Reader’s Links for May 17th, 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

69 Replies to “Reader’s Links for May 17th, 2023”

  2. The Corruption of America Takes a Dangerous Turn
    By Larry Johnson May. 17, 2023 7:00 am14 Comments

    Well, at least John Durham finally released a report exploding the claim that Donald Trump and his campaign colluded with the Russians in 2016. That is the “good news.” The charges leveled against Trump and many of his associates since 2016 that he was a tool of Vladimir Putin were in fact the most despicable political dirty trick in history; a mega bomb of calumny. Durham’s report lays out in startling detail that the FBI, the Department of Justice and the CIA all played a role in manufacturing a heinous allegation that was nothing more than politically lethal propaganda. Only one little problem — none of the decision makers at the FBI or the DOJ are facing any penalties, neither criminal nor civil. One more thing — I have been warning about this since 2017. That is six years ago for those of you not gifted with math skills.

    More troubling is Durham’s apparent refusal to look at the illicit activities of the FBI, the DOJ and the CIA prior to the kickoff of Operation Crossfire Hurricane. George Papadopoulos, for example, was identified as a potential target that could be used against

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/05/the-corruption-of-america-takes-a-dangerous-turn/

    • zero hedge – “Damn, That’s Thin”, “I Know”, “It Sucks”: The Untold Story Of The Trump-Russia Investigation

      1.There was no valid predicate for the investigation, and the FBI knew it.

      From the report:

      It is the Office’s assessment that the FBI discounted or willfully ignored material information that did not support the narrative of a collusive relationship between Trump and Russia. Similarly, the FBI Inspection Division Report says that the investigators “repeatedly ignore[d] or explain[ed] away evidence contrary to the theory the Trump campaign… had conspired with Russia… It appeared… there was a pattern of assuming nefarious intent.” An objective and honest assessment of these strands of information should have caused the FBI to question not only the predication for Crossfire Hurricane, but also to reflect on whether the FBI was being manipulated for political or other purposes. Unfortunately, it did not.

      The entirety of the evidence the FBI used to launch its investigation of the Trump campaign is contained in what came to be known as “Paragraph Five,” because it ended up in that spot in a FISA warrant application on Trump volunteer Carter Page. The information in Paragraph Five came from Australian diplomat Alexander Downer, and was derived from an interaction he had at a London wine bar with young Trump foreign policy volunteer George Papadopoulos, ostensibly concerning Russia.

      Australian diplomats told Durham that the impetus for passing the Paragraph Five info to the U.S. government in late July 2016 was the release of hacked DNC emails by Wikileaks. The entire case came down to an abstract of a diplomatic cable, quoted here in full:

      Mr. Papadopoulos was, unsurprisingly, confident that Mr. Trump could win the election. He commented that the Clintons had “a lot of baggage” and suggested the Trump team had plenty of material to use in its campaign. He also suggested the Trump team had received some kind of suggestion from Russia that it could assist this process with the anonymous release of information during the campaign that would be damaging to Mrs. Clinton and President Obama. It was unclear whether he or the Russians were referring to material acquired publicly of sic through other means. It was also unclear how Mr. Trump’s team reacted to the offer.

      On the strength of that tiny bit of information, the FBI opened full investigations into four Trump presidential campaign aides, seeking to determine whether they were “witting or and/or coordinating activities with the government of Russia.”

      […]

      5. Sensational stories published in the New York Times in February and March 2017 claiming Trump associates were in contact with Russian intelligence agents were false.

      https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/01/us/politics/obama-trump-russia-election-hacking.html

      Declassified FBI documents from the period surrounding publication of two influential New York Times articles include Strzok’s annotated refutations of the Times stories, which cited as sources “four unnamed current and former U.S. intelligence officials.” Strzok wrote that there was no information “indicating that at any time during the campaign anyone in the Trump campaign had been in contact with Russian intelligence officials.”

      Durham’s report disputed the Times accounts that saying US law enforcement and intelligence agencies intercepted communications of Trump associates and campaign officials showing repeated contacts with “senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election”; that the intercepted communications had been captured by the NSA; and that Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort had been heard on intercepted calls. The Times has repeatedly said it stands by those stories, including as recently as February of this year when former Times reporter Jeff Gerth wrote about Strzok’s rebuttal of that reporting in the Columbia Journalism Review.

      MORE :
      https://www.zerohedge.com/political/damn-thats-thin-i-know-it-sucks-untold-story-trump-russia-investigation

  4. Your Tax Dollars at Work: Ukrainian Supreme Court Chief Justice Arrested for Accepting $2.7 Million Cash Bribe
    By Jim Hoft May. 17, 2023 7:30 am0 Comments

    Ukrainian Supreme Court Chief Justice was arrested this week for accepting a $2.7 million bribe. Vsevolod Kniaziev is the Chief Justice of the Ukrainian Supreme Court – a true man of integrity.

    Before the War with Russia started Ukraine was considered the most corrupt nation in Europe. Obviously, not much has changed.

    The Biden regime has gifted Ukrainian leadership with over $110 billion in US dollars and weapons. The whereabouts of the money has not been audited.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/05/your-tax-dollars-at-work-ukrainian-supreme-court-chief-justice-arrested-for-accepting-2-7-million-cash-bribe/

    • zero hedge – Head Of Ukraine’s Supreme Court Arrested For “Large-Scale Corruption”

      […] It’s a huge embarrassment given this is the highest legal body in the land, and the nation’s top judge, responsible for interpreting and upholding the law.

      […]Vsevolod Knyazev, has been arrested on suspicion of accepting bribes. The $2.7 million was seized in a raid on the top judges home.

      […]Knyazev, who was the equivalent of the US Supreme Court’s Chief Justice, has was elected to the position in October 2021.

      […]This as tens of billions in US taxpayer aid continues to flow through Kiev’s coffers amid the Russian invasion – also as Blackrock, the world’s largest manager of assets, has reached a tentative agreement with President Zelensky to coordinate major reconstruction investment in the war-ravaged country.

      The emerging supreme court of Ukraine scandal isn’t the first major corruption revelation since the war began, and its unlikely to be the last.

      more :

      https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/head-ukraines-supreme-court-arrested-large-scale-corruption

    • yahoo news – FRANCE – Ukraine’s Ambassador demands apology from French presenters for joke about “Zelensky’s circus”

      The French TV channel RTL has been caught in a scandal over a bad joke about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and the Ukrainian side is demanding an apology.

      Details: Omelchenko posted an excerpt from one of the programmes on RTL. The presenter begins the broadcast with a reminder that the day before (15 May), President Zelensky was in the Élysée Palace “with his big top”.

      Later in the programme, “Zelensky’s circus tour of Europe” and his meetings with European politicians is announced like an advertisement for a circus performance “to help Ukraine”.

      Quote: “What cynicism and tactlessness, not characteristic of the friendly French people. No empathy, no responsibility. I demand you apologise to my president and the people of Ukraine, who are suffering and fighting for their freedom, but also your freedom and your opportunity to enjoy a carefree life,” Omelchenko captioned the video.

      Background: Earlier, the France 24 TV channel became caught up in a scandal when one of its film crews visited a camp where Russian occupation forces participating in the aggressive war against Ukraine are being trained.

      As a result, the TV channel filmed the story without mentioning that the Russian military is carrying out illegal aggression against Ukraine. Instead, the Russian military boasted that their weapons are better than Western ones, in particular, than Leopard tanks. One of the heroes of the story also said that he was “protecting the history” of his country “with dignity”. Another Russian soldier said that he was not afraid of a counteroffensive by Ukrainian troops.

      After the publicity, France 24 TV withdrew the controversial story, and Vadym Omelchenko, Ukraine’s Ambassador to France, has responded to the TV channel’s story containing elements of Russian propaganda.

      https://news.yahoo.com/ukraines-ambassador-demands-apology-french-065621281.html

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

  5. Democrat Lawmakers Reintroduce Bill to Pack the U.S. Supreme Court, Add Four More Liberal Judges (VIDEO)
    By Jim Hoft May. 17, 2023 7:45 am0 Comments

    On Tuesday, a group of Democrats in the U.S. Senate and House reintroduced legislation that would pack the U.S. Supreme Court from nine to thirteen justices.

    The court is currently made up of six conservative justices that include justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett (appointed by President Donald Trump), and three liberals, after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg — and the liberals are not very happy about it.

    Democratic lawmakers held a press conference outside the Supreme Court on Tuesday to reintroduce the Judiciary Act of 2023, which would add four more seats to create a 13-Justice bench. This bill will delegitimize the Supreme Court.

    The bill was introduced by Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.), and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/05/democrat-lawmakers-reintroduce-bill-to-pack-the-u-s-supreme-court-add-more-liberal-judges-video/

    • This bill won’t pass but if it does it will turn SCOTUS into a Super Unelected Legislator that will be used to write laws designed to change the US into a Communist Nation. This is what they were doing when they had a firm majority on the Court. The new Constructionist majority is returning the US to a nation where the Constitution and the US Code spell out what our rights are and what the law says. We are leaving the period when a small Oligarchy ruled by whim. The left hates that their illegal laws are being removed from the law books and activist Judges are being forbidden from writing laws.

  8. YouTube Is Taking Down Content Featuring Wagner Mercenary Group
    Tyler Durden’s Photo
    BY TYLER DURDEN
    WEDNESDAY, MAY 17, 2023 – 08:10 AM
    The Moscow Times’ Russian service is reporting Tuesday that YouTube has begun removing videos about Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, with the the Google-owned video platform explaining in a statement its policies prohibit videos about “criminal and terrorist organizations”.

    “We make exceptions only for educational, documentary, artistic and scientific videos if they’re accompanied by suitable context and their publication is justified,” it added. The Times of London newspaper this week reported the UK is preparing to designate Wagner a global terror organization.

    The United States has yet to do so, but is debating it along with other Western allies. The US move could be announced in conjunction with Britain taking action. Starting in January, the US Treasury labeled the group which was founded by personal friend of Putin Yevgeny Prigozhin a “Transnational Criminal Organization”.

    The government of Ukraine has previously complained that major media platforms like YouTube and TikTok have acted as “effective advertising platforms” for Wagner. But minister Oleksandr Tkachenko has since praised YouTube its decision to move against Wagner-related content with “lightning speed” – particularly channels with over 1 million views.

    YouTube’s moving against Wagner content is being reported the same week that Wagner chief Prigozhin made a video where he stood over the body of a man who he says is an American killed fighting on behalf of Ukraine in Bakhmut.

    The video presents the man as having died while returning fire against Russian forces. “He was shooting back; he died in the battle, so we will hand over his documents tomorrow morning and pack everything, right?” Prigozhin poses.

    The State Department hours after the Wagner claims hit global headlines on Tuesday weighed in by saying it is “aware” of the reports and is looking into the matter. It’s unclear if Google/YouTube’s actions are related to that video in particular.

    Analysts, journalists, and war watchers

    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/youtube-moves-take-down-content-featuring-wagner-mercenary-group

    • CNN – US Army veteran killed in ‘barrage’ of Russian artillery in Bakhmut

      A retired US Army Special Forces soldier has been identified as the American citizen killed by Russian artillery in the embattled city of Bakhmut this week, according to a close friend and the founder of a non-profit group working in Ukraine.

    • DEUTSCHE PRAVDA – Ukraine says US Patriot systems working ‘all fine’ after Russia claims damage

      Ukraine said a US-supplied Patriot air defense sytem was working “all fine” and had not been damaged out of use during attacks on Tuesday.

      “The Patriot is in service,” Air Force spokesman Yury Ignat told reporters. He declined to comment on whether the surface-to-air system had been damaged.

      Moscow claimed it struck the powerful weapon during aerial attacks on Tuesday.

      Ukraine received the US-made missile system from the US and other countries, including Germany, in April.

    • CBS – H.R. McMaster: Russian attack on Kyiv a “desperate attempt” to make news

      Russia has launched major attacks on Ukraine’s capital city eight times over the last few weeks, with limited success.

    • Fight for the final district of Bakhmut, Bird’s eye & Ukrainian soldier PoV

      16 May 23 Russian assault units are moving west, to the Domino district (Novy district) of Bakhmut (Artemovsk), and in parallel are cleaning up the private sector on the border with Khromovo.

      Domino district from the rest of the fortified areas from Levanevsky Street. At the moment, only the Domino area and garages from the field remain under the control of the Ukrainian forces.

      In the video, Ukrainian soldiers are moving at the buildings around the Sportyvnyy Maydanchyk of the Domino District (the actual edge of the District towards Chasov Yar), under cover from the Russian fire.

    • Assault group storming a building in Western Bakhmut, Russian soldier PoV

      8 May 23 Wagner fighters in action, storming a building nearby the Bakhmut Medical College in the western part of the city (Bakhmut – Artemovsk). The video was recorded probably within the last week, taking into consideration the movement of the front line.

    • Russia Relentless Bombing of Ukraine – Alastair Crooke fmr British diplomat

    • UK – Ben Wallace: ‘Russia cannot win in this war and should seek alternatives’

      We can enable others who wish to supply Ukraine with jets.

    • DEUTSCHE PRAVDA – UK and Dutch pledge fighter jet support for Ukraine

      UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte pledged to build an “international coalition” to provide fighter jet support for Ukraine.

      “The Prime Minister and Prime Minister Rutte agreed they would work to build (an) international coalition to provide Ukraine with combat air capabilities, supporting with everything from training to procuring F16 jets,” a spokesman for Sunak’s Downing Street office said in a statement following a meeting at the Council of Europe Summit in Iceland.

      After visiting Sunak at his Chequers country estate outside London on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was “very positive” about creating a “jets coalition” in his country’s war with Russia.

      Sunak said on Monday the UK was preparing to open a flight school to train its pilots. French President Emmanuel Macron at the same time offered to train Ukrainian fighter pilots but ruled out sending war planes to Kyiv.

    • DEUTSCHE PRAVDA – How dangerous is being queer in Russia?

      A clampdown on the LGBTQ community in Russia has reportedly intensified during the war in Ukraine. A new law was passed banning almost any queer-friendly information there, labeling it as “gay propaganda”. For LGBTQ activist Piotr Voskresensky, it’s as if queer people were being deleted from society. Fearing for his freedom, he decided to leave the country.

    • sky news UK – Ukraine War: Inside the battle of Bakhmut as Ukrainian forces advance on their enemy

      Captain of the Ukrainian 3rd Brigade said gains made by his soldiers were “awesome”, and they were in high spirits.

    • ctv news – One-on-one with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

      Jens Stoltenberg says allies need to step up and increase defence funding as we live in a ‘more dangerous world.’

    • europravda – Council of Europe leaders agree to set up Register of damage for Ukraine

      The Register, which will aim to record evidence and claims information on damage, loss or injury caused to individuals, entities and the Ukrainian state, is intended as a first component of a future compensation mechanism.

    • MAY 15 2023 – DEUTSCHE PRAVDA – How Russia is stealing Ukrainian children – and mothers are trying to get them back

      The Russian President has ordered the abduction tens of thousands of Ukrainian children.

      The idea is to make them Russian – or use them as leverage against their home country.

      • This from the people who say Israelis are worse than the Nazis and Jews drink the blood of Christians for Passover.

    • zero hedge –US Officials Confirm Russian Strike On Patriot System In Ukraine: CNN

      […]US defense officials are now confirming that US Patriots were hit by Russia, however, they downplayed the degree of devastation of the strike. CNN reports:

      https://edition.cnn.com/2023/05/16/politics/patriot-missile-damage-ukraine/index.html

      […]CNN’s reporting seems to confirm the narrative from the Russian Defense Ministry, which said in a Tuesday Telegram post: “a high-precision strike by the Kinzhal hypersonic missile system in the city of Kyiv hit a US-made Patriot anti-aircraft missile system.” Ukraine had publicly denied Moscow’s assertion.

      […]Confirmation of the strike on one or more Patriot systems is not something the Ukrainians or Americans want to own up to, given it would show them to be deficient.

      […]The White House when asked refused to confirm, but Kirby’s words suggested the accuracy of the CNN report:

      “First of all, I can’t confirm these reports,” said Kirby.

      “It would depend on the scope of the damage if it could be repaired by Ukrainians on site. Obviously, if there was damage done to a Patriot system that needed to be repaired outside Ukraine, we would certainly assist with that.”

      Earlier, CNN reported that a U.S.-made Patriot missile defense system was likely damaged, but not destroyed, during a Russian missile attack on Kyiv on May 16. Two Patriot systems are currently located in Ukraine, one provided by the United States and the other by Germany and the Netherlands.

      https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-officials-confirm-russian-strike-patriot-system-ukraine-cnn

    • Hungary blocks military aid to Ukraine over listing of Hungarian bank

      BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary will continue to block the disbursement of a new tranche of European Union military support to Ukraine until Kyiv removes a Hungarian bank from a list of international sponsors of Russia’s war, Hungary’s foreign minister said Wednesday.

      Peter Szijjarto, speaking in Vienna after a meeting with his Austrian counterpart, called Ukraine’s recent listing of OTP Bank “scandalous and unacceptable,” and said that Hungary wouldn’t approve the release of 500 million euros ($543 million) from the EU’s European Peace Facility until the bank is removed from the list.

      “We cannot support the allocation of another half a billion euros from the European Peace Facility for arms transfers to Ukraine, and we will not give it the green light as long as OTP is on this particular list,” Szijjarto said.

      Earlier this month, Ukraine’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention classified OTP Bank as an international sponsor of the war over its continued presence in Russia, sparking a backlash from Hungarian officials.

      After the listing of OTP, the banking group’s Ukrainian branch released a statement arguing that it had “drastically reduced its presence in the Russian market,” and that its market share there had decreased to only 0.17%.

      Relations between Hungary and neighboring Ukraine have been strained by Budapest’s refusal to supply Kyiv with weapons or to allow their transfer across the countries’ shared border.

      Hungary’s nationalist government, which maintains close ties with Moscow, has also argued against EU sanctions on Russia, and sought to cement Hungary’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

      On Wednesday, Szijjarto suggested that Hungary would move to block further EU sanctions on Russia unless Ukraine delists OTP Bank, saying Kyiv had become “increasingly belligerent” with respect to Hungary.

      “As long as Ukraine keeps OTP on the list of international sponsors of the war, Hungary cannot agree to decisions that would require the European Union and its member states to make further economic and financial sacrifices,” he said.

      https://apnews.com/article/hungary-blocks-military-aid-ukraine-0f9108a3ca67440342feac3c03170507

      • This map site apparently isn’t loading in some countries. Shows gamma radiation spike, dark blue pentagon southeast of Kiev. Doesn’t look that significant to me, but what do I know?
        https://remap.jrc.ec.europa.eu/Simple.aspx

        Anyway, it’s not the GAMMA that’s so toxic, it’s the ALPHA. And depleted uranium is most definitely an ALPHA emitter.

        So why is the EU showing gamma maps?
        And where’s all that gamma coming from?
        . . . .
        ………..Before the Russian invasion Prez Z was in Munich, bitter. How he longed for the nukes his country gave away! That being the case, he said, it might be necessary for Ukraine to build a dirty nuclear weapon.

        Ya think somebody somewhere is up to something?
        . . . .
        We know this much:

        • • When NATO used depleted uranium in Iraq, babies were born with monstrous deformities.
        • • During the war in Yugoslavia NATO soldiers from Italy were handling this junk casually, firing away. Later they developed cancers at a rate that’s only inexplicable if you refuse to look at the evidence.

        At some point the USA started equipping our soldiers with heavy-duty protective gear for use in a zone with DU. Our allies just thought we were weird…
        . . . .
        UK soldiers no longer use DU ammo, though the military has significant quantities in storage. To train their Ukrainian brothers-in-arms they use only dummy shells.

        Disposal is very costly. Maybe Poison Sumac sees this as a win-win opportunity.

    • MAY 17 2023 – Russia and Iran sign rail deal for corridor intended to rival Suez Canal

      Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi oversee, via video-link, the signing of a deal on financing and construction of an Iranian railway line to facilitate regional trade.

      • After the Twisted Ragheads meet their 70 virgins, the railroad will be great for the whole region.

  9. MAY 17 2023 – WSJ – Jeffrey Epstein Moved $270,000 for Noam Chomsky and Paid $150,000 to Leon Botstein

    Academics acknowledge financial transactions with the late convicted sex offender

    Jeffrey Epstein paid $150,000 to Leon Botstein and transferred $270,000 between accounts for Noam Chomsky, the two academics have confirmed, giving another glimpse into how the late disgraced financier provided favors for those who associated with him.

    Botstein and Chomsky met multiple times with Epstein after he was a registered sex offender, The Wall Street Journal recently reported. Chomsky, a political activist and professor, told the Journal that they met occasionally to discuss political and academic topics. Botstein, the longtime leader of Bard College in New York, said he met with Epstein in an attempt to raise funds for the school.

    They were among the many academics, politicians and businesspeople who met with Epstein in the years after he pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution. He was charged in 2019 with sex trafficking and died in jail while awaiting trial later that year.

    In response to questions from the Journal, Botstein said he received checks from an account linked to Epstein in 2016 totaling about $150,000. Botstein said he donated the sum to Bard that year as part of a more than $1 million donation. A spokesman for Bard College confirmed that the school received the donation from Botstein.

    Botstein said Epstein designated him as a consultant of an entity and made the payments as if they were fees for consulting work, but he said he didn’t do any consulting work for Epstein. A spokesman for Botstein said the funds were compensation for serving a one-year term on an advisory board for Gratitude America. Epstein created the foundation in 2012 and used the charity to steer funds to various causes, the Journal has reported.

    “I have no idea why he concocted this scheme,” Botstein said. “He didn’t want to write a check to Bard. He took pity on me, and he said, ‘I’m gonna give you money and you do whatever you want with it.’”

    In a previous interview with the Journal, Botstein said Epstein gave the school $75,000 in unsolicited donations in 2011 and that he met with Epstein more than a dozen times but had been unsuccessful in raising more funds.

    He later said he didn’t remember the 2016 payments until asked by the Journal since they didn’t appear as donations from Epstein in the school records.

    “The important thing to recognize is that I did not personally benefit,” he said. “Each fiscal year I give more in philanthropic gifts to Bard and the [American Symphony Orchestra] than anything that has come my way—conducting fees, writing fees, consultancies, speaking etc.—in order to protect myself and the college of the suspicion that I am enriching myself by exploiting my position.”

    In response to questions from the Journal, Chomsky confirmed that he received a March 2018 transfer of roughly $270,000 from an Epstein-linked account. He said it was “restricted to rearrangement of my own funds, and did not involve one penny from Epstein.”

    Chomsky explained that he asked Epstein for help with a “technical matter” that he said involved the disbursement of common funds related to his first marriage.

    “My late wife died 15 years ago after a long illness. We paid no attention to financial issues,” he said in an email that cc’d his current wife. “We asked Epstein for advice. The simplest way seemed to be to transfer funds from one account in my name to another, by way of his office.”

    Chomsky said he didn’t hire Epstein. “It was a simple, quick, transfer of funds,” he said.
    When initially asked about his relationship with Epstein, Chomsky had told the Journal, “First response is that it is none of your business. Or anyone’s. Second is that I knew him and we met occasionally.”

    https://archive.ph/lxwIt#selection-301.0-341.206

  10. Bud Light Backlash Shows No Sign Of Letting Up, And Now There Is Contagion To Budweiser, Busch And Michelob
    Tyler Durden’s Photo
    BY TYLER DURDEN
    WEDNESDAY, MAY 17, 2023 – 05:15 AM
    It will probably not come as a surprise to anyone – except some woke millennial Harvard MBA grad – but Bud Light volume and sales declines have worsened, according to the latest industry point-of-sales data, suggesting the tranny-influencer backlash is showing no signs of letting up.

    As Bloomberg’s Janet Freund notes, the most recent third-party point-of-sales data from both Circana (formerly IRI) and Nielsen show that declines in Bud Light dollar share, volume share and sales have continued to worsen.

    “Bud Light’s US market share slide continued in the latest Circana market scan to 8.3% in the 4-week period ended May 7 compared with 9.1% only two weeks prior,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Kenneth Shea said, citing IRI data

    With other top AB InBev brand share also eroding as well, it appears that the company is in need of a pivotal marketing strategy to halt the trend,” he says, adding that Coors Light, Miller Lite and Modelo still appear to be “soaking up the lost share.”

    Citi analyst Simon Hale examined the latest US Nielsen data through May 6: Bud Light volume declines accelerated to -27.4% compared with -26.6% in the week ended April 29, while sales worsened to down 23.9% from down 23%, he writes

    “Moreover, there continues to be contagion to the wider ABInBev brand portfolio, with Budweiser, Busch and Michelob all weak,” while competitors like Coors Light “continue to see share gains accelerate,” Hales says.

    The latest data show “little sign that consumers are moving on from the Bud Light controversy.”

    https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/bud-light-backlash-shows-no-sign-letting-and-now-there-contagion-budweiser-busch-and

  11. RUMBLE – Errol Musk

    We’re Being Told Ukraine Is Good And Russia Is Bad, While There’s USA BioWeapon Labs In Ukraine

    Elon Musk’s dad Errol: “We are being brainwashed to be told that Ukraine is good and Russia is bad and yet they have found multiple bioweapon laboratories belonging to the United States in Ukraine…..

    …Ukraine is led by a stand-up comedian who became president,” which he finds to be “extremely odd…

    He echoes his son’s sentiment regarding Joe Biden, saying that “he’s obviously not running the United States….

    The United States must be, it appears to me, as being run by a bunch of misfits who are getting revenge for having been treated as misfits over the years.”

    https://rumble.com/v2o6pwq-were-being-told-ukraine-is-good-and-russia-is-bad-yet-theres-usa-bioweapon-.html

    ========================================
    Errol Musk

    Errol Musk: “If we come to COVID, for example, we have a situation there where 99.8% of people who currently… get this virus… recover, which means it has a better recovery rate than flu and yet… seven-and-a-half-billion people are being pushed to have the mRNA injection, so, I don’t find that very appealing…We are seeing athletes dropping dead after taking “the injection”.

    He goes on to call out the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for pushing depopulation.

    https://rumble.com/v2o6u8a-errol-musk.html

    • CBC – MAY 16 2023 – Maxime Bernier fined $2,000 for breaking COVID-19 rules in Manitoba

      Maxime Bernier has been ordered to pay more than $2,000 in fines after admitting in a Winnipeg court to two violations of public health orders in Manitoba.

      The People’s Party of Canada leader was charged in June 2021 for attending rallies with more people than were allowed at the time under COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in Manitoba.

      • Max was correct when he quipped he should have held his meetings in Walmart, everyone, even the government so called “health officials” knew COVID did not live in Walmart, Costco or grocery chains.

    • Trial for universal flu vaccine based on mRNA tech begins enrolling volunteers

      Researchers for a universal flu vaccine based on mRNA technology are beginning to enroll volunteers in an early-stage clinical trial.

      The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Vaccine Research Center has started to enroll volunteers at the Duke University for its Phase 1 trial of the mRNA-based vaccine, which uses the same technology as the COVID-19 vaccines. The study will have 50 “healthy volunteers” ages 18 to 49 enrolled in the trial who will receive check ups up to one year after their vaccination.

      The trial will divide 30 of the participants into three groups of 10 people. Each group will be vaccinated with a different dosage — 10, 25 or 50 micrograms — of the experimental vaccine. After researchers review the data to determine an “optimum dosage,” 10 more participants will receive the vaccine, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

      The trial will also have a group of participants who receive a seasonal flu vaccine that is already available on the market to compare the two vaccines.

      The NIH press release noted that scientific experts predict which strains of the flu will be most prevalent in the country every year to determine which strains of the flu should be included in the vaccine. A universal flu vaccine would cover all the different kinds of strains of the influenza virus, as opposed to the seasonal flu vaccines on the market now.

      “A universal influenza vaccine would be a major public health achievement and could eliminate the need for both annual development of seasonal influenza vaccines, as well as the need for patients to get a flu shot each year,” acting National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Hugh Auchincloss said in a statement.

      “Moreover, some strains of influenza virus have significant pandemic potential,” he added. “A universal flu vaccine could serve as an important line of defense against the spread of a future flu pandemic.”

      https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/trail-universal-flu-vaccine-based-152738814.html

    • MAY 17 2023 – The Israeli Survey That Shows the Pfizer Vaccine Hospitalised Hundreds of Times More People Than is Safe – and How it Was Downplayed

      Downplaying. That has been a handy weapon against anything that threatened the official Covid narrative. Downplaying sceptical voices, downplaying uncertainties, downplaying contradictory data.

      I recently described a typical example of the latter from Denmark. Here is another one, from Israel, which gives us a dual opportunity: first, to look at the rate of significant adverse events after the booster dose, as reported in a Government-initiated survey. Second, to observe the language the anonymous authors used to describe the data. Released long ago but not published in a medical journal (yet?), the summary was written in Hebrew and contained 26 slides. I have tried to offer below a precise translation of the text.

      […]

      + comments

      https://dailysceptic.org/2023/05/17/the-israeli-survey-that-showed-pfizer-vaccine-side-effects-hospitalised-people-hundreds-of-times-more-often-than-is-safe-and-how-it-was-downplayed/

    • redactedBOMBSHELL! Pentagon Doctors slam Dr. Fauci, Confirm Covid Lab Leak

      The Pentagon knew that Dr. Fauci was manipulating the lab leak theory and they knew as early as May of 2020.

      Why was the lab leak theory shut down by the media and censored on social media then?

      Two Pentagon doctors, published a paper in May of 2020 criticizing the Nature article that concluded that Covid did not come from a lab.

      In March, we learned from Senate hearings that Dr. Fauci and his colleagues worked on that paper and proposed edits to it in order to prevent the public from learning about U.S. involvement in foreign biolabs.

      The Pentagon paper shows that that article is based on conjecture and not science.

      It further shows that the kind of virus manipulation that the paper says could not have happened had in fact been happening for years.

      They said that the study was based “on unwarranted assumptions.”

      Recall that anyone who proposed the lab leak theory at the time was called a racist and conspiracy theorist.

      Social media companies removed posts about it.

      So if the pentagon researchers knew the lab leak theory was viable, why didn’t those disinformation experts they’ve got help us out??

    • redactedIt’s STARTING! The NEXT Pandemic is here & children are the target says Bill Gates

      The UK government has begun testing for asymptomatic bird flu.

      Two people who worked in poultry farms have tested positive.

      The government says that bird flu contamination can come from “the nose and throat from breathing in material on the affected farm or can be true infection.

      It can be difficult to distinguish these in people who have no symptoms.”

      There is no evidence that there has been human-to-human contamination.

      This has some people feeling pretty nervous about another asymptomatic pandemic, understandably so.

      It also feels a bit uncomfortable when coupled with news like this: vaccine makers recently said that they are prepping bird flu shots for humans, “”just in case.””

      Now children’s hospitals around the world say that they are preparing for the next pandemic, also “”just in case.””

      What are we in for here?

    • MAY 17 2023 – WaPo – Israeli government blasts Musk attack on Soros for ‘reeking of antisemitism’

      Laughing, Elon Musk defended his remarks accusing Holocaust survivor and liberal donor George Soros of trying to weaken human civilization Tuesday evening, hours after a Twitter account affiliated with the Israeli government condemned his rhetoric as antisemitic.
      ============================

      twitter @elonmusk

      Soros reminds me of Magneto

      You assume they are good intentions. They are not. He wants to erode the very fabric of civilization. Soros hates humanity.

      https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1658291808592629761
      =======================================

      “I’ll say what I want to say, and if the consequence of that is losing money, so be it,” the Tesla and SpaceX founder said in an interview on CNBC Tuesday evening.

      The previous night, Musk had used the social media platform he owns, Twitter, to compare Soros to a Marvel supervillain who also survived the Holocaust, amplifying long-standing conspiracy theories that the 92-year-old Hungarian American Jew uses his billions of dollars to undermine society.

      “I said he reminds me of Magneto. You know, calm down people,” Musk told CNBC interviewer David Faber, and laughed loudly.

      “You said he wants to erode the very fabric of civilization and Soros hates humanity,” Faber replied, quoting Musk’s follow-up tweets.

      “Yeah,” Musk said. “I think that’s true. That’s my opinion.”

      Jewish leaders had spent much of the day dealing with the consequences of Musk’s opinions.

      In the afternoon, the Israeli foreign ministry noted that antisemitic conspiracy theories and the hashtag “The Jews” trended on the platform “following a tweet reeking of anti-Semitism by none other than the owner and CEO of the social network, Elon Musk.”

      Ted Deutch, chief executive of the American Jewish Committee, called Musk’s remarks “the Protocols of the Elders of Zion for the internet age” — referencing a notorious forged document that accuses Jews of conspiring to weaken global civilization.

      “It will embolden extremists who already contrive anti-Jewish conspiracies and have tried to attack Soros and Jewish communities as a result,” Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted. Musk later replied that the organization should drop the “Anti” from its name.

      Sitting with Musk that evening at a Tesla manufacturing plant in Austin, Faber pressed him to explain his incendiary rhetoric.

      “Why share it when people who buy Teslas may not agree with you, advertisers on Twitter may not agree with you? Why not just say, ‘Hey, I think this.’ You can tell me, we can talk about it over there, you can tell your friends — but why share it widely?”

      “I mean, uh, freedom of speech. I’m allowed to say what I want,” Musk replied , falling back on an argument he has used often since he purchased Twitter last year and set about undoing the platform’s restrictions on hate speech. (Musk did not mention that days earlier, Twitter agreed to censor some users critical of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on the eve of an election in that country.)

      The CNBC host pressed Musk one more time. “I’m trying to understand why you do it, because it puts you in the middle of a partisan divide in the country,” Faber said. “It makes you a lightning rod for critics. Do you like that? You know people today are saying, he’s an antisemite. I don’t think you are.”

      “No, definitely, I’m like a pro-semite if anything,” said Musk, who then changed the subject. “We don’t want to make this a George Soros interview.

      https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/05/17/elon-musk-george-soros-cnbc-israeli-government/

    • In the early comics and one movie Magneto was a kid in one of the concentration camps.

    • Elon Musk: George Soros “Hates Humanity”

      “He wants to erode the very fabric of civilization”

      Twitter owner Elon Musk declared Monday that he believes billionaire globalist George Soros “hates humanity,” prompting leftists to immediately accuse Musk of being anti-Semitic.

      It started like this:

      Soros reminds me of Magneto

      Magneto is the evil villain from X-Men, rather than an ice cream.

      […]

      You’re not allowed to criticize George Soros without being accused of bigotry. Didn’t realize the man was an entire race.

      […]

      What is more dangerous? Saying George Soros is eroding the fabric of civilisation or George Soros actually eroding the fabric of civilisation?

      https://summit.news/2023/05/16/elon-musk-george-soros-hates-humanity/
      ========================
      Video: MSNBC Panel Says That Criticising George Soros In Any Way Is “DANGEROUS”

      During a discussion on the potential Trump indictment, an MSNBC panel claimed that Trump supporters, and anyone else for that matter, are “dangerous” for criticising George Soros.

      https://summit.news/2023/03/22/video-msnbc-panel-says-that-criticising-george-soros-in-any-way-is-dangerous/

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

      paul joseph watson He just can’t understand it.

    • MAY 14 2023 – AI and the future of humanity | Yuval Noah Harari at the Frontiers Forum

      In this keynote and Q&A, Yuval Noah Harari summarizes and speculates on ‘AI and the future of humanity’.

      There are a number of questions related to this discussion, including: “In what ways will AI affect how we shape culture?

      What threat is posed to humanity when AI masters human intimacy?

      Is AI the end of human history? Will ordinary individuals be able to produce powerful AI tools of their own? How do we regulate AI?”

      The event is was organized and produced by the Frontiers Forum, dedicated to connecting global communities across science, policy, and society to accelerate global science related initiatives.

      It was produced and filmed with support from Impact, on April 29, 2023, in Montreux, Switzerland.

    • APRIL 2023 -The End of Organized Humanity — Noam Chomsky

      Chomsky lays out the coming apocalypse without taking direct action to quell the climate crisis.

    • WaPo – Epstein-related subpoena for Musk can be served to Tesla, judge rules

      Prosecutors may serve Tesla a subpoena in place of Elon Musk, a judge ruled Wednesday, to compel testimony from the tech mogul in a government lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase regarding the bank’s relationship with convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

      Attorneys representing the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Epstein maintained a residence, charged that the bank helped facilitate Epstein’s long history of child sex trafficking and used Epstein’s relationships with other wealthy individuals to procure new business.

      They attempted to subpoena Musk — who previously banked with JPMorgan and whom Epstein said he once advised — in April, but were unable to locate him. Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the Southern District of New York authorized prosecutors’ request from earlier in the week to serve Tesla instead as Musk’s authorized agent.

      JPMorgan has said the government’s allegations are meritless and has also moved to pin blame for any wrongdoing on former executive Jes Staley, who had been one of Epstein’s closest friends.

      Staley once called his friendship with Epstein “profound,” according to legal filings. Staley has denied any wrongdoing.

      The lawsuit against JPMorgan has involved other high-profile subpoenas. JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon is set to be deposed May 26.

      Prosecutors have also subpoenaed Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, former Disney executive Michael Ovitz and billionaire hotelier Thomas Pritzker.

      The subpoena of Musk, the owner of Twitter and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, orders him to turn over all records of communications with Epstein and JPMorgan, and “all documents reflecting or regarding Epstein’s involvement in human trafficking and/or his procurement of girls or women for commercial sex.”

      Musk and representatives for Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

      On Twitter late Monday, Musk called the subpoena “idiotic on so many levels,” and said of Epstein, “That cretin never advised me on anything whatsoever.”

      Epstein in a 2018 interview with the New York Times said he had advised Musk during a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into Musk’s leadership of Tesla. A Musk spokesman denied the exchange to the Times.

      Musk also wrote on Twitter that he discontinued Tesla’s relationship with JPMorgan a decade ago.

      https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/05/17/epstein-elon-musk-tesla/

  16. The Alphabet-owned search engine submitted applications for dozens of foreign workers who were seeking to fill roles including software engineers, analytical consultants, user experience researchers and others, Fang wrote in his Substack newsletter on Tuesday.

    The Google-owned self-driving outfit Waymo also received government approval for H-1B visa applications for engineering jobs, according to Fang.

    The newly employed workers from overseas will begin working at the company as soon as Aug. 17, Fang reported.

    Google has reportedly hired dozens of foreign workers after laying off some 12,000 employees.

    Next Chairman of Joint Chiefs Wants White Male Officers to be a Minority
    When I was working on the David Horowitz Freedom Center’s ‘Disloyal Military’ investigation, I predicted that Air Force Chief of Staff Charles Q. Brown Jr. would be selected as the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The media is now reporting that Biden will indeed pick Brown to replace Milley. And as bad as Milley was, expect Brown to be much worse.

    Under Gen. Brown, the Air Force has become the most woke of the major service branches.

    http://www.danielgreenfield.org/2023/05/next-chairman-of-joint-chiefs-wants.html

  17. Map Tracks Illegal Aliens Biden Regime Is Strategically Placing Across America… Are They Moving To Your Community?
    By Patty McMurray May. 17, 2023 11:00 am124 Comments

    America faces an unprecedented wave of illegal immigration after the Biden administration chose to repeal Title 42, a pandemic-era order that allowed for the expedited expulsion of illegal immigrants.

    The inside of a bus full of illegal immigrants sent from Texas to NYC
    100 Percent Fed Up reports – A conservative-leaning organization has published a map showing people where the tens of thousands of illegal aliens that are coming in daily are being resettled, and for all of the news about how the illegals crossing our border are being settled in Democrat-run sanctuary cities, you might be surprised to see where the majority of them are headed once they leave the left-leaning NGOs who are responsible for facilitating the aggressive, and seemingly unstoppable invasion of America.

    The Heritage Oversight Project and Heritage Border Security and Immigration Center, partnered to track where Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are resettling migrants as the Biden administration has been forced to largely delegate the task due to an unsustainable number of migrants crossing the border.

    Unsurprisingly, the map shows that immigrants are largely choosing to settle in Texas, where much of the migration crisis is occurring along the southern border of the state.

    Still, a significant number of illegal immigrants have settled in states to the east of Texas, including a large smattering in Florida and along the Northeast coast.

    By studying four different investigative phases, the organization was able to determine where migrants were being settled by geofencing phones that are handed to illegal immigrants that are supposed to be used to report to immigration officers prior to their arranged court dates.

    PHASE ONE involved “geofencing” (Geofencing is a technique used by True the Vote to track ballot traffickers working with NGOs to steal our election in 2020. The very reliable tracking source used by law enforcement was mocked by Democrats.) The map below shows the physical locations of the Val Verde Border Humanitarian Center and the Del Rio Customs and Border Protection Station.

    The devices were later traced to 431 separate U.S. congressional districts out of a total of 435 congressional districts.

    PHASE TWO MAP:

    Texas had the highest density of all states, followed by Oklahoma. This is to be expected, at least in the first phase of an illegal alien’s journey, because Texas is an entry state, and Oklahoma would be the next state frequently traversed during travel due north.
    The Phase Two results demonstrate that of the 52 congressional districts with the highest density of devices, 71% were Republican congressional districts.

    PHASE THREE involved the geofencing of 13 NGOs located near the US-Mexico border. Human sources identified them as organizations responsible for transporting illegal aliens across the country.

    PHASE FOUR focused on geofencing Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley in San Juan, TX.

    Heritage concluded that the organizations are receiving taxpayer money to settle illegal immigrants into the interior of the United States and found that the national impact of illegal immigration is not just confined to border states but is ‘extensive’ throughout the country.

    The investigation confirmed that a host of NGOs are actively facilitating the Biden border crisis. Overflow from Customs and Border Protection is being transferred to these organizations so that Border Patrol avoids overcrowded facilities. These organizations apply for, and receive, taxpayer money to provide processing and transportation services and infrastructure to facilitate the migration of illegal aliens into the interior of the country.

    While the investigation was limited both in time and the number of facilities, the results show that the national impacts of mass illegal immigration are extensive. Devices that were at these NGO facilities later appeared in all but one congressional district in the United States. The investigation confirms that the Biden border crisis affects all of America.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/05/map-tracks-illegal-aliens-biden-regime-is-strategically-placing-across-america-are-they-moving-to-your-community/

  18. Judicial Watch Chairman Tom Fitton: Trump-Russia Collusion Hoax Was Made Up By Hillary to Keep Herself Out of Jail (Video)
    By Jim Hoft May. 17, 2023 11:50 am0 Comments

    Judicial Watch Chairman Tom Fitton joined Stuart Varney on Wednesday morning to discuss the explosive John Durham Report.

    Tom told Stuart Varney the Trump-Russia collusion hoax was invented by Hillary Clinton to keep her out of jail for her crimes.

    Tom Fitton: The Obama administration had good reason to know that the leads they were supposedly chasing about Russia Collusion were all made up by Hillary to keep herself out of jail.

    Stuart Varney: Was it an obvious hoax right from the start? Wasn’t it an obvious hoax right from the start?

    Tom Fitton: It was. And the Durham report reconfirms it, because we knew this already, that no matter where they looked, they couldn’t find Russia collusion, and they had been spying in the early part of 2016. They couldn’t find anything. The Steele Dossiers were coming in. They couldn’t verify anything in the Steel Dossiers. But they never stopped targeting Trump, which shows that it was always about politics and never about national security. And we had this election intervention like we’ve never seen before. Richard Nixon must be shaking his head, thinking, they moved me out of the White House for much less.

    Via Varney and Co.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/05/judicial-watch-chairman-tom-fitton-trump-russia-collusion-hoax-was-made-up-by-hillary-to-keep-herself-out-of-jail-video/

  20. CNN – A cyclist came upon a White supremacist march. Here’s what he did next