Reader’s Links for April 30th, 2023

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Here is a link to the VladTepesBlog social media Mastodon Pod. Please feel free to check it out and sign up for an account if you are sufficiently annoyed with Twitter and Facebook to try something new.

Each day at just after midnight Eastern, a post like this one is created for contributors and readers of this site to upload news links and video links on the issues that concern this site. Most notably, Islam and its effects on Classical Civilization, and various forms of leftism from Soviet era communism, to postmodernism and all the flavours of galloping statism and totalitarianism such as Nazism and Fascism which are increasingly snuffing out the classical liberalism which created our near, miraculous civilization the West has been building since the time of Socrates.

This document was written around the time this site was created, for those who wish to understand what this site is about. And while our understanding of the world and events has grown since then, the basic ideas remain sound and true to the purpose.

So please post all links, thoughts and ideas that you feel will benefit the readers of this site to the comments under this post each day. And thank you all for your contributions.

This is the new Samizdat. We must use it while we can.

About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

65 Replies to “Reader’s Links for April 30th, 2023”

    • I read her comments Johnny and found it very interesting when she said mRNA is a bioweapon and illegal to put in our food. They already injected millions if not billions worldwide and who stopped them?

      The FDA and CDC knew from the beginning the injections were going to cause a long list of debilitating diseases and deaths, and still the World “Health” Organization is pushing the injections.

      Directed Evolution will lead to our extinction, oh well, ho hum.

      Another vaccinated, woman I used to walk with has died. Part of the monsters strategy is to break peoplekind mentally. They can’t ever take away your faith in God Almighty.

        • – That video of someone giving a presentation is from 2005
          – The speaker is not Bill Gates, his name is Dean Hamer
          – D.Hamer is a geneticist
          – D.Hamer proposed/theorized/hypothesized that vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT-2) AKA GOD-GENE is responsible for religious beliefs
          – His research was unpublished and unreplicated
          – Scientists see his work as a way of understanding neurobiology/neurology and it’ll be good for science students
          – Even D.Hamer isn’t sure if it exists. Since he quoted in his book that:
          “This book is about whether God genes exist, not about whether there is a God.”
          – D.Hamer notes that the importance of the VMAT2 finding is not that it explains all spiritual or religious feelings, but rather that it points the way toward one neurobiological pathway that may be important.

        • JUNE 2016 – Gene editing can now change an entire species — forever

          CRISPR gene drives allow scientists to change sequences of DNA and guarantee that the resulting edited genetic trait is inherited by future generations, opening up the possibility of altering entire species forever.

          … a potentially powerful application of gene drives: the development of disease-resistant mosquitoes that could knock out malaria and Zika.

          • Remember Michael Jackson singing “Beat it, beat it, beat it”, well I changed the works to “Stick it, stick it, stick it”, and yo, I ain’t talkin arms.

    • redacted – WTF did Justin Trudeau just say???

      Trudeau says that he has always been sensitive and understanding about vaccine hesitancy.
      That’s a lie.

      He called people who did not want to get vaccinated misogynists, racists and extremists.

      He said that they had “unacceptable views.”

      He targeted them and took their bank accounts.

      He absolutely should not to get a victory lap for empathetic governance during the Covid-19 pandemic! No way!

    • redacted – This is how the Klaus Schwab’s WEF controls EVERYTHING

      Who was in the World Economic Forum kids’ club? Is that why the WEF agenda is so prevalent right now?

      It turns out your favorite dictators are graduates of the WEF junior program such as Jacinda Ardern, Justin Trudeau and more.

      Is it any wonder than that we are seeing similar agenda items across the globe such as transhumanism, 15 minute cities, the end of combustion engines, climate lockdowns, digital currency and the elimination of cash?

      We connect the dots. Let us know what you think.

    • redacted– This is how the Klaus Schwab’s WEF controls EVERYTHING

      Who was in the World Economic Forum kids’ club? Is that why the WEF agenda is so prevalent right now?

      It turns out your favorite dictators are graduates of the WEF junior program such as Jacinda Ardern, Justin Trudeau and more.

      Is it any wonder than that we are seeing similar agenda items across the globe such as transhumanism, 15 minute cities, the end of combustion engines, climate lockdowns, digital currency and the elimination of cash?

      We connect the dots. Let us know what you think.

    • Pourquoi cet étalage de blancs-becs en Occident ?

      Les individus à la tête des principaux pays occidentaux ont tous en commun d’être totalement dépourvus d’expérience.

      Cette aberration n’est pas le fruit du hasard, elle résulte de la volonté d’oligarques qui placent leurs pions aux endroits stratégiques.

      En faisant élire, par des stratégies de manipulation d’opinion, des jeunes gens sans expérience, ils s’assurent la docilité d’obligés qui conduiront des politiques favorables à leurs intérêts.

  9. NBC – Debate sparks over ‘safe haven boxes’ for surrendering babies

    A new debate has sparked over a Florida bill that would let fire stations and hospitals install safe haven boxes for parents to surrender their babies anonymously.

    NBC’s Guad Venegas reports on why some say these boxes save lives while others argue that babies should be handed over to a person.

    + comments on the YT page

  10. US General: Russian Forces in Ukraine MORE than at start of War! “No real attrition”

    A senior US military commander in Europe told lawmakers Wednesday that Russia has plenty more firepower, has lost thousands of troops, but present troop levels are MORE than at the start of the Ukraine operation. Stunningly, the General says Russia has seen “no real attrition.”

    “The Russian ground force has been degenerated somewhat by this conflict, although it is bigger today than it was at the beginning of the conflict,” Gen. Christopher Cavoli, the commander of US European Command (EURCOM), told the House Armed Services Committee.

    “The Air Force has lost very little, they’ve lost 80 planes. They have another 1,000 fighters and fighter bombers,” he said. “The Navy has lost one ship.”

    Last month, General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified before Congress and said that Russian troops are “getting slaughtered” in their fight for Bakhmut.

    “For about the last 20, 21 days, the Russians did not make any progress whatsoever in and around Bakhmut. So it’s a slaughter fest for the Russians,” Milley said. “They’re getting hammered in the vicinity of Bakhmut and the Ukrainians have fought very, very well.”

    The losses appear to be only a fraction of Russia’s total military force. Cavoli said that “much of the Russian military has not been affected negatively” by its invasion of Ukraine.

    Asked about Russia’s submarine patrols in the Atlantic, Milley told Congress “The Russians are more active than we’ve seen them in years, and their patrols into the Atlantic, and throughout the Atlantic, are at a high level, most of the time at a higher level than we’ve seen in years,” he said. “And this is, as you pointed out, despite all of the efforts that they’re undertaking inside Ukraine.”

    https://halturnerradioshow.com/index.php/en/news-page/world/us-general-russian-forces-in-ukraine-more-than-at-start-of-war-no-real-attrition

    April 27, 2023: Senator Cotton Q&A during Senate Armed Services Committee

    • U.S. Military Commanders Testify To Senate Armed Services Committee

      The Senate Armed Services Committee holds a hearing on the United States European Command and the United States Transportation Command.

      • Mines?! Shocking!!
        Russians With Attitude July, 30 2022

        AFU is firing Lepestok anti-personnel mines scattered via MLRS at Donetsk, again. Authorities are warning citizens not to let their children out and to be careful while moving around the city. Even intercepted cluster munitions can still scatter some of their mine payload
        [pix worth a look]
        https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1553459440073973760.html
        ……..
        August, 2022
        War Crime Outrage in Ukraine With Complicit Media Silence

        Hundreds of anti personnel mines were rained down on the civilian populated centre of Donetsk City on the night of Saturday July 30th littering the streets, parks and residential gardens in the aftermath. Donetsk authorities said a large number of those petal mines were also found in the vicinity of a school in the city’s Kirov district. They are camouflaged in a green colour to make them difficult to see in foliage and grassy areas.

        A Geneva Convention War Crime
        The first such attack on Donetsk took place on the night of July 28th. Authorities warned the city’s residents that those anti-personnel mines could be found anywhere in the city and urged the citizens not to touch those explosive devices under any circumstances.

        The use of those ‘Lepestok’ cluster mines is banned under international humanitarian law and their use constitutes a war crime under the Geneva Convention.

        Zelensky’s Sinister Demand
        Transport networks were suspended across the city while ongoing clear-up operations were undertaken. The overnight shelling that rained those terrorist devices down on the city’s population took place shortly after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ordered troops and civilians to urgently evacuate from Donetsk.

        Ukraine is now unconscionably attacking, terrorising and maiming its own people in the Russian occupied areas in an apparent effort to drive them out.

        Maiming Devices
        These tiny bombs shaped like the petals of a flower were found littering the civilian centre of Donetsk, in the vicinity of the city’s university, recreational and other civilian areas. Those vicious devices don’t necessarily kill but they maim and even tear off limbs. This amounts to a deliberate attack on the civilian population and constitutes a nasty war crime…

        https://www.irishpeople.ie/war-crime-outrage-in-ukraine-with-complicit-media-silence/

    • Zelensky holds call with Macron, discusses military needs

      President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron had a phone call on April 30, discussing Ukraine’s peace formula and the situation on the frontline, according to the President’s Office.

      Both agreed on “additional solutions” that would strengthen Ukraine’s potential on the battlefield.

      Preparations for Ukraine’s upcoming spring counteroffensive are “coming to an end” as the military trains on Western-provided weapons, Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on April 28.

      “The speed and specificity of response is very important, it is something that significantly enhances our capabilities,” Zelensky said.

      Zelensky and Macron also discussed the preparations for the NATO Summit in Vilnius.

      Zelensky’s Office said on April 30 that the decisions on security guarantees for Ukraine “are to be made, and the procedure for inviting Ukraine to NATO is to be launched” during the summit.

      NATO members will meet in Lithuania on July 11-12 to discuss political and practical support for Ukraine, commitments to raise military spending, and strengthen deterrence policies on its eastern flank.

      Lithuania is reportedly pursuing a commitment from allies to keep supporting Ukraine’s forces and strengthen political cooperation to make sure NATO is open to Ukrainian membership.

      https://kyivindependent.com/zelensky-holds-call-with-macron-discusses-military-needs/

    • europravda – “The main battles are coming soon,” Ukraine’s president says

      Zelensky on Sunday honoured the country’s Border Guard forces by awarding medals and wishing them success.

    • APRIL 30 2023 – The strongest missile attack on Ukraine is expected.

      The departure of 14 Tu-95ms aircraft is already confirmed, a total salvo of 112 missiles!

      https://t.me/Slavyangrad/43991
      ========================
      Une centaine de missiles sont attendus sur diverses cibles ukrainiennes. Le but ce soir est de frapper les concentrations de troupes et de matériel préparées en vue de l’offensive ukrainienne.

      https://t.me/boriskarpovblog/9772

      ===================================

      twitter @HungaryBased
      Shocking?? Prime Minister Viktor Orbán explains the reason for the war in Europe.

      “Complete restructuring of power within Europe”

      + 5 min 19 video

      https://twitter.com/HungaryBased/status/1651971665973108740

    • Russian losses so far have been primarily those of Wagner, a private military contractor, NOT the Russian Armed Forces. Their losses don’t figure into the totals of the MoD of the RF.

      Also, the Kiev regime counts Russian-speaking Ukrainian casualties as Russians, not Ukrainian combatants. About 40% of the total pop of Ukraine was russophone, and a much higher percentage of those press-ganged into the frontline.

      Fighting has been mostly in the Donbass: virtually ALL russophones. They’ve been ethnically cleansed.

      Will the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation do as well as Wagner PMC?

      Wagner is like the French Foregn Legion in recruiting convicts and misfits. But 25% is professional, seasoned military. A core of experienced officers who’ve fought around the world. Best equipped and trained anywhere.

      The other 75%, the recruits, are better trained, more disciplined than most national military forces.

      Which doesn't mean they're not feral or antisocial. Survivors may have found spiritual enlightenment in the foxhole. One hopes…

    • Senator Tom Cotton is frozen in a Cold War time warp. If only we were as invincible now as we felt we were then… Oh well, it’ll have to be a nuclear duel.

      A rigid ideologue is more dangerous than the greediest Congress critter feeding from the MIC trough.

      When Manichaean belief systems drive international relations, the irrational is justified by whatever passes for the logic of the day. The ostensible reasons for conflict morph, but such enmity remains tribal and pagan.

      That eastern boundary of Europe is the eternal locus of Evil. Be it the Third Rome (Orthodox Christian), the USSR (Communist), even the prostrate Russian Federation of the 1990s. Always the existential threat to “civilization” (by definition Western).

      • It’s always been scratch a Russian and you’ll find a Tartar. Or, Beware of the Man who walks like a Bear. On and on grotesque.

        From the 19th century on incendiary British rhetoric was constant, despite royal family ties. Today’s yellow journalism is virtually identical to Crimean War propaganda. That was the first You-are-there war: a largely literate population consumes mass media, telegraph and steamships lend immediacy that’s popular with the voters. For a while, anyway…

        Our State Dept. has traditionally venerated British-flavored diplomacy. John Quincy Adams, POTUS-6 and our first ambassador to the Court of the Tsar, commented on it way back in the 1830s.

        It’s always been scratch a Russian and you’ll find a Tartar. Or, Beware of the Man who walks like a Bear. On and on grotesque.

        Russia seethes with resentment: The Motherland is superior! That’s why they hate us!

        Voila! Cycle of violence.

  11. Blinken’s Game-Changing Message at the Cities Summit of the Americas

    Blinken delivers the Cities Summit of the Americas Closing Plenary keynote address in Denver, Colorado 04.28.2023

    • ‘BOLD-FACED’: Blinken accused of lying under oath to protect Hunter Biden

      Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., joined ‘Sunday Morning Futures’ to discuss questions concerning the Biden family’s business dealings and why he believes Secretary of State Antony Blinken lied about his contact with Hunter Biden.

    • Blinkin’s stepfather was Robert Maxwell’s lawyer and family friend. He was the last person to see Maxwell alive. Ghislaine Maxwell’s playmate in Paris?

  12. “Federal Government Behind Massive Operation to Send Illegal Immigrants into U.S.” by Jonas Vesterberg – April 26, 2023
    https://www.theflstandard.com/federal-government-behind-massive-operation-to-send-illegal-immigrants-into-u-s/

    These buses full of migrants just left toward America from Darien, Panama. Any idea the Darien is closed is false. I made this video a couple minutes ago.
    Michael Yon – April 14, 2023
    https://twitter.com/Michael_Yon/status/1647067746318921734

  14. twitter @disclosetv

    JUST IN – CIA’s William Burns, Goldman’s Kathryn Ruemmler, Noam Chomsky, a Kissinger consultant, a Rothschild, and others met with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in the years after his conviction.

    https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1652657680257875968
    ============================================
    Wall Street Journal – Epstein’s Private Calendar Reveals Prominent Names, Including CIA Chief, Goldman’s Top Lawyer

    Schedules and emails detail meetings in the years after he was a convicted sex offender; visitors cite his wealth and connections

    The nation’s spy chief, a longtime college president and top women in finance. The circle of people who associated with Jeffrey Epstein years after he was a convicted sex offender is wider than previously reported, according to a trove of documents that include his schedules.

    William Burns, director of the Central Intelligence Agency since 2021, had three meetings scheduled with Epstein in 2014, when he was deputy secretary of state, the documents show. They first met in Washington and then Mr. Burns visited Epstein’s townhouse in Manhattan.

    Kathryn Ruemmler, a White House counsel under President Barack Obama, had dozens of meetings with Epstein in the years after her White House service and before she became a top lawyer at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in 2020. He also planned for her to join a 2015 trip to Paris and a 2017 visit to Epstein’s private island in the Caribbean.

    Leon Botstein, the president of Bard College, invited Epstein, who brought a group of young female guests, to the campus.

    Noam Chomsky, a professor, author and political activist, was scheduled to fly with Epstein to have dinner at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse in 2015.

    None of their names appear in Epstein’s now-public “black book” of contacts or in the public flight logs of passengers who traveled on his private jet. The documents show that Epstein arranged multiple meetings with each of them after he had served jail time in 2008 for a sex crime involving a teenage girl and was registered as a sex offender. The documents, which include thousands of pages of emails and schedules from 2013 to 2017, haven’t been previously reported.

    The documents don’t reveal the purpose of most of the meetings. The Wall Street Journal couldn’t verify whether every scheduled meeting took place.

    Mr. Burns met with Epstein about a decade ago as he was preparing to leave government service, said CIA spokeswoman Tammy Kupperman Thorp. “The director did not know anything about him, other than that he was introduced as an expert in the financial services sector and offered general advice on transition to the private sector,” she said. “They had no relationship.”

    Ms. Ruemmler had a professional relationship with Epstein in connection with her role at law firm Latham & Watkins LLP and didn’t travel with him, a Goldman Sachs spokesman said. Epstein introduced her to potential legal clients, such as Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates,
    the spokesman said. “I regret ever knowing Jeffrey Epstein,” Ms. Ruemmler said.

    A spokeswoman for Latham & Watkins said Epstein wasn’t a client of the firm.

    In 2006, Epstein was publicly accused of sexually abusing girls in Florida who were as young as 14 years old. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and police investigated, and Epstein reached a deal with prosecutors in 2008. He avoided federal charges and pleaded guilty to soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution. He registered as a sex offender and served about 13 months in a work-release program.

    Epstein’s case generated waves of media coverage at the time, with publications in the U.S. and abroad reporting on accusations from underage girls and young women. In 2006, several politicians returned donations from Epstein. Some associates moved to distance themselves from him. His biggest known client, retail billionaire Leslie Wexner, later said he cut ties in 2007. His bank, JPMorgan Chase & Co., later said it closed his accounts in 2013, though some bankers continued to meet with him for years after.

    In 2015, Virginia Giuffre publicly accused Epstein of sexually abusing and trafficking her when she was a teen and forcing her to have sex with influential people, including Prince Andrew. Prince Andrew has denied the allegations and last year settled a sex-abuse lawsuit by Ms. Giuffre.

    Despite the negative press, Epstein’s days were filled from morning to night with meetings with prominent people, the documents show. There were dinners at New York restaurants, meetings at luxury hotels and gatherings in the offices of prominent law firms. Many appointments were held at Epstein’s townhouse in Manhattan.

    Prosecutors alleged in 2019 that the townhouse is where Epstein sexually abused female victims for years, many underage, and that he paid some of them to recruit their friends to engage in sexual activity.

    After the Miami Herald reported that dozens of women said they were abused, prosecutors charged Epstein in 2019 with a sex trafficking conspiracy. He died that year in a New York jail while awaiting trial in what the city’s medical examiner said was a suicide.

    Mr. Burns, 67 years old, a career diplomat and former ambassador to Russia, had meetings with Epstein in 2014 when Mr. Burns was deputy secretary of state.

    A lunch was planned that August at the office of law firm Steptoe & Johnson in Washington. Epstein scheduled two evening appointments that September with Mr. Burns at his townhouse, the documents show. After one of the scheduled meetings, Epstein planned for his driver to take Mr. Burns to the airport.

    Mr. Burns recalls being introduced in Washington by a mutual friend, and meeting Epstein once briefly in New York, said Ms. Thorp. “The director does not recall any further contact, including receiving a ride to the airport,” she said.

    The following month, October 2014, Mr. Burns stepped down from his role at the State Department to serve as president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a think tank. He ran the Carnegie Endowment until he was nominated in early 2021 by President Biden to serve as CIA director.

    The documents show that Epstein appeared to know some of his guests well. He asked for avocado sushi rolls to be on hand when meeting with Ms. Ruemmler, according to the documents. He visited apartments she was considering buying. In October 2014, Epstein knew her travel plans and told an assistant to look into her flight. “See if there is a first class seat,” he wrote, “if so upgrade her.”

    In 2014, Epstein called Ms. Ruemmler within weeks of her leaving the Obama White House. Epstein planned a lunch in August 2014 at his townhouse, followed by a series of meetings to introduce her to a wider circle of his acquaintances.

    Ms. Ruemmler first met Epstein after he called her to ask if she would be interested in representing Mr. Gates and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Goldman Sachs spokesman said.

    A spokeswoman for Mr. Gates said Epstein never worked for Mr. Gates, misrepresented their relationship, and that Mr. Gates regrets ever meeting with him.

    Epstein and his staff discussed whether Ms. Ruemmler, now 52, would be uncomfortable with the presence of young women who worked as assistants and staffers at the townhouse, the documents show. Women emailed Epstein on two occasions to ask if they should avoid the home while Ms. Ruemmler was there. Epstein told one of the women he didn’t want her around, and another that it wasn’t a problem, the documents show.

    Ms. Ruemmler didn’t see anything that would lead her to be concerned at the townhouse and didn’t express any concern, the Goldman spokesman said.

    Several people who visited Epstein during this time period said they noticed young women at his townhouse. One of the visitors, Helen Fisher, an anthropologist who studies romantic love and attachment, had lunch with Epstein in January 2016 to discuss her work.

    Dr. Fisher said that after the lunch, Epstein invited her to speak with his staff. “And then, in filed, I would say, six young women,” she said. “All of them good looking. All of them young.”
    Dr. Fisher said Epstein never funded her work, they weren’t friends and they didn’t stay in touch. “I didn’t have anything to do with Jeffrey Epstein,” she said. “But I remembered it because of his spectacular house and because of the six young women.”

    Over the next few years, Ms. Ruemmler, then a partner specializing in white-collar defense at Latham & Watkins, had more than three dozen appointments with Epstein, including for lunches and dinners.

    “In the normal course, Epstein also invited her to meetings and social gatherings, introduced her to other business contacts and made referrals,” the Goldman spokesman said. “It was the same kinds of contacts and engagements she had with other contacts and clients.”

    In 2015, she was scheduled to fly with Epstein to Paris and in 2017 he planned to stop in St. Lucia to take her to his island home in the U.S. Virgin Islands for the day, according to the documents.
    Ms. Ruemmler never visited his island and “never accepted an invitation or an opportunity to fly with Jeffrey Epstein anywhere,” the Goldman spokesman said.

    In addition to her current role as general counsel at Goldman Sachs, Ms. Ruemmler is co-chair of its reputational risk committee, which monitors business and client decisions for potential damage to the bank’s image.

    Epstein also connected Ms. Ruemmler with Ariane de Rothschild, who is now chief executive of the Swiss private bank Edmond de Rothschild Group. The bank hired Ms. Ruemmler’s law firm, Latham & Watkins, after the introduction to help with U.S. regulatory matters, according to the bank and the Goldman spokesman.

    Mrs. de Rothschild, who married into the famous banking family, had more than a dozen meetings with Epstein. He sought her help with staffing and furnishings as well as discussed business deals with her, according to the documents.

    In September 2013, Epstein asked Mrs. de Rothschild in an email for help finding a new assistant, “female…multilingual, organized.”

    “I’ll ask around,” Mrs. de Rothschild emailed back.
    She bought nearly $1 million worth of auction items on Epstein’s behalf in 2014 and 2015, the documents show.

    Mrs. de Rothschild was named chairwoman of the bank in January 2015. That October, she and Epstein negotiated a $25 million contract for Epstein’s Southern Trust Co. to provide “risk analysis and the application and use of certain algorithms” for the bank, according to a proposal reviewed by the Journal.

    In 2019, after Epstein was arrested, the bank said that Mrs. de Rothschild never met with Epstein and it had no business links with him.

    The bank acknowledged to the Journal that its earlier statement wasn’t accurate. It said Mrs. de Rothschild met with Epstein as part of her normal duties at the bank between 2013 and 2019, and Epstein introduced the bank to U.S. finance leaders, recommended law firms and provided tax and risk consulting.

    “In parallel to that, Epstein solicited her personally on a couple occasions for advice and services on estate management,” the bank said.

    Mrs. de Rothschild had no knowledge of any legal proceedings against Epstein and “was similarly unaware of any questions regarding his personal conduct,” the bank said. After later learning of his behavior, the bank said, “she feels for and supports the victims.”

    One of Epstein’s scheduled meetings with Mrs. de Rothschild, in January 2014, included another of his regular guests: Joshua Cooper Ramo, then co-chief executive of Henry Kissinger’s corporate consulting firm.

    Epstein scheduled more than a dozen meetings from 2013 to 2017 with Mr. Ramo, who at the time served on the boards of Starbucks Corp. and FedEx Corp. , the documents show. Epstein had special snacks on hand because he believed Mr. Ramo was vegetarian, the documents indicate.

    Many of Mr. Ramo’s appointments with Epstein were in the evenings, typically after 5 p.m., at the townhouse. Mr. Ramo also was invited to a breakfast at the townhouse in September 2013 with former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, another regular guest, the documents show.

    Mr. Ramo, who still sits on the board of FedEx and recently stepped down from the Starbucks board, didn’t respond to requests for comment. A spokeswoman for Mr. Kissinger said he wasn’t aware that Mr. Ramo was meeting with Epstein.

    Mr. Barak also met Epstein in 2015 with Mr. Chomsky, now 94, a linguistics professor and political activist who has been critical of capitalism and U.S. foreign policy.

    Mr. Chomsky said Epstein arranged the meeting with Mr. Barak for them to discuss “Israel’s policies with regard to Palestinian issues and the international arena.”

    Mr. Barak said he often met with Epstein on trips to New York and was introduced to people such as Mr. Ramo and Mr. Chomsky to discuss geopolitics or other topics. “He often brought other interesting persons, from art or culture, law or science, finance, diplomacy or philanthropy,” Mr. Barak said.

    Epstein arranged several meetings in 2015 and 2016 with Mr. Chomsky, while he was a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

    When asked about his relationship with Epstein, Mr. Chomsky replied in an email: “First response is that it is none of your business. Or anyone’s. Second is that I knew him and we met occasionally.”

    In March 2015, Epstein scheduled a gathering with Mr. Chomsky and Harvard University professor Martin Nowak and other academics, according to the documents. Mr. Chomsky said they had several meetings at Mr. Nowak’s research institute to discuss neuroscience and other topics.

    Two months later, Epstein planned to fly with Mr. Chomsky and his wife to have dinner with them and movie director Woody Allen and his wife, Soon-Yi Previn, the documents show. “If there was a flight, which I doubt, it would have been from Boston to New York, 30 minutes,” Mr. Chomsky said. “I’m unaware of the principle that requires that I inform you about an evening spent with a great artist.”

    Epstein donated at least $850,000 to MIT between 2002 and 2017, and more than $9.1 million to Harvard from 1998 to 2008, the schools have said. In 2021, Harvard said it was sanctioning Mr. Nowak for violating university policies in his dealings with Epstein, and was shutting a research center he ran that Epstein had funded. MIT said it was inappropriate to accept Epstein’s gifts, and that it later donated $850,000 to nonprofits supporting survivors of sexual abuse.

    In a 2020 interview with the “dunc tank” podcast, Mr. Chomsky said that people he considered worse than Epstein had donated to MIT. He didn’t mention any of his meetings with Epstein.

    Mr. Chomsky told the Journal that at the time of his meetings “what was known about Jeffrey Epstein was that he had been convicted of a crime and had served his sentence. According to U.S. laws and norms, that yields a clean slate.”

    MIT said lawyers investigating its ties to Epstein didn’t find that Mr. Chomsky met with Epstein on its campus or received funding from him. Harvard declined to comment beyond the report it published on its Epstein ties in 2020. Mr. Nowak has said he regretted his role in fostering a connection between Epstein and Harvard. He didn’t respond to requests for comment.

    Mr. Botstein, 76, president of Bard College since 1975, had about two dozen meetings scheduled with Epstein over about four years, which were mostly visits to the townhouse.
    “I was an unsuccessful fundraiser and actually the object of a little bit of sadism on his part in dangling philanthropic support,” said Mr. Botstein. “That was my relationship with him.”

    Mr. Botstein said he first visited Epstein’s townhouse in 2012 to thank him for unsolicited donations to Bard’s high schools, then he returned over several years in an attempt to get more donations. In 2015, Epstein donated 66 laptops, the documents show.

    “We looked him up, and he was a convicted felon for a sex crime,” he said. Bard has a large program providing education to prisoners, he said. “We believe in rehabilitation.”
    Mr. Botstein, also the longtime music director for the American Symphony Orchestra, invited Epstein to an opera at Bard in 2013, then a concert at the college in 2016, the documents indicate. Epstein planned each time to bring some of his young female assistants and arrive by helicopter.

    Mr. Botstein said he was expecting Epstein to support classical music causes and that the school took precautions when he visited. “Because of his previous record, we had security ready,” he said. “He did not have any free access to anybody.”

    At Epstein’s home, Mr. Botstein was led to a dining room where they discussed classical music and other causes, he said. “He presented himself as a billionaire, a really, really rich person,” he said. “I found him odd and arrogant. And what I finally came to believe, which is why we stopped contact with him, is that he was simply stringing us along.”

    Despite all his meetings, Mr. Botstein said, Epstein never made another donation to Bard. “It was a blessing in disguise,” he said, “that we never got any [more] money.”

    Most of those people told the Journal they visited Epstein for reasons related to his wealth and connections. Several said they thought he had served his time and had rehabilitated himself. Mr. Botstein said he was trying to get Epstein to donate to his school. Mr. Chomsky said he and Epstein discussed political and academic topics.

    https://archive.ph/z4AGM#selection-965.0-973.170

    • twitter @EricRWeinstein

      The central question remains:

      Was Jeffrey Epstein a *construct* of the intelligence community, who as state sponsored predator cannot be investigated by news media cooperating with government for “reasons of national security.”

      That should sound crazier than it does today:
      =======================
      I have been asserting that       Epstein was OBVIOUSLY not a major financier since well before his Florida arrest in 2006.

      These leaders are meeting him years after his conviction and incarceration.

      This thing appears just *impossibly* fake. I’m sorry. It seems fake. Just fake.

      =============

      Simple question: can we be said to have a free press if it refuses to investigate the legally mandated financial records and filings of a multi-billion dollar currency trading hedge fund at Villard House in Manhattan, directed by Jeffrey Epstein that I claim simply never existed?

      ==================

      The claim from his team of exclusively young female employees at his 71st residence was that he only used Ultra Orthodox men to trade for him and that he issued all trading instructions, which required only a few minutes a day due to his brilliance.

      =====================

      I pointed out, nearly a decade ago, that there were no financial employees at all. No portfolio managers, no analysts, nothing.

      =======================
      My claim is that we all tripped over a MASSIVE “too big to fail” intelligence operation whose major revelation is not about Epstein but about near TOTAL material control of our news by intimidation and harassment of reporters:

      https://twitter.com/EricRWeinstein/status/1652711582106005505

      =================

      zero hedge – Epstein’s Private Calendar Emerges: Among Prominent Names Listed Are Biden’s CIA Chief, Goldman Top Lawyer

      […]

      https://www.zerohedge.com/political/bidens-cia-chief-goldman-top-lawyer-and-noam-chomsky-knew-met-jeffrey-epstein

  15. Pfizer, the manufacturer of one of the most widely used COVID-19 vaccines in the country, silently funded groups advocating for vaccine mandates and passports, according to a report by Lee Fang (paywalled).

    In August 2021, the president of the Chicago Urban League, Karen Freeman-Wilson, in an interview on TV, argued that vaccine mandates would not disproportionately harm the black community.

    “The health and safety factor here far outweighs the concern about shutting people out or creating a barrier,” Freeman-Wilson said at the time.

    Earlier that year, the Chicago Urban League had received $100,000 from Pfizer for a project on promoting “vaccine safety and effectiveness.” The organization did not list Pfizer as a donor or partner on its website and Freeman-Wilson did not mention the funding during the interview.

    https://magspress.com/groups-pushing-vaccine-passports-mandates-were-quietly-funded-by-pfizer/

    • Canadian ! Remarkable story~
      Glenn Gould: Russian Journey

      “Apparently there are some copyright restrictions in this film, so you will find those parts muted. Otherwise, hope you enjoy. :)”

  18. europravda – Pope Francis leaves Hungary after urging it “to open its doors”

    Francis has challenged Viktor Orban’s anti-immigration policies, which in 2015-2016 included building a razor wire fence on the border with Serbia.

  19. WHOA: Private Calendar Reveals Convicted Pedophile Jeffrey Epstein met with Biden’s CIA Spy chief and Other Leftist Individuals AFTER Sex Crimes Conviction
    By Cullen Linebarger Apr. 30, 2023 12:45 pm319 Comments

    The Wall Street Journal released an explosive report Sunday revealing that Jeffrey Epstein met with multiple left-wing individuals including Joe Biden’s now-CIA Chief William Burns after Epstein was convicted of child sex crimes.

    The documents uncovered by the Wall Street Journal were related to Epstein’s private calendar.

    In addition to Burns, the infamous pedophile also reportedly met with Bard College president Leon Botstein, former Barack Obama White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler and professor Noam Chomsky following his conviction of child sex crimes.

    prove every single scheduled meeting took place, the report did find Epstein met with Burns on three separate occasions. These meetings were held in Washington D.C. and in Epstein’s home in Manhattan.

    CIA spokeswoman Tammy Kupperman Thorp confirmed that Burns met with Epstein in 2014. However, she claimed Burns had no idea who the disgraced financier was.

    She also said Burns only met with Epstein because Burns was looking to leave to government sector and wanted advice.

    The director did not know anything about him, other than he was introduced as an expert in the financial services sector and offered general advice on the transition to the public sector.

    Ruemmler scheduled dozens of meetings with Epstein and managed to land a job at Goldman Sachs in 2020 working as an attorney.

    Epstein also invited her to visit his private island, Little Saint James, in 2017. This island is the place where numerous underage girls were sexually abused by Epstein.

    Not surprisingly, Ruemmler told the Journal she wishes she never met Epstein.

    Chomsky told the Journal that he had met with Epstein, and the two discussed politics and academia.

    As Fox News reported, other figures on the documents related to Epstein’s laptop included: Ariane de Rothschild, chief executive of the Swiss private bank Edmond de Rothschild Group; Joshua Cooper Ramo, who at the time served on the boards of Starbucks Corp. and FedEx Corp; former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak; Harvard University professor Martin Nowak; and anthropologist Helen Fisher.

    Epstein was found dead in a jail cell in New York City in 2019 under suspicious circumstances. Before his death, he was awaiting a trial on sex trafficking charges.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/04/whoa-private-calendar-reveals-convicted-pedophile-jeffrey-epstein-met-with-bidens-cia-spy-chief-and-other-leftist-individuals-after-sex-crimes-conviction/

  21. Satanists Shred Bible During SatanCon Opening Ritual in Boston (VIDEO)
    By Cristina Laila Apr. 30, 2023 2:35 pm249 Comments

    Satanists gathered at the Satanic Temple in Boston, Massachusetts this weekend to celebrate the temple’s 10th anniversary.

    The Satanist convention promised to be “a weekend of blasphemy and remembrance in Boston,” according to the temple’s website.

    “This event is dedicated to Boston mayor Michelle Wu for her unconstitutional efforts to keep TST out of Boston’s public spaces,” the Satanic Temple said. “TST SatanCon 2023 will be in historic downtown Boston, Massachusetts from April 28th to April 30th, 2023, with the theme, ‘Hexennacht in Boston.’ Attendees will enjoy lectures and panels presented by our campaigns and congregations as well as evening entertainment and a Satanic Marketplace.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/04/satanists-shred-bible-during-satancon-opening-ritual-in-boston-video/

    • Masked Neo-Nazis Crash World’s Largest Satanic Event

      Freddy vs. Jason. Alien vs. Predator. We can now add fascists vs. satanists to this list of iconic crossovers, after the white nationalist group Patriot Front showed up in Boston on Saturday to protest “SatanCon 2023.”

      For the last few days, self-described devil-worshippers from across the country have been converging on the city for what has been advertised as the “largest Satanic gathering in history.”

      Yet the Beelzebub blowout also attracted 100 or so Christian protesters, who were joined by the designated hate group on Saturday afternoon.

      Patriot Front members were spotted taking the train in their characteristic khaki pants, ball caps, and white face masks, as other riders confronted them over their views and posted the interactions to social media.

      https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/masked-neo-nazis-crash-world-221008825.html
      ……..

      RodWebber @RodWebber
      Patriot Front is on the green line in Boston and
      @AntuanCDR is chasing them down on his own!

      https://twitter.com/RodWebber/status/1652373334829539329

  22. The delusions of Andrew Bridgen

    Conspiratorial thinking corrodes reason, democracy and humanism.

    It can be tempting to ignore the anti-vax conspiracy theorists – the people who believe the Covid vaccines are killing hundreds of thousands and injuring millions, and that it’s all being covered up by the powers-that-be. After all, these beliefs are mainly confined to a small but vocal fringe. But now that this tendency counts a British MP among its ranks, we cannot afford to let it slide. It is simply too irrational to shrug off – it needs to be challenged head on.

    That MP is Andrew Bridgen, the member for North West Leicestershire. This week, we learned that he has been expelled from the Conservative Party for his anti-vax agitation (he was initially suspended back in January).

    Bridgen’s backers are outraged by this. They insist that he was merely ‘raising concerns’ about vaccine safety. They say he has been martyred for ‘dar[ing] to criticise the Covid regime’. But this is a rewriting of history. It downplays just how deranged and lurid some of Bridgen’s claims about the vaccines have been. Many of his remarks have been utterly indefensible.

    In a sense, there are two public faces of Andrew Bridgen. On the many occasions he has spoken up about the vaccines in parliament, he has been careful to put forward an argument that sounds vaguely scientific. In a now-infamous Westminster Hall debate last December (a recording of which was wrongly and quite outrageously censored by YouTube), Bridgen reeled off a list of academic papers, citations and statistics, all purporting to show that the vaccines are doing more harm than good (much of it based on misinterpretations or perhaps misrepresentations of the data).

    And then there is what Bridgen says online, when he’s on Twitter or appearing on podcasts, where he really lets rip.

    The online version of Bridgen believes that there is a conspiracy against the public. In an interview last year with NHS100k, a group representing healthcare staff opposed to vaccine mandates, he spoke of a plot around the pandemic that ‘would have taken a lot of planning over many, many years – an awful lot of organisation and money’. Most infamously, in the tweet that led to his suspension, he claimed that the vaccines were the ‘biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust’. This is not ‘just asking questions’. This is not ‘raising concerns’. This is exploiting the mass murder of six million Jews to bolster a blatantly false claim.

    Even before Bridgen compared the vaccines to the Holocaust directly, he often complained that the vaccine rollout was in breach of the Nuremberg Code. As most people know, this code of ethical principles on medical experiments was drawn up after the Holocaust. To say that the vaccines breach the code is to suggest there’s something a bit Hitler about them.

    In truth,the Nuremberg Code applies only to medical experiments – not to vaccines that have already passed clinical trials, have been approved by medical regulators and have been rolled out, in the UK at least, ON A LARGELY VOLUNTARY BASIS. There are very good and principled reasons to object to coercive measures like vaccine mandates or vaccine passports. But even those policies are not infringements of the Nuremberg principles.

    Of course, anti-vaxxers get around this fact by insisting that the vaccines are indeed ‘experimental’. For instance, Bridgen refers to the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA jab as ‘experimental gene therapy’. This technology is certainly novel. Rather than using a neutralised version of an infection or a close cousin, the mRNA vaccines deliver instructions to human cells which induce an immune response. The successful deployment of mRNA in the Pfizer and Moderna Covid vaccines marked a major scientific breakthrough. But these vaccines are not ‘experimental’, as they have gone through clinical trials. Nor are they ‘gene therapy’, as they make no changes whatsoever to a patient’s DNA.

    Many anti-vaxxers protest that they are not opposed to vaccines in general, only the ‘experimental gene therapy’ mRNA variety. But Bridgen is inconsistent here. He told the Delingpod podcast last year that he regrets taking two doses of the Oxford / AstraZeneca jab, even though it is not an mRNA vaccine (it uses a chimpanzee adenovirus to induce immunity to Covid). When a BBC employee reportedly died following complications from the AstraZeneca vaccine, Bridgen blamed it on ‘experimental treatments’. He says that he himself has suffered side-effects from it, although thankfully nothing more serious than hayfever.

    Bridgen’s claims about the potential damage caused by the vaccines are wild. He has tweeted that the vaccines are ‘causing the majority of the excess deaths we have seen in the UK and around the world’. Just think about that statement for a second. The majority of excess deaths. This would make the vaccines more lethal than Covid-19 itself. More deadly than the severe NHS backlog, which has left many curable diseases untreated. More dangerous than the myriad harms of closing down society for months on end in 2020 and 2021. And this is all apparently being covered up.

    Pretty much all medical treatments have potential side-effects and the Covid vaccines are no exception. But anyone who followed the progress of the vaccines in 2020 and 2021 will remember a great deal of discussion over the side-effects. Myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) was identified early on as a potential risk of the mRNA Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. Rare instances of blood-clotting also led UK regulators to offer under-thirties an alternative to the AstraZeneca vaccine in 2021. It also led to a delay in the approval of the Johnson & Johnson single-shot vaccine.

    None of these potential harms are state secrets. They are just incredibly rare. By December 2022, when Bridgen led a parliamentary debate on vaccine harms, calling for the rollout of booster jabs to be suspended, the UK’s Office for National Statistics had recorded just 47 deaths in England and Wales where the underlying cause was a Covid vaccine (although we do not know which specific vaccines were involved). The medicines regulator, the MHRA, has recorded 80 deaths from the kind of blood clots known to be linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine, although we can’t know whether the vaccine was the underlying cause.

    Bridgen tends to cite another set of statistics, from the MHRA’s Yellow Card reporting scheme. When someone experiences an adverse reaction from a vaccine, they can lodge a Yellow Card. By November last year, the MHRA had received and analysed nearly 178,000 such cards for the Pfizer vaccines, 247,000 for the AstraZeneca jab and 47,000 linked to Moderna. These may sound like large numbers, but we shouldn’t forget the size of the vaccinated cohort – the UK has handed out more than 151million doses of vaccine and has double-vaccinated almost nine in 10 residents.

    Besides, the overwhelming majority of these reports relate to reactions at the injection site or include things like sore arms, dizziness, nausea, headaches and fatigues. These symptoms are generally not associated with longer-term health issues.

    But for Bridgen every Yellow Card is to be taken as evidence of serious vaccine injury. He even claims that this number disguises the ‘true’ scale, as it supposedly represents ‘only 10 per cent of the true rate of serious adverse events’. This is how he has convinced himself that the crime of the century has been committed – that millions of injuries and deaths have been caused by vaccines in the UK alone and then ruthlessly covered up. And of course, only he and his fellow travellers are ‘brave’ enough to speak out about it. Raising concerns? Just asking questions? Bridgen is a hell of a lot further down the rabbit hole than that.

    The proliferation of conspiracy theories is poisonous to public life. While it is healthy to be sceptical towards elite groupthink, conspiracy theories represent their own form of dogmatism. Conspiracy theorists are impervious to reason. Anyone who objects to them will be dismissed as part of the conspiracy. There is an undeniably anti-democratic undertone to these activists, to o – in that they think ordinary people are sheep hoodwinked by the elites. Not to mention a profound anti-humanism. After all, the anti-vaxxers are taking one of humanity’s most incredible achievements – medical advancements that have alleviated vast suffering – and denouncing it as unnatural, deadly, evil and even Satanic.

    This conspiracism is a particular problem for opponents of lockdown. We desperately need a reckoning with lockdown – with the extreme, authoritarian policies that our elites implemented during the pandemic. But some prominent self-styled sceptics would apparently rather tumble down the anti-vax rabbit hole than actually hold our rulers to account, making it all too easy for all critics of lockdown to be smeared as cranks. All the talk of grand plots and dastardly schemes is not only irrational, it also disempowers people, promoting cynicism at the expense of rational debate and effective agitation.

    Conspiracy theories corrode reason, democracy and humanism. We cannot allow them to fester unchallenged.

    https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/04/30/the-delusions-of-andrew-bridgen/

    ========================
    john campbell – Mr Bridgen MP, expelled

  23. Chelsea Clinton Says Banning Sexually Explicit Books From Schools is “Harmful” to Children
    By Cristina Laila Apr. 30, 2023 3:41 pm110 Comments
    TruthGettrGab

    Chelsea Clinton came out in favor of porn for children.

    Bill Clinton’s only daughter said banning sexually explicit books from schools is “harmful.”

    Chelsea Clinton linked to an NBC News article reporting on the sexually explicit LGBT themed children’s books banned from libraries.

    “In its annual book censorship report, the American Library Association documented 1,269 challenges to more than 2,500 books in 2022, the highest number of attempted book bans since the association began tracking such efforts in 2001. It was a 75% jump from 2021, which held the previous record.” NBC reported.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/04/chelsea-clinton-says-banning-sexually-explicit-books-from-schools-is-harmful-to-children/

  24. Sudan rival forces extend truce while armed clashes continue

    Sudan’s army and its rival paramilitary said Sunday they will extend a humanitarian cease-fire a further 72 hours. The decision follows international pressure to allow the safe passage of civilians and aid but the shaky truce has not so far stopped the clashes.

    Sudan’s army and its rival paramilitary said Sunday they will extend a humanitarian cease-fire a further 72 hours. The decision follows international pressure to allow the safe passage of civilians and aid but the shaky truce has not so far stopped the clashes.

    In statements, both sides accused the other of violations. The agreement has deescalated the fighting in some areas but violence continues to push civilians to flee. Aid groups have also struggled to get badly needed supplies into the country.

    Meanwhile UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Sunday that the top UN humanitarian official is heading to the Sudan region due to the rapidly unfolding impact of the war there and its wider fallout.

    The ongoing conflict erupted on April 15 between the nation’s army and its paramilitary force, and threatens to thrust Sudan into a raging civil war

    https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20230430-sudan-rocked-by-fighting-as-ex-pm-warns-of-nightmare-risk-of-civil-war

  26. Poland’s Top Military Official Shared Some Unpopular Truths About The NATO-Russian Proxy War

    Nobody should doubt Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces General Rajmund Andrzejczak’s intentions or suspect that he’s a so-called “Russian agent” since he sincerely wants the West to win its proxy war with Russia in Ukraine, but he’s also very worried that it might lose unless his side acknowledges the unpopular truths that he just shared since the failure to do so could doom Kiev to defeat.

    The last time that Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces General Rajmund Andrzejczak generated media attention was in late January after he elaborated on how formidable Russia remained at the time, but now he’s once again making headlines for building upon this assessment…

    Andrzejczak said that the situation doesn’t look good for Kiev at all when considering the economic dynamics of this conflict, with him drawing particular attention to finance, infrastructure issues, social issues, technology, and food production, et al. From this vantage point, he predicts that Russia can continue conducting its special operation for 1-2 more years before it begins to feel any structural pressure to curtail its activities.

    By contrast, Kiev is burning through tens of billions of dollars’ worth of aid, yet it still remains very far away from achieving its maximum objectives. Andrzejczak candidly said that Poland’s Western partners aren’t properly assessing the challenges that stand in the way of Ukraine’s victory, including those connected to the “race of logistics”/“war of attrition” that the NATO chief declared in mid-February. Another serious problems concerns refugees’ unwillingness to return to their homeland anytime soon…

    https://zububrothers.com/2023/04/29/polands-top-military-official-shared-some-unpopular-truths-about-the-nato-russian-proxy-war/

  27. Popular Russian media is coming to grips with Putin’s intense preoccupation with the Motherland’s population collapse. Completely overlooked by those babbling, He wants to recreate the Empire! Freeze-dried Cold Warriors are lazy.

    Putin wants Russian babies! Christian, of course, but also Jews to compensate for brain-drain. Already too many tards, but that’s all he’s getting. Notice that the stereotype of the “drunken orc” is antiquated: all the Baltic countries and Germany have higher rates of alcoholism.

    I know this directly because my college roommate works for a Japan-based demographics consulting company. Russia (and Hungary) have been clients for years. (He employs Israeli consultants, too.) This is open source info, but Western propagandists are determined to ignore it.

    This explains, in part, the reliance on private military contractors in Syria, Libya, and Ukraine. Largely people who won’t be missed.

    Against a dying Russia

    https://en.topwar.ru/214920-protiv-umirajuschej-rossii.html

    • Part of my objection to the claim that Putin seeks manifest destiny, and the recreation of the Soviet Union, is he simply doesn’t have the manpower to take and hold any territory.