There Is Almost No Constituency in DC - For Shrinking DC

Like him or not - and many don’t like him because the following is true - Donald Trump has been a fundamentally transformational political figure. Not in an exceedingly awful, Barack Obama way. In a very good way. The Latest from Seton Motley is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Upgrade to paid For the US, anyway. For DC - not so much. Trump ran in 2016 on draining The Swamp. He is running on it again this year. You can - with moral certitude - count on nigh EVERYONE in The Swamp to oppose that. There are trillions of our dollars - each and every year - sloshing through The Swamp. Off of which these Swamp Things are lavishly skimming. NO ONE there wants to lower that water table. Imagine the federal government is a $6+-trillion-per-annum (and ever-growing) Great White Shark. DC is made up of many millions of remoras. Swimming around Jaws - picking off pieces of Jaws’ murder of America. Jaws doesn’t want to do anything other than increase the feeding frenzy. Neither do the hangers-on scavenging their slices of it. Oh: And $6+-trillion-per-annum - and ever-growing - buys a LOT of people. Including an ever-increasing number of people who once upon a time entered DC - pledging to shrink DC. Thus: The debates in DC are vanishingly less - about less government versus more government. Instead, they are increasingly between different factions of a sector - fighting each other for greater shares of government largesse and favor. Which is why it so important to join a battle - when one side is actually fighting for less government. And/or when one side is fighting - against the massive addition of even more government. One such battle - is the Network Neutrality fray yet again underway. For those paying attention - you may recall the federal government has tried again and again (and AGAIN) to impose this Internet idiocy. The Fight for Net Neutrality is Forever It certainly feels that way. When the federal government is this insistent? It is because a massive DC crony constituency is this insistent. Behold Big Tech - and their current Market Caps. These are but some of the companies that want the government to impose Net Neutrality. Microsoft: $3.00 trillion Apple: $2.98 trillion Google (Parent: Alphabet): $1.91 trillion Amazon: $1.64 trillion Facebook (Parent: Meta): $1.01 trillion Netflix: $249.66 billion —- Total: $10.79 trillion In fact, nearly all of the companies who ride the Internet rails - rather than build them? Are for the government massively expanding its power over the rails. Tech Companies Are Pushing Everyone to Join the Fight for Net Neutrality Why are the Riders so insistent that the Builders be subjected to government’s Net Neutrality? We are told because of this: “The net neutrality rules in question prevent companies like AT&T, Charter, Comcast, and Verizon from blocking or slowing down access to services…” Except this never, ever happens. It never, ever has happened. And it almost certainly never, ever will happen. Because these Internet Service Providers (ISPs) won’t be in business very long - if they don’t provide service to the Internet. Because duh. There has perhaps never been a more idiotic, unnecessary, massive expansion of government power - than Net Neutrality. And what aren’t we told about Net Neutrality? This…: “Of course uber-huge-bandwidth-hog-(Big Tech) compan(ies)…like Net Neutrality. “Because it outlaws their being charged for being uber-huge-bandwidth-hog-compan(ies). “No matter how much data (they) use - and they use a ton - Internet Service Providers (ISPs) can not charge them a dime. “Which leaves We the Consumers picking up (their) tab - in the form of MUCH higher monthly ISP charges.” Just how bandwidth hog-gy are the Big Tech companies? In 2022, 65% of All Internet Traffic Came from Video Sites: “The breakdown of that internet usage reveals six Big Tech companies - Facebook, Amazon, Google, Apple, Netflix, and Microsoft - that claim almost half of all traffic.” And these companies want the government to outlaw their being charged for their Internet usage? That’s almost difficult to believe. Meanwhile, we have the ISPs - the Builders - and their Market Caps. These are the companies asking for less government. And by that I mean opposing the government’s massive expansion of its existing massive power - in the ridiculous name of the ridiculous Net Neutrality. WideOpenWest: $308.60 billion Xfinity (Parent: Comcast): $186.66 billion T-Mobile: $185.24 billion Verizon: $176.72 billion AT&T: $122.66 billion Spectrum (Parent: Charter) $55.22 billion —- Total: $1.04 trillion And please keep in mind: The ISPs’ Market Caps - are not entirely from being ISPs. They provide television and other services as well. So we have way-more-than-$10.79-trillion-worth of companies - wanting more government. Which government inherently wants anyway. Versus way-less-than-$1.04-trillion-worth of companies - wanting less government. Which government inherently opposes anyway. So: Guess with which side DC sides? Over and over (and OVER) again. It’s almost difficult to believe…. The Latest from Seton Motley is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. The Latest from Seton Motley. © 2024 Seton Motley 877 Roadrunner Spur, Canyon Lake, Texas 78133

And they expect us to really buy that it's not a witch hunt?

I’m not a huge fan of Donald Trump. I’ve made that clear before and I need to say that again, because while I don’t particularly like him, I also can’t stand to see some of these attacks against him. You see, I try to stand by what I think is right and against what I see as wrong, regardless of my thoughts on the parties involved. Not everyone does, but that’s fine. Yet while doing that, it’s not difficult to see Trump is being targeted not for his alleged wrongdoing, but because of who he is, and the latest evidence makes that really, really clear... Tilting At Windmills © 2024 Tom Knighton 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104 Unsubscribe

Light chit chat while I am down with flu

Love this one. Who would have suspected that the owners of our mainstream press could be bought off so cheaply, and would willingly torpedo freedom of the press? Centralization of almost all the US’ major media into 7 big companies is all it took. And they don’t seem to mind their subsidiaries committing suicide, which is a unique (and dare I say it, unsustainable) business strategy. Tragic report reveals thousands of Journalists still have not been laid off. It is critical that we overturn the censorship now being imposed, and the greater, legally sanctioned censorship the WHO and the rest of the globalist system is trying to install. If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter - George Washington. Another way to impinge on freedom of speech is to make speech barely intelligible. I tried several ways to tell a story when I was forced to wear a mask, but I don’t know how many people grasped my meaning. In this case, I sewed an “evil eye”talisman to my mask, trying to indicate that the mask was simply another talisman, trying to ward off the evil COVID through magic. We can’t let this happen. We had a hypnotized population with COVID and it’s critical we manage to stop our friends and family from being hypnotized again. Nowadays the COVID restrictions are gone, but people still need to realize that the idea of our “elected” leaders is to take our freedoms and our wealth from us. We have to be ready to do this again and find other ways to win this war against the people.

Can't Even Agree Hence The Divide

If you think of the current political environment, and it is toxic and tribal, is bad now, wait. It’s going to escalate tremendously in 2024. Two reasons. The Democrats want chaos. “Never let a crisis go to waste” is a mantra and by creating crisis, they use government solutions to grab more power. The Republicans use it to instill fear to try and motivate. “This is the most important election in our lifetimes.” Neither is particularly good at achieving what we need, consensus and agreement. Each side doesn’t trust each other at all. It also doesn’t help when people on your team cave on core values to try and build consensus. See the recent immigration bill in the Senate or anything Mitt Romney says. I always found that with reasonable people, I could find a solution if we could agree on the problem at hand. The knee-jerk reaction for a Democrat or a RINO is to create an expansive government program and spend government money to fix it. That’s a bad solution not only because it expands the power of the government. The real danger is that it abdicates an individual's personal responsibility to think about and solve it. Look at charitable giving and see which party’s faithful give more. There is a reason why and not because one party’s faithful is less charitable than the others. Arthur Brooks looked at this and shattered a lot of myths. When the government is the solution to everything, your taxes are considered charitable giving even though everyone of every political stripe tries to minimize them. There are plenty of examples of disconnect and distrust. Immigration is a hot one now. We can’t even agree on whether to close the border or not, how are we going to solve for immigration? Education is another hot one. We can’t even agree if we want classically educated people in the US. Education has become overtly politicized. Health and wellness is one. One side sees it as a human right. Once you go down that path, it is guaranteed and there is only one thing that can guarantee it. The other side sees it as a claim on someone’s personal innovation and labor. That’s kind of equivalent to slavery. It also avoids the fact that in most cases, healthiness is a personal choice. Free trade is another. Trump had tariffs. They didn’t work. Biden has tariffs. They don’t work. Yesterday Trump said he would put 60% tariffs on goods from China, which won’t work. Both sides talk a good game on free trade but neither is willing to walk away from tariffs, subsidies, price supports, or price ceilings. Maybe Trump is just making political talking points and trying to appear tough on the Chinese, but given his track record he doesn’t have to do that. The tax system is yet another. Trump’s tax cuts expire in 2025. Both sides are angling for a fight and I see all kinds of proposals now that are on the edges. Instead of trusting the individual citizen to make their own decision on taxes, they want to implement a centralized government solution. To be clear about where I stand, given the low optimum choices that confront me on the tableau, Trump is the least worst of all of them. There is no candidate like the Argentinian Milei in this tableau, even on third parties. Free markets if applied correctly can restore trust, and create consensus. The one thing I know is that the free market is objective if you let it be objective. Some of the more remarkable parts of the classic R. A. Radford paper on the “Economics of a POW Camp” is that a huge economy was created out of nothing. There was no actual government-issued currency. The prisoners used cigarettes. Since they used cigarettes, you could make a personal choice to not smoke, or smoke far less and you were automatically “richer”. The same goes for many choices people make in their own lives today. There was no surgeon general’s warning, no government telling you that you couldn’t, and nothing was illegal. The camp had a coffee and tea stand, and it was so busy they needed to pay an accountant to keep track. The free market economy created ancillary jobs that weren’t envisioned when it started. By the way, there was no centralized push for the market to start. It just happened because people are hard-wired to get gains from trade. As soon as the officers started to regulate and implement control measures they thought were “fair”, the economy crashed. Centralization kills free markets. “Oh, but we need some rules, some guardrails”, say the crowd. They see themselves in the middle between the free marketers and the government control freaks. The only rules you need are very clear and transparent standards on trading, settlement, and how money gets transferred. All the other stuff gives rise to price ceilings and floors and gives a competitive advantage to some market participants over others. Points And Figures is free today. But if you enjoyed this post, you can tell Points And Figures that their writing is valuable by pledging a future subscription. You won't be charged unless they enable payments. © 2024 Jeffrey Carter 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104

The most serious and tragic news of the weekend

Saturday night, at a small US military outpost in Jordan near the Syrian border, a drone attack killed three US service members and wounded dozens more. Blessings on you and your family from all the Huckabee team! Today, if you have a moment, leave me a comment about something you read. Comments help me fine tune what I am writing, and they show that we have an active community of readers. The Morning Edition is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Upgrade to paid Sincerely, Mike Huckabee Daily Bible Verse Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV Newsletter Notes 12 stories 4,784 words Reading time: About 22 minutes Holocaust Remembrance Day Saturday, January 27th, was Holocaust Remembrance Day. This is always an extremely solemn day, but it was even more disturbing to contemplate this year. Over the past few months, we’ve seen a terrifying spike in anti-Semitism worldwide, starting with the horrific attack on Israel by Hamas on October 7th, which led to widespread demonstrations against Israel. We’re told that these protests are just in sympathy with the Palestinian people, but a Nazi in a different uniform is still a Nazi. It’s obvious from their pro-Hamas chants, their verbal and physical assaults on Jews. and their ripping down of Hamas hostage posters that these people are not humanitarians, they’re terrorist-supporting anti-Semites. Even members of our own House of Representatives have echoed this reprehensible rhetoric. It's easy for our “intellectual elites” to mourn the Holocaust one day a year and insincerely mouth the words “Never again.” Well, it’s back again, and what are they doing about it? The leaders of our once-great universities are letting it play out, doing nothing to protect Jewish students, and they can’t even bring themselves to call anti-Semitism a hate crime or condemn it. There’s a lot of important news today, but this particularly is a MUST-READ: https://www.jns.org/a-hollow-holocaust-remembrance-day/ It’s by Jonathan S. Tobin, editor-in-chief of the Jewish News Syndicate, and it’s about what a hollow Holocaust Remembrance Day this was because so many of the people saying “Never again” created the policies that have brought it back. He examines how the insane progressive “woke” and race-based “intersectional” "oppressed victim" movements have brainwashed young people. He also notes that we’ve long asked how the good people of Germany could have stood by and watched the rise of the Nazis and the demonization of the Jews and done nothing. Yet today, we have college-miseducated “elites” who think they are our moral superiors, and they’re not just watching it, they’re causing it, funding it and defending it. They can posture as being for peace or being even-handed, but in reality, by taking the side of Hamas, they are supporting people whose entire lives are devoted to achieving a Jewish genocide. And he reminds us that this is nothing new. The Germany of the early 20th century was considered one of the leading intellectual nations on Earth, and it was among these so-called intellectuals that the scapegoating of the Jews began. He calls it “the treason of the intellectuals.” I strongly urge you to read the entire article, but I want to quote this paragraph in full: “That’s why I don’t want to hear a single word of Holocaust commemoration from anyone this year who isn’t prepared to unreservedly support Israel’s justified war to eliminate Hamas in the same manner that the Allies belatedly destroyed Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich. In the months since Oct. 7, we have seen what this generation’s ‘treason of the intellectuals’ has wrought as antisemitic ideas, conduct and speech have once again become commonplace. If you aren’t willing to stand with the Jewish state against Islamist murderers and their woke fellow travelers and useful idiots, then at least have the decency not to bother us with your insincere grief about the Holocaust.” For those who want to know more about the Holocaust and why we need to double or triple our efforts to make sure the world doesn’t go down that path ever again, visit the website for Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem. https://www.yadvashem.org/ The wheels are coming off the Biden car now Did you ever have a car that was so old and rickety, you knew that it was beyond repair? It was no longer a matter of changing the tires or the spark plugs. No, the problems were getting more serious by the day, and snowballing so fast that you knew that if you had to drive it another thousand miles, you’d be lucky if the engine didn’t explode or the transmission fall out. I think that’s a pretty good description of where the Biden Administration is now. It’s a lemon on its last legs, and it’s becoming alarmingly obvious that it's falling apart every time it cranks up. I have several important news items from over the weekend that I have to relate, and all of them are a direct result of this Administration’s cascading failures. America will be lucky if we’re able to make it to the next Inauguration Day to trade it in on a new one before the wheels fall off completely… First of all, the most serious and tragic news of the weekend: Saturday night, at a small US military outpost in Jordan near the Syrian border, a drone attack killed three US service members and wounded dozens more. I hope you will join me in praying for them and their families. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/3-us-service-members-killed-at-least-25-injured-in-drone-attack-in-jordan-by-radical-iran-backed-militant-groups/ar-BB1hokSK President Biden called the attack “despicable and wholly unjust” and warned, “We shall respond.” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin added, “The President and I will not tolerate attacks on American forces, and we will take all necessary actions to defend the United States, our troops and our interests.” All the right words, but a little late to do much good. While these are the first US military casualties in the war started by Hamas on October 7th, as that story also reports, “The attack comes just a week after four American soldiers were examined for potential traumatic brain injuries from a ballistic missile and rocket attack at the Al-Asad Air Base in Iraq." I’ll also remind you that Americans are among the hostages taken by Hamas. And Houthi militants have continued their very effective attacks on ships in the Red Sea, last week scoring a major victory by striking a British oil tanker. All this came after the disastrous and deadly botched pullout from Afghanistan broadcast this Administration's weakness and fecklessness to our enemies. https://www.breitbart.com/news/crew-extinguish-fire-on-tanker-hit-by-houthi-missile-off-yemen-after-us-targets-rebels-in-airstrike/ Americans have been targeted, taken hostage, injured, and now killed for nearly four months. The attacks are only ramping up because when our enemies sense weakness, they push harder, and they can feel the weakness emanating from this White House. The response from Biden has been threats, limited strikes, and behind-the-scenes pressure on Israel to help him politically with liberals by calling off the kind of justified response that we used to be known and feared for back when we didn’t tolerate our people being slaughtered. Iran is denying as “baseless” claims that they back the as-yet-unknown Syrian-based militants who launched the drone attack on Americans (I assume they must’ve gotten the weapon from Amazon.) A spokesman said “resistance groups” in the region don’t take orders from Iran. But they get weapons from Iran, and Iran hardly has to tell them to use those weapons to attack “the great Satan.” Maybe something the Obama and Biden Administrations might have thought about before lifting sanctions, allowing Iran to sell lots of oil, sending Iran billions of dollars and letting them build nuclear reactors. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/iran-says-claims-it-is-linked-to-jordan-drone-attack-deaths-of-us-soldiers-are-baseless/ar-BB1hqmak Related: Republicans are slamming Biden for the weakness that emboldens such attacks. Rep. Mike Waltz said, “It was only a matter of a time before Biden’s appeasement strategy towards Iran got American service-members killed. Tragic and preventable.” https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/01/28/republicans-hit-biden-military-deaths-jordan-left-our-troops-sitting-ducks/ And here is former President Trump’s response to the attack: https://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2024/01/28/trump-blasts-bidens-dangerous-foreign-policy-weakness-n2634296 I don’t endorse the over-the-top calls for retaliation on the level of bombing Tehran. That could set off World War III, and we’re teetering close enough to the brink of that already. But I assume that we have the technology to figure out where the attacks are coming from in Yemen, Iraq and Syria, and to obliterate the sources. If so, then why haven’t we already done that? As for Iran, maybe we could start a little smaller by, I don’t know, stopping our funding of Iran’s support for terrorists? And by securing our own border so that Iran-backed terrorists who want to kill Americans from within can’t just walk right in. Another story that shows that Biden’s mental engine isn’t firing on all four cylinders was this: He tends to blow a gasket every time he starts talking about Trump, with the latest examples being that he referred to Trump as the “sitting President” (No, Joe, that’s you. You are literally sitting in the White House, doing nothing, while the world burns.) https://www.westernjournal.com/day-enemies-struck-killed-us-service-members-biden-struggled-remember-current-president-america/ Biden also hallucinated that he had been raised in the black church… https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2024/01/29/biden-black-church-n2169356 And he went into a rant about a long-debunked hoax Trump story, and he apparently thinks his late son Beau died in France in World War II. https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2024/01/27/biden-freaks-out-and-starts-screaming-south-carolina-over-trump-n2169318 It’s no wonder so many Americans now regret trading in something they could depend on for this sputtering lemon. Another big story over the weekend that shows how this Administration is falling apart before our eyes is the continuing drama at the border, where Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has not only had to assume Biden’s constitutional duty to repel an invasion, he’s having to fight Biden’s efforts to stop him. House Republicans released two (only two?!) articles of impeachment against DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for his refusal to do his job and secure our border. https://www.breitbart.com/news/house-gop-releases-impeachment-articles-in-bid-to-oust-homeland-securitys-mayorkas-over-the-border/ Of course, he will never be removed, because that would require a two-thirds Senate vote, and there aren’t enough (if any) Democrats who would prioritize America’s national security over their sacred duty to never hold a fellow Democrat accountable. Besides, it’s not as if the open border were a mistake. Here are a couple of articles about what’s really going on with the Democrats allowing millions of illegal immigrants to flood into the nation while they press for legalizing them under the rubric of “immigration reform.” https://www.westernjournal.com/ap-soros-dumping-fortune-texas-funding-operatives-one-goal-mind/ https://thelibertydaily.com/goal-open-borders-is-turn-texas-democrat/ Their ridiculous cover story is that the open border is somehow all the Republicans’ fault, and Biden could fix it if only Congress would give him more power and money to speed up the process of legalizing all the illegal immigrants. It’s so stunningly idiotic that not even Gavin Newsom could convincingly pretend to believe it, and even ABC’s Jonathan Karl wasn’t able to pretend to buy it, or Newsom’s other laughable whoppers about Biden’s unprecedented “accomplishments.” https://redstate.com/mike_miller/2024/01/28/watch-abcs-karl-stops-newsom-in-his-tracks-as-he-makes-ridiculous-claims-about-bidens-presidency-n2169343 I assume he means that term in the negative sense, as in “The Kaiser accomplished laying waste to Europe.” To wash Newsom’s hot garbage out of your brain, here’s a quick blast of cold reality: a reminder of the things Biden did on his very first day in office to ensure that border security was destroyed and millions of illegal border crossers could come swarming in. https://twitchy.com/samj/2024/01/28/biden-day-1-illegal-immigrants-n2392283 Former President Trump’s attorneys say they have more grounds for appeal of the $83.3 million defamation award that a New York jury gave to E. Jean Carroll, the writer who claimed that Trump sexually assaulted her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the 1990s. Trump apparently defamed her by calling her a liar when she accused him of raping her with no evidence. The Trump attorneys say they will cite an “insane” conflict of interest that they were unaware of: that Judge Lewis Kaplan had previously mentored Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan. https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/01/28/trump-appeal-jean-carroll-ruling-over-insane-conflict-interest/ Since I haven’t covered this trial in depth, here are a couple of other articles you should read to get you up to speed, since Heaven knows the media aren’t going to tell you any of this. Here are 15 facts about Carroll’s allegations against Trump that the media don’t want you to know… https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/01/27/15-facts-about-e-jean-carrolls-allegations-against-trump-media-dont-want-you-know/ And here’s an op-ed by Victor Davis Hanson on Twitter (X) examining the case and noting that it is not only one of five politically-motivated cases brought against Trump in biased jurisdictions, it is also the most baffling. It's a claim filled with holes and glaring inconsistencies that required a Trump opponent changing the New York statute of limitations law to let her sue Trump. He also explains how, in a desperate effort to stop Trump from regaining the White House, “The legal system itself, hand-in-glove with leftwing politicos…is turning the process of balloting and elections into an embarrassing farce” and a “mockery of American law, customs and traditions.” https://twitter.com/vdhanson/status/1751087392218624474 What a list! Courtesy of Instapundit, a jaw-dropping compilation of past statements by top Democrats on their strong opposition to illegal immigration, including Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and, yes, Joe Biden – who said in 2007 that he wouldn’t allow sanctuary cities to exist because they turn into dumps and the only reason they exist is that the federal government doesn’t enforce the law. https://instapundit.com/628682/ Man, I must be getting old! I actually remember the year when Joe Biden made sense. Tribal Consent In accordance with new Biden Administration “tribal consent laws” to prevent Native American tribes from being offended, the American Museum of Natural History is erasing all its Native American-related exhibits from history. https://nypost.com/2024/01/26/metro/nyc-museum-of-natural-history-closing-native-american-exhibits-new-tribal-consent-laws/ More "Shocking But Not Surprising" News: Stop me if you’ve heard something like this before, but documents obtained in a lawsuit by America First Legal show that the DHS and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) knew in 2020 that mail-in voting came with increased election security risks and there was no credible evidence that in-person voting would spread COVID. But they continued to monitor and target social media posts that repeated those truths and censor them as “disinformation.” https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/2814279/new-documents-dhs-knew-mail-in-voting-risks-continued-censoring-social-media/ Since it’s Monday and we could all use a few laughs to get us through today, here are a few recent stories from the Babylon Bee… https://babylonbee.com/news/biden-says-texas-has-till-end-of-day-to-remove-razor-wire-or-else-frinlerbagsuzzit-dorblelerg https://babylonbee.com/news/texas-finds-loophole-with-super-ouchy-pokey-wire https://babylonbee.com/news/laid-off-la-times-reporter-stands-on-street-corner-with-sign-that-reads-will-call-you-racist-for-food https://babylonbee.com/news/liberals-relieved-to-finally-have-a-white-late-night-host-who-agrees-with-them https://babylonbee.com/news/ted-cruz-grows-out-mutton-chops-in-preparation-for-civil-war https://babylonbee.com/news/airlines-offering-100-upgrade-where-youre-guaranteed-an-old-male-pilot-named-steve Who’d have guessed the DC jury pool is biased against J6 defendants? DC District Attorney Matthew Graves, who oversees all the January 6-related cases, has made no secret of his animosity towards all who participated that day in support of President Trump. And if you thought the DC jury pool was similarly biased and that it was impossible to get a fair trial there, a new survey shows you were right --- that the level of bias among potential jurors living in Washington DC towards anyone who participated in the January 6 protests is off the charts. Edward Jacob “Jake” Lang, a January 6 defendant who has been detained in a DC jail for THREE YEARS WITHOUT TRIAL --- that alone should tell you all you need to know --- commissioned the survey by Triton Polling and Research, with the results to be used in court to support a motion for change of venue. It was paid for through the January 6 Legal Fund, so if you’ve given to the January 6 Legal Fund, you’ve done a good thing. ALL the J6 defendants deserve a change of venue! The ones already convicted and sentenced in DC courtrooms who were denied changes of venue should get new trials. Read the shocking-but-unsurprising poll results here. https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/exclusive-survey-reveals-extreme-bias-toward-jan-6-defendants-among-potential-dc-jurors RELATED READING: Speaking of prosecutors infected with Trump Derangement Syndrome, emerging evidence shows that in the “classified documents” case, Special Counsel Jack Smith has collaborated with President Biden’s in-house lawyers and multiple government agencies --- the National Archives (NARA), National Security Council, FBI Counterintelligence, the intel community at large, the Secret Service and the Department of Energy --- going back to 2021. In a must-read article from Julie Kelly, you’ll also see that the fingerprints of Obama holdover Lisa Monaco, second in command at the DOJ --- well, we theorize first in command --- are on this as well. As Kelly reports, “...the Biden regime worked behind-the-scenes to initiate the classified documents case,” and she outlines how it was done, through NARA, with whom Biden officials were in “constant communication.” Well worth your time… Declassified with Julie Kelly 'Disturbing' Collusion Between Biden White House and Trump Prosecutors Before the appointment of Special Counsel Jack Smith in November 2022, Joe Biden’s Department of Justice was in the process of conducting two separate criminal investigations into Donald Trump: his attempts to “overturn” the 2020 election and his alleged mishandling of sensitive government files… Read more 2 days ago · 223 likes · 27 comments · Julie Kelly Kelly also details how Fulton County, Georgia, DA Fani Willis received two letters from White House counsel. And as you know, her “special” special prosecutor, Nathan Wade, met with White House officials twice in 2022, including the same day Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the special counsel appointment. Smith is trying to keep the various “classified documents” communications under wraps, but let’s hope Florida Judge Aileen Cannon will act on behalf of transparency. As Kelly writes, “If Cannon permits the unsealing of most of the exhibits the defense filed, the Biden White House will have another crisis on its hands. And Jack Smith will once again be exposed as nothing more than a partisan tool of the Democratic Party.” Article offers insight into how Hunter learned to trade on his name One hint that Joe Biden won’t be the presidential candidate this year is that a left-leaning news outlet like POLITICO has just run an article about Hunter Biden and his long history of trading on the Biden name. The piece is by Jasper Craven, whose work has appeared in such publications as THE NEW YORK TIMES, MOTHER JONES, THE INTERCEPT, THE ATLANTIC and THE NEW REPUBLIC. We’re talking far left. “Hunter Biden snagged a cushy bank job after law school,” says the headline. “He’s been trading on the Biden name ever since.” Subhead: “When Hunter decided to be in the Biden business.” Actually, the decision seems to have been made for him. The article details how Hunter’s life changed just as he was graduating from Yale Law School. He was already married with a baby daughter, apparently a happy guy with his whole professional life ahead, and he and wife Kathleen were ready for the next phase of their relationship, planning a move to Chicago, where her family was, and for him to take a couple of well-paying internships and an “attractive” full-time offer from one of those firms. (Note: much of this information comes straight from Kathleen’s book, IF WE BREAK: A MEMOIR OF MARRIAGE, ADDICTION AND HEALING.) But something happened to derail those adventurous early-marriage plans. One day Hunter went back home to Wilmington to talk with someone “to get career advice,” as Kathleen put it. Another source has said this person was Charles Cawley, CEO of MBNA bank and a close political ally of father Joe Biden. Apparently, this was the proverbial offer Hunter couldn’t refuse; it was, in Kathleen’s words, “a dollar amount greater than anything I’d ever imagined someone our age earning.” Have you ever read the John Grisham novel or seen the movie THE FIRM? In it, the lead character, played in the film by Tom Cruise, has just graduated from law school and is offered a mind-boggling amount of money, with all sorts of perks, to join a small law firm. In the fictional story, he’s recruited from his graduating class for this unbelievably lucrative job not because his father is a senator but because he’s naive and swayed by the trappings of success. The trappings end up “trapping”...him. In the real-life story, the Biden story, it happens because his father is a senator. (Note: the movie “firm” is corrupt, catering to a corrupt mob-based client. That’s certainly not a parallel we’re drawing with MBNA; they had different reasons for bringing Hunter on. We’re just illustrating how an unimaginably huge monetary offer can sway someone right out of school who might have had other plans for his life.) And just as in the movie this decision caused marital strife, so it did in Hunter’s young household. Kathleen didn’t want to live in Wilmington; she felt as if she didn’t fit. But Hunter took the job at MBNA anyway. “In doing so,” Craven writes, “he settled into a pattern that would last the rest of his life, taking opportunities and putting himself in positions marked by good money and terrible political optics.” It might be said that Hunter became a professional Biden at that point. The article goes into detail about the close relationship between MBNA and Sen. Biden. “Over the course of his senatorial career,” it says, “MBNA executives showered him with more than $200,000 in campaign donations, the largest amount in his war chest tied to any one company. Sen. Biden was friendly with MBNA officials, including Cawley, and a reliable ally for all their issues.” “The move to MBNA thrust Hunter into a small, chummy world where it would prove impossible to escape his father’s shadow.” As long ago as 1998, Byron York investigated these ties and called Joe Biden “the senator from MBNA.” He also referred to Hunter’s “mystery job” within that corporation, where Hunter advanced to the position of senior vice president. Joe Crouse, a lobbyist for MBNA, told Craven that “nobody was really surprised” when Hunter was brought in. “He was a Biden, and we were in Delaware.” As far as we know, Hunter’s work at MBNA was totally above-board. But it just shows how things work in the world of politics when you’re the son of a powerful senator. And it primed Hunter for what was to come later, internationally, trading on his father’s name. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/01/26/hunter-biden-first-nepotism-job-00137308 In other Hunter Biden news, Jonathan Turley wrote a column detailing a threat he received from the attorney for “sugar brother” Kevin Morris. “The letter warns,” Turley says, “that I could face a defamation action if I do not retract (or if I repeat) my criticism of Morris’ representational relationship with Hunter.” Needless to say, Turley did not issue a retraction. Instead, he refused to be intimidated and published another column (good for him) repeating his objections to what he calls “Morris’ blurry representational claims.” We’ve asked similar questions: Is Kevin Morris acting as Hunter’s attorney, business partner, friend, film producer, financial institution/source of funds, art buyer? He seems to be whichever is convenient at the moment. When Morris was deposed, he asserted attorney-client privilege an astounding 17 times. https://nypost.com/2024/01/25/opinion/hunter-bidens-sugar-brother-kevin-morris-avoids-questions-as-lawyer/ Morris seeks “sweeping privilege claims despite the layers of different relationships, from loaner to donor to lawyer to producer.” But as Turley notes, “when you are ‘everything’ to a client, you may end up with nothing when it comes to confidentiality.” Mike Miller at REDSTATE wrote about this as well, saying that Turley made Morris “look like a fool.” Turley had pointed out the ethics rule that lawyers “are not supposed to pay the bills of their clients.” Morris, while claiming to be Hunter’s attorney, has “loaned” (ha) him millions. America First Legal has filed a complaint with the State Bar of California against Morris for this. Great letter... https://media.aflegal.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/16202026/CA-Bar-Complaint-Against-Kevin-Morris-01162024.pdf Good for Turley, and for AFL. As Miller wrote, when Morris and his attorney went after Jonathan Turley, they threatened the wrong guy. https://redstate.com/mike_miller/2024/01/26/kevin-morris-threatens-jonathan-turley-with-defamation-lawsuit-turley-promptly-humiliates-him-n2169253 Bipartisan immigration bill hits the wall, Liberals blame Trump An effort at a bipartisan Senate immigration bill that would include funding for Ukraine for some reason (well, at least somebody’s border is being defended) and that is very unpopular with conservatives seems to have hit a wall because of public outrage over the invasion on our border. https://www.breitbart.com/2024-election/2024/01/25/mitch-mcconnell-retreats-from-border-giveaway-bill/ And guess who Senators like Mitt Romney are blaming for it. That’s right: Donald Trump! https://www.breitbart.com/2024-election/2024/01/25/romney-pro-migration-senators-try-revive-mcconnells-border-giveaway/ Yes, the only reason they aren’t moving ahead with another bill to legalize illegal immigration is that Trump needs that public anger over the open border for political advantage. Oh, if only that rascally Trump weren’t out there badmouthing open borders and “immigration,” their constituents wouldn’t be so upset! Or, try this alternate theory: Trump and a couple hundred million other Americans are furious about the open border and unfettered illegal immigration because they have every right to be. Here are two more novel ideas: if Democrats want more voters, then come up with better policies to win over the ones who are already here. And if establishment Republicans want cheaper labor, then stop helping Democrats spend us into oblivion and fueling inflation. A round-up of COVID pandemic and vaccine stories We’re not medical experts, so I’m hesitant to cover all the news we see about medicine and science, particularly the COVID pandemic and vaccines. But several stories have all come in at once, so this round-up will give you an idea of why so many people now distrust public health authorities so much that they’re refusing to get vaccines even for things that have been considered safe for years. That’s how badly they squandered their credibility, with very dangerous consequences. This is a story about newly-released documents that strengthen the case for the lab-leak theory of COVID’s origin, the one we weren’t allowed to discuss. https://www.city-journal.org/article/new-documents-bolster-lab-leak-hypothesis The Epoch Times obtained an email showing that the CDC prepared an alert in 2021 about a connection between the COVID vaccines and heart inflammation, but decided it might cause panic, so they never sent it. https://www.theepochtimes.com/article/exclusive-email-reveals-why-cdc-didnt-issue-alert-on-covid-vaccines-and-myocarditis-5571675?src_src=Morningbrief&src_cmp=mb-2024-01-26&est=%2BPrVeCY9bAIs5%2Fx1p3pWRZx2EuCgDIWy6SMgg1sUE0roHSFNcQiQd8w62QWgem08%2FH1B Here’s a case that a widely-touted study in the British medical journal The Lancet about the dangers of under-vaccination for COVID was so seriously flawed that it never should have been published. https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/lancet-paper-on-dangers-of-undervaccination-shows-how-desperate-they-are-getting/ This is one that I must warn you to brace yourselves for. It’s about a new book called “What The Nurses Saw,” based on interviews with nurses who worked in hospitals during the height of the pandemic. The cruelty, greed, callousness and abuse of power in forcing treatments on patients that were worse than the disease just might make your blood boil. https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/the-shocking-testimony-of-the-covid-19-nurses/ Finally, to sum it all up, here’s a speech from November by doctor and Senator Rand Paul called “Lessons from the Great COVID Cover-Up.” With Dr. Fauci’s recent closed-door testimony to the House, there’s even more evidence that Paul had it right and our public health officials were issuing dictatorial commands based on zero science. https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/lessons-from-the-great-covid-cover-up/ The R The RNC is reportedly considering declaring Trump as the "presumptive nominee" to unify the party and end the divisive primary races. But Trump rejected the idea. He thanked the RNC but said he prefers to do this the "old fashioned way" and finish at the ballot box. https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/01/25/in-name-of-party-unity-trump-advises-rnc-not-to-declare-him-presumptive-nominee/ Wait, I thought Trump was a “threat to democracy” and he wanted to be a “dictator”? Now, they’re telling me that, unlike the Democrats, he wants Americans to be able to vote for whomever they want and let them decide? Why, it’s almost as if everything they say about Trump on MSNBC is a big, fat lie! RIP MELANIE By “Huckabee” pop culture guru Pat Reeder (http://www.hollywoodhifi.com) It’s been a rough week for celebrity news, and I hate to have to end it with this: Folk/pop singer/songwriter Melanie (Melanie Safka) died Tuesday in Tennessee at 76 of undisclosed causes. ... [Message clipped] View entire message

A serious country would face the Brexit disaster: the silly and scared UK can't do it

Lowdown interview with Chris Grey This week, as every week, Brexit enfeebled the UK. It was not a one-off disaster, like a fatal heart attack. Rather Brexit is showing itself to be a debilitating disease that never grants us a moment’s peace. In the past few days The post-Brexit trade talks between the UK and Canada collapsed. Despite all the promises of global Britain crossing the clear blue oceans and cutting deals with India, the US, Canada and China, we remain isolated. After years of being too scared to actually take control of the UK’s borders, the government promised checks on imported food from the EU. The effect, according to the food industry, will be to raise prices and produce shortages. (Romantics searching for flowers for Valentine’s Day may well have their work cut out, despairing florists are already warning.) Brexit took away the right of Brits to live and work where we pleased in the EU. For a while in 2023 it looked as if France would allow British expats to stay for longer than 90 days at a stretch. But the French courts blocked that concession to second home owners in the Dordogne. Meanwhile the Brexit inspired border in the Irish Sea between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK continued to enrage Ulster Unionists, who in their hearts must now know that English Tories have played them for fools. Finally, the Guardian reported that the EU's plans to increase bulk medicine procurement across the bloc risk creating shortages in Britain. That’s just in the past few days. And yet the politicians who promised the electorate that leaving the EU would turn us into a world leader are simply not held to account. You would have to be 35 or older to remember how the BBC used to deal with politicians who failed to deliver on their promises. In 2003 Tony Blair backed the US invasion of Iraq on the grounds that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. He didn’t. BBC journalists tore into the then Labour government. Its ministers had taken us to war on a false prospectus, they claimed. Lied, in short. And yet in a dereliction of journalistic duty the BBC has let the false prospectus of Brexit pass without the smallest attempt to remind its authors of their false promises. Here is Daniel Hannan, the Zelig of British nationalism. For more than two decades, he popped up at what felt like every right-wing meeting and rally, urging ever more Utopian fantasies on the luckless British public. In 2016, he promised the revival of depressed British cities, a Silicon Valley in the East End of London, and falling prices and booming wages for us all. Is he or any other Conservative or Faragist politician questioned to within an inch of his life by the BBC? Of course not. Continuous funding cuts and right-wing attacks have destroyed the corporation’s ability to provide a vital news service. It’s given up on democratic accountability. Writing from London is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Upgrade to paid I can make one argument in its defence. If a BBC presenter were in the room with me now, I am sure they would say that the Labour opposition is giving them nothing to report. It is staying silent for fear of alienating elderly voters. The Liberal Democrats shut up for the same reason. In its politicians and media, the UK is like the caricature Victorian family that puts on a show of respectability and says nothing about its dirty secrets. No one, however, can shut up Professor Chris Grey, and our culture is the better for it. His Brexit & Beyond blog is the best source of information on our national malaise, and I was delighted to have him on podcast. I will write a longer piece, which will bounce off our conversation about the purity spiral on the right Brexit set off. With a bit of luck that should be up tomorrow or on Wednesday. I am also working of a read on the lessons from the 1920s for the 2020s. For the time being please listen to the podcast and sign up as a subscriber if you can. Please consider taking out a paying subscription if you can afford to. You will have access to all articles, archives and podcast, and you will allow me to carry on writing! Best wishes, Nick Paying subsribers have hundreds of features to read. Recent examples include Elon Musk and the west’s fascist fifth column NICK COHEN · SEPTEMBER 9, 2023 Elon Musk and the west’s fascist fifth column The liberal despair of Rafael Behr NICK COHEN · MAY 7, 2023 The liberal despair of Rafael Behr A “clenching of the soul,” David Grossman calls it. The Israeli novelist’s description of the foreboding that subsumes you as your life darkens should echo with anyone who has been mentally assaulted and battered. Strength vanishes. The body aches. The brain feels like a muscle twisted by cramp. Arthur Miller, JK Rowling and the death of witch hunts Nick Cohen · 24 August 2023 Arthur Miller, JK Rowling and the death of witch hunts I love producing this newsletter, but it is a lot work! To support my journalism please click on the link below. A subscription costs £1.15 a week, and there is a free trial on offer too Remove the preconceptions that stop you seeing clearly, and it is hard to tell the difference between the arts in the UK and in a dictatorship. Writing from London. © 2024 Nick Cohen 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104

Strange Groceries

What strange groceries that man is carrying Odd shapes in two plastic bags Dripping blood They look like they weigh more than the world Head bowed Eyes screwed shut Step after step, feet like lead Allah, Allah, Allah, Allah What are those strange groceries you carry, sir? These are my children, he says through a clenched jaw They have had a long and weary day And it is time to put them to bed His face is wet with tears And his arms are shaking He walks on Heavy feet with a heavy burden Allah, Allah, Allah, Allah Oh Allah ____________ ____________ ____________ Caitlin’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Upgrade to paid My work is entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece here are some options where you can toss some money into my tip jar if you want to. Go here to buy paperback editions of my writings from month to month. All my work is free to bootleg and use in any way, shape or form; republish it, translate it, use it on merchandise; whatever you want. The best way to make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list on Substack, which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. All works co-authored with my husband Tim Foley. Bitcoin donations: 1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2 Caitlin’s Newsletter © 2024 Caitlin Johnstone PO Box 378, Mentone, 3194, Victoria, Australia

Journalists did it all to themselves

Last week, the LA Times announced a massive layoff of journalists. They were just one of several places that kicked the activists masquerading as reporters to the curb. This, of course, was met with consternation by the journalistic field as a whole. Everyone seemed ready to warn of doom and gloom, telling us how important they are to society and that we need them. Yet absolutely none of them seemed remotely interested in actually examining why the field is shrinking so horrifically. Sure, the current landscape is very different due to technological advancements. For example, there’s places like Substack where I can reach out to readers directly instead of needing to filter things through a newspaper’s editorial voice. But journalists also did this to themselves. A prime example comes from a piece that popped up at the Huffington Post. Despite knowing that this particular journalist wouldn’t piss on me if I were on fire, the truth is that she came up from being a drug addict to landing at the Los Angeles Times. It’s really an inspiring story. Only, she’s now out of work. And while she doesn’t know why, she gives us some clues. This isn’t just about me or the others who now find themselves out of work. This is much bigger than any of us. Journalism is more crucial now than maybe ever. A free press holds politicians and leaders accountable. Journalists investigate and call out all the unkept promises and hollow plans spouted passionately from podiums. They hold feet to the fire and uncover abuses of power. It is often their work that shines a light into the darkest places to find answers — that offers and insists upon the truth in an increasingly unscrupulous world. While journalism can be inherently political, it is deeply personal, too. Stories matter — interrogating and illuminating humanity matters. Journalism offers a glimpse into realities many readers have never lived, whether that’s the struggle of healthcare workers on the frontlines of a global pandemic; a man fleeing Vietnam and building a billion-dollar Sriracha business out of a van in Southern California; sisters launching an organization to help find the missing Black people whose cases are oft neglected; or a mother’s journey navigating her daughter’s years-long heroin addiction. These stories have the ability to open and change minds, which, in turn, changes our culture. Those stories are interesting, sure, but the idea that journalism is or can be “inherently political” is a big chunk of the problem. Why? Because journalism’s “inherently political” tribe uses their politics to decide which stories are worth reporting. Journalists, if we can even really call them that anymore, aren’t simply sharing truth. They’re amplifying some stories and smothering others. How often do we see stories claiming so-and-so is a white supremacist because he favors welfare reform or a tougher stance on illegal immigration? How many publications amplified the nonsense about Border Patrol agents “lassoing” illegal immigrants because of a picture they didn’t understand? Journalism doesn’t represent the American people. It represents the Democratic Party. In 1971, Republicans accounted for just over a quarter of all journalists. In 2022, they were 3.4 percent. May be an image of text that says 'Party Affiliation PERCENTAGEOF ALL JOURNALISTS 100% 90% Democrat Republican 80% 35.5% Independent Other 70% 38.5% 44.1% 60% 35.9% 28.1% 50% 36.4% 25.7% 18. 8% 40% 7.1% 18.0% 16.4% 30% 3.4% 20% 32.5% 39.1% 50.2% 10% 32.5% 34.4% 0% 51.7% 6.3% 3.6% 1971 5.1% 13.6% 1982 14.6% 1992 2002 8.5% 2013 2022' Original can be found here. Now, in 1971, those independents were probably divided between left-leaning and right-leaning to some degree or another, though the survey didn’t capture that. In 2022, I suspect many who called themselves independent did so because they thought the Democrats were too right-leaning for their tastes. What’s more, despite the lack of ideological diversity, that same source found that only 21.8 percent see that as needing to change. What’s more, starting in 2016, news publications really stopped even trying to pretend they were unbiased. A form of blatantly activist journalism became common, with virtually every news agency in the nation showing at least some signs of it. They didn’t like Trump and were upset that they didn’t prevent him from being elected. So they made sure he wouldn’t be elected again. Yet in doing so, they undermined any shred of credibility they had left. Meanwhile, independent journalists are all over the place, either having started their own websites or creating publications here at Substack. From Matt Taibbi to Bari Weiss to Glenn Greenwald, people who were told to be silent and refused to found a way to not be silent anymore. Those of us over here at Substack seem to be doing OK, which tells you that journalists did all of this to themselves. They inflated their own self-importance without understanding why journalism mattered for so long. They shot themselves in the foot, then they demand you reverse the bullet because that foot is just too important to society. Well, no one is losing any sleep that their desire to be “inherently political” has now put a number of them out of work. I’d tell them to learn to code, but the truth of the matter is that the computer programming profession deserves better than them. Tilting at Windmills is 100% reader-supported. If you enjoyed this article, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription for 15% off the first year or making a one-time donation here. Your support is greatly appreciated. Tilting At Windmills © 2024 Tom Knighton 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104

Blue is Red, and Red is Very Bad making real choices with fake dilemmas

Ed Markey is going to criminalize private militias, because private militias are very dangerous and far-right. Here, read his explanation: “As evidenced by the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, private paramilitary actors like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers pose a serious threat to democracy and the rule of law.” See, paramilitary activity is always extremely right-wing, and almost invariably associated with white nationalism. Here, look at this example from 2020: Something something Proud Boys something something! Or look at this infamous historical example from 1967, when a white nationalist group called the Black Panthers from the far-right bastion of Oakland stormed the California state capitol and walked onto the floor of the Assembly with guns, in the first recorded example of a TRUMP MAGA RALLY: Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more Blue is Red, and Red is Very Bad making real choices with fake dilemmas CHRIS BRAY JAN 29 Ed Markey is going to criminalize private militias, because private militias are very dangerous and far-right. Here, read his explanation: “As evidenced by the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, private paramilitary actors like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers pose a serious threat to democracy and the rule of law.” See, paramilitary activity is always extremely right-wing, and almost invariably associated with white nationalism. Here, look at this example from 2020: Something something Proud Boys something something! Or look at this infamous historical example from 1967, when a white nationalist group called the Black Panthers from the far-right bastion of Oakland stormed the California state capitol and walked onto the floor of the Assembly with guns, in the first recorded example of a TRUMP MAGA RALLY: Or consider the example of the notorious white nationalist paramilitary leader Robert F. Williams, seen here as he trained with his wife to support Donald Trump in the Jim Crow South: Like many far-right leaders, Williams eventually fled to Cuba and sought political asylum from Fidel Castro. Guns are for right-wing white people, and that’s very scary! Shockingly, the Idaho legislature chose 2023 to begin an effort to eliminate its law against private militia activity. As a Democratic legislator in that state warns, this is very irresponsible behavior — because one of these far-right militias actually assassinated an Idaho governor. See, look at the far-right violence contained in this example: During debate on the House floor, Boise Democratic Rep. John Gannon said now is not the time to repeal the anti-militia law, noting it was put into place a few years after then-Gov. Frank Steunenberg was assassinated by Harry Orchard in a culmination of violent mining labor confrontations between pro-union forces and those who opposed the mine workers’ federation. Do you understand now? Right-wing extremists of the early 20th century were closely associated with far-right groups like the Western Federation of Miners and the International Workers of the Wor— you know what, let’s move on. Far-right militias are also attacking along our southern border… …where they break the law and engage in dangerous anti-government activity like this: The senators cited the Texas ACLU in saying PFA has collaborated with the Kinney County Sheriff’s Office and, at least on one occasion, with the Texas National Guard. “Alarmingly, there is also evidence of open collaboration with federal agents. In May 2021, a video uploaded to Facebook depicted a Border Patrol agent meeting with VOP members and praising their activities before collecting drone footage from the group,” they wrote. See, they alarmingly collaborate with local, state, and federal officials, a chilling example of anti-government extremism. So Ed Markey is leading a manufactured moral crisis built on a fake focus that excludes a bunch of obvious examples and uses absurd frames to misrepresent obvious things that are actually happening right out in the open. That must be a sign that he’s acting in good faith, and has no hidden or misrepresented agenda. Tell Me How This Ends is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Tell Me How This Ends

I Don't Know About Any of You, but I Grow Tired of the Garbage People Pissing on my Head and Trying to Tell me it's Raining

Gavin Newsolini garbles some gaslighting bullshit. Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more I Don't Know About Any of You, but I Grow Tired of the Garbage People Pissing on my Head and Trying to Tell me it's Raining Gavin Newsolini garbles some gaslighting bullshit. CINDY SHEEHAN JAN 29 Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. ABC’s Jon Karl Stops Gavin Newsom After He Claims Biden Has ‘The Best 3-Year Record’ of Any Modern President: Why’s His Approval ‘Historically Low?’ submit to reddit Mediaite+ Logo ABC’s Jon Karl stopped Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) after he made a claim about President Joe Biden that, according to a recent poll, at least two-thirds of the electorate would surely take umbrage with. In an interview on ABC’s This Week Sunday, the California governor argued that — contrary to public opinion — the Biden presidency has been a rousing succcess. “We need to lift up the issues, the successes, the extraordinary successes of the last three years, the Biden-Harris administration,” Newsom said. “And then we drive contrast. It’s not even a complicated campaign. We have the receipts. We have the best three year record of any modern American presidency. Period. Full stop.” But in response, the ABC correspondent invoked the president’s approval ratings. A recent ABC News poll pegged the number at 33 percent — the lowest it’s been for any president dating back former President George W. Bush. “Biden’s approval is historically low,” Karl said. “Why is that?!” Newsom’s response — more or less — was: nothing to see here, everythings. “Everybody’s approval, across the spectrum, you find exceptions to that,” Look, it’s been hard globally the last 6 or 7 years. But again, America stands tall or the tentpole. The world economy. No peers economically. Again, a master of delivery. The economy is booming, inflation is cooling. And of course, the economic strategies this president put together were all things Republicans dreamt of but never delivered. He’s delivered.” *Who’s economy is “booming?” People like the scumlickers Newsom and Genocide Joe (to name two). *Where is inflation “cooling?” Not here in Newsolini’s California! *What does “America stands tall or the tentpole,” actually mean? *Biden is a “master of delivery?” Delivering war and weapons to Ukraine, Israel, etc; corruption, sick patients to the medical industrial complex; dead soldiers to their mothers; massive profits to the war machine, Wall Street and big pHARMa; drilling permits and war in the Middle East to big oil? Dirty adult diapers to the landfill? Beware of the Newsolini—he’s creeping his greasy-haired bullshit up to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. As much as I want him the hell out of California, I sure don’t want him to go on to bigger and “better” things. Who is actually buying the bullshit that the Garbage People are trying to sell? Not me, I can barely afford my groceries and other essentials. Are you tired of the Garbage People continually trying to gaslight YOU? If so, take it personally. Share Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox Newsletter It’s never too late to become a paid subscriber to support our work, or for a one time donation: We have different tiers of support: $5/month; $50/year, or $100 as a founding member. Checks/money/orders/cash/etc can be SNAIL-mailed to: Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox, LLC PO BOX 6264, VACAVILLE, CA 95696 PayPal: cindysheehanssoapbox@gmail.com Cindy Sheehan's Soapbox Newsletter © 2024 Cindy Sheehan PO Box 6264, Vacaville, CA 95696

WHO do they think they are? Meryl Nass explains the bio-fascist order that they plan to force on all the world; and James Roguski tells us how to STOP them

They're using the phantasm of a horrible new plague to wipe out national sovereignty & human rights—not for a finite lockdown, as in 2020, but forever, with dissidence an outright criminal offense James Roguski The WHO deadline is less than two weeks away The World Health Organization’s failure to meet their upcoming deadline will be very good news for all of us. Please help spread the word by sharing this article and by SHARING ALL OF THE VIDEOS BELOW on social media… Read more 16 days ago · 147 likes · 32 comments · James Roguski James Roguski 100 Reasons You can direct people to this article by sharing this link: http://StopTheWHO.com CLICK HERE TO TAKE ACTION TO EXIT THE WHO Please watch the video below… Read more a year ago · 565 likes · 102 comments News from Underground by Mark Crispin Miller is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. News from Underground by Mark Crispin Miller © 2024 Mark Crispin Miller New York City

International COVID/Crisis Summit #5 is happening in Washington, DC and partnering with CPAC to get the word to movers and shakers Hope you will join us.

Yet another huge event to collect truth-tellers from around the world and bring the message to Washington, DC. The Door to Freedom team will be there to tell everyone who will listen about the WHO, the Great Reset, and what we need to do to get our world back on track. Read about it in Dr. Robert Malone’s substack here. The ticket link may need fixing. Hope to see you there! Meryl’s COVID Newsletter © 2024 Meryl Nass 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104

WATCH: White House Spokesman, MSNBC Openly Cheerlead War With Iran

Following an attack on U.S. military assets in Jordan — allegedly conducted by militias allegedly sponsored by Iran (let’s not take the government’s word for anything) — Morning Joe Scarborough and his sidepiece, Mika (nepo-daughter of notorious neocon Zbigniew Brzezinski), while interviewing White House war propagandist John Kirby, brow aesthetically well-furrowed to convey earnest resolve, had some fighting words for Iran: “Morning Joe: I think a lot of Americans want to know: if the Iranians continue to sponsor attacks that kill Americans, that wound Americans, that cause serious problems for Americans and undermine American interests in the region, at what point do we actually go after the source of the attacks, Iran, and strike them where they are? Kirby: Well, I think that I certainly understand Americans’ concern over these repeated attacks by groups that are backed by Iran, Joe… We’re gonna respond. We’ll do that. Obviously, we have three American families that got the worst possible news over the weekend… We’ve got to do what we have to do to protect our troops and our facilities… We know Iran’s backing these groups… We gotta do what we have to do.” Speaking from the White House podium earlier today, Kirby further refused to rule out a strike on Iranian soil, nor would he agree to consult Congress pursuant to Constitutional requirements before launching such an attack that would inevitably lead to regional and likely world war. Here’s a novel concept: how about, if the goal is reducing American troop deaths in the Middle East, the government simply removes them from the Middle East and sends them home — like to the bleeding border, perhaps — instead of cynically using their deaths to create more war, which will lead to more troop deaths, which will then be used to create more war? Of course, though, waging peace won’t pad the bottom line of Nikki Haley’s benefactor, Boeing, nor would it enhance the power of the national security state. So that’s dead in the water. These people — Morning Joe and his sidepiece and the vaunted Admiral John Kirby with the furrowed brow of patriotic vigilance — are adult children meddling with forces they do not understand, made even more dangerous by an endowment with a god complex, as they are never truly challenged by any independent media. They exist in their own ivory towers of hubris, insulated from the kinetic consequences of their decisions. The major moral hazard here is that these people will incur no direct cost to their health or their finances from starting a new war any more than they did with any of the prior wars they started. It won’t be them or their kids that die. In fact, it’s all upside, as their weapons contractor stocks will spike tremendously. A one-on-one war with Iran would be nearly impossible to win (however “victory” is defined). Mere regime change — running a coup — is not enough to declare victory, as evidenced by the colossal failures in Iraq and Afghanistan, the former of which birthed ISIS and the latter of which saw the Taliban walk right back through the door into power twenty years later, picking up right where it left off in 2001, trillions of dollars and thousands of dead U.S. soldiers later, as the corrupt and despised Afghani military the US government propped up, armed to the teeth with hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of military equipment, folded like a cheap lawn chair at the first hint of a stress test. Sad! Ben Bartee, author of Broken English Teacher: Notes From Exile, is an independent Bangkok-based American journalist with opposable thumbs. Follow his stuff Substack. Also, keep tabs via Twitter. For hip Armageddon Prose t-shirts, hats, etc., peruse the merch store. Insta-tip jar and Bitcoin public address: bc1qvq4hgnx3eu09e0m2kk5uanxnm8ljfmpefwhawv Armageddon Prose © 2024 Ben Bartee 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104

How to Stop DEI Bari Weiss hosts a debate: Christopher Rufo vs. Yascha Mounk.

This weekend, Bari Weiss hosted a debate between me and Johns Hopkins professor Yascha Mounk on “the right way to fight illiberalism.” There were points of agreement, but ultimately, the debate diverged as we considered the practical necessities for winding down repressive DEI bureaucracies. My approach was more aggressive; Mounk’s was more cerebral. The consensus in Bari Weiss’ comments section was that I had the upper hand, but you can listen and make your own determination. The following are highlights selected by The Free Press: On how to describe DEI’s capture of higher education: Bari Weiss: Some people call it wokeness, which sort of automatically brands you as being on the right. Other people call it critical theory or identity politics or postmodern neo-Marxism. There’s a lot of disagreement about how we actually describe this thing that all of us are witnessing. So I want to start there. What is it that we’re actually talking about? Christopher Rufo: I think it’s an ideological syndrome. So it’s a cluster of traits, ideas, concepts, narratives, and bureaucratic arrangements that have really revolutionized American society over the past 50 years. I trace the immediate origins back to the year 1968, and the argument that I make in my book, America’s Cultural Revolution, is that all of the ideas from the radical left of that era—the late 1960s, early 1970s—have infiltrated universities and then started to move laterally through bureaucracies in the state sector, in K–12 education, in HR departments, and even the Fortune 100 companies. And what you see over the course of this process is some very multisyllabic, complex ideological concepts from the originators of these ideas in that period. And now they’ve filtered out through bureaucratic language, through euphemisms, to become what we now know as DEI. That’s the ultimate bureaucratic expression of these ideologies. You can call it—any of those labels that you just suggested, I think, are correct in general, at least facets of this ideology. But at this point, it’s not just an idea. It’s actually an administrative, cultural, and bureaucratic power that has manifested itself and entrenched itself as a new, let’s say, hegemonic cultural force in American life. Yascha Mounk: I think the best way to boil down the ideas of this ideology is in three propositions. Number one, that identity categories like race, gender, and sexual orientation are the key prism for understanding society. But to understand how we talk to each other today, or to understand who won the last election, or to understand how political revolutions happen, you have to look at things like race, gender, and sexual orientation. Number two, that universalist values and neutral rules, like those enshrined in the United States Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, are just meant to pull the wool over people’s eyes, that they actually were always designed to perpetuate forms of racist and sexist discrimination, that as Derrick Bell, the founder of critical race theory, claimed, America in the year 2000 remained as racist as it had been in 1950 and 1850. And third, which follows rather needlessly if you grant the first two premises, that therefore, in order to make any kind of progress in our society, we have to rip up those universal rules and aspirations and make how we all treat each other, and how the state treats all of us, explicitly depend on the kind of identity group into which we are born. I think if you understand that that is the core of the ideology, what you call it is less important. On whether it’s accurate to say cultural Marxism is taking place: YM: I think where we probably have genuine disagreements is in the extent to which it’s helpful to think of this ideology as being Marxist. So, Chris, correct me if I’m wrong: I think you would refer to it sometimes as a form of cultural Marxism. So the idea, broadly speaking, is that you take, sort of, the Marxist political ideology—you take out the class and you sort of put in identity categories like race and gender and sexual orientation. And broadly speaking, you get the ideas we’re talking about. I think that’s wrong for a number of reasons. First, because I just don’t think that there’s very much left of Marxism when you take out the economic categories. It’s a little bit like saying “when you take the bat out of baseball.” You’ve just gotten rid of too much for it to be meaningful. Secondly, because of the history of the thinkers who really do, I think, make up this tradition. Michel Foucault joins the French Communist Party, which very much is listening to Moscow in 1950, but he leaves it in 1953 in disgust. Derrick Bell says he barely read any Marx in college, and after that he never had time. The people he really read were people like [W.E.B] Du Bois and others. And when you go back to the core thinkers of the Marxist tradition, to Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels and the Frankfurt School and others, they simply don’t help you understand contemporary progressive politics. Then, of course, the thing we haven’t really mentioned, the idea of intersectionality, which comes to be interpreted as the claim that if you stand at [a] different intersection of identities than me, then I really can’t understand you, and I just have to defer my political judgment to you. That comes out of Kimberlé Crenshaw. And that, I think, is an area where we have a genuine intellectual disagreement. CR: I personally don’t use the term cultural Marxist that Yascha has done. I don’t do so in the book, although I think that the basic concept, if we leave the moniker aside, is that Marxism—the basic categorical distinctions—moved away from a purely orthodox materialist science or material determinism toward entities of culture, family, law, in a kind of Gramscian direction. [Herbert] Marcuse was a Marxist, and he was the most influential philosophical figure of the New Left, which is the prototype of the radical left we see today. His doctoral student, Angela Davis, was a member of the Communist Party, is a devoted Marxist, and really took the Marxist tradition and applied it to racial categories. Then within academia, most notably her long career at UC–Santa Barbara, and then her mentees, the third generation, were the founders of Black Lives Matter. They said themselves, “we are trained Marxists.” If you read a law review article written by one of the BLM founders, if you listen to their interviews and speeches, and then if you listen to their interviews with Angela Davis, they make very clear: “we are mobilizing along racial lines. We think that that’s the best rhetorical approach to score political victories. But the ultimate goal is the abolition of capitalism.” And you see this absolutely everywhere: in training programs and academic work, and even critical race theory. On what’s at stake in the Marxism argument. And if DEI is Marxist, why do Fortune 500 companies employ it? BW: But tell me what’s at stake, actually, in this argument, because I could go with both sides of the argument. But for the average person who’s looking at this ideology and just saying “This is bad. I look at the way that it segregates Americans. I look at the anti-Americanism all over it. I look at the anti-capitalism that’s definitely explicit in large parts of it, and I just think it’s bad.” And then they hear the two of you having a disagreement about whether it’s Marxist or not. They might wonder, why does it really matter in the end, if we can all agree that it’s a bad thing and that it’s bad for America? CR: What I think is really at stake—I think in Yascha’s interpretation, it appears to be this cerebral, abstract intellectual problem within academia. And if we can only have the right ideas and engage in debate, then the great ideas will win, and then the bad ideas will decay, and then everything will be fine. But if you take seriously the written words over the course of a half-century of these political objectives, of these thinkers and their activists, who have certainly seized territory in many, many institutions, you’re going to say it’s not just an intellectual debate. In fact, they want to, as critical race theorists have written, eliminate First Amendment protections for any speech they deem harmful, for any speech they deem racist. They want to eliminate the right to individual equality, as codified in the Fourteenth Amendment and the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and have a system of racial categorization and a racial spoils system in which power, privilege, wealth, and property are redistributed along the lines of racial identity. And they want to abolish the system of free enterprise, free markets, entrepreneurial capitalism that has created a massive blessing, not just for the United States but all over the world, and have it all run by a quote, unquote, “anti-racist bureaucracy.” And I think what is really at stake is: if you value the right to free speech, if you value the right to private property, if you value the right to be treated equally as an individual, if you value the United States Constitution—that’s what’s at stake. YM: One of the things that you cannot understand if you think of these ideas as Marxist, is why it is that Fortune 500 companies have proven so willing to adopt them? Why is it that corporate DEI trainings have so easily been able to incorporate these ideas? They certainly never incorporated the ideas of Karl Marx. Diversity training certainly never said, “the true nature of American society is capitalists exploiting workers, and you should form a union and go on strike.” That certainly would not be conformable with what a Fortune 500 company would allow its diversity trainers to say. So why is it that they are willing to have people come in and talk this kind of language? CR: Why would Fortune 100 companies do this? The answer to that is actually very important. It’s because they felt pressure from the cultural left on these so-called racial equity issues. And they had already satisfied everything that they needed from the economic right: tax cuts, deregulation, free trade abroad. And so what they did is made a gamble and really a co-optation strategy. And more accurately, they were paying the tax—or really like labor unions and factories in the mid-century period would pay the Mafia protection money. They adopt DEI policies for a number of reasons. One, to limit legal liability because of frivolous racial discrimination claims. Two, to buy off activist groups to leave them alone and not harass them and jeopardize their reputation. And then three, because there is internal pressure to, let’s say, “do something.” And these are the offerings that are on the table. It doesn’t mean they are Marxists. Obviously not. Christopher F. Rufo is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Christopher F. Rufo. © 2024 Christopher F. Rufo 5114 Point Fosdick Dr., Suite F #3001 Gig Harbor, WA 98335-1733

Tower 22's White Swan only a matter of time

In addition to the loss of two SEALs we discussed last week, over the weekend Iranian proxies conducted a highly successful attack at the “Tower 22” base in NE Jordan near the three-country point where the borders of Jordan, Iraq, and Syria come together. "Today, America’s heart is heavy," Biden said in a statement Sunday. "Last night, three U.S. service members were killed—and many wounded—during an unmanned aerial drone attack on our forces stationed in northeast Jordan near the Syria border." As Kristina Wong has done a good job keeping everyone up to speed, there have been over 170 attacks on US forces in the area by Iranian proxies, and in this latest attack, in addition to the three killed, over 30 were injured, some critically. It is a very old-school desert fort but with helo pads. Heck, Roman Emperor Trajan in the second century AD would recognize it. If my mental map serves me right, this would have been right on his right flank inside Parthian territory. A few centuries later, it would have been off the right flank of Roman Emperor Julian’s expedition against the Sasanian Empire. That is not a large base, but it does stand out. The Iranian proxies got a little good, and a little lucky. As I write this, we have not had those killed identified, but a good chance they come from the California National Guard’s 40th Infantry Division that deployed in June of last year; The California National Guard’s 40th Infantry Division held a historical deployment ceremony before mobilizing to support Operation Spartan Shield and Operation Inherent Resolve, missions to build partner capacity and increase regional security in the Middle East. The 40th ID has not deployed as a division since the Korean War in January 1952. The division fought valiantly through four campaigns and continues to keep close ties with the Korean community and Korean War veterans. Today, the Sunburst Division will deploy Soldiers across the Middle East, including Iraq, Jordan and Kuwait. Before we go further, there is something in the above I want you to hoist aboard; we have an entire division of a state’s National Guard deployed - and being killed and wounded - to in part ensure the borders and territorial integrity of nations in the Middle East. Our active duty army is not engaged in any significant combat operations. None. Is this what we have a National Guard for? Anyway, ponder that as we move on to the topic of the day - Iran. A key part of the US’ work in the Middle East is “not to have the conflict broaden,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. CQ Brown said in a pre-recorded interview that just aired on ABC News Sunday morning. Brown said the goal was deterrence of Iranian proxies operating in the region, like the Houthi rebels in Yemen and the powerful Hezbollah paramilitary group in Lebanon. “The goal is to deter them, and we don't want to go down a path of greater escalation that drives to a much broader conflict within the region,” he said. Attacks before Sunday: There have been dozens of injuries since recent attacks on US and coalition forces in Iraq and Syria began — a senior military official told reporters last week there were roughly 70. The Pentagon had previously classified most of them as minor, aside from one US soldier who was critically injured in an attack in Iraq on Christmas Day. Well General Brown, you means is not successfully bringing you to your ends. Your entire CONOPS is failing. Let’s stop there and bring in an important point - the US military can only execute an Operational Plan (OPLAN) that is aligned with the Commander’s Intent (from the President) and at Brown’s level, the Political-Military Higher Direction and Guidance. As you cannot build brick without straw, you cannot create an effective OPLAN. This administration, as I’ll address again at the end of the post, has no institutional desire to do anything more than the very minimum against Iran. Before we go there, let’s look at a few things from Peter Baker at NYT about the attacks that came out Sunday; This was the day that President Biden and his team had feared for more than three months, the day that relatively low-level attacks by Iranian proxy groups on American troops in the Middle East turned deadly and intensified the pressure on the president to respond in kind. On land and at sea, Iranian proxies have attacked us over 170 times. American deaths were inevitable…but it shouldn’t take deaths for us to respond. As we have outlined from the start, just the act of attacking US military units demands an overwhelming response. We have done just the opposite. Until that math changes, the attacks will continue. The first deaths of American troops under fire, however, will require a different level of response, American officials said, and the president’s advisers were in consensus about that as they consulted with him by secure videoconference on Sunday. What remained unclear was whether Mr. Biden would strike targets inside Iran itself, as his Republican critics urged him to do, saying he would be a “coward” if he did not, as one put it. “The question Biden faces is whether he just wants to react to events in the region or whether he wants to send a bigger message that attempts to restore a sense of deterrence that just hasn’t existed in the region for months now,” said Brian Katulis, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute who worked in national security positions under President Bill Clinton. If I am wrong in this assumption, then fire the entire Joint Staff above CDR/LtCol, but I am quite sure we have an entire catalog of pre-planned responses and target sets ready to go and have for quite a while. This is not a military problem; this is a leadership, vision, and understanding of how the world works problem. Elections have consequences, and we are at the mercy of those appointed by those we elect. American officials have said for months that they did not believe Iran wanted a direct war with the United States and on Sunday had not changed that assessment publicly. But at the same time, officials said, Iran has used its proxy forces to keep up the pressure on the United States and Israel as Israel continues to pound Hamas in Gaza. One senior American official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information, said on Sunday that the United States did not believe that Iran was intending to start a wider war with the attack in Jordan. But he cautioned that analysts were still gathering and evaluating the information available to determine whether Iran ordered a more aggressive attack or a militia group decided to do so on its own. “…believe…” belongs in the same bucket as “…think…” and “…feel…” and has little to no place in discussions with serious people in the national security arena for times such as this. I am more interested in what you “…know…” What are our opponents doing, and what is your estimate of their most likely, most dangerous - and perhaps one other in the middle - courses of action they are conducting? It is called the “Estimate of the Situation” as opposed to the “Belief/Thought/Feel of the Situation” for a reason. This administration - encouraged by the leftist bent of much of the permanent nomenklatura at the Department of Defense and Department of State - is worm-ridden with the most wooly-headed and intellectual-terrarium faculty lounge theories of how the world works that it is no wonder that the proxy forces of a third-rate power like Iran has them vapor-locked. Sadly for our republic, there are even worse ideas coming from the right; Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said flatly: “Hit Iran now. Hit them hard.” I’ve seen the work, now a decade and a half dated, on what a conflict with Iran would look like. We are weaker and they are stronger now, no one wants to go feet dry in Iran. Senator Graham has received the briefings - he should know this. As shown by Katulis above, there are (D) with reasonable views of what is going on right now. Likewise, there are some (R) who seem to get it as well. Nested around Graham’s comment was this; “The entire world now watches for signs that the president is finally prepared to exercise American strength to compel Iran to change its behavior,” said Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader. … Republicans argued that Mr. Biden had emboldened Iran by appeasing the mullahs of Tehran. They cited his efforts to negotiate a new agreement with Iran curbing its nuclear weapons program and a deal securing the release of five imprisoned Americans in exchange for helping Iran access $6 billion of its own oil money that had already been promised to Tehran for humanitarian purposes under a policy approved under former President Donald J. Trump. That money was frozen days after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, which is backed by Iran. That quote is spot on. In the middle - as usual - of the two extremes is the best approach. We need to stop appeasing and funding the Iranians, and we also don’t need another land war in Southwest Asia. As I mentioned briefly on yesterday’s Midrats, we need to be careful that as we do what needs to be done, we also don’t need to give Iran what they clearly want. What do they want? Simple; either a wider war along all of Israel’s borders that will suck in the USA, or if they cannot get that, simply humiliate the USA while isolating Israel further. The Iranians are failing in the former, but succeeding in the latter. What we need to do is make sure that we prevent them from achieving their end state of American humiliation. After the disgrace in Kabul, we’ve had enough of that recently. We do not have to go feet dry in Iran proper. She has a whole constellation of proxies on the Arabian peninsula and into Asia Minor. We have been dealing with them for decades. We know where they get their supplies. We have a good idea where their bases are, and who their leadership is. Right now they are attacking Americans because it is worth it for them to. The benefit is much greater than the cost. Step one should be a significantly out-of-proportion attack on Iran’s proxies from Syria to Yemen. A sustained campaign. Should that not work, the next level should be Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps naval assets operating in the Red Sea to the Arabian Sea and Horn of Africa providing targeting information to the Houthi. Once we fully examine those options, then we can look elsewhere … and then decide not to do more, but make our point first. What we are doing now? No, we can stop that. It only encourages them. CDR Salamander is free today. But if you enjoyed this post, you can tell CDR Salamander that their writing is valuable by pledging a future subscription. You won't be charged unless they enable payments. © 2024 CDR Salamander 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104

We will then be in the Irish parliament (Dail) on February 6

We will focus on * Sovereignty/Constitutionality; * Human Rights and * Freedom of Speech. There will be a press event in the am at Buswell’s Hotel and the Parliament event at noon.

'Parasite' to 'Past Lives': Korea's Hitmakers Strike Oscar, Again

How CJ ENM became Hollywood's daring awards darling When it comes to getting Oscar’s attention right now, one South Korean entertainment giant is playing the game as well as anyone. In 2020, CJ ENM, one of the leading media companies in Korea, made history when Bong Joon-ho’s Palm d’Or-winning class-conflict drama Parasite won the best picture Oscar — it also walked off with statuettes for best director, original screenplay and international feature — becoming the first non-English language film to win the Academy’s top award. Parasite went on to gross an impressive $53.4 million in the U.S. and $263 million worldwide. Three years later, CJ ENM was back in the awards ring again, this time with Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave, a moody thriller about a detective’s obsession with a mysterious widow, which picked up best director honors at Cannes on its way to earning a spot on the Academy’s international feature short-list — although, ultimately, it fell short of making the final five nominees. Now this year, CJ ENM is back in the game with a foothold as a nominee in the best picture race thanks to Celine Song’s Past Lives (produced with A24, Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler’s Killer Films and David Hinojosa’s production label 2AM). With its universally positive reviews, the movie was named best picture by the National Society of Film Critics and it also has earned a second Oscar nom for Song’s original screenplay. A delicate, cross-cultural tale that speaks in both Korean and English, the film traces the changing relationship between two childhood friends, a boy and girl who grow up together in Seoul but then go their separate ways when the young girl’s family emigrates to Canada. Years later, they reconnect and contemplate the roads not taken when Hae Sung (played by Teo Yoo) visits New York City and finds Nora (Greta Lee) married to an American husband (John Magaro). Share The Rise of Korean Entertainment GettyImages-1247294565.jpg FAB FOUR From left: South Korean actor Teo Yoo, Canadian director Celine Song, U.S. actress Greta Lee and U.S. actor John Magaro hit the red carpet for Past Lives at the Berlinale almost a year ago in Berlin. (Stefanie Loos/AFP via Getty Images) By bridging cultures, Past Lives could almost be seen as a pretty tidy metaphor for CJE ENM’s long-standing efforts to become an international entertainment powerhouse. Its parent company, CJ Group, began its life in the 1950s, producing flour and exporting sugar. Eventually, it would expand into processed foods and pharmaceuticals and, finally, into media, embracing everything from music to multiplexes. “CJ has been working for many years on getting into the U.S. business,” Khan Kwon, CJ ENM’s head of U.S. film development and production, tells me, who details the company’s strategy, particularly in partnerships, including why it picked A24 for Past Lives. ... The Ankler © 2024 Ankler Media 11990 San Vicente Blvd., Suite 350, Los Angeles, CA 90049

Stalking, Harassment & Fear of Reprisals: HRIC in Solidarity with Chinese Human Rights Defenders Outside China HUMAN RIGHTS IN CHINA JAN 29

WHAT I SAID THAT MADE ME CLOSE A 6 MILLION NAIRA DEAL A Story Of My First Sale In Real Estate FABIAN GEORGE JAN 29 Hey Dear Entrepreneur, Buckle up, because I'm about to tell you a story of how I made my first sale in real estate. This an acre-sized victory that still makes me leap for joy anytime I remember. On a fateful day, I woke up to the prospect’s call. It was a man whose wife has spoken to concerning our property. During the call, he asked me many questions which I answered all. At the end of the call, he was convinced and promised to make a payment next week because he doesn’t have all the money at the moment and he doesn’t like to spread his payment . I thought to myself “Next week?”, in the world of sales, next week is an eternity where deals evaporate faster than a free ice cream cone in summer. Now, I could have played it safe, accepted the "maybe later," and hang up but something in me whispered, "Go for it, Fabian” So, with a deep breath, I told him about the hungry wolves of the sales team who push our products out and they are chances the property will have been sold out by the time he is ready to pay next week. And guess what? It worked. He requested for the company’s account, right there, my first acre-sized sale was sealed. Quick lesson, don’t just learn how to sell, sell with urgency. I hope you are inspired? Stay Fearless FG! If you liked this post from STEAL MY SENSE, why not share it? Click fabiangeorge.com to visit my website. © 2024 Fabian George 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104

Invitation haiku x 2

You will not find me by keeping the world at bay, always saying No. Show me who you are. if you want love to find you invite me inside.