech infringement, Karpf replied that Bhattacharya’s current success proves that his “cancelling” was ineffective and thus inconsequential. Turley took issue, saying Karpf and his ilk are essentially advocating for certain voices to be “disappeared”. “I’m really troubled by this line of argument,” Turley rebutts. “It’s sort of like a doctor saying, ‘Yes I committed malpractice, but I didn’t kill the patient… The fact that people can survive is a rather chilling test when determining whether this was a good or bad thing.”

As Turley points out, for centuries governments have tried to limit the means through which their subjects can communicate via unauthorized channels.“The internet itself is the most important invention since the printing press,” he argues. “When the printing press came out, the first reaction of governments was to limit the printing press. The internet scared the daylights out of governments. Also now with social media. “Turley describes social media platforms as powerful tools that have scaled communication from orators standing atop boxes on urban street corners to everyone having global reach at all times.

He views this as tremendously positive for speech while Karpf believes Musk abused this power to elect Trump and that Turley is only celebrating because “his side” won. Karpf: “We are now at a version of Twitter where Elon Musk is spending basically every day with President-to-be Donald Trump, helping to dictate what government policy should be and which agencies should effectively go away. And he’s calling for people who work for the government to be fired.”

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“Oh you mean the ‘Election Integrity’ Team that was undermining election integrity? Yeah, they’re gone.”

• Clouds Form Over Bluesky (Turley)

After the election, liberal pundits and media have attempted to rally the public in a shift from X to Bluesky, a smaller site that is viewed as a safe space for the left. I have been critical of the move as a retreat deeper into the liberal echo chamber after an election that showed how out-of-touch many of these writers were with the majority of voters. They would be better served engaging with a broader swath of public opinion. Today, one of the top Bluesky officials embraced Canadian-style speech controls and rejected more robust views of free speech as the model for the site.Bluesky has long been criticized as a site built on the concept of “safe spaces” in higher education for those triggered by opposing views.

Many of those leaving Twitter long for the “good ole days” of when all social media platforms engaged in extensive censorship to exclude or marginalize opposing voices.This week, Aaron Rodericks, the head of trust and safety at Bluesky, confirmed the worst fears of the site. Bluesky has been hammered with complaints from conservatives and libertarians that they have been subject to not only death threats on the site but also blocked from posting.Some have demanded even more aggressive measures to block or suppress conservative or libertarian views deemed threatening or demeaning. Liberal pundits have heralded the site as allowing them to “breathe again” without hearing the type of opposing views allowed on X.

Rodericks espoused the type of anti-free speech rationalizations that are addressed in my recent book, The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.” He insisted that there are alternative views of free speech than the type of “absolutism” supported by figures like myself. Rodericks juxtaposed what he called “free speech absolutism” against the more enlightened Canadian model, adding, “I think it just comes down to philosophies of free speech.” He explained: “Being Canadian shapes a lot of my perspective. There’s enough of the American perspective in the world on a day-to-day basis. For example, in the Canadian constitution… you have rights and freedoms, but they’re not unequivocal.” It was a chilling reference for many in the free speech community since free speech is in a free fall in Canada. As we have previously discussed, there has been a steady criminalization of speech, including even jokes and religious speech, in Canada.

The country has eviscerated the right to free speech and association. Yet, that is apparently the model for Bluesky. Rodericks repeats the doublespeak of the anti-free speech movement in claiming that he just wants to create a space where all are welcomed but excluding those who are not welcomed: “I’m glad that [critics] consider it a safe space and ideally it can be a safe space for them as well. The whole point of Bluesky is for it to be safe and welcoming to all users. I think the issue is some people are defining their identity by opposition to others and how well they can harass others and deny their existence. Bluesky may not be the right place for them.” Not surprisingly, Rodericks used to work at trust and safety for Twitter before he was fired by Elon Musk. He has also sued Musk over a tweet. At issue is Musk’s response to the criticism of his firing Rodericks’s team by noting, “Oh you mean the ‘Election Integrity’ Team that was undermining election integrity? Yeah, they’re gone.”

That would seem clearly protected opinion under the First Amendment, but, of course, for the former censors of Twitter, it should not be allowed. We have previously discussed the censorship standards at Twitter. For example, former Twitter executive Anika Collier Navaroli testified on what she repeatedly called the “nuanced” standard used by her and her staff on censorship. Toward the end of the hearing, she was asked about that standard by Rep. Melanie Ann Stansbury (D., NM). Her answer captured precisely why Twitter’s censorship system proved a nightmare for free expression.

Navaroli then testified how she felt that there should have been much more censorship and how she fought with the company to remove more material that she and her staff considered “dog whistles” and “coded” messaging. She said that they balanced free speech against safety and explained that they sought a different approach: “Instead of asking just free speech versus safety to say free speech for whom and public safety for whom. So whose free expression are we protecting at the expense of whose safety and whose safety are we willing to allow to go the winds so that people can speak freely.”

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“Eliminating sanctuaries is one of the most important steps that states can take to assist the Trump administration with enforcement..”

• Almost 8 Million Illegal Aliens Live in American ‘Sanctuary Cities’ (AmG)

A new study from a hardline immigration think tank claims that nearly 8 million illegal aliens are currently residing in the United States due to “sanctuary” cities and states run by Democrats. As reported by Breitbart, the study from the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) determined that there are at least 7.9 million illegals being protected from immigration authorities by these rogue jurisdictions, presenting possible complications for the incoming second Trump Administration. The vast majority of these illegals, 6.3 million, are found in the states of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, and Washington. Another 820,000 are living in sanctuary counties located in states that do not have statewide “sanctuary” laws.

And at least 750,000 are living in states that have numerous sanctuary jurisdictions, but not at the state level, including Maryland, New Mexico, and Virginia. “Although there is much imprecision in the data, the bottom line is that close to eight million illegal aliens, equaling 56 percent of the estimated nationwide total, live in sanctuary jurisdictions,” said CIS’s Jason Richwine in the report. Pointing to the strict immigration practices of Texas and Florida, Richwine adds that “every state should follow their lead.” “Eliminating sanctuaries is one of the most important steps that states can take to assist the Trump administration with enforcement,” Richwine continued.

President-elect Donald Trump campaigned heavily on the immigration issue, just as he did in 2016. He has vowed to finish construction of the southern border wall and to carry out the largest mass deportation operation in American history. Former ICE Director Tom Homan, who has been designated as the next border czar for the second Trump Administration, has frequently said in interviews that the federal government may pursue charges against Democratic officials who interfere with immigration authorities.

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“..an additional 12 months of liability protection … to allow for the manufacturer(s) to arrange for disposition of the Covered Countermeasure..”

• Feds Quietly Ban Liability For Vax Makers Through Trump’s Full Term (JTN)

The federal government is protecting the manufacturers of COVID-19 and flu vaccines from product liability for another five years, on the cusp of a new administration likely to aggressively look for vaccine injuries and release its hidden books that Just the News went to court to obtain. Didn’t hear about it? That’s because the Department of Health and Human Services does not appear to have told the public outside a Dec. 11 Federal Register notice, primarily read by regulated entities, and a generic page buried deep within HHS’s website. Outgoing agency Secretary Xavier Becerra’s amendment to the declaration under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act for “COVID-19 Medical Countermeasures,” enacted 19 months after President Joe Biden formally ended the COVID public health emergency, gives a perfunctory explanation for the liability shield’s continuing necessity.

“I have determined there is a credible risk that COVID-19 may in the future constitute such an emergency,” says the 27-page notice written in Becerra’s voice, dated Dec. 6, much of it rehashing previous amendments and requirements for “covered persons.” “Congress delegated to me the authority to strike the appropriate federal-state balance with respect to Covered Countermeasures through PREP Act Declarations,” he also says. “The 12th Amendment generally extends the protections clarified in the 11th Amendment” from May 2023, which ended some liability provisions and was set to expire Dec. 31, “through 2029,” reads the PREP Act questions and answers page. The extension also covers COVID therapeutics administered “subcutaneously, intramuscularly, or orally” such as Pfizer’s rebound-prone antiviral Paxlovid, whose efficacy Pfizer’s own research has questioned.

A section near the notice’s end provides for “an additional 12 months of liability protection … to allow for the manufacturer(s) to arrange for disposition of the Covered Countermeasure,” implying the shield will last the full decade. The Dec. 11 notice gives no explanation for the lengthy duration of the extension, three times longer than the previous amendment provided. Published a month after President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, it covers the entirety of his pending administration. One X observer noted interesting timing: Pfizer’s combination flu-COVID vaccine was supposed to finish Phase 3 clinical trials last month but failed an important benchmark this summer. “Pfizer would have to go through the normal licensing and approval process” with the Food and Drug Administration “and possibly lose legal immunity going forward” without this extension, the pseudonymous user wrote.

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Not sure what to think of this.

“The big lie is aliens created us . . . and there is no God.”

• Will Nuke False Flag Keep Trump Out of Office – Steve Quayle (USAW)

Renowned radio host, filmmaker, book author and archeological dig expert Steve Quayle is telling the public to brace themselves for the evil deeds that will be done to try to keep President Elect Donald Trump from taking office. This includes a false flag nuke that will be blamed on Russia. One side of government is trying to nuke America, and another side of government is trying to stop it. This is what some say all the drone traffic is about. Quayle explains, “A false flag is when you initiate an illegal act. In this case, we are talking about the detonation of not only ‘dirty bombs’ but also nuclear warheads. The rumors are there are active nuclear warheads… They that hate Trump and want to literally destroy this country to save the majority of the Democrats and Republicans that appear to have an affinity for China.

That came out in the Australian News about how many US politicians are on the China payroll.” Lots of crime and treason have been going on in Washington D.C., and it only got worse in the Biden Administration. The so-called Swamp is scared. Quayle says, “They are scared because of the revelation that President Elect Trump is sending public signals that he’s going to clean house. . . . The bottom line answer is if you have sold out to the Chinese. . . . Our government was in collusion with the Chinese. We funded (CV19) gain of function experiments that resulted in the deaths of people who were vaccinated . . . and participated in the knowing and willing destruction of American citizens… A top Communist Chinese Party member said . . . with our bioweapon, we defeated the United States… They are afraid because they know what they are guilty of. . . . President Trump has the goods on them — there is evidence.”

Quayle says there is another government group who is working to stop any false flag. Quayle contends, “They are going to use everything in their bag of evil tricks, including false flag nuclear detonations.” “The Nuclear Emergency Search Team (NEST) are good guys, and they are working tirelessly. They really want to stop this nuclear false flag,” These people who are against Trump are both desperate and evil. Quayle says, “They will do anything, including detonation of nuclear warheads in the US to stop Donald Trump.” “These are soulless creatures. . Their sole purpose is to destroy mankind.. There is only one reason to provoke a nuclear war with Russia, and that is they don’t want Trump in office. They are Luciferian, and they want a mass sacrifice of 250 million Americans.” In closing, Quayle says to be on the lookout for the big lie coming in the future. Quayle says, “The big lie is aliens created us . . . and there is no God. . .”

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Red handed.

• CNN Suspected Of ‘Fabricating’ Syrian Jail Release Story (RT)

CNN has been forced to admit that a Syrian man it claimed to have ‘discovered’ in a Damascus prison, and whom it filmed as part of a highly questionable report showing a journalist participating in the captive’s release, is in fact a former intelligence officer who was involved in multiple crimes. The man was reportedly imprisoned because of a dispute with his higher-ups over extorted money. The seeds of the debacle were sown last week when the network released a widely criticized video of CNN Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward entering a “secret prison” in Damascus, allegedly in search of missing US journalist Austin Tice, following the overthrow of former Syrian President Bashar Assad. In the video, Ward is accompanied by an armed man, with whom she apparently stumbles upon a locked cell, described as the only one still closed up in the facility.

Upon entering, Ward, who shouted in English throughout, found a man under a blanket, who stood up, thanked her for his release and kissed her hand as they exited the facility. Ward claimed that the man was ‘Adel Ghurbal’ from Homs, an “ordinary citizen.” He was reported by the US network to have been several months in prison and had, according to Ward, spent several days without food or water. He also claimed that he had been interrogated by security services over the contents of his phone. The man showed no signs of hunger nor dehydration, his hair and beard were trimmed and his nails manicured, according to multiple online observers. CNN ignored the obvious signs, however. On Sunday, the Verify-sy web portal debunked CNN’s reporting, citing local sources, by revealing that the man’s real name is Salama Mohammad Salama, also known as Abu Hamza, a first lieutenant in Syrian Air Force Intelligence.

According to the outlet, the man “managed several security checkpoints in Homs and was involved in theft, extortion, and coercing residents into becoming informants.” He also reportedly participated in military operations in Homs, “killed civilians, and was responsible for detaining and torturing numerous young men in the city without cause or on fabricated charges.” Sources also told Verify-sy that Salama was not detained for these crimes, but rather “due to a dispute over profit-sharing from extorted funds with a higher-ranking officer,” for which he had been imprisoned for less than a month. In addition, it shared what it said was an image of Salama in a Syrian military uniform sitting in his office.

”Did CNN fabricate the story of “Freeing a Syrian Detainee from a Secret Prison?.. Did CNN deliberately mislead its audience to rehabilitate Abu Hamza’s image, or did it fall victim to misinformation?” the portal asked. Following the revelation, CNN published an article admitting that the man in the picture did appear to have served in Syrian intelligence, and confirming that he had been accused of extortion. It added that it is “unclear how or why Salama ended up in the Damascus jail,” noting that his “current whereabouts are unknown,” and that CNN has been unable to contact him.

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Frens
https://twitter.com/i/status/1869407282033033503

 

 

Cat snow

 

 

Mantis

 

 

 

 

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