A former CIA official testified that then-Biden campaign adviser and now-Secretary of State Antony Blinken played a role in the creation of a debunked letter from 51 former intelligence officials that falsely claimed the Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation.

On Thursday, Ohio Reps. Jim Jordan and Michael Turner, chairmen of the Judiciary and Intel Committees, respectively, sent a letter to Blinken informing him that their committees are "conducting oversight of federal law-enforcement and intelligence matters within [their] respective jurisdictions."

"We are examining that public statement signed by 51 former intelligence officials that falsely discredited a New York Post story regarding Hunter Biden's laptop as supposed Russian disinformation. As part of our oversight, we have learned that you played a role in the inception of this statement while serving as a Biden campaign advisor, and we therefore request your assistance with our oversight."

The weaponization of commodities in a world that is increasingly turning multipolar and where legacy trade links and commercial bridges are burning down metaphorically (and in some cases literally) is accelerating.

Chile's President Gabriel Boric stunned the world on Thursday when he said he would nationalize the country's lithium industry, the world's second largest producer of the metal essential in electric vehicle batteries, to boost its economy and protect its environment.

The shock move in the country with the world's largest lithium reserves would in time transfer control of Chile's vast lithium operations from industry giants SQM and Albemarle to a separate state-owned company.

The Biden family operated what could be one of the largest influence peddling efforts in history

"No one f--ks with a Biden." That statement by President Joe Biden last year to a Florida mayor seems than just a boast after a whistleblower at the Internal Revenue Service recently surfaced. The Wall Street Journal reported that a career IRS Criminal Supervisory Agent has alleged preferential treatment given to Hunter Biden in tax investigations. The whistleblower also alleges that he or she has information that contradicts the testimony of "a senior Biden political appointee."

The timing of the letter itself was notable. For years, the Democratically controlled committees blocked any investigation into allegations of corruption and influence peddling by the Biden family. Before the takeover by the Republicans in the House, this whistleblower would have had little reason to seek protection from a Committee with demonstrably little interest in such allegations.

It is curious to me that people do not understand that historically, perpetrators of evil have always made an effort to convince people in general that what they are doing is not evil, and in fact is good for them.

There have been no exceptions to this rule throughout history — at least none that I am aware of. I am not saying that every leader throughout history was evil, but those that were, were typically conniving.

If the militia police pulls a man from the street for whatever reason the government wants him, his family is told he was breaking the law. If there is a peaceful protest of concerned citizens, who are beaten and arrested for protesting, the general public is told they were destroying property, or attempting to overthrow the government, and thus are a threat to everyone's well being (think Truckers Convoy in Canada).

Prisoners in a prison must remain orderly and calm or they will lose rights and privileges. Citizens in a community must do the same. If you don't make waves you will remain happy. If you close your eyes and don't care what is going on around you, then you won't make waves.

The strange thing again is that people do not connect the dots. Not only will they refuse to see what is plainly in front of them, they will deny it with such vehemence and conviction, accusing anyone attempting to enlighten them they are conspiracy theorists, rabble rousers, insane, or worse.

Since we as a human culture have experienced this phenomenon so often, why do we, as a mass, fall for it every time? "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me." Nietzsche had something to say about this, but I am lacking in my knowledge of Nietzsche to say more...something about people's innate desire to be enslaved.

I often think about the handful of people in Nazi Germany in the mid '20s and early '30s, before Hitler and National Socialism took over the country, who saw clearly the black tide approaching. It was even less obvious at this time that some petty Austrian big mouth like Hitler would one day rule with an iron and murderous fist.

But this handful of people knew unmistakably what was about to roll over them. If you were one of those, and looked, even with a cursory glance, you would see it, and you would not have dismissed it. Once he came to power in 1933, six years went by before Europe was thrown into World War II with the invasion of Poland and the UK's declaration of war.

By then it was too late to stop him. Hitler was a single man, although the Nazi movement originated with others who chose Hitler as their mouthpiece and later as their leader.

It is a defining feature of the contemporary era that the great power which has slaughtered millions in its invasions, proxy wars and sieges uses 'human rights' arguments as a weapon to advance or cover up its great crimes.

It is a defining feature of the contemporary era that the great power which has slaughtered millions in its invasions, proxy wars, and sieges uses the 'human rights' arguments as a weapon to advance or cover up its great crimes.

This acrobatic exercise involves a lot more than just the obvious double standards. In the case of the 'human rights' campaign against Iran, it has involved mass deception, the corruption of judicial principles, and the installation of deeply compromised political agents, posing as independent arbiters and pompous saviours.

Eight and a half years of the Yemeni civil war has seen the Arab country torn into shreds.

Estimates suggest at least 350,000 people have died from the war or its consequences, which began in 2014. This includes approximately 85,000 children under the age of five who have died of starvation. Basic civil infrastructure and supply chains have collapsed, and typically treatable communicable diseases like cholera have claimed countless lives.

The war is primarily between the Yemeni government of Rashad al-Alimi, who took over in 2022 from Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, and the Houthi armed movement. The conflict escalated significantly when Saudi Arabia became involved in 2015 by backing Hadi (and now al-Alimi) in what is seen as a proxy war between Riyadh and Tehran, who is rumored to be supporting the Houthis.

Whoever sabotaged the Nord Stream pipelines likely had access to fast-moving underwater drones, one of Denmark's most "experienced navy divers" told Bloomberg on Thursday. NATO forces trained with these unmanned underwater vehicles near the blast site prior to the explosions.

The diver said that "finding the pipelines without precise coordinates or tracking technology, then transporting and placing the explosives, would've challenged diver-saboteurs," in the newspaper's words.

"The diver estimates the operation, including a safe ascent, would've taken an individual diver several hours. He surmises that whoever carried out the attack had access to a fast-moving autonomous submersible vehicle, like the ones employed by sophisticated naval forces," the report continued, adding that "a surface vessel remaining relatively static for hours...would've attracted unwanted attention."

The Danish navy described the diver's hypothesis as sound, while the country's intelligence agency, defense ministry, and foreign affairs ministry offered no comment.

Three weeks before the 2020 U.S. presidential election, the New York Post published a bombshell story alleging that Democratic nominee Joe Biden had engaged in corruption while serving as vice president in 2015. The story was based on emails retrieved from his son Hunter Biden's laptop, which had been abandoned in a Delaware computer shop.

However, the story was immediately nixed by Big Tech in what the Guardian described as an "unprecedented step against a major news publication". Twitter users were blocked from posting the link, and then-White House Press Secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, even had her account locked for doing so.

Five days later, an open letter signed by 51 former intelligence officials claimed that the emails' arrival "has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation". This prompted an article in Politico with the headline 'Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say'.

Among the classified documents allegedly leaked by US Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, as part of a huge trove, is one exposing how the US is spying intently on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and is deeply unhappy that he is engaging with Moscow.

What do we learn from this leak?

Several files that Teixeira shared with other members of a private Discord chat, an action that may land him in a US supermax prison for the rest of his life, show Washington is keeping a very close eye on all Guterres' sensitive private communications. One accuses him of "accommodating Russia to preserve [the] grain deal." According to "FISA-derived signal intelligence," Guterres is "taking steps to accommodate Russia in an effort to protect the Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI)."

"[Guterres] considers [BSGI] a pivotal UN success and key to addressing global food insecurity, and his actions are undermining broader efforts to hold Moscow accountable for its actions in Ukraine. In early February, he urged Russian Foreign Minister [Sergey] Lavrov in a letter to renew the BSGI before its term expires on 18 March and Guterres emphasized his efforts to improve Russia's ability to export, even if that involves sanctioned Russian entities or individuals."

"It is neither our position nor our circumstances that define us, according to the Stoics, but our response to those circumstances; when destiny crushes us, small heroic gestures of courage and service can bring us peace and fulfillment. In applying our shoulder to the stone, we give order to a chaotic universe."
— RFK, Jr.

Of course, Yahoo News, and all the rest of the in-the-tank news media greeted Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s presidential announcement by branding him a "noted-anti-vaxxer," as if that's a bad thing. Yes, noted, thank you very much. Reuters elaborated: "Kennedy has been banned from YouTube and Instagram for spreading misinformation about vaccines and the COVID-19 pandemic." By now, whenever you see the agit-prop platitude spreading misinformation, does your brain not instantly translate that into telling the truth? And by now, does banishment from social media not tell you that certain guilty parties recognize a truth-teller when they see one?