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By David Swanson World BEYOND War
We are heartened to learn that the U.S. government is communicating with the Russian government, and are only sorry that such a basic step seemingly required a presidential election, when a glance at the Doomsday Clock ought to have been sufficient.
Having set the bar so low that speaking at all seems a tremendous accomplishment, we must nonetheless insist that the proper things be said, and be heard, and that they be followed with verifiable actions. The popular demand in Western media that Ukraine be listened to in, and be part of, any negotiations should be applauded, but radically expanded. The president of Ukraine is severely violating the rights of the people of Ukraine to freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, conscientious objection, and the right to form political parties that represent their interests. He is preventing elections through the imposition of martial law. The nation of Ukraine is deeply divided in opinions, and those divisions often correspond with geographic locations. A majority of Ukrainians, according to polls — and despite crackdowns on speech that opposes warmaking — say they are open to peace negotiations that remove territory from Ukraine, something the President of Ukraine sides with a minority in opposing in the name of “democracy.” More Ukrainian voices than one should be at the negotiating table.
Fred Gransville
Currently, the primary keepers of information are search engines like Google and Bing. These platforms are the first contact for billions of people worldwide regarding their health queries. But are the search engines unbiased? There is a growing suspicion that these information platforms are actively censoring and suppressing alternative medicine, herbal remedies, and traditional therapies in favor of promoting Big Pharma's profit-driven goals.
This article is not a substitute for medical advice.
This practice raises serious ethical questions regarding the role of search engines in shaping public health narratives and the financial conflicts of interest that may be driving these decisions. Censorship manifests in many forms, including delisting, downlisting, and backpaging alternative treatments while prioritizing pharmaceutical-based solutions.
Paul Craig Roberts
LAWFARE: Obama-appointed judge John J. McConnell, Jr. threatened Trump and his team with arrest if they don't restore every last dime of funding for private NGOs.
The Democrats are using the judiciary to cover up their corrupt operations and theft of taxpayers’ money.
If you will notice, the slew of judges countermanding Trump’s executive orders are themselves issuing executive orders, and they are doing so with no reference to law. Instead, they are ruling that Trump’s executive orders are harming someone, including illegal immigrant-invaders who are not US citizens. This is outrageous. Harm is a subjective standard. Moreover, the judges are overlooking the harm that their rulings do.
What can Trump do? Like Andrew Jackson, he could ignore the judges. He could order the federal marshall’s, who report to the president and not to the judiciary, to cease delivering the judges’ edicts and to stop providing any service to the judges other than life protection.
Dr. Vladislav B. Sotirovic
The ethnic Albanians entered Balkan history in 1043 when they came from East Sicily and settled in present-day Central Albania by the Byzantine authorities.¹ Their ethnic origin remains still very vague and no historical consensus has been reached on the subject until now. The Albanians became aware of the importance of being a “nation” late, compared with other Balkan ethnicities. This handicap, however, the Albanian nationalist leaders tried to turn into an advantage. Since a number of European historians offered a variety of (hypo)theses on the subject, they could adopt those that best suited their political and nationalistic purposes.
The Albanian case is very similar to the problems that the Croat 19th century nationalists faced with the acute lack of relevant ingredients for forging the nation, what they needed: land, people, and language. Let's now take into consideration each of these items separately.
by Ellen Brown
China went from one of the poorest countries in the world to global economic powerhouse in a mere four decades. Currently featured in the news is DeepSeek, the free, open source A.I. built by innovative Chinese entrepreneurs which just pricked the massive U.S. A.I. bubble.
Even more impressive, however, is the infrastructure China has built, including 26,000 miles of high speed rail, the world’s largest hydroelectric power station, the longest sea-crossing bridge in the world, 100,000 miles of expressway, the world’s first commercial magnetic levitation train, the world’s largest urban metro network, seven of the world’s 10 busiest ports, and solar and wind power generation accounting for over 35% of global renewable energy capacity. Topping the list is the Belt and Road Initiative, an infrastructure development program involving 140 countries, through which China has invested in ports, railways, highways and energy projects worldwide.
All that takes money. Where did it come from? Numerous funding sources are named in mainstream references, but the one explored here is a rarely mentioned form of quantitative easing — the central bank just “prints the money.” (That’s the term often used, though printing presses aren’t necessarily involved.)
Cathy Smith
Throughout the decades, the highest leaders and congressmen in the United States office have acted as a public-money financial-pig-trough through which politicians and their relatives increase their personal wealth. This trend has made the inequality gap wider, as well as done tremendous damage to the country’s economy and worldwide reputation. Recent presidents and congressmen have made measurable amounts of wealth during and after their term using strategic political offices. This paper seeks to uncover how power is used to create multi-generational family wealth, how it has deepened wealth inequality, and how the phenomenon endangers the democracy.
The Financial Trajectory of Recent U.S. Presidents
The wealth patterns associated with the financial lives of modern-day U.S. presidents offer an insightful case on how those in political office utilize their positions for financial gains. For instance, Barack Obama had net-worth of $1.3 million before taking office in 2008, but by 2023, he was worth approximately $70 million, using his book publishing, speeches, and deals with media firms like Netflix and Spotify to make the bulk of his money. In comparison, Donald Trump had a net-worth of $3.1 billion when assumed office in 2016, and although this has fallen to $2.5 billion in 2023, he continues to enjoy substantial wealth, driven predominantly by real estate and other investments that he made during and after his presidency.
By Mark Aurelius
"Regardless, hatred is encouraged against non-protected classes, such as people labeled enemies, like Arabs, Palestinians, supporters of certain political clashes, etc."
The news industry won again with Donald Trump becoming President. Regardless of whether you love him, hate him, or are puzzled, he gins up a hell of a lot of controversy and speculation. So thence volumes, tomes, twitter tweets of curiosity, opinion, theory and verbiage gusher to flash flood and circulate.
Only a few weeks into his second term, and he has aroused far more than curiosity, and his usual norm of adoration versus hatred. The world kitchen is fuming like a scullery broiling with consternation and incredulity. What kind of fast paced reality cooking show is this?
Like a bull in a China shop he breaks news in faltering and awkward ways. Some say great art provokes strong emotions. Unfortunately, outcomes to this madcap madness are far more serious and ominous than afternoon museum strolls and musing. There are deep and ugly forces undergirding this play’s staging.
Robert David
-And Why the Midwest and Deep South Will Suffer Most From Trump/Musk Wreckanomics
Abstract
The fantasy premise that Republican economic policies favor red states and are damaging to blue states rests on a fundamental misconception. This study focuses on how the United States economy is structurally destabilized because of Trump’s spending policies and Musk’s corporate strategies, and how this systematically injures the economy of the Deep South and Midwest.
Drawing on historical analogies, sophisticated economic modeling, and comparative research, this analysis proves that a potent combination of federal budget cuts, automation-related unemployment, and the de-industrialization of the economy will lead to an irreversible economic collapse. The study also explains why states that depend on diversified economies-California, New York, and Illinois-will be prosperous, whilst those states that rely on federal spending will be caught in an enduring economic depression.
Introduction: The False Security of Red-State Economics
Fred Gransville
AI has become a tool for oppression, surveillance and mass violence, rather than the advancement of humanity.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not just a technological advancement, but a transformative force that is reshaping the 21st century. Its potential applications are vast, from revolutionizing healthcare and finance to redefining transportation and national security. As AI continues to evolve, it is not only disrupting industries but also profoundly shaping geopolitics. Nations, tech groups, and organizations are in a race to harness the power of AI, understanding that the leader in AI dominance will shape the future of global power, economic influence, and military capabilities.
While the race for AI dominance is often viewed through the lens of innovation and progress, the darker uses of AI, such as the development of autonomous weapons, surveillance systems and mind control, are raising urgent concerns about human rights abuses and ethical governance. Think of AI as atomic power in 1938, first it is used for Hiroshima and Nagasaki, then later as nuclear medicine. AI is on the same old rusty weapons track. Nuclear medicine was a spinoff of weapons research, a smokescreen, if you will—not some noble endeavor of humanity.
Edited from a syndicated feed
It's estimated that ~23.87% of the Treasuries budget is used fraudulently and wastefully.
Pointing to a 100 billion dollar a year payout system to individuals with no Social Security Number (SSN) or temporary ID number. Musk called it "extremely suspicious."
Musk raised the implementation of the "DO-NOT-PAY list", which identifies entities involved in fraudulent activities and called for the list to be updated at least weekly, if not daily.
Washington DC: Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, on Sunday voiced strong concerns about the US government's payment systems, revealing troubling 'inefficiencies' and potential 'fraud' worth over USD 100 billion every year.
In a post on X, Musk said that the Treasury Department and his Department of Government Efficiency have reached an agreement changing reporting requirements for all outgoing government payments.
To be clear, what the @DOGE team and @USTreasury have jointly agreed makes sense is the following:
- Require that all outgoing government payments have a payment categorization code, which is necessary in order to pass financial audits. This is frequently left blank, making…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 8, 2025