The Weekly Watch
Complete Corporate Capture
Politicians, state and federal agencies, government regulators and inspectors, have all been captured by a multitude of corporate interests...Wall Street, big pharma, the MIC, oil companies, big food, commercial media and so on. The game is rigged and these various corporations hold all the cards. The government needs to re-boot with a new operating system, but the vested interest won't allow that to happen. We the people are mere pawns in the rigged game used for labor and as consumers...grease in the gears of corporate greed.
Let's look at several examples today of our captured system, and perhaps ponder on ways we as individuals can escape the manipulation. However, no matter what, we are all captured. Do you shop at Amazon? I do. Do you shop at Walmart? I rarely do. What bank controls your credit card, and where do you bank? More corporate entities. It is inescapable, and it has been for a long time. The oligarchy rule began in Roman times if not earlier...
How Oligarchy & Debt Control Us: From Ancient Greece+Rome to the US, IMF+World Bank- Michael Hudson
Michael Hudson, author of ‘The Collapse of Antiquity’, discusses the origins of debt stemming from the oligarchy-dominated Ancient Greek and Roman ‘democracies’, the tradition of debt cancellation and how the Roman and Greek oligarchies marked a turning point in history using debt as a weapon of societal control, how oligarchic control of entire countries in contemporary late-stage capitalism has evolved through the US-dominated IMF & World Bank, why financial conquest has been far more deadly than military conquest and much more.
MICHAEL HUDSON:
ABOUT THE DEBT, SPONSORS OF THE WARS, FUTURE OF USD AND BRICS. (70 min)
Michael does a great job laying out our current global economic condition.
So, we've been captured by oligarchs for over 2000 years...but now they have new tools. Scott Ritter explains how media can control us. George Szamuely and Peter Lavelle sat down for another one of our regular conversations with intelligence analyst Scott Ritter. The beginning of the conversation focuses on Gonzalo, but I've cued this to Scott's (and everyone's) media challenges. (20 min or so)
TPTB control the narrative, and yours will be disappeared if it provides inconvenient truths... as have Scott's... Google-owned video hosting giant YouTube has deleted Scott Ritter’s YouTube channel. A banner reading “This account has been terminated due to multiple or severe violations of YouTube’s policy prohibiting hate speech” greets anyone trying to navigate to Ritter’s channel. We're all captured and that's my point in today's column.
Scott elaborates...(4 min)
The capture is across so many layers and dimensions. COVID made much of the capture obvious.
Great to learn from professor Robert Clancy. Every time I learn so much. Robert is a consultant physician and pioneering immunologist, professor of medicine, emeritus professor of pathology, doctor of medicine, doctor of philosophy and doctor of science, author, teacher and broadcaster. Also holder of the Order of Australia.
- Has medicine changed in the past few years, influenced by powerful commercial and political forces?
- Is WHO a threat to independent local health systems?
- You emphasise the doctor-patient relationship, and science-based medicine. Why are these important?
- Is there a concern over conflict of interest created by pharmaceutical companies?
- What is the current position of the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration for off-label use?
We can optimize our own health, and use food as medicine. That is if we understand which foods optimize our health. Nina Teicholz presentation: US Dietary Guidelines are out of step with the Science (35 min)
Nina Teicholz, https://ninateicholz.com/, is an investigative science journalist, author and thought leader in the field of evidence-based policy in nutrition. She attended Yale and Stanford where she studied biology and majored in American Studies. She has a master’s degree from Oxford University and served as associate director of the Center for Globalization and Sustainable Development at Columbia University. Nina founded and currently serves as executive director of The Nutrition Coalition, a nonprofit, non-partisan group that is free from industry funding. Nina has testified before the Canadian Senate and U.S. Department of Agriculture about the need to reform guidelines so that they are based on sound science. Her international bestseller, The Big Fat Surprise has upended the conventional wisdom on dietary fat, especially saturated fat, and challenged the very core of our nutrition policy.
As humans evolved so has their diet...because of their diet.
Ancestral Diets, Food Processing and the Domesticated Ape (42 min)
Bill Schindler, PhD, https://eatlikeahuman.com/, is an internationally know modern anthropologist specializing in primitive technology, experimental archaeology and also a chef. He received his masters and PhD degrees from Temple University in Philadelphia. Bill is the author of "Eat Like a Human". He founded and directs the Eastern Shore Food Lab with a mission to preserve and revive ancestral dietary approaches to create a nourishing, ethical, and sustainable food system. Along with his wife they operate the Modern Stone Age Kitchen in Maryland. He was the focus of Wired magazine’s YouTube series, "Basic Instincts and Food Science" and he co-starred in the National Geographic Channel series "The Great Human Race."
This is harvest season, and I thought I had lots of food to process, but nothing like this couple...
Pickling Seasonal Vegetables in a 200 Liter Wooden Barrel video (22 min)
We love to share what we do at countryside, engage with nature and make the most out of village life. Come and see the colorful videos of nature, unique cooking recipes and just the beautiful life at the Azerbaijan countryside.
We control what we eat. It is one area where we can resist the corporate manipulation and act for ourselves. However, it is important to realize that processed food is designed to be addictive and profitable.
Much, most?, of the capture is beyond our control. What got me on this train of thought was the discussion of BlackRock in this clip...
About 15 min, but the entire conversation is interesting.
BRICS expansion: 85% of global population to dump U.S. Dollar 'all at once' — (Pt 1/2)
Andy Schectman, President and Owner of Miles Franklin, who says a new commodity-backed BRICS currency is an inevitable outcome in the long term. But for now, investors need to pay close attention to the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the BRICS alliance. Schectman explains why the move to de-dollarize is already 'past the Rubicon' and discusses what to expect at the BRICS August summit taking place in Johannesburg, South Africa. Schectman explains why he sees 85% of the global population dumping the greenback in due time. He also examines the U.S. reaction and gives his outlook on gold and the U.S. dollar.
00:00 - Intro
03:40 - Saudi Arabia and BRICS
08:30 - BRICS expansion
12:12 - Growing mutual cooperation
15:31 - New BRICS currency
24:35 - BRICS summit in August: why you should watch Saudi Arabia
26:44 - Pricing of oil
28:44 - De-dollarization is accelerating
31:40 - U.S. reaction to de-dollarization
36:09 - These players to attend BRICS August summit
37:40 - U.S. dollar outlook given a global move away from the greenback
Is global de-dollarization an intentional & deliberate effort from within the USA? - part 2
Andy Schectman, President and Owner of Miles Franklin, who explores the idea that the move for countries to de-dollarize could be intentionally and deliberately driven from factions within the U.S. Schectman says it is one of the few possible solutions to the massive American debt problem and could put the U.S. on the direct path to the introduction of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). He also weighs in on the outlook of the petrodollar, the essential role gold plays in all of this, and theorizes who can be behind the de-dollarization agenda within the U.S. itself.
00:00 - Intro
01:35: De-dollarization: an intentional effort from within the U.S.?
14:53: Who is driving this push to de-dollarize from within the U.S.?
20:32: A lead-up to a CBDC?
24:02: The role gold plays and the future of CBDCs backed by commodities
28:15: A CBDC in the U.S. and its potential trigger event
29:53: Pushback against a CBDC and de-dollarization
42:46: How gold fits in
If we can't control them with our dollar, just pull a coup...
George Galloway (20 min)
The evidence is as compelling as Hunter Biden’s bank statement, the US told Pakistan ‘get rid of Imran Khan or it gets tough. Plus The chiselling crooks of the Biden Crime Family and killing Niger
Sal provides an inside look at the nature of Pakistan's power structure.
(25 min) Pakistani author and political advisor Dr. Salman Ahmad witnessed firsthand the recent ouster of his longtime friend, Prime Minister Imran Khan. Supporting Khan has cost Ahmad personally, as his family members were kidnapped and tortured, threatened with death if Ahmad refused to delete tweets supportive of the ousted Prime Minister.
Alex also weighs in on the situation in Pakistan.
Secret Pakistan Cable Documents U.S. Pressure to Remove Imran Khan
“All will be forgiven,” said a U.S. diplomat, if the no-confidence vote against Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan succeeds.
Currently we have those uppity Nigerian's trying to escape western capture. We want their gold and Uranium and they better submit! Don't they understand the rules based order? We make the rules and order them to obey.
Nuland, 'frank and difficult' meeting in Niger (15 min)
Niger Junta Told Nuland They’d Kill Bazoum If There’s Military Intervention
Many African countries indicate they won't allow another Libya to be perpetrated by the west. None the less, ECOWAS Activates Standby Force for Potential Niger Intervention
Beyond Niger: How ECOWAS Became a Tool for Western Imperialism
And we have not even discusses Ukraine, which is when the west committed suicide to my mind.
Looking more and more like this war is a product of Biden family graft and greed.
That the Hunter Biden case stays open guarantees that all these little 'details' will see more and more public light. That increases the chance that Biden's corruption will finally lead to his impeachment.
The BRICS Revolt: How Ukraine War Eroded U.S. Authority
The End Of The Counteroffensive
Western media have finally change course. They are now admitting that the much promoted Ukrainian counter-offensive has failed. In fact, the acknowledge that it never had a chance to win in the first place.
CIA Failure in Ukraine w/ Larry Johnson & Ray McGovern (fmr CIA) (25 min)
Former CIA Experts, Larry Johnson & Ray McGovern return to the Judging Freedom Podcast. Together, with Judge Andrew Napolitano , this expert roundtable discussion focuses on how the CIA failed in Ukraine. From Nuclear concerns, to intelligence failures, no topic is off limits
Ukraine War - Is the Black Sea ‘War’- the Real War? w/ Alastair Crowe fmr Brit ambassador (29 min)
Can we escape all this capture?
There are ways we can try...
He quit all to build off-grid village, mountain-long Earthship (45 min)
15 years ago, Dan Schultz sold his 2600-square-foot home in Flint Michigan and bought 160 acres of raw land near the California-Oregon border to start a village shaped by his values.
For $225,000 he bought land packed with wood for lumber, gravity-fed water, and plenty of sunlight for solar and growing. He had to clear road, build a bridge and construct homes, cabins and community spaces and huge gardens and terraced hillside for growing most of their own food.
The Earthship Solarium, which stretches across the hillside nearly the length of a football field, provides year-round, produce and potatoes. Goats chickens and ducks provide milk and eggs.
Schultz, who's an unabashed prepper, says there is plenty of food on the property to survive any kind of disaster scenario. He focused on milk and eggs as ideal survival foods: "You know milk and potatoes are nutritionally complete on their own, you can live forever. The Irish tripled their population with milk and potatoes, right?"
Dan says it costs just $5000 per year to maintain the property. This includes taxes, propane and supplies for building more cabins. His nightly rentals, like the popular hobbit hole, treehouse, a frame, and half moon cabins, pay for any expenses.
Right now there are eight people in his community, but this number fluctuates based on applications. Members don’t pay any fees to live here, they simply help with farm or community chores.
https://sustainableecovillage.com/
Well, it was another busy news cycle this week. Hope you're all weathering it in comfort. The hot weather caught up with us here in NE Alabama, but is relenting next week. Sorry to learn of the Maui fires and destruction. Best wishes to any and all caught in that situation. I look forward to your ideas, stories and comments below...
Comments
Truth bombs from Clare Daly....
She is one of the few sane voices today.
“We will sit down with Russia.” Clare Daly (Member EU) (5 min)
Where are US voices of this caliber? Rand Paul is as close as we come?
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
How the Biden family preyed on Ukraine corruption...
Here's a bit of evidence for my statement about the Biden crime family and Ukraine.
The Grayzone's Aaron Mate and Max Blumenthal examine new allegations of Biden family corruption in post-coup Ukraine, where Hunter Biden cashed in on a corrupt gas firm seeking protection from prosecution, and the president now stands accused of direct involvement. Aaron discusses his interview with a former Ukrainian government employee who blew the whistle on the Maidan government's corruption and warmaking.
$20M and Counting: Tally on Foreign Money to Biden Family Rises With Release of New Bank Records
But hey, let's indict Trump again for Jan 6?
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Volume packed WW, LO, mucho gracias
https://www.theautomaticearth.com/2023/08/debt-rattle-august-13-2023/
Dollar de-dollarization is coming, the timing is unsure but it is happening
and when it does lookout for we have no idea of how bad it will get for all
of us living in the collective west.
https://open.substack.com/pub/karlof1/p/additional-dedollarization-and-e...
I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish
"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"
Heard from Margaret Kimberley
You're exactly right...de-dollarization is well underway.
"Breaking: China's Secret Plan to Crush US Economy with $846.7 Billion Debt Sell-Off" (12 min)
By August, the US national debt hit an unprecedented $32.65 trillion after lifting the debt ceiling, raising concerns of a spiraling situation. With US GDP at $25.46 trillion, the debt-to-GDP ratio surged to 128%, raising alarms of potential instability.
As interest payments grow, the issuance of US debt faces challenges and foreign investors lose confidence. Amid this, the US Treasury issues a whopping $103 billion in debt this week alone, straining its cash reserves and triggering liquidity contractions.
Compounded by Federal Reserve tapering, this creates adversity for the US banking sector, potentially leading to market upheavals. Recent data shows the Treasury's cash balance dropped to $30.8 billion, the lowest since 2015, indicating severe financial challenges.
Not to mention repatriating gold
US ECONOMIC CHAOS! China Eyeing Total Gold Repatriation? (10 min)
In early August, Fitch Ratings downgraded the US credit rating due to concerns about escalating fiscal woes and mounting debt. This move triggered a sell-off of US Treasuries and led to a plan by the US Treasury to increase quarterly bond issuance, anticipating around $1 trillion from August to October.
The 10-year US Treasury yield surged past 4.0%, a level unseen since 2022. By 2030, the US national debt could breach $50 trillion.
Fitch's downgrade reflects Americans' rising worry about fiscal management and risky conflicts. Confidence on Wall Street in addressing fiscal challenges is waning.
Investor reluctance towards US bonds is evident. The US Treasury's auction of 7-year, 5-year, and 3-year bonds faced weak demand.
Increasing debt raises concerns about US repayment ability, contradicting Treasury Secretary Yellen's claims. Fitch's downgrade may impact US Treasury bonds' role in the global market.
The effects ripple across sectors. Analysts fear the downgrade could raise costs, especially with the Federal Reserve's rate hike expectations, while US banks face instability.
Wall Street braces for a debt crisis. A Federal Reserve rate hike could trigger an economic crisis, and the US Treasury market's downgrade would spell financial turmoil.
Investor Stan Druckenmiller highlights that actual US debt, including obligations like Social Security, could exceed $200 trillion.
By 2040, interest payments could consume all tax revenues, impacting defense and welfare programs. The Federal Reserve's aggressive rate hikes push it towards insolvency, possibly leading to more money printing.
The US banking sector tightens credit, while a reliance on money printing threatens the economy and bond market.
Gold demand rises, driven by central banks and investors repatriating reserves, signaling a global trend away from the dollar.
I'll say for the umteenth time, that this financial collapse could be a global saving grace, preventing WWIII. However, we in the US will feel the pain. Think global, but act local.
Thanks for the great cartoons and the Autoearth link.. Love the one of media and fed agencies circling the wagons around the ByeDones.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
The 3 wise men, war, sanctions, confiscating Gold/Dollars
from foreign countries have collectively said enough
is enough. The path that the leaders of this country has taken
was dictated by the oligarchs/WEF, ya know the best and brightest,
well in their minds they are....sigh
Get Gold Silver and whatever else you might deem worthy of hoarding
to keep you and your families safe. If China is doing it, so should you.
Meanwhile in a land down under they're beginning to ban cash, we're fucked
I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish
"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"
Heard from Margaret Kimberley
The EU is not a union - and Maui is not a paradise island
why bother ?
What I read is beyond my payroll and I have no payroll to begin with. Why bother ?
I can't even donate to JtC with the money from my German bank.
We kill ourselves with the technology we created and people think that is smart.
My German language teacher in my German highshcool always told us kids (14 to 17 year old students in the early 1960iew) that thinking hurts and therefore everybody avoids it. I think he was very right.
Stop thinking. No more headaches. When my son sends me his video clips from Lahaina in Maui (he was in and out of Lahaina for at least three days now, I don't know how to upload them here. Being a dummy is a lifesaver these days.
Many thanks for all you post here. I hope I regain enough of a clear-headed attitude to profit from reading your weekly watch soon.
Right now I don't have the appropriate attitude.
Nichts für Ungut. (= no offense)
Be well and I love to read what you do in your garden.
https://www.euronews.com/live
I understand...
The world is a mess and dwelling on it won't help a bit. The garden is doing fine...in the summer wind down phase as we look forward to the fall garden. Always lots to do.
All the best to you and your son. Hope he wasn't impacted.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Good morning LO, thanks for the OT. We sit determining the
perimeter, porosity and peculiarities as well as the speed and survivability of the falling handbasket while wondering just how bad hell can be. It is natural to do so, but don't forget to enjoy the ride:
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
What are we doing in this handbasket?
Last two days have felt like hell, but still just 90's. However the humidity (stupidity?) is so high it feels much hotter. However, I'm not complaining. Other than that, we've had a mild and wet summer.
Life is what it is. We got to roll with the flow, and do the best we can under the circumstances. Hope all is well with you. Thanks for the visit!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Hey weekly watchers!
Hi all, Hey LO! Hope all is well out there. And that none are as hot and dry as us.
Thanks for the great WW as always! Corporate capture is a pet peeve of mine, being that it is fascism. It is the root of not just the downfall of America, but of the entire world as we know it. No solution will ever be the best solution, when guided by corporate, which will always only be the most profitable solution.
Boeing fixes the FAA so they can certify their own planes and what happened?
Pfizer fixes it so the FDA changes the definition of the word vaccine, then what happened?
The FDA issues an EUA for something that is not what they say it is, nor is proven safe and effective, by selling propaganda about horse paste, so they could say nothing else worked justifying the EUA.
Who regulates Wall St. and the Fed anyway? Seems like they are both in on the ponzi to me. Aren't we nearing a TRILLION dollars PER YEAR in debt interest payments? Can I do that?
Google and Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, etc., can cancel anybody they want for no reason other than political differences, or the gov said to.
Corporate wants a ministry of truth and control over the internet, and the Dems are all for it ever since their Queen Bitch did not get her coronation.
The EPA still approves poisons for the environment at a greater rate than it protects it.
Mining and big oil people run the Dept. of Interior and Energy most of the time.
And they all can't get enough war and killing.
Because it is more profitable than educating your society, much less building a good (gasp!) peaceful one.
The media controls the mass knowledge, and the media is owned by corporate. Wonder why it is full of shit?
Money is the god of corporate. Their god will be the death of us all.
Sorry about this all, I think a red button may have been triggered...
Have great days all!
P.S. Bird report: I counted 5 adult male Indigo Bunting at once this morning on seed out back. They are fattening up to leave the territorial breeding season thing is over and done for the year. Adult male Painted Bunting have been mostly gone for 10 days now, only green imm. and females left now. Male Orchard Oriole hitting the bath daily for a week now. A chestnut and black beauty.
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
The wall of steam here today...
The woods thrush have finally left after serenading us for weeks and weeks. The other night, heard Screech, Barred, and Great Horned owls. Been seeing the black billed cuckoo in addition to the yellow billed. Black billed are rare here. Locals call them the "rain crow". Also heard the once common whip-or-will the other morning. We were once covered up, and at a gathering some posed the question wonder what they call us, and the consensus was "the Ha-ha's". When the coyote came in they wiped out so many of our ground nesters like them and quail.
Great rant my friend. You nailed all that corporate capture very well! Thanks for coming by.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Heh….
.
Sam is amusing herself by quietly sitting in the corner and squeaking the hell out of her toy.
Every person involved in this needs to be held accountable! We lost 58,000 in Vietnam in how many years while the Ukraine war has been going on for 18 months.
Even Russian causalities are very high which speaks volumes to the brutality of this war. Add in the estimated 3 times the number of wounded and good gawd this never had to happen. Russia tried for decades to avoid a war, but America just kept pushing for one. Has anyone seen the fresh graves at countless graveyards in Ukraine? It’s mind blowing. Yesterday I posted an article on how the defense companies have made $400 billion since the start of the war. More money laundering from the government and making lots of people very rich.
Shitlibs are upset that only 8 Ukrainian pilots are training on the F-16 because they are the only ones who speak English. They say that the pilots should have been given English lessons at the beginning of the war. Nope no talk of peace, just further and further aggression and more and more long range missiles that can take the war into Russia. There’s a daily 2 minutes of hate and cheering every time Ukraine blows something up in Russia. And Ukraine keeps attacking the Crimea bridge. Then Russia hits back and the fcking cycle repeats.
Putin isn’t going to make you homeless or kill you or deny you health care.
Your government will allow it to happen though.
These morons have no reverse gear...
Better to fight (with Ukrainians) over there than over here. Much of this dilemma grew out of the false Russiagate narrative. Created and sold by the $hill to the corrupt FBI, NSA, etc. But let's indict Trump for Jan 6. The double standard is outstanding and I wonder how folks don't see it...may be they do. I hope so.
Glad Sam is squeaking away. Hope you two have been having some fun!
Glad you came by today!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Greenwald… America is a banana republic
.
Glenn Greenwald: "No matter how you slice it... the polls show that there's only one person who's likely to challenge Joe Biden and defeat him for reelection, and that's the person whom Biden's DOJ happens to be prosecuting in multiple cases...
Not just cases that have been brought but ones that rely on highly dubious interpretations of the law.
It's not like these are murder cases, rape cases, bribery cases, or things people traditionally think about when they hear of criminal accusations.
They're very distant and vague accusations that depend a lot on free speech rights, and they will only worsen perceptions that the DOJ can't be trusted...
The first book I wrote in 2005 was an argument that the Bush and Cheney administration had committed obvious war crimes like torture, rendition, and warrantless spying on Americans...
The entire DC class agreed with Obama saying only banana republics prosecute their political opposition, and that was for real crimes like torture, kidnapping, killing people, and spying without warrants.
Not these kinds of attenuated theories of criminality on which the Biden DOJ is now relying on to prosecute Trump, their primary political opposition...
At exactly the same time the Biden administration is prosecuting Donald Trump, they are also shielding Hunter Biden, who is guilty of far more blatant and obvious criminality, just blatant political corruption, tax evasion, and hiding assets in a way that most people go to jail for many years.
And Hunter Biden gets this incredibly generous deal that was so shocking to the judge because she couldn't believe that the DOJ was really offering him full-scale immunity, given how many other crimes are pending.
And given how he was allowed to plead guilty to misdemeanors for what she has seen treated as serious felonies...
The relevant metric now isn't left versus right. It's anti-establishment versus pro-establishment. Namely, do you think the loss of trust that these institutions of authority have suffered is valid or not?
Do you think that they deserve the contempt in which they are held by a large portion of the population? I believe it's absolutely justified to hold them in contempt...
That's the fundamental distinction that defines our political spectrum more than old definitions of left versus right."
Lots of ink on the Weiss special counsel appointment and how he dragged his feet on charging Hunter for so long that the statute of limitations on his tax felonies ran out.
Anyone who hasn’t read the debt rattle yet should and see what is being said about the appointment today. Turley and Denniger especially. I agree that Garland should be impeached, but McConnell is going to take a page from Pelosi and be a roadblock to any accountability.
Putin isn’t going to make you homeless or kill you or deny you health care.
Your government will allow it to happen though.
You mean appointing the same attorney
That got Hunter the sweetheart deal as the special prosecutor isn't above board? Come on, man.
You can't make up this blatant corruption and expect them to get away with it. But then consider the Clinton's. Ukraine was also the primary source of their foundation donations after all. Then there's Pelosi's and McConnell's (et al) insider trading. My guess is they are all on the take and Ukraine is a major source of their grift.
We are a banana republic. My question is do people see it?
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Let's not forget
one Jared Kushner, and all his foreign entanglements while employed by the gov't in the WH.
Seems to me Jared escaped more scrutiny at the time, probably bc of all the other constant, major noise emanating from his daddy-in-law.
As for Congress, they do need stricter limits on their financial behavior, and Scotus needs an actual code of ethics, one with teeth. Limits and serious consequences for crossing clearly established lines.
So, Jared, Hunter, Clarence -- those are 3 good subjects for a proper and thorough investigation by a truly independent counsel.
Just because the Biden's are corrupt...
doesn't mean the Trump family isn't. They've been dirty wheeler dealers forever. Woody lived in a slum Trump's Dad owned, so perhaps it is required to hold high office.
There' and interview with Joementia where they were questioning him about Hunter. His defense, well you need to investigate Trump's kids. So I'm expecting to hear more about it on the MSM.
GG has a great cartoon above of the media and agency wagons circling the Biden's. That is the most suspicious part to me...the dim FBI/ CIA / DOJ collusion.
So you're right about the Trump family, but to my mind they're all guilty. Thanks for the reminder.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
there is an end to all of it ...
no, they don't seem to see it - yet - but you can not eat bananas forever - there is an end to all of it.
Thank God.
BTW, my son was not impacted physically by the four trips to Lahaina, just extremely exhausted, but you can't escape the emotional and mental impact it has, if you are in the middle of the war-like szenario (he was in Shock and Awe) and all the niceties of the Iraq war. I learned through the videos he made from driving into and out of Lahaina several times that videos can't really have an impact on the people who look at them, it is just like the only thing for people who go through wars physically and alone, that they can do to let others know about id. So I guess it is better to rather have a video than nothing.
OK, I am tired. I always wonder how you do your job. If I were younger I would look over your shoulder and try to learn from what I see you doing.
Be well, no heat, no flodding, just some gentle sprinkles here and there and some relaxation.
https://www.euronews.com/live
1) The conversation
linked above from The Gaggle about Gonzalo is interesting, and at least offers a plausible explanation for why he was allowed to go free for over a year and host an internet show from Kharkiv reflecting an anti-Ukraine gov't bent. So, until I hear a better explanation or a good rebuttal, I'm giving Ritter points on this issue.
2) Public Sector Salaries Out of Whack. Local city manager of small city of 120k pop, $240m budget, makes over $300k base salary plus perks bringing the total compensation to nearly $390. City Atty about the same salary situation. City Mgr of Sacramento, half a mil pop and $1b budget, makes an astonishing $490k/yr, making him the highest paid city mgr in CA (he collected a total of $550k in 2022 when he cashed out his sick time and vacation pay). Compare: Mayor of L.A. makes $301k/yr. Governor of CA, 39m pop and $306b budget, makes $224k/yr. US prez $400k annual salary.
I am told the high local gov't salaries are needed to attract the best people. I hear that argument trotted out often for the enormous salaries paid to corp executives, and I'm not buying that one either. The local city mgr and city Atty in question, btw, have 2d- and 3d-tier educational backgrounds. The Sacto city mgr got promoted from a decade serving as the city's parking services manager and since his first full year on the job in 2018, 5 yrs ago, his salary has gone up some $190k by my calculations.
I'm just getting the memo on this, although I am aware of the outrageous annual pay for some police/fire officials who, bc of overly generous and open-ended situations negotiated by their unions, take advantage of what seems like a limitless and lucrative overtime pay system to collect quite a bit of $$ each yr on top of their handsome regular paycheck.
Scott makes a good point...
None the less I think Gonzalo was played by the SBU rather than being aware of his manipulation, but that's just my intuition. If he survives, perhaps we'll find out in the future.
Some elected officials may be on the take, but real public servants are not over paid to my mind. I mean school teachers, nurses, firemen...the working class. Now those at the top are....the superintendents, supervisors, and chiefs often make too much money.
As to high salaries required to attract competent people..evidence suggest not. I remember that argument after the '08 crisis. In order to attract the right financial traders they had to be paid well. Hasn't worked out that way, me thinks.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Thanks for the jam packed Weekly Watch. Plenty to digest.
I think that this is related to greed situation as they take advantage of others misfortune.
no doubt...
the greedy capitalist will try to buy property at a fire sale price. That's the way they work. To call them vultures debases vultures.
Thanks for the tweet, or is it an X now!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Well all I can say is the Musk has a fixation on the letter X
His space company is SpaceX, twitter is now X, and he wanted to name his son
X Æ A-Xii.
Ain't that odd?
X? As a teacher it makes me think wrong. Other than bubble in machine graded finals, my tests were 10 short answer questions. So I never had to use the X, just lower or higher points for the answer. But I had many teachers who used the X for wrong answer, and I bet you did too. I'll make the excuse for my poor spelling from all my tests full of X's. I accepted I was a poor speller. Spell checker has been the same kind of godsend as the calculator (but math is fairly easy to me... especially with a calculator).
I guess we've covered that and can X it off our list?
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
this answer made me laugh - once in a while you are funny :-)
https://www.euronews.com/live
Well, tweet is derived from twitter.
And what is it that's always derived from x? The Unknown, so call them unknowns or unks for short,
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Another propaganda that’s believed
Is that Roosevelt had no idea that Japan was going to attack Pearl Harbor. And that Japan was unprovoked in doing so. I believed it for decades until I started looking into why they did and why they would. Unprovoked my ass.
Roosevelt's Pearl Harbor 9/11
Lots of great details on how we goaded Japan into attacking and lots of deep background on who the players were here and overseas. Just like the guy who oversaw the capital police was left out of the loop about all the known threats that it could turn violent, the generals at Pearl Harbor weren’t told that the attack was coming, but they got blamed for it anyway. I knew some of this, but I learned so much more. The USSR was trying to advance communism in Asia, but Japan was told that it wasn’t their business to stop it even though it was in their backyard. A few years later we went thousands of miles to stop communism in Vietnam. Good old American exceptionalism.
Has America ever fought a war for true defensive purposes? Even the civil war was not fought for the reasons we’ve been told. Maybe the war for independence? The Spanish war was fought for false flag reasons….up to the Ukraine war.
Putin isn’t going to make you homeless or kill you or deny you health care.
Your government will allow it to happen though.
And guess what?
We were cruising our battleships around Japan before pearl harbor. Sound familiar? Over and over again my friend.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Did you read it?
We did much more to Japan than just cruise battleships. We cut off their access to not only oil but access to the Panama Canal and much more.
Lots of people on substack are writing about the Maui fire and how suspicious things look about it.
Putin isn’t going to make you homeless or kill you or deny you health care.
Your government will allow it to happen though.
Yes, I scanned the article...
...and it a good expose'. My comment was based on Smedley Butler's story of WWII incitement.
The Maui story is new to me. I assumed it was natural. Would TPTB use it for a climate emergency power grab?
Thanks for the addition.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
I’m undecided on the fires being more than they are
but a lot of people have been saying that the mega fires burn hotter than the ones from the past and that it’s hard to believe that homes burn totally to the ground now when there used to some frames still standing. And cars burn so hotter that the aluminum in them melts.
This person has gotten lots of mentions today. I haven’t watched it yet but posting if anyone is interested.
https://rumble.com/v2t0typ-looking-for-clues-in-the-canadian-fires.html
It wouldn’t take much for me to believe it after the year of countless food plants burning everywhere. And all the other catastrophes that have been happening out of the blue. It’s not like the government has any qualms about killing us. Pearl Harbor, 9/11 and operation northwoods tells us that.
Putin isn’t going to make you homeless or kill you or deny you health care.
Your government will allow it to happen though.
OTOH, more fuel density plus high winds can not only
generate extremely hot fires, but massive amounts of flying cinders and such, which can kindle whatever they land on. Forest fires easily jump roads and rivers so hitting boats isn't impossible.
You cannot really think about the ring around the city without some good, recent aerial photos, was there a windbreak or decorative planting of combustible material of plants in that shape and locale, or a tar or asphalt road, like maybe 3 or 4 lanes or so?
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Like I said I’m undecided about the fires
but I just found this picture of the layout of the town and why there’s a circle of fire in the video. Anyone who sees it should be able determine the obvious cause.
There are other things about all the mega fires that make me go hmmm and it’s why I’m keeping my mind open to all causes.
Putin isn’t going to make you homeless or kill you or deny you health care.
Your government will allow it to happen though.
We'll have to wait on more evidence
(provided we get real evidence)
in the meantime, I think you've got the right idea.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
One thing to remember
about that part of Maui is that most of the flat arable lands down near the shores are sugarcane fields, a leftover from the days when that was the major cash crop on the island. And during the current deep drought, that stuff might as well be guncotton. What I remember from my time there is sugarcane planted basically right up to the houses all the way around the town, and then pineapple further back where it gets a little steeper, and then coffee/cacao or whatnot up in the steeps. Driving into Lahaina, the sugarcane came right down to the beach road (2-lane blacktop). You used to be able to take innertube float trips down the irrigation ditches through the cane fields.
In the face of those winds and that fuel, I can easily see a little fire turning into this kind of apocalyptic inferno. Add that to the fire-storm effect of convection multiplying the winds, and anything other than structural steel is going to be ash or a melted puddle. The infrared energy from a firestorm of that nature can cook off fires in flammable materials all by itself, even without the flying cinders. And fiberglass resin is nicely flammable, so I'm completely unsurprised that all the boats burned right down to the waterline. Marina fires spread like wildfire even *without* a firestorm: when a boat catches fire in a crowded marina, you usually see the two or three other boats on each side burn as well, even if the fire department can get there unhindered. That whole set of docks and piers was also wooden, the last time I was there, so that probably helped with the spread of the fire as well.
Some friends of ours ran a charter service doing day sails and dive trips on big catamarans out of Lahaina (Trilogy Charters), and they lost their entire fleet. If you didn't get off the dock and at least a quarter-mile away, your boat is on the bottom....
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Lahaina used to be a wetland
In the nakedcapitalism site this AM Yves provided a link to this article posted in HEATED.
Heartbreaking. I'm afraid this scenario is being played out all over our colonial empire.
have you been tbere in person ?
that was meant as a comment to snopydags.
My son made several videos from his truck he used to go up there to help with effort to bring food and water supplies and I could not see any flames on his videos, but that doesn't mean that there were not fires smoldering.
no offense.
PS it was extremely important to know on which day you reported about Lahaina fires. He didn't send me the ones who he didn't want me to see. That tells you somthing, or not?
https://www.euronews.com/live
sorry , this comment was for Snoopydawg,
so be it.
https://www.euronews.com/live
I have not been to Hawaii
I had the chance once to go for a medical conference, but I passed it up because of things happening in my life then. I regret it at times but I’d probably make the same decision again.
I’m just devastated at the loss of life. Both human and the critters that lived there.
Putin isn’t going to make you homeless or kill you or deny you health care.
Your government will allow it to happen though.
Even if you had been to Hawaii, it wouldn't mean much
these fires that destroyed Lahaina were not something that had happened before and not in the timeline they did happen.
Excuse my sensitivities. I can't help it much. Sorry for that-
https://www.euronews.com/live
We would love to hear
that your son is safe.
Please give us an update.
My heart goes out to you, and the families and friends of all who were lost in this wildfire.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
physically he is ok, mentally not so much, but that's what it
always is, if you go through a war-like situation in person. it reminded him of what he saw and went through when they invaded Iraq in 2003. I heard him talking about it in his truck on its deliveries to Lahaina to a woman who drove with him.
I don't want to think about it anymore. I hope he will be able to sleep.
https://www.euronews.com/live
Combat veterans have things to live with
that non-combatants can never truly know.
I was raised by a combat veteran. I totally understand.
I am very thankful he is safe. I am sure everyone on the site can say the same.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
you are very right, even I don't really know what it meant
to him when he flew through the shock and awe bombardment and had to deal with Nasiriya and other combat situation later. He was there, when Tulsi Gabbard was there as well. (We learned that later, not that he met Tulsi Gabbard back then or knew anything about her).
And then there was Lyndie England and Abu-Ghraib: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2004/05/10/torture-at-abu-ghraib.
Well he went through it and survived. In order to not have to go through another tour in Irak, he agreed to enlist for a year in Korea. A deal Rumsfeld offered back then. I visited him there in Korea when he was stationed in near the demarcation line. I didn't understand much about Korea. I couldn't relate to Koreans. Too short of a time (like a couple of days) So I had no personal relations at all. (I regret that today, but it was just meant to be differently, I guess) I have photos from both location, Irak and Korea. Irak war just two or three, same from Korea, sitting in a tower, but it fades away.
And thanks for your kindness.
Oh well, life can be very confusing ...
https://www.euronews.com/live
By the way ...
Just now Sabby Sabs has gotten to the point I made in this diary:
Also: when the news media say that "1,000 people remain missing," that means most of them are dead and that they are VASTLY under-reporting the carnage. Those are people who can't receive the emergency assistance Joe Biden would rather send to Ukraine so that thousands can be obliterated in "counter-offensives."
The ruling classes need an extra party to make the rest of us feel as if we participate in democracy. That's what the Democrats are for. They make the US more durable than the Soviet Union was.
You really can't make it up...
Well, perhaps Orwell predicted some of it, but he just saw it coming down the tract. Been thinking about his two minutes of hate
In 1984, Orwell writes: "The horrible thing about the Two Minutes Hate was not that one was obliged to act a part, but that it was impossible to avoid joining in. Within thirty seconds any pretense was always unnecessary. A hideous ecstasy of fear and vindictiveness, a desire to kill, to torture, to smash faces in with a sledge hammer, seemed to flow through the whole group of people like an electric current, turning one even against one's will into a grimacing, screaming lunatic.” What is the purpose of the Two Minutes Hate?
As described at the beginning of the novel 1984 by George Orwell, the daily Two Minutes Hate sessions serve to unite citizens of Oceania in hatred of their enemies and in love for Big Brother. In fact, although these sessions do stir up feelings of rage, the novel's protagonist, Winston Smith, finds that he can direct the rage against anyone, even against Big Brother himself. This becomes significant when Smith's inner rebellion against the party begins to manifest more openly.
So we hate Biden. We hate Trump. We hate Russia. We hate China.
Propaganda works.
Thanks for the clip and links!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
In 1949 Aldous Huxley wrote a letter to George Orwell
claiming that his Brave New World dystopia was more accurately a picture of what was to come than Orwell's 1984 dystopia. Huxley wrote:
The truth, of course, lies somewhere in between: Brave New World for the upper classes, 1984 for the rest of us.
The ruling classes need an extra party to make the rest of us feel as if we participate in democracy. That's what the Democrats are for. They make the US more durable than the Soviet Union was.
Certainly the drug and entertainment obsession of BNW...
...has come to pass. Like you suggest it is a blend.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Remarkably convenient
The tragic destruction of Lahaina and on Maui generally. Plans having been pushed and partially implemented to transform energy, transportation & such to make it a 'Smart Island'.
With the wealthy picking up more and more prime land there I'd suspect it is one of those places planned as an elite enclave - likely with just enough non-elite locals left to provide security, do the menial work and provide a bit of local color.
Anyone be surprised if this disaster is worked to move that agenda along?
Politifact:
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2023/aug/14/instagram-posts/no-haw...
Your future as a node in the IoT:
https://standforhealthfreedom.com/blog/beast/
Tulsi from Maui:
Thanks for the WW
Lookout. I will put it in reserve for my reading/watching materiel for the week.
I did watch the video you posted with John Campbell and Robert Clancy. I haven't watched one of Campbell's pieces in a very long time. It is interesting to see how the opinion of those two clinicians have changed with regard to the medical profession because of the way Covid was handled.
Dr. Pierre Kory has an article out about excess deaths that is interesting. Here's a teaser;
https://pierrekory.substack.com/p/i-published-an-op-ed-in-usa-today
Hope all is well on the homestead and the humidity behaves itself and gives you all a break.
we're getting a rain...
..and temps are low 80's. Hey I'll always take an August rain. Hope y'all get some too!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Shush! Biden is as pure as fresh falling snow.
Don't look there! Trump...
took documents (kinda like those). You can't make it up!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
signing out for the nite...
The mark of corporate power are tall buildings.
I added a middle verse...
When you arrive there's the elevator ride
to the floor where you and your desk reside
there's spread sheets to run and analyze
You gotta make sure that the profits will rise
cause that's your job in tall buildings.
Have a good night and see you tomorrow.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Ha…
On me following Qanon this popped up in my email today where they predicted something like this Rona stuff that just happened. I find it funny just because of the timing.
Putin isn’t going to make you homeless or kill you or deny you health care.
Your government will allow it to happen though.
Grayzone...
Thanks for (yet another) excellent WW.
Updating a couple items from the Grayzone video on Biden corruption/Ukraine & related (it's from a couple weeks ago).
Devon Archer did testify to, among other things, Joe Biden's being on at least 20 calls with Hunter and his business associates/prospects.
The investigating committee did release further records supporting flow of funds through various shell companies from Ukraine/Kazakhstan/Russia to nine Biden family members, to the tune ot $20 million.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/08/09/biden-business-received-20...
George Kent's name came up in the GZ discussion - expert on color revolutions - he headed up the failed attempt at the one in Belarus - not surprising that he would put that to work at home. After testifying against Trump (1st impeachment) he not only stayed with the State Department but was promoted. Which gives some idea how little control Trump was able to exercise over elements of the entrenched bureaucracy. Revolver News covered him and other Never-Trump color coup plotters from back in 2019 or so. This from August 2020:
https://www.revolver.news/2020/08/george-kent-never-trump-state-department/
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers."
- Thomas Pynchon 'Gravity's Rainbow'
Blackrock...
Came up at a number of points in this week's WW -
It comes up, too in this recent Jovan Pulitzer's Cut the Crap program.
Pulitzer, for those unfamiliar, is a fairly brilliant and successful tech guy - held a number of the basic patents for smartphones ability to interact with QR codes and used for electronic payments, online commerce and became more broadly known for efforts to apply physical forensics to paper ballots in investigating alleged election irregularities.
Although the main thrust of the program is about understanding the operation of indoctrination through media, education & such, he also explains how Blackrock, Vanguard and other mega fund managers are in a position to impose things such as ESG's, trans-promoting and other 'woke' agendas - and openly admit they are doing so.
They are in a position to do so by sheer size - ironically, but not surprisingly, part of their power to do so stems from their control over pension funds (AKA your money) - the people whose money it is having little to ability to influence what is done with it. Pulitzer claims the destruction of iconic legacy brands (and institutions generally) is a priority.
Even if, due to their demands, something like the backlash to Budweiser's use of a trans influencer to promote their beer succeedss in wiping off $27 billion in value from the parent company, Blackrock still has opportunities, such as picking up the devalued stock in the company.
So, in this case, Budweiser abandons the campaign in the face of consumer opposition, an apparent victory, but according to Pulitzer that is itself something of a trap because it served to distract from the broader process of the elite takeover of society and destruction of values and institutions...
FWIW: Among their other nefarious activities, Blackrock and Vanguard are big into acquisitions of Ukraine farmland. Loans not just conditioned on firing prosecutors but also privatization:
War and Theft: The Takeover of Ukraine’s Agricultural Land (Feb. 2023)
https://www.oaklandinstitute.org/war-theft-takeover-ukraine-agricultural...
Won't let me embed the Pulitzer vid from Rumble - program starts at 9:00 in...
https://rumble.com/v35o0i2-the-art-of-distraction-you-will-own-nothing-a...
(Edit for clarity and typos)