Thanks to retweeted information about the death of American journalist Gonzalo Lira in Ukrainian custody—and Kekkius Maximus’s boosting of this info plus David Sacks’s retweets about Gonzalo Lira’s death while in Ukrainian detention—and thanks to the retweets about Zelya & Zelenskaya’s ghoulish glamor photo-shoot for Vogue magazine, as captured through the lens of Annie Leibowitz while Ukrainian soldiers were dying in frozen trenches—the world has realized that the war in Ukraine has been a massive money grift and psy op.
In important ways DJT is in the process of saving Europe from its worst of impulses.
DJT has performed the most elegant of geopolitical tablecloth tricks on earth—!! Saving lives & rocking Europe back on its heels. The Europeans were the ones, after all, who steered this catastrophe of Project Ukraine for nearly 3 years, so smug they were in the estimation that they were on “the right side of history.” And as DJT accurately said on 21 February—neither the UK nor France lifted a finger to end the war, least of all Germany. When Sir Keir and Napoleonette pay a visit to the White House next week, the fur will fly.
It is obvious that elements of Project Ukraine—like Zelya’s making Treasury Sec Scott Bessent wait an hour or two before their meeting in Kiev while Zelya “slept in”—are murky, sus, obsessive, and troublesome enough to warrant walking away. This is not a homegrown problem for DJT. He stepped into a set-up, authored by Collective Biden, w/ a volatile, manipulative and bizarre personality: Zelya, as the Usurper of Kiev. This maybe was familiar to Collective Biden, and normalized by them, but is not by any means comprehensible or professionally expected for DJT or his team. Everything about Project Ukraine has been anomalous and weird—from the elaborately negotiated Minsk Accords, which the European parties in Germany & France never intended to support to the peculiar preoccupation Europe has w/ supporting Ukraine at all costs. Elements of Project Ukraine are unrelentingly perverse and are practically too warped & astonishing to predict or understand. It is a high-maintenance endeavor, to be sure. If you have the band-width for it, okay. If not, walk away.
Oooops, there goes Rabbity—! Oops, there goes gravity—!
Plucky Ukraine in the voice of Zelya implies that DJT is not only living in “a bubble of Russian disinformation,” but that he is controlled by the Kremlin, repeating the hoaxiest of hoax-y hoaxes from the regrettably hoax-heavy Russiagate era of American public life.
A day or so later, suddenly, the Pentagon stopped selling arms, equipment and weaponry to the AFU. A day or so later, suddenly, Kekkius Maximus announced a 1 March end-date for StarLink on the frontline in Ukraine.
*Who* prepped Zelya for that dreadful press conference in which he stepped toward the bank of microphones and began to diss DJT—? *Who* could have wrung such a devastating performance from this “modestly successful comedian”—? What country on earth could orchestrate a spectacle like that—?
There’s a man who leads a life of danger. Everywhere he goes he stays a stranger.
I'm delighted to see the East rise. Let's hope peace will reign and the influence of the "Enlightenment" simply dies, first in Europe and then America. Hopefully, we will wake up and destroy this self decimating, life sucking, prideful culture.
It's a worthwhile hope, but I'm more inclined to see Trump as a "realist" of US exceptionalism a la Mearsheimer. Dumping the costly trappings of empire while rebuilding the core. The removal of the cancerous tumour deep state is a necessity. Success here gives Trump room to shape positive agenda. Closing bases and removing troops - how will the various compradors cope?
Finding the core is the secret, is it not? Let's hope and pray for it's success, that would be best case for those of us who respect what our ancestors set out to create....we shall see.
You mean the "un-enlightenment".You can dwell in the theistic, feudal Dark-Ages if you wish. I will work for the rebirth of the Enlightenment/"Age of Reason".
Unavoidable conclusion. But the piece hints at the forces that move the puppet’s strings. Was this whole thing the Rothschild faction’s revenge for their failure to control Russian finance? Did they really think they could dismember Russia or is the apparent aggression actually defensive and a sign of weakness? I’m guessing the latter because fighting a losing war doesn’t make sense.
drug addicts are crazy. for biden, this is NORMAL behaviour for well funded/wealthy family that cares more deeply about their families' reputation than is normal, need to impress others with their successful son/daughter (I personally know these people) Think hunter. There are many hunters and huntresses throughout the USA.
The rest of the psychopaths? Deeply deceived to the point of extreme self delusion, ancestral sin perhaps, all that paperclip blood flowing through their veins? maybe. Otherwise, some other distorted mental illness. They are insane, and they are accustomed to insanity, keep that in mind. These are the most mentally & spiritually ill of humans (imho).
If Zelensky doesn't flee to UAE or France in advance of the reality being shaped for him, his military may do him in or the people will vote him out. What isn't in doubt is that his passing is near, maybe tomorrow, maybe a little later. Whenever the endeavor transpires it will bring no sorrow. He was a literal clown, now a puppet. Trump will bring him down and tear down the circus tent that Ukraine is in. Someone should have told the narco-führer not to bite the hand that feeds him or the one that provides the money for his blow. He seems to believe his lies as he cries for money and weapons. Now he just has to go.
We can be assured Z is controlled, the question is by whom. My guess is by a unit of the Pentagon/CIA/MI6, meaning the Globalist deep state. They are the most likely to be his handlers, and to try themes that brought past success such as Russiagate.
And using Z this way to me is indication of how desperate they are. They have nothing to replace their dream of ravaging Russia to buy time and capital to complete their "eat z bugs" program of world enslavement.
Desperate people do desperate things, they are now at their most dangerous, I anticipate one or more very nasty False Flags, probably nuclear, possibly bioweapon, possibly both, probably in Ukraine and the US.
They will not, because they cannot, fade back into the shadows AS this time they were too bold, too visible, and LOUDLY boasted of their plans, see WEF for details.
I've read rumors that Zelensky's personal bodyguards are (ex)SAS. Also Zaluzhnyi going to London. Boris Johnson visiting to kill the Istanbul peace talks.
Therefore my impression is that the UK is the closest handler of project Ukraine.
I voted for Trump because, well, what other realistic choice did I have?
I don't want to sound like an ugly "American" talking about money, but imagine finding the missing 150 billion in the Rothschild's bank located (conveniently) in Paris? All that cia crypto blown apart by the teenager on Musk's payroll? Masterful. I must say, I am impressed and can't wait to see the corroborating evidence and not a deep fake of the deep state. Just sayin
The Ronald Reagan - Volodymyr Zelenskyy comparison is often made as they were both actors who became national presidents, but there is a lot more to the story and looking at their biographies side by side just shows how bizarre Zelenskyy's rise to power actually was.
Reagan became the president of the Screen Actors' Guild ( the Hollywood actor's union) twice, firstly from 1947 (when he was 36) until 1952 and then again 1959 until 1960. He was first elected as Governor of California in 1966 and then again in 1970. He narrowly lost the nomination for the Republican candidacy in 1976, but gained it and won the presidency in 1980 and then again in 1984.
That's a solid political career, climbing the ranks over decades.
Zelenskyy never held a single political position or won an election until he won the presidency in 2019. "Servant of the People" ran from 2015 until 2019 with the last episode airing only a few days before the election. Producers, writers and directors cycled between the TV show, the political party of the same name and the actual presidential administration.
So you tell me, is all of that a manifestation of the genuine will of the people or an elaborate perception management campaign?
Scott Ritter has an excellent documentary that chronicles Zelensky's orchestrated rise to the presidency of Ukraine. Exposes all the US involvement. Also, please read "Provoked" by Scott Horton. Cheers.
Ronnie was a fantastic governor of California, and people on both sides of the aisle revere his terms as president. This will increase in time: the view from 35,000 feet augments a 'prisoner of the moment' recency bias
"The Servant of the People" was a product crafted by Kolomoyskyi and aired on one of his many television networks with the specific intent of propelling the cross-dresser into the role of a puppet President. The election campaign, entirely funded by Kolomoyskyi, was built on the deceptive promise of negotiating a legitimate peace agreement with the people of Donetsk and Lugansk. Kolomoyskyi was also entangled in corruption with Burisma, where Hunter received an annual payment of precisely $1 million, a fee directly linked to Biden's corrupt practices. This situation is a prime example of a deep-seated swamp of corruption.
I know, and Hunter Biden on the board of Burisma is just the "Colombian marching powder" frosting on the cake.
In what sort of a bizarre alternative reality are you in where you are going through the resumes of all possible candidates and decide "Hunter Biden! Yes that's the man who has the technical skills, experience in the natural gas business and honest determination to make this company work! "?
I've been saying for 2 years now that "The Servant of the People" was deliberately set-up with Z ultimately destined to fulfill the role he portrayed. It was evil genius.
Not sure who was the brains behind it, but I would guess MI6.
America was the victim of the same type of influence operation, and is likely where the Ukrainian op came from.
In the 15 years before Obama became the president of the US, if a Hollywood movie or TV show had a President character, the President was ALWAYS black.
After the success of that influence operation, EVERY president character in movies or TV was a white woman.
That one was not quite as successful! Their plan to install Hillary flopped.
But they tried.
After that, the influence ops became much more negative--denigrating the actual president.
Kekkius Maximus is keeping the pressure on Zelya regarding Gonzalo Lira's murder in custody: Zelensky should not have murdered an American journalist. He did not even understand why that was bad.
X, and then, here I am. Thank you my friend, the gift of “far~see” is appreciated. May God continue to guide, light speed, please and thank you!💙🇷🇺❤️🐈⬛
Wait, what—?! The rare earths are actually *real*—?
After insulting DJT on social media on Wednesday, Zelya said on Thursday how grateful Ukraine was for the U.S.’s investment in his country and how appreciative Ukraine was for the U.S.’s enduring support: “Success unites us all. Strong Ukraine—U.S. relations benefit the entire world. I thank General Kellogg for the joint work to achieve important results.” So DJT’s Special Envoy finally received his flowers as a result of working on Project Ukraine.
Although Zelya and Gen Kellogg were supposed to hold a joint press conference after their meeting, which was geared to give Zelya a second chance to agree on reimbursing the U.S. w/ 50% of Ukraine’s rare earths, the U.S. canceled the joint presser at the last minute and replaced it with a still photo of the two guys shaking hands.
Back in September 2024, Zelya wildly over-exagerated his country’s rare earths when trying to lure DJT into a security arrangement w/ Ukraine. DJT did not take the bait at the time, but he filed the information away and introduced a deal w/ Zelya once he was inaugurated: 50% acquisition of Ukraine’s rare earths in order to repay the $300bn U.S. taxpayers had already invested in Ukraine.
Weird drama ensued. Some claimed that Ukraine possessed no rare earths at all, only “scorched earth,” so there remained a kind of mythical or unicorn-like quality to this natural source of wealth for Ukraine.
After DJT sent his Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to Kiev to sign the deal for rare earths, Zelya balked unexpectedly, leaving the American dignitary in the lurch. Which is where matters stood for several days when all at once a social media feud erupted between Zelya and DJT, both sides trading insults.
The next day, Gen Kellogg arrived in Kiev to give Zelya a second chance at inking a deal. Zelya emerged from that meeting, touting its positivity. It’s not clear exactly where things stand now, but no new social media provocations have occurred.
The tough thing is this: 22 of the 30 minerals/metals deemed critical are within the territory currently held by Russia, so Ukraine does not have physical possession of them. Another tough thing: if the minerals/metals had been actually *that* critical, Ukraine, the poorest of former Soviet Union republics, would have mined them by now, or engaged w/ a partner to do so. That they had *not* suggests that the valuable elements are bedded in such a way as to make their extraction infeasible, if they are there at all.
No one is surprised to discover a smoke ’n mirrors angle to Ukraine’s rare earths—an “are they there? Are they not there? quality—because so much about this war has been sus. Even basic information is difficult to come by. To read the war well, you’ve got to be able to read the bulljive, which is not always possible. There may be $500bn worth of precious minerals & metals in Ukrainian soil—but it might take $1trn to extract them. Good deal? Bad deal?
Sec Rubio posted on X: “We hope Zelensky isn’t trying to hustle the U.S.”
In light of the skeeviness of the rare earths, it is difficult to know what actually happened in the meeting in Kiev between Zelya and Gen Kellogg. Despite the mistrust and anger, Gen Kellogg has begun negotiating a new mineral rights deal w/ Zelya which “appears to be,” according to Axios, “highly controversial.” Based on public and private statements, Trump’s team is expected to pressure Zelensky into giving up Crimea, portions of eastern Ukraine and the Azov sea coast—all of which Russia now occupies.
It’s a bad deal, an unnamed White House official said, but “Zelensky will have to eat it, because Trump has made clear that Ukraine is no longer our problem.”
Gen Kellogg posted on X on Friday morning that he had had a “long and intense day with the senior leadership of Ukraine.” Gen Kellogg, who is still in Kiev, lauded Zelya as “the embattled and courageous leader of a nation at war,”and he avoided labeling Zelya an unpopular dictator. Hostage-video-wise, Gen Kellogg was saying all the right things. Here’s hoping Gen Kellogg will be permitted to return back to the U.S. very soon.
I wonder if Trump is using rare earth as a way to make the drug freak understand that he is totally dependent. I'm sure Trump is aware that most of the good stuff is already under Russian control.
I think Trump is trying to make sure nobody else offers help to Zelensky in return for those rare earth rights. This makes Zelensky even more cornered.
Perseverating on the rare earths introduces a whacky dimension to the whole affair: when there's nothing left to say--other than "Russia won"--this is a way to talk about it without talking about it.
In 10 years there will be an entire Jeopardy category: "I'll take Rare Earths for $20"
Erm, no mention of the UK's 100 year deal with Ukraine? Apparently rumour has it that Z already gave away those minerals, if they exist at all, to the UK under that deal.
To give something you actually need to be in possession, and it's looking like more of Ukraine wants out and to go back to Russia. So those papers are pretty worthless.
for the record the "mineral deal" also included taking in 50% of the profits from all of Ukraine's ports. That might end up being more profitable in the long run than anything that comes out of the ground.
Which port you should ask. And then realize that Trump actually wanted to secure Odessa for Ukraine. But Zelensky cant read or understand these subtle intentions.
"Rare earths" are basically, an attempt to whet Trump's appetite for piracy, sort of like how the occupation of Syria was sold to Trump as a chance to steal oil. That the actual qualtity of oil stolen was never going to be more than a rounding error never entered into it.
FWIW, when I lived in Ukraine, one thing I worked on was to attract interest in investment in the Ukrainian mineral sector. Enough to say that Ukraine is not some treasure trove of untapped mineral wealth waiting to be exploited, and nobody was going to put up any money to get it.
And this from before the war, before Ukraine and its infrastructure were wrecked.
All Ukrainian Deep State backdoors lead to Rotchild France. The big guy 10% or mister 54% and half of 400 billion poured in the Oligarchs French Riviera. Money is a rich men’s war fought by the anonymous.
But what that is depends upon who has the actual power to speak its name and enforce it. Otherwise it is just little people running off at the mouth- like now in Europe.
"Article 19 of Ukraine’s martial law legislation explicitly prohibits holding national elections while the country remains under wartime restrictions. The law states : Under martial law, the following are prohibited: holding elections of the president of Ukraine, as well as elections to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and local self-government bodies."
So I don't think Putin is right, if that's what he said. As far as I can tell all elections are prohibited. But on the other hand, it seems that all Zelensky or the parliament have to do is lift the imposition of martial law and there would be no further constitutional barrier to immediately holding both presidential and parliamentary elections. Cancelling martial law would seem to be the minimum prerequisite for a legitimate election process anyway, given that it's under the provisions of martial law that Zelensky was able to ban the main opposition party in the parliament and close all opposition media.
Read closely, the Article 19 refers not to a provision in the constitution but to a provision in the Ukrainian legislation that defines "martial law". The Ukrainian constitution itself doesn't appear to have any provision for banning elections rather that ban is specified in the "martial law".
"The president submitted a proposal to the parliament on Jan. 14 to extend martial law and general mobilization for another 90 days. Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, voted to approve the extension one day later." - Kyiv Independent
This is one of more than a dozen extensions to the period of martial law approved by the Ukrainian parliament since 2022. In order to make presidential elections "legal" then the parliament could simply refuse to ratify Zelensky's next request for an extension and martial law would automatically terminate. Obviously they wouldn't want to do that because the provisions of martial law that allow Ukrainian men to be mobilized indefinitely would also lapse. But since the ban on elections is not in the Constitution itself but rather in the martial law, then as far as I can tell there's nothing stopping the Ukrainian parliament from legalizing Presidential elections without having to drop martial law simply by removing that specific provision from the martial law.
Article 73 - "Issues of altering the territory of Ukraine are resolved exclusively by an All-Ukrainian referendum."
- so clearly Crimea violated Ukraine's constitution, which was designed to prevent any successions ;-)
Article 83 - "In the event that the term of authority of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine expires while martial law or a state of emergency is in effect, its authority is extended until the day of the first meeting of the first session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine , elected after the cancellation of martial law or of the state of emergency."
The Constitution says the President's term expires after 5 years and there is no provision for extension under martial law. Since the mandate of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine was explicitly extended under martial law, we can conclude that the absence of similar wording concerning the President was deliberate.
Ukraine changes its Constitution @whim. I do recall that the original Ukraine's Constitution, in Aug of 1990 or 1991 stated, "Ukraine's permanent neutrality, not joining any military blocks, and equality of languages." Meant nothing.
As a former euro resident i find it funny how America threatens to remove troops, your average joe wants the americans to go home and quit using their country to bomb goat herders and create refugees, so what are the politicians making money on that they keep them there?
American bases have a significant effect on these countries' economies. Plus, if American removed its forces, it would represent a huge black mark against European image globally, showing the world that they really aren't that important after all.
amen. I once went to a pizza place in Germany that was ENTIRELY dependent on US military customers. Everything from the menu to the decorations on the wall was in English (PS the pizza was terrible).
You must have had an American style pizza. Most pizzarias in Germany are being operated by Italian families who started coming as 'Gastarbeiter' (guest workers) in 1955.
So clever—! So diabolical—! So strategic that even Bismarck would nod with approval, mightily impressed—! A strange strategy right now, leaked by unnamed officials, calls for Ukraine to announce a unilateral ceasefire, meaning without Russia’s consent—and then to invite France and the UK to position a *security* force of 30,000 troops in Dneprpetrovsk and Kirov Roy which would serve as tripwire, should Russia attack, thereby violating the ceasefire. A ceasefire, remember, to which Russia had not agreed.
So ambiguous—! So unnecessarily intricate—! So European—! France & the UK would insist that the U.S. come to their aid and offer military support if Russia did indeed violate the ceasefire which, remember was unilateral, meaning that Russia had not agreed to it.
Sir Keir and Napoleonette are coming to the White House next week to persuade DJT not only to support this *security* force of 30,000 U.S. troops w/ U.S. military guarantees but also to station F-35s in Poland, ready to scramble at-the-ready, should Russia violate the skeevy unilateral ceasefire.
It sounds crazy, as so many elements of Project Ukraine do.
“The global ramifications of last week’s watershed American capitulation”—yes, The Guardian media outlet actually used the phrase ‘American capitulation’—“will be widely felt. China will be emboldened by this spectacular, self-harming rupture inside the western alliance. It is probably fair to say an invasion of Taiwan, threatened by President Xi has moved appreciably closer. Russia’s rogue allies, Iran and North Korea, will also relish western disarray. It is a red-letter day for the axis of autocrats and authoritarians everywhere.”
Mocking The Guardian’s fear-mongering, JD was a wall of commonsense: “For three years, President Trump and I have made two simple arguments: first, the war wouldn’t have started if President Trump was in office; second, that neither Europe nor the Biden administration, nor the Ukrainians had any pathway to victory. This was true three years ago, it was true two years ago, it was last year—and it is true today. We believe the continued conflict is bad for Russia, bad for Ukraine and bad for Europe. But more importantly, it is bad for the U.S.”
Sir Keir does not think it’s bad. On Monday 24 February, which is the three-year anniversary of the SMO, Sir Keir will unveil a new package of support for Ukraine, described as a “triple whammy” of measures from three different UK governmental divisions. It is expected to include military aid and additional economic sanctions.
A Conservative MP touted Sir Keir’s “Triple Whammy” approvingly: “It’s important to *win* wars, not just *stop* them.”
Kid Starver's regime is bankrupt, with a spending deficit this year the greatest in decades. Perhaps the banksters will lend the money - it's for a good cause, natch! - and then again perhaps not, as the US is making it plain "For you, ze var is over, jah".
The Tories/Labour/Reform parties are just like the Uniwar Party in the USA, different cheeks, same asse. Same smelly product.
The Tory media is in meltdown right now, they are Atlanticist to the core. And insulting the POTUS is causing nervous breakdowns. Especially if Vance wins in 28, meaning the US is lost to them for a decade.
I recall 3 years ago arguing in the Daily Telegraph comments section that the UK was not at war with Russia and whatever the rights and wrongs of the situation it was not the UK's fight and it had no vital interests there. Boy was I wrong. It soon became apparent to me that the UK was engaged in a proxy war, and when I looked into things it was clear who started it. And now the Uk, along with the rest of NATO, is about to be defeated in their proxy war.
The UK and France can try to "Insist" all they want, I don't recall the US Constitution giving those countries control over the Pentagon.
And as Team Trump has also stated publicly that any troops sent there would not be under Art5, the only thing such an action would "tripwire" is those leaders own removal from power forthwith.
As for the Wunderwaffen F35, when they were flown at Iran, they had to break off their attack due to being missile locked. The Flying Brick is as real world stealthy as an actual brick.
A brick that needs 3x more repair time than flight time.
Hesgeth has already said that in no uncertain terms. If the Uk/France send troops (and no one else seems keen) then they will be treated as belligerents by the Russians. Lordy knows what the overspill might be. An attack on the UK/France proper? Would that drag in the USA? Hard to say but I think not. It would in my view end all US military support for Europe and its follies. They would get out of Dodge entriely IMO. End of NATO.
And in a shooting war with Russia, UK/French troops would run out of ammo in around 2 weeks and suffer casualty levels unheard of since maybe the 50's and the French were run out of Vietnam.
The French will have to learn "We surrender!" in Russian while the Brits will send in their elite Girl Power combat groups to make the Russians die of laughter.
And that is a good thing, silencing the yapping Chihuahuas bellicosity, finally making them realise their military irrelevance & just maybe focus on their own people's prosperity for once. Maybe the latter is too much to wish for.
It should but the yapping Chihuahuas live in their own visualized world, not impeded by logic or common sense. I bet even after NATO will roll to the 1990s borders, they'd still be yapping :-)
When the people in Crimea were given a choice in 2014 they compared the standard of living in Russia with that in Ukraine. The result was a foregone conclusion. The same applies in Dneipro, Kharkov, Odessa etc. Neoliberalism hasn't been kind to Ukraine. I think a few more Oblast would choose Russia if given the chance to vote.
Ironic that they do not dispute Ukraine independence which was announced in 1991 by the parliament IN SPITE of the results of the referendum earlier that year. They always had a problem with those pesky voters in Ukraine who refuse to vote the "right" way.
Zelensky spoke at my wife's graduation ceremony at John's Hopkins Carey Business School on 5/25/23. What a disgrace. It's appaling how fervently American liberals support an obvious con man grifter. What's he doing with all that money the US poured into his pockets under our previous dementia-addled retarded administration? Simplicius gives us an idea, it's stashed away somewhere in France.
Yes, that's bad, but I never thought that Adelson's 100 million dollar man (Trump)would even impose a ceasefire in Gaza. It wasn't a perfect day, just the best one in 34 years (for me).
The neocons have inadvertently succeeded in reestablishing Russia as a Great Power—it’s as simple & self-evident as that.
Starting in 2014, shortly after Euromaidan and just before signing the first of the Minsk Accords, Russia began strengthening massively, understanding that the U.S.-led OTAN would be coming for them someday, perhaps sooner rather than later. It took 8 years—2014-2022—but Russia was ready for it. Eschewing European imports, Russia opted instead for cultivating their domestic industries, in food production, in some cases building industries from the ground up. Cheese production, for instance, soared and diversified. Russia quickly became the largest exporter of grain. Additionally, Russia strengthened its manufacturing sector and fortified its engineering, managerial and R & D class in factories. That it began to bolster its weapons production goes without saying.
When the Baltics shut down their reliance on Russia’s electrical grid recently, showily making a staged TikTok video of the event, which starred leading lights of The Matriarchy like Lady vdL and Kaja the Callused, the full expectation on the part of the EU was that this would plunge Kaliningrad into devastating darkness & disarray. Which did not happen.
Oops, there goes Rabbitity—! Oops, there goes gravity—!!
Between 2014-2022, while the EU was busily plotting its nefarious Russophobic acts, Russia began rerouting energy and power for Kaliningrad, anticipating that someday soon the U.S.-led OTAN would find devious ways to knee-cap Kaliningrad—so when the EU finally got around to trying just such a thing, Russia could simply snicker up its sleeve, at Europe’s incalculable dumb-assery. Lady vdL, a sly aficionado of children’s games, did not realize that playing Tiddlywinks is not the same as playing 3-D chess.
Well, yes. And I'm not suggesting Cheeto's contributions don't have merit. But they are frequent & lengthy, possibly deterring others with equally valid, but more pithy comment to make?
For my part. I faithfully follow the dictums of that wise 13th century Chinese Philosopher, Ding Wun Sum Dong who famously said:
"Man who know little and speak even less....know someting"
It's sad that after the Soviet Union dissolved, Russia went out of its way to make friendly overtures and be accepted as part of the West. All we did was kick them we they were down and make threatening moves.
The West tried to make a monster out of Russia, but turned into the monster themselves.
All the talk w/ Bush Sr. in late 1989 emphasized the fall of the Berlin Wall but without any chest-thumping victory lap: it was a win-win proposition for both the Soviet side & the U.S. side.
Months after, though, the rhetoric began to shift, emphasizing a great big American win, evidence of how the neocons had gotten hold of matters.
87-91 was a great time to be in Germany and Europe. I worked harder (and played harder) than anytime in my life. Best parts of my life were there. I was relatively young, late twenties, and very naive about what was going on. That Germany is GONE and will never return. I think that we are lucky to have lived in the greatest period of prosperity ever on this planet. I don't see the earth or the US outrunning the laws of entropy... Chip
I remember how in the USSR, this original euphoria we felt re.: Gorbachev began turn grim as he was more geared toward his "world image," vs. fixing what was still fixable in the USSR.
George H.W. proclaimed there were "winners only & no losers" as the Berlin Wall came down. As Paul Wolfowitz gained ascendancy, however, and the Wolfowitz Doctrine quickened, the narrative changed. Condoleeza Rice joined enthusiastically in this narrative shift in early 1990.
NATO has always required an adversary to validate its insatiable presence and the military-industrial complex's profiteering. It has consistently served as a tool for advancing and safeguarding American interests and foreign policies. The inclusion of vassal member states merely provides a façade of legitimacy, masquerading the organization as a defensive alliance.
'Peace' will kick off a nervy period for Europe, because the unfamiliar climate of unadorned peace will deprive them of their most knee-jerk tool of statecraft: war.
"Russia opted instead for cultivating their domestic industries, in food production, in some cases building industries from the ground up. Cheese production, for instance, soared and diversified. Russia quickly became the largest exporter of grain. Additionally, Russia strengthened its manufacturing sector and fortified its engineering, managerial and R & D class in factories. That it began to bolster its weapons production goes without saying."
Precisely what the USSA should have been doing and desperately needs to do now... Chip
DJT wants to launch a Re-industrialization Revolution, which is pragmatic & desirable, but it's not easy to see how to energize & incentivize this.
The population was not in sync w/ the maximalist zero-sum hegemonic goals of Collective Biden, which set economic policy on a “Beat China” trajectory. Messaging like “invest in AI to beat China” or “invest in superconductor chips to beat China” or “learn to code to beat China” were not motivating to people.
When the U.S. was an industrial giant, the impetus arose from the imagineers themselves--Colt Armory, Ford Motor, Willys MB--from the ground up, not imposed top-down from the government. The work ethic among the populace was *extreme* to say the least.
Think of a time when the earliest of the land-grant universities were gaining steam in depopulated ultra-rural areas: they had to kiln their own bricks in situ in order to build the ,magnificent architecture which still stands today, even manufacturing onsite their own window glass. I mean, Lowes was not gonna ship it.
"When the U.S. was an industrial giant, the impetus arose from the imagineers themselves--Colt Armory, Ford Motor, Willys MB--from the ground up, not imposed top-down from the government."
BAM! Out of the park cheeto!!! Government will screw up an iron ball every time... Chip
No, it's not easy and DJT must first stop outsourcing. In the 1990-2000s, the heavy industry was outsourced, to the point that North American aircraft were designed/manufactured all over the world, sometimes to much lower standards. In the 2010s, the IT support, accounting, payroll, etc., were outsourced to India/wherever. Nowadays, you don't even know from what country in the world your confidential medical records are being viewed and where in the world you tissue/blood samples are being processed. This shit is unsafe and must stop!
Since 2008 with the Munich speech is my unofficial start-off for RU pushing preparations, though I have no real data. That speech must have been knowingly provocative/dangerous.
The US has stopped selling weapons to Ukraine? Have we ever been paid? I thought they were a gift from Biden the generous, who also gifted weapons and a functional military base to the Taliban.
Starmer and Macron must really be desperate if they are going to go to see Trump. I can't wait to see them humiliated. Trump knows this crowd, and he hasn't forgotten how they treated him in the past.
Oh and Finland! They were so big and bad when they joined NATO. Let's see how they feel about that long border with Russia without the US behind them.
Trump is getting his intel from independent writers via Tulsi and perhaps others now, it seems to me. Tulsi is the key as she has Trump's ear and the band of internet bloggers in the know are her friends and have her ear. This crew includes Simp, the Alexanders, MacGregor, Larry Johnson, Ray MacGrovern, Ton Shafer, Daniel Davis and others. Now their influence is being seen, thankfully, and I can encourage my Ukrainian wife that things are looking up for the end of this sad war.
It's a good point. I don't know if it's so much a case of independent bloggers and writers but since getting hit by such info-war attacks as "The Steele Dossier", a couple of impeachment fights and the lawfare offensive, Team Trump must have developed alternative information pipelines.
Did you know that "Deep Throat" the informant crucial to taking down Richard Nixon was Mark Felt, deputy director of the FBI ? Then the press and Hollywood spun up Woodward and Bernstein as the heroes of the story, they won 4 Academy awards for that, including Best Screenplay.
All of that happened 50 years ago and yet there are still people who believe The Deep State is a myth
Here in Austria I could get a personal feeling about politicians and knowledge. To help the negotiations for a new government, the Military (HNA) made a report. The Military cooperated with friendly services; in my opinion, the report was very, very good. All the problems discussed in the report will have consequences in diplomatic, financial, economic, and military matters, so you should expect that every politician has read it carefully. Sadly, the opposite was true; most of the leading politicians and the consultants got the information from state-owned TV and the mainstream media (very "liberal"/green, very pro EC). All a politician has to do, is read the reports from the military, the secret services, the budget advisers, the CTOs of the energy and infrastructure facilities ..., but the do not listen to them. So please do not overestimate the internet bloggers; all the politicians have to do is read the reports from the non-political federal offices; the Trump team is obviously doing it the right way.
I was first to like this post! That is all, that’s the comment!! Love your work!!
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Thanks to retweeted information about the death of American journalist Gonzalo Lira in Ukrainian custody—and Kekkius Maximus’s boosting of this info plus David Sacks’s retweets about Gonzalo Lira’s death while in Ukrainian detention—and thanks to the retweets about Zelya & Zelenskaya’s ghoulish glamor photo-shoot for Vogue magazine, as captured through the lens of Annie Leibowitz while Ukrainian soldiers were dying in frozen trenches—the world has realized that the war in Ukraine has been a massive money grift and psy op.
In important ways DJT is in the process of saving Europe from its worst of impulses.
DJT has performed the most elegant of geopolitical tablecloth tricks on earth—!! Saving lives & rocking Europe back on its heels. The Europeans were the ones, after all, who steered this catastrophe of Project Ukraine for nearly 3 years, so smug they were in the estimation that they were on “the right side of history.” And as DJT accurately said on 21 February—neither the UK nor France lifted a finger to end the war, least of all Germany. When Sir Keir and Napoleonette pay a visit to the White House next week, the fur will fly.
It is obvious that elements of Project Ukraine—like Zelya’s making Treasury Sec Scott Bessent wait an hour or two before their meeting in Kiev while Zelya “slept in”—are murky, sus, obsessive, and troublesome enough to warrant walking away. This is not a homegrown problem for DJT. He stepped into a set-up, authored by Collective Biden, w/ a volatile, manipulative and bizarre personality: Zelya, as the Usurper of Kiev. This maybe was familiar to Collective Biden, and normalized by them, but is not by any means comprehensible or professionally expected for DJT or his team. Everything about Project Ukraine has been anomalous and weird—from the elaborately negotiated Minsk Accords, which the European parties in Germany & France never intended to support to the peculiar preoccupation Europe has w/ supporting Ukraine at all costs. Elements of Project Ukraine are unrelentingly perverse and are practically too warped & astonishing to predict or understand. It is a high-maintenance endeavor, to be sure. If you have the band-width for it, okay. If not, walk away.
Oooops, there goes Rabbity—! Oops, there goes gravity—!
Plucky Ukraine in the voice of Zelya implies that DJT is not only living in “a bubble of Russian disinformation,” but that he is controlled by the Kremlin, repeating the hoaxiest of hoax-y hoaxes from the regrettably hoax-heavy Russiagate era of American public life.
A day or so later, suddenly, the Pentagon stopped selling arms, equipment and weaponry to the AFU. A day or so later, suddenly, Kekkius Maximus announced a 1 March end-date for StarLink on the frontline in Ukraine.
*Who* prepped Zelya for that dreadful press conference in which he stepped toward the bank of microphones and began to diss DJT—? *Who* could have wrung such a devastating performance from this “modestly successful comedian”—? What country on earth could orchestrate a spectacle like that—?
There’s a man who leads a life of danger. Everywhere he goes he stays a stranger.
Stormer Agent Man—! Stormer Agent Man—!
Some think he won’t live to see tomorrow.
Haha! Or, as Alex Christoforu calls him, Stormer agent 008 license to bore!
It's easier to look at this whole spectacle of Project Ukraine if you see what you wouldn't have believed before the veil was lifted:
Russia was the good guy, the neocon West the bad guys. We are the baddies.
I'm delighted to see the East rise. Let's hope peace will reign and the influence of the "Enlightenment" simply dies, first in Europe and then America. Hopefully, we will wake up and destroy this self decimating, life sucking, prideful culture.
We'll see.
It's a worthwhile hope, but I'm more inclined to see Trump as a "realist" of US exceptionalism a la Mearsheimer. Dumping the costly trappings of empire while rebuilding the core. The removal of the cancerous tumour deep state is a necessity. Success here gives Trump room to shape positive agenda. Closing bases and removing troops - how will the various compradors cope?
Finding the core is the secret, is it not? Let's hope and pray for it's success, that would be best case for those of us who respect what our ancestors set out to create....we shall see.
Remember around covid all the globalist's talk of a great reset? Trump is now doing a greater reset, the other way.
Brava
You mean the "un-enlightenment".You can dwell in the theistic, feudal Dark-Ages if you wish. I will work for the rebirth of the Enlightenment/"Age of Reason".
Unavoidable conclusion. But the piece hints at the forces that move the puppet’s strings. Was this whole thing the Rothschild faction’s revenge for their failure to control Russian finance? Did they really think they could dismember Russia or is the apparent aggression actually defensive and a sign of weakness? I’m guessing the latter because fighting a losing war doesn’t make sense.
This is next-level insight. Gotta ponder. Thx
Finance/Banking. The Conjurer's Trick. Belief. Fractional Reserve Banking, that is leveraging the conjured money counterfeited by Central Banks.
It is a Con Game as long as man has formed groups. One guy has the Magic Liquidity through which you get tokens for your work.
The Biggest Con Game of all. Well, second to the "my" Big Angry Guy in the Sky fiction.
cheetos,
drug addicts are crazy. for biden, this is NORMAL behaviour for well funded/wealthy family that cares more deeply about their families' reputation than is normal, need to impress others with their successful son/daughter (I personally know these people) Think hunter. There are many hunters and huntresses throughout the USA.
The rest of the psychopaths? Deeply deceived to the point of extreme self delusion, ancestral sin perhaps, all that paperclip blood flowing through their veins? maybe. Otherwise, some other distorted mental illness. They are insane, and they are accustomed to insanity, keep that in mind. These are the most mentally & spiritually ill of humans (imho).
The non compos mentis climate of Collective Biden accentuated the White House-as-crack-house aspect of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
It became a magnet for no-accountability freak-offs. (I don't mean Diddy-style exactly but more metaphorically or figuratively.
Addicts are drawn to certain situations where they can sequester their stash & continue their usage without disruption or discovery.
The non compos mentis White House became an ideal scene.
it has been a haven for all sorts of fun and games for years. going way, way back.
Biden appears to me as dumb, egoistic and greatly venal.
Malign & hubris-governed.
you need to start your own blog Cheetosspring;-)
2nd this request
If Zelensky doesn't flee to UAE or France in advance of the reality being shaped for him, his military may do him in or the people will vote him out. What isn't in doubt is that his passing is near, maybe tomorrow, maybe a little later. Whenever the endeavor transpires it will bring no sorrow. He was a literal clown, now a puppet. Trump will bring him down and tear down the circus tent that Ukraine is in. Someone should have told the narco-führer not to bite the hand that feeds him or the one that provides the money for his blow. He seems to believe his lies as he cries for money and weapons. Now he just has to go.
Tel Aviv more likely.
Collective Biden, pronouns: they-them. Love it
We can be assured Z is controlled, the question is by whom. My guess is by a unit of the Pentagon/CIA/MI6, meaning the Globalist deep state. They are the most likely to be his handlers, and to try themes that brought past success such as Russiagate.
And using Z this way to me is indication of how desperate they are. They have nothing to replace their dream of ravaging Russia to buy time and capital to complete their "eat z bugs" program of world enslavement.
Desperate people do desperate things, they are now at their most dangerous, I anticipate one or more very nasty False Flags, probably nuclear, possibly bioweapon, possibly both, probably in Ukraine and the US.
They will not, because they cannot, fade back into the shadows AS this time they were too bold, too visible, and LOUDLY boasted of their plans, see WEF for details.
Metal.
Russiagate was a domestic two-for w/ a spritz of the international, in that 'they' could tar DJT w/ Russia and ultimately wind up tarring them both.
Project Ukraine has had a lot more moving parts--like the Broadway musical version of a mass psychosis psy-op.
BTW--Kekkius Maximus continues to tweet in support of Gonzalo
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https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1893231732029084118
I've read rumors that Zelensky's personal bodyguards are (ex)SAS. Also Zaluzhnyi going to London. Boris Johnson visiting to kill the Istanbul peace talks.
Therefore my impression is that the UK is the closest handler of project Ukraine.
RIP Gonzalo, I like to think his murder somehow butterfly effected Zelnskies downfall. He'd like that
I'm sure he's enjoying it, God bless him!
There is hell to pay. The victor (RF) will exact justice. Maybe the end of the current Brussels cabal. Who knows? Buckle up and go long popcorn.
Agree. Masterful tricks, absolutely.
I voted for Trump because, well, what other realistic choice did I have?
I don't want to sound like an ugly "American" talking about money, but imagine finding the missing 150 billion in the Rothschild's bank located (conveniently) in Paris? All that cia crypto blown apart by the teenager on Musk's payroll? Masterful. I must say, I am impressed and can't wait to see the corroborating evidence and not a deep fake of the deep state. Just sayin
Splendidly written comment, cheetos. bravo(a)
"The Servant of the People" TV show & political party has got to be one of the most magnificent psy-ops in modern history.
From a certain position, using memetic magic and hyperstition to transform a moderately successful comedian into a president is totally insane.
From another position it is totally brilliant.
They're obsessed with "cunning plans". Look at situation Britain (little), they're working their way into greater irrelevance.
Word!
Ronald Reagan was an actor and a bad one!
"Trickle down economics." How did that work?
It didn't.
The Ronald Reagan - Volodymyr Zelenskyy comparison is often made as they were both actors who became national presidents, but there is a lot more to the story and looking at their biographies side by side just shows how bizarre Zelenskyy's rise to power actually was.
Reagan became the president of the Screen Actors' Guild ( the Hollywood actor's union) twice, firstly from 1947 (when he was 36) until 1952 and then again 1959 until 1960. He was first elected as Governor of California in 1966 and then again in 1970. He narrowly lost the nomination for the Republican candidacy in 1976, but gained it and won the presidency in 1980 and then again in 1984.
That's a solid political career, climbing the ranks over decades.
Zelenskyy never held a single political position or won an election until he won the presidency in 2019. "Servant of the People" ran from 2015 until 2019 with the last episode airing only a few days before the election. Producers, writers and directors cycled between the TV show, the political party of the same name and the actual presidential administration.
So you tell me, is all of that a manifestation of the genuine will of the people or an elaborate perception management campaign?
Thanks.
Scott Ritter has an excellent documentary that chronicles Zelensky's orchestrated rise to the presidency of Ukraine. Exposes all the US involvement. Also, please read "Provoked" by Scott Horton. Cheers.
Many thanks for these recommendations. I usually watch most of Scott Ritter.
I have made a note of the book......happily I am up to my eyes in books!
elensky is one of the chosen.
rot-schild still holds his piggy bank.
Ronnie was a fantastic governor of California, and people on both sides of the aisle revere his terms as president. This will increase in time: the view from 35,000 feet augments a 'prisoner of the moment' recency bias
At least Reagan was more presentable than Zelya :-)
"The Servant of the People" was a product crafted by Kolomoyskyi and aired on one of his many television networks with the specific intent of propelling the cross-dresser into the role of a puppet President. The election campaign, entirely funded by Kolomoyskyi, was built on the deceptive promise of negotiating a legitimate peace agreement with the people of Donetsk and Lugansk. Kolomoyskyi was also entangled in corruption with Burisma, where Hunter received an annual payment of precisely $1 million, a fee directly linked to Biden's corrupt practices. This situation is a prime example of a deep-seated swamp of corruption.
I know, and Hunter Biden on the board of Burisma is just the "Colombian marching powder" frosting on the cake.
In what sort of a bizarre alternative reality are you in where you are going through the resumes of all possible candidates and decide "Hunter Biden! Yes that's the man who has the technical skills, experience in the natural gas business and honest determination to make this company work! "?
Nancy Antoinette's son Paul Jr. also served on the board of an LNG company in Ukraine, not Burisma.
Also Mitt Romney's son--a fancy Kiev gig
Plus John Kerry's stepson w/ Heinz, the Ketchup Queen
All these, plus Hunter.
Gotta wonder about the pipeline that drives well-connected parents to find cushy paychecks for their adult kids in Kiev.
I've been saying for 2 years now that "The Servant of the People" was deliberately set-up with Z ultimately destined to fulfill the role he portrayed. It was evil genius.
Not sure who was the brains behind it, but I would guess MI6.
America was the victim of the same type of influence operation, and is likely where the Ukrainian op came from.
In the 15 years before Obama became the president of the US, if a Hollywood movie or TV show had a President character, the President was ALWAYS black.
After the success of that influence operation, EVERY president character in movies or TV was a white woman.
That one was not quite as successful! Their plan to install Hillary flopped.
But they tried.
After that, the influence ops became much more negative--denigrating the actual president.
They're still at it.
"In important ways DJT is in the process of saving Europe from its worst of impulses."
- spot on.
This was a CIA driven op. No doubt MI6 heavily involved. But this has USSA deep state written all over it... Chip
Kekkius Maximus is keeping the pressure on Zelya regarding Gonzalo Lira's murder in custody: Zelensky should not have murdered an American journalist. He did not even understand why that was bad.
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https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1893231732029084118
Perfect timing! I just checked to see if I had missed an update.
Your efforts are appreciated sir
X, and then, here I am. Thank you my friend, the gift of “far~see” is appreciated. May God continue to guide, light speed, please and thank you!💙🇷🇺❤️🐈⬛
Wait, what—?! The rare earths are actually *real*—?
After insulting DJT on social media on Wednesday, Zelya said on Thursday how grateful Ukraine was for the U.S.’s investment in his country and how appreciative Ukraine was for the U.S.’s enduring support: “Success unites us all. Strong Ukraine—U.S. relations benefit the entire world. I thank General Kellogg for the joint work to achieve important results.” So DJT’s Special Envoy finally received his flowers as a result of working on Project Ukraine.
Although Zelya and Gen Kellogg were supposed to hold a joint press conference after their meeting, which was geared to give Zelya a second chance to agree on reimbursing the U.S. w/ 50% of Ukraine’s rare earths, the U.S. canceled the joint presser at the last minute and replaced it with a still photo of the two guys shaking hands.
Back in September 2024, Zelya wildly over-exagerated his country’s rare earths when trying to lure DJT into a security arrangement w/ Ukraine. DJT did not take the bait at the time, but he filed the information away and introduced a deal w/ Zelya once he was inaugurated: 50% acquisition of Ukraine’s rare earths in order to repay the $300bn U.S. taxpayers had already invested in Ukraine.
Weird drama ensued. Some claimed that Ukraine possessed no rare earths at all, only “scorched earth,” so there remained a kind of mythical or unicorn-like quality to this natural source of wealth for Ukraine.
After DJT sent his Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to Kiev to sign the deal for rare earths, Zelya balked unexpectedly, leaving the American dignitary in the lurch. Which is where matters stood for several days when all at once a social media feud erupted between Zelya and DJT, both sides trading insults.
The next day, Gen Kellogg arrived in Kiev to give Zelya a second chance at inking a deal. Zelya emerged from that meeting, touting its positivity. It’s not clear exactly where things stand now, but no new social media provocations have occurred.
The tough thing is this: 22 of the 30 minerals/metals deemed critical are within the territory currently held by Russia, so Ukraine does not have physical possession of them. Another tough thing: if the minerals/metals had been actually *that* critical, Ukraine, the poorest of former Soviet Union republics, would have mined them by now, or engaged w/ a partner to do so. That they had *not* suggests that the valuable elements are bedded in such a way as to make their extraction infeasible, if they are there at all.
No one is surprised to discover a smoke ’n mirrors angle to Ukraine’s rare earths—an “are they there? Are they not there? quality—because so much about this war has been sus. Even basic information is difficult to come by. To read the war well, you’ve got to be able to read the bulljive, which is not always possible. There may be $500bn worth of precious minerals & metals in Ukrainian soil—but it might take $1trn to extract them. Good deal? Bad deal?
Sec Rubio posted on X: “We hope Zelensky isn’t trying to hustle the U.S.”
In light of the skeeviness of the rare earths, it is difficult to know what actually happened in the meeting in Kiev between Zelya and Gen Kellogg. Despite the mistrust and anger, Gen Kellogg has begun negotiating a new mineral rights deal w/ Zelya which “appears to be,” according to Axios, “highly controversial.” Based on public and private statements, Trump’s team is expected to pressure Zelensky into giving up Crimea, portions of eastern Ukraine and the Azov sea coast—all of which Russia now occupies.
It’s a bad deal, an unnamed White House official said, but “Zelensky will have to eat it, because Trump has made clear that Ukraine is no longer our problem.”
Gen Kellogg posted on X on Friday morning that he had had a “long and intense day with the senior leadership of Ukraine.” Gen Kellogg, who is still in Kiev, lauded Zelya as “the embattled and courageous leader of a nation at war,”and he avoided labeling Zelya an unpopular dictator. Hostage-video-wise, Gen Kellogg was saying all the right things. Here’s hoping Gen Kellogg will be permitted to return back to the U.S. very soon.
I wonder if Trump is using rare earth as a way to make the drug freak understand that he is totally dependent. I'm sure Trump is aware that most of the good stuff is already under Russian control.
I think Trump is trying to make sure nobody else offers help to Zelensky in return for those rare earth rights. This makes Zelensky even more cornered.
Perseverating on the rare earths introduces a whacky dimension to the whole affair: when there's nothing left to say--other than "Russia won"--this is a way to talk about it without talking about it.
In 10 years there will be an entire Jeopardy category: "I'll take Rare Earths for $20"
Hahaha, I just spewed my morning coffee a bit🤣
Erm, no mention of the UK's 100 year deal with Ukraine? Apparently rumour has it that Z already gave away those minerals, if they exist at all, to the UK under that deal.
To give something you actually need to be in possession, and it's looking like more of Ukraine wants out and to go back to Russia. So those papers are pretty worthless.
for the record the "mineral deal" also included taking in 50% of the profits from all of Ukraine's ports. That might end up being more profitable in the long run than anything that comes out of the ground.
Which port you should ask. And then realize that Trump actually wanted to secure Odessa for Ukraine. But Zelensky cant read or understand these subtle intentions.
"But Zelensky cant read or understand these subtle intentions."
- Indeed. And there are many more Zelenskys out there. Way too many.
What ports? You mean Odessa? President Putin already said nyet. That's Russian.
"Rare earths" are basically, an attempt to whet Trump's appetite for piracy, sort of like how the occupation of Syria was sold to Trump as a chance to steal oil. That the actual qualtity of oil stolen was never going to be more than a rounding error never entered into it.
FWIW, when I lived in Ukraine, one thing I worked on was to attract interest in investment in the Ukrainian mineral sector. Enough to say that Ukraine is not some treasure trove of untapped mineral wealth waiting to be exploited, and nobody was going to put up any money to get it.
And this from before the war, before Ukraine and its infrastructure were wrecked.
Exactly! I never believed it was anywhere even near to justify the numbers thrown around by Graham or Trump.
People still don't get it that this isn't a war over Ukraine.
It is a war over Russia, Ukraine is just the (first in a line of many) tool used to destroy it.
Russia is the real prize of untapped wealth, and the richest country on the planet.
All Ukrainian Deep State backdoors lead to Rotchild France. The big guy 10% or mister 54% and half of 400 billion poured in the Oligarchs French Riviera. Money is a rich men’s war fought by the anonymous.
Makes sense now why someone in Trump's inner circle dropped the hint for Z to move to FRANCE of all places.
Putin said that Ukrainian constitution prohibits parliamentary elections during war times, but it doesn't prohibit presidential elections.
I don't doubt him, but I wonder if anybody here can elaborate.
Any experts here on Ukrainian law?
The law is what the people in charge say it is.
But the question is always who is 'in charge'.
In the end the Rules-Based Order decides.
But what that is depends upon who has the actual power to speak its name and enforce it. Otherwise it is just little people running off at the mouth- like now in Europe.
"Article 19 of Ukraine’s martial law legislation explicitly prohibits holding national elections while the country remains under wartime restrictions. The law states : Under martial law, the following are prohibited: holding elections of the president of Ukraine, as well as elections to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and local self-government bodies."
So I don't think Putin is right, if that's what he said. As far as I can tell all elections are prohibited. But on the other hand, it seems that all Zelensky or the parliament have to do is lift the imposition of martial law and there would be no further constitutional barrier to immediately holding both presidential and parliamentary elections. Cancelling martial law would seem to be the minimum prerequisite for a legitimate election process anyway, given that it's under the provisions of martial law that Zelensky was able to ban the main opposition party in the parliament and close all opposition media.
Thank you so much for a sincere answer!
What version are you reading? Article 19 says no such thing.
Read closely, the Article 19 refers not to a provision in the constitution but to a provision in the Ukrainian legislation that defines "martial law". The Ukrainian constitution itself doesn't appear to have any provision for banning elections rather that ban is specified in the "martial law".
My next question is: How and by who can martial law be proclaimed. By the president alone, or through Rada?
Do you know how it was done this time?
(I guess it should be: "by whom")
"The president submitted a proposal to the parliament on Jan. 14 to extend martial law and general mobilization for another 90 days. Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, voted to approve the extension one day later." - Kyiv Independent
This is one of more than a dozen extensions to the period of martial law approved by the Ukrainian parliament since 2022. In order to make presidential elections "legal" then the parliament could simply refuse to ratify Zelensky's next request for an extension and martial law would automatically terminate. Obviously they wouldn't want to do that because the provisions of martial law that allow Ukrainian men to be mobilized indefinitely would also lapse. But since the ban on elections is not in the Constitution itself but rather in the martial law, then as far as I can tell there's nothing stopping the Ukrainian parliament from legalizing Presidential elections without having to drop martial law simply by removing that specific provision from the martial law.
I would guess that the majority in the Rada is hanging on to Zelensky, out of fear/cowardness/greed...
The Constitution of Ukraine (English) is here...
http://rm.coe.int/constitution-of-ukraine/168071f58b
Article 73 - "Issues of altering the territory of Ukraine are resolved exclusively by an All-Ukrainian referendum."
- so clearly Crimea violated Ukraine's constitution, which was designed to prevent any successions ;-)
Article 83 - "In the event that the term of authority of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine expires while martial law or a state of emergency is in effect, its authority is extended until the day of the first meeting of the first session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine , elected after the cancellation of martial law or of the state of emergency."
The Constitution says the President's term expires after 5 years and there is no provision for extension under martial law. Since the mandate of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine was explicitly extended under martial law, we can conclude that the absence of similar wording concerning the President was deliberate.
Thank you!
Ukraine changes its Constitution @whim. I do recall that the original Ukraine's Constitution, in Aug of 1990 or 1991 stated, "Ukraine's permanent neutrality, not joining any military blocks, and equality of languages." Meant nothing.
As a former euro resident i find it funny how America threatens to remove troops, your average joe wants the americans to go home and quit using their country to bomb goat herders and create refugees, so what are the politicians making money on that they keep them there?
American bases have a significant effect on these countries' economies. Plus, if American removed its forces, it would represent a huge black mark against European image globally, showing the world that they really aren't that important after all.
amen. I once went to a pizza place in Germany that was ENTIRELY dependent on US military customers. Everything from the menu to the decorations on the wall was in English (PS the pizza was terrible).
try eating at a Mexican restaurant in Germany;)
🤣
You must have had an American style pizza. Most pizzarias in Germany are being operated by Italian families who started coming as 'Gastarbeiter' (guest workers) in 1955.
Gisela. Absolutely.
Vic. We 'll cope, economically.
Personally I think having another country's military bases on our territory makes us look like vassals, so asking you to leave works for me.
It'd also save you an absolute fortune.
So clever—! So diabolical—! So strategic that even Bismarck would nod with approval, mightily impressed—! A strange strategy right now, leaked by unnamed officials, calls for Ukraine to announce a unilateral ceasefire, meaning without Russia’s consent—and then to invite France and the UK to position a *security* force of 30,000 troops in Dneprpetrovsk and Kirov Roy which would serve as tripwire, should Russia attack, thereby violating the ceasefire. A ceasefire, remember, to which Russia had not agreed.
So ambiguous—! So unnecessarily intricate—! So European—! France & the UK would insist that the U.S. come to their aid and offer military support if Russia did indeed violate the ceasefire which, remember was unilateral, meaning that Russia had not agreed to it.
Sir Keir and Napoleonette are coming to the White House next week to persuade DJT not only to support this *security* force of 30,000 U.S. troops w/ U.S. military guarantees but also to station F-35s in Poland, ready to scramble at-the-ready, should Russia violate the skeevy unilateral ceasefire.
It sounds crazy, as so many elements of Project Ukraine do.
“The global ramifications of last week’s watershed American capitulation”—yes, The Guardian media outlet actually used the phrase ‘American capitulation’—“will be widely felt. China will be emboldened by this spectacular, self-harming rupture inside the western alliance. It is probably fair to say an invasion of Taiwan, threatened by President Xi has moved appreciably closer. Russia’s rogue allies, Iran and North Korea, will also relish western disarray. It is a red-letter day for the axis of autocrats and authoritarians everywhere.”
Mocking The Guardian’s fear-mongering, JD was a wall of commonsense: “For three years, President Trump and I have made two simple arguments: first, the war wouldn’t have started if President Trump was in office; second, that neither Europe nor the Biden administration, nor the Ukrainians had any pathway to victory. This was true three years ago, it was true two years ago, it was last year—and it is true today. We believe the continued conflict is bad for Russia, bad for Ukraine and bad for Europe. But more importantly, it is bad for the U.S.”
Sir Keir does not think it’s bad. On Monday 24 February, which is the three-year anniversary of the SMO, Sir Keir will unveil a new package of support for Ukraine, described as a “triple whammy” of measures from three different UK governmental divisions. It is expected to include military aid and additional economic sanctions.
A Conservative MP touted Sir Keir’s “Triple Whammy” approvingly: “It’s important to *win* wars, not just *stop* them.”
Kid Starver's regime is bankrupt, with a spending deficit this year the greatest in decades. Perhaps the banksters will lend the money - it's for a good cause, natch! - and then again perhaps not, as the US is making it plain "For you, ze var is over, jah".
The Tories/Labour/Reform parties are just like the Uniwar Party in the USA, different cheeks, same asse. Same smelly product.
The Tory media is in meltdown right now, they are Atlanticist to the core. And insulting the POTUS is causing nervous breakdowns. Especially if Vance wins in 28, meaning the US is lost to them for a decade.
So the Iran/China faction has the upper hand for awhile over the Russia faction. Big deal.
I recall 3 years ago arguing in the Daily Telegraph comments section that the UK was not at war with Russia and whatever the rights and wrongs of the situation it was not the UK's fight and it had no vital interests there. Boy was I wrong. It soon became apparent to me that the UK was engaged in a proxy war, and when I looked into things it was clear who started it. And now the Uk, along with the rest of NATO, is about to be defeated in their proxy war.
They self-deleted on Project Ukraine
The UK and France can try to "Insist" all they want, I don't recall the US Constitution giving those countries control over the Pentagon.
And as Team Trump has also stated publicly that any troops sent there would not be under Art5, the only thing such an action would "tripwire" is those leaders own removal from power forthwith.
As for the Wunderwaffen F35, when they were flown at Iran, they had to break off their attack due to being missile locked. The Flying Brick is as real world stealthy as an actual brick.
A brick that needs 3x more repair time than flight time.
1000 up votes!
Add to that neither the USofDC constitution nor the War Dept. have control of the RU military.
Even under Article 5, oooohh, the US can decide to send some bandages and wheelchairs to Londinium and gay Parieee.
Pretty sure the US would not accept article 5 request to support euro troops in Ukraine.
Hesgeth has already said that in no uncertain terms. If the Uk/France send troops (and no one else seems keen) then they will be treated as belligerents by the Russians. Lordy knows what the overspill might be. An attack on the UK/France proper? Would that drag in the USA? Hard to say but I think not. It would in my view end all US military support for Europe and its follies. They would get out of Dodge entriely IMO. End of NATO.
And in a shooting war with Russia, UK/French troops would run out of ammo in around 2 weeks and suffer casualty levels unheard of since maybe the 50's and the French were run out of Vietnam.
The French will have to learn "We surrender!" in Russian while the Brits will send in their elite Girl Power combat groups to make the Russians die of laughter.
"elite Girl Power..."
aka chicks with dicks...
The Can-Can dancers will form a line!
NATO cannot survive in its current form without the US.
And that is a good thing, silencing the yapping Chihuahuas bellicosity, finally making them realise their military irrelevance & just maybe focus on their own people's prosperity for once. Maybe the latter is too much to wish for.
It should but the yapping Chihuahuas live in their own visualized world, not impeded by logic or common sense. I bet even after NATO will roll to the 1990s borders, they'd still be yapping :-)
Starmer and Macron have this idea that Russia would avoid combat with our troops if we put them in Ukraine, because......reasons.
I think they're wrong.
I think the Russians would absolutely devastate our lads, causing thousands of casualties. And that would make both Britain and France ungovernable.
A 'unilateral cease fire' is a nice name for a SURRENDER. Russia would roll straight in, not wait for NATO to step into the void. FAFO as they say.
Interesting, you mentioning Bismarck. Here is one of his famous quotes:
“Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable — the art of the next best.”
IMO, the Iron Chancellor, was the last great German politician.
That is a great Bismarck quote. He was a singularly unique & gifted statesman. He called preemptive strikes “Committing suicide out of fear of death.”
*"Law (deals) are like sausage - you don't want to see how they are made."*
Bismarck also advised not to fight with Russia.
Those machinations don't concern or confuse RU missiles.
A referendum in Crimea as a minimum.
I want to see that gullible idiot Piers Morgan cry.
It would also be nice to see BloJo on trial. It may not be for the lies he said during the Brexshit debacle, but it'll be good enough.
Edit: Sorry, typo - I meant ODESSA, not Crimea.
Crimea had a referendum in 2014 in which they overwhelmingly voted to join Russia. Like all election results the Globalists dislike, this is disputed.
To clarify:
Globalists didn't dispute the overwhelmingness of the result, rather the legitimacy of giving the population a vote.
When the people in Crimea were given a choice in 2014 they compared the standard of living in Russia with that in Ukraine. The result was a foregone conclusion. The same applies in Dneipro, Kharkov, Odessa etc. Neoliberalism hasn't been kind to Ukraine. I think a few more Oblast would choose Russia if given the chance to vote.
Ironic that they do not dispute Ukraine independence which was announced in 1991 by the parliament IN SPITE of the results of the referendum earlier that year. They always had a problem with those pesky voters in Ukraine who refuse to vote the "right" way.
Oh, I meant Odessa.
Was in too much of a hurry to post! Lmao. ;)
The three dots on the upper right allow to edit comments :-)
I second that, BloJo the Clown deserves imprisonment for what he has done to the UK & the Ukrainian people.
He deserves a straight-jacket for his hair.
Zelensky spoke at my wife's graduation ceremony at John's Hopkins Carey Business School on 5/25/23. What a disgrace. It's appaling how fervently American liberals support an obvious con man grifter. What's he doing with all that money the US poured into his pockets under our previous dementia-addled retarded administration? Simplicius gives us an idea, it's stashed away somewhere in France.
Today was the happiest I've ever felt about international news, which I've been closely following since 1991.
Ditto 🙏
I'd Like your comment, but my browser won't let me. It instead shows 'javascript:void(0)'.
Not for me. Israel is using a lie about the cause of death of a small hostage family to prepare the West to support resumption of bombing Gaza.
Yes, that's bad, but I never thought that Adelson's 100 million dollar man (Trump)would even impose a ceasefire in Gaza. It wasn't a perfect day, just the best one in 34 years (for me).
The israeli/US fusion is always the stick in the wheel, isn't it!
Am I truly the only cat who remembers The Great Kuwaiti Baby Incubator Hoax?
Andnhet humans fall for the lies, over and over and over again.
It's amazing how the deep state recycles the same narrative again and again, but people still fall for it.
It has been like one great big Mardi Gras since Trump assumed office. More fun and celebration than you would get with a barrel of monkeys!!
The neocons have inadvertently succeeded in reestablishing Russia as a Great Power—it’s as simple & self-evident as that.
Starting in 2014, shortly after Euromaidan and just before signing the first of the Minsk Accords, Russia began strengthening massively, understanding that the U.S.-led OTAN would be coming for them someday, perhaps sooner rather than later. It took 8 years—2014-2022—but Russia was ready for it. Eschewing European imports, Russia opted instead for cultivating their domestic industries, in food production, in some cases building industries from the ground up. Cheese production, for instance, soared and diversified. Russia quickly became the largest exporter of grain. Additionally, Russia strengthened its manufacturing sector and fortified its engineering, managerial and R & D class in factories. That it began to bolster its weapons production goes without saying.
When the Baltics shut down their reliance on Russia’s electrical grid recently, showily making a staged TikTok video of the event, which starred leading lights of The Matriarchy like Lady vdL and Kaja the Callused, the full expectation on the part of the EU was that this would plunge Kaliningrad into devastating darkness & disarray. Which did not happen.
Oops, there goes Rabbitity—! Oops, there goes gravity—!!
Between 2014-2022, while the EU was busily plotting its nefarious Russophobic acts, Russia began rerouting energy and power for Kaliningrad, anticipating that someday soon the U.S.-led OTAN would find devious ways to knee-cap Kaliningrad—so when the EU finally got around to trying just such a thing, Russia could simply snicker up its sleeve, at Europe’s incalculable dumb-assery. Lady vdL, a sly aficionado of children’s games, did not realize that playing Tiddlywinks is not the same as playing 3-D chess.
Mate, you're taking over the comments section. Being so knowledgeable & voluble , you should start your own blog.
I love reading Simplicius, and I always enjoy Cheeto.
Well, yes. And I'm not suggesting Cheeto's contributions don't have merit. But they are frequent & lengthy, possibly deterring others with equally valid, but more pithy comment to make?
For my part. I faithfully follow the dictums of that wise 13th century Chinese Philosopher, Ding Wun Sum Dong who famously said:
"Man who know little and speak even less....know someting"
Skip reading it if it bothers you.
How the Hell can it deter others?
Cheeto's comments are always informative and interesting. They add to this blog rather than detract from it.
It's sad that after the Soviet Union dissolved, Russia went out of its way to make friendly overtures and be accepted as part of the West. All we did was kick them we they were down and make threatening moves.
The West tried to make a monster out of Russia, but turned into the monster themselves.
The West has always been a monster.
Shallow and ahistorical. You can find monsters anywhere if you choose to look. No shortage worldwide.
All the talk w/ Bush Sr. in late 1989 emphasized the fall of the Berlin Wall but without any chest-thumping victory lap: it was a win-win proposition for both the Soviet side & the U.S. side.
Months after, though, the rhetoric began to shift, emphasizing a great big American win, evidence of how the neocons had gotten hold of matters.
Hubris is a hard beast to tame.
Illegitimate crusade based on a hubristic desire for hegemony.
And I was there. Chipping off my own bits of concrete from the Berlin wall... Chip
Wowza--labor intensive historicity: gritty, not pretty
87-91 was a great time to be in Germany and Europe. I worked harder (and played harder) than anytime in my life. Best parts of my life were there. I was relatively young, late twenties, and very naive about what was going on. That Germany is GONE and will never return. I think that we are lucky to have lived in the greatest period of prosperity ever on this planet. I don't see the earth or the US outrunning the laws of entropy... Chip
I remember how in the USSR, this original euphoria we felt re.: Gorbachev began turn grim as he was more geared toward his "world image," vs. fixing what was still fixable in the USSR.
George H.W. proclaimed there were "winners only & no losers" as the Berlin Wall came down. As Paul Wolfowitz gained ascendancy, however, and the Wolfowitz Doctrine quickened, the narrative changed. Condoleeza Rice joined enthusiastically in this narrative shift in early 1990.
Don't forget Brzezinski and the Grand Chessboard... Chip
NATO has always required an adversary to validate its insatiable presence and the military-industrial complex's profiteering. It has consistently served as a tool for advancing and safeguarding American interests and foreign policies. The inclusion of vassal member states merely provides a façade of legitimacy, masquerading the organization as a defensive alliance.
'Peace' will kick off a nervy period for Europe, because the unfamiliar climate of unadorned peace will deprive them of their most knee-jerk tool of statecraft: war.
"Russia opted instead for cultivating their domestic industries, in food production, in some cases building industries from the ground up. Cheese production, for instance, soared and diversified. Russia quickly became the largest exporter of grain. Additionally, Russia strengthened its manufacturing sector and fortified its engineering, managerial and R & D class in factories. That it began to bolster its weapons production goes without saying."
Precisely what the USSA should have been doing and desperately needs to do now... Chip
DJT wants to launch a Re-industrialization Revolution, which is pragmatic & desirable, but it's not easy to see how to energize & incentivize this.
The population was not in sync w/ the maximalist zero-sum hegemonic goals of Collective Biden, which set economic policy on a “Beat China” trajectory. Messaging like “invest in AI to beat China” or “invest in superconductor chips to beat China” or “learn to code to beat China” were not motivating to people.
When the U.S. was an industrial giant, the impetus arose from the imagineers themselves--Colt Armory, Ford Motor, Willys MB--from the ground up, not imposed top-down from the government. The work ethic among the populace was *extreme* to say the least.
Think of a time when the earliest of the land-grant universities were gaining steam in depopulated ultra-rural areas: they had to kiln their own bricks in situ in order to build the ,magnificent architecture which still stands today, even manufacturing onsite their own window glass. I mean, Lowes was not gonna ship it.
"When the U.S. was an industrial giant, the impetus arose from the imagineers themselves--Colt Armory, Ford Motor, Willys MB--from the ground up, not imposed top-down from the government."
BAM! Out of the park cheeto!!! Government will screw up an iron ball every time... Chip
Honestly I hink the Americans will prosper.
You're a people of enormous scientific and economic genius and you're really good at business.
Paradoxically you're not great at war, but you are fond of it.
I think Europe has real challenges though.
No, it's not easy and DJT must first stop outsourcing. In the 1990-2000s, the heavy industry was outsourced, to the point that North American aircraft were designed/manufactured all over the world, sometimes to much lower standards. In the 2010s, the IT support, accounting, payroll, etc., were outsourced to India/wherever. Nowadays, you don't even know from what country in the world your confidential medical records are being viewed and where in the world you tissue/blood samples are being processed. This shit is unsafe and must stop!
Since 2008 with the Munich speech is my unofficial start-off for RU pushing preparations, though I have no real data. That speech must have been knowingly provocative/dangerous.
And the icing on the cake is that the Chihuahuas are experiencing "Brown outs" and their energy prices have doubled.
You'd have to have a heart of stone not to find that hilarious!
The US has stopped selling weapons to Ukraine? Have we ever been paid? I thought they were a gift from Biden the generous, who also gifted weapons and a functional military base to the Taliban.
Starmer and Macron must really be desperate if they are going to go to see Trump. I can't wait to see them humiliated. Trump knows this crowd, and he hasn't forgotten how they treated him in the past.
Oh and Finland! They were so big and bad when they joined NATO. Let's see how they feel about that long border with Russia without the US behind them.
Trump is all ears for Don Quichote Macron and Manolo Starmer, but wait how is his hearing since his lobe got under attack?
Don Quixote's "battles" were benign. Nothing benign about Macron and Starmer.
Revenge will be taken, and ice cold.
And no Vas.
Trump is getting his intel from independent writers via Tulsi and perhaps others now, it seems to me. Tulsi is the key as she has Trump's ear and the band of internet bloggers in the know are her friends and have her ear. This crew includes Simp, the Alexanders, MacGregor, Larry Johnson, Ray MacGrovern, Ton Shafer, Daniel Davis and others. Now their influence is being seen, thankfully, and I can encourage my Ukrainian wife that things are looking up for the end of this sad war.
Some revelers @ CPAC yesterday were wearing merch from The Duran.
If you know, you know.
Don't want the nose smushing Greek to get wind of this: his pulsating, Coke fuelled ego will become stratospheric.
Do people still follow the Duran? I gave up.
It's a good point. I don't know if it's so much a case of independent bloggers and writers but since getting hit by such info-war attacks as "The Steele Dossier", a couple of impeachment fights and the lawfare offensive, Team Trump must have developed alternative information pipelines.
Did you know that "Deep Throat" the informant crucial to taking down Richard Nixon was Mark Felt, deputy director of the FBI ? Then the press and Hollywood spun up Woodward and Bernstein as the heroes of the story, they won 4 Academy awards for that, including Best Screenplay.
All of that happened 50 years ago and yet there are still people who believe The Deep State is a myth
Here in Austria I could get a personal feeling about politicians and knowledge. To help the negotiations for a new government, the Military (HNA) made a report. The Military cooperated with friendly services; in my opinion, the report was very, very good. All the problems discussed in the report will have consequences in diplomatic, financial, economic, and military matters, so you should expect that every politician has read it carefully. Sadly, the opposite was true; most of the leading politicians and the consultants got the information from state-owned TV and the mainstream media (very "liberal"/green, very pro EC). All a politician has to do, is read the reports from the military, the secret services, the budget advisers, the CTOs of the energy and infrastructure facilities ..., but the do not listen to them. So please do not overestimate the internet bloggers; all the politicians have to do is read the reports from the non-political federal offices; the Trump team is obviously doing it the right way.
Larry Wilkerson & Jeff Sachs can run the show.