Puppet MastersS


Attention

'That doesn't exist': DOGE reportedly quietly disbanded ahead of schedule

Olivia Empson
The Guardian
Sun, 23 Nov 2025 12:14 UTC
Musk Trump kid
© Andrew Harnik/Getty ImagesElon Musk and son • US President Donald Trump • Oval Office
The "department of government efficiency" (Doge) has apparently been dissolved with eight months still remaining on its contract, ending a drawn-out campaign of invading federal agencies and firing thousands of federal workers.

"That doesn't exist," the office of personnel management (OPM) director, Scott Kupor, told Reuters earlier this month when asked about Doge's status, adding that it was no longer a "centralized entity".

The statement confirmed longstanding suspicions that Doge, created by an executive order that Donald Trump signed on his first day, was on its way out. The tech billionaire Elon Musk and the former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy were tapped to lead the effort and were expected to drive "large scale structural reform" through 24 July 2026.

"We are actually trying to be as transparent as possible," Musk said about the department back in February, ignoring the fact that Doge agents refused to identify themselves in many cases, slashed agency spending often without consulting the agencies, and did not transparently provide a public accounting of its work. "I don't know of a case where an organization has been more transparent than the Doge organization."
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Attention

Ur-Caesarism: The Left keeps calling Trump a fascist - they're missing the point

Joaquin Flores
Strategic Culture Foundation
Mon, 17 Nov 2025 00:00 UTC
Brain storm
© UnknownBrain Storming
Trump's ICE agents raid cities, the border remains closed, his court picks overturned Roe, and the Navy focuses on Venezuela and Colombia while the State Department pressures Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Meanwhile, Americans face high food and housing costs, chronic underemployment, and ongoing job market despair. Daily headlines like the shutdown, healthcare, Epstein, often pivot attention in circles, while Trump's base questions his closeness to Israel. Mainline Democrats and the left see these as signs of MAGA authoritarianism, invoking Gramsci's Caesarism superficially, yet the concept still helps frame this moment.

After months of claims that MAGA is dead, only ten months into the 47th administration, Trump walks a thin line. His populist base increasingly collides not just with visible opposition but also with the Crassian figures within his coalition. He has tried to deal, flatter, steer, entice, punish, and cajole them onto his path.

To pick up from 'Trump is 'No King', but is he a Caesar? The return of the Populares', we want to understand what Trump as a phenomenon is and is not, and what it must be in order to succeed. And for this, one must first understand Caesar. To understand Caesar, one must understand the crisis which then, as now, led to a clash of the titans, our elites, and how the mechanics of social change operate functionally, aside from ideological narratives.

Is Caesarism, or perhaps in the sense of Eco's Ur-Fascism, what we will term 'Ur-Caesarism', necessarily reactionary or regressive, or could it be progressive or something else? Will the Trump project succeed or fail, and along which path?
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Attention

Pentagon threatens Democratic senator with court-martial over 'refuse illegal orders' video

Morgan Phillips
Fox News
Mon, 24 Nov 2025 20:35 UTC
mark kelly senator sedition treason video military
© Eric Lee/BloombergSenator Mark Kelly (D-AZ), a former Navy Captain, urged troops to refuse "illegal orders" in the viral video.
The video could lead to his recall to active duty and possible court-martial under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the Pentagon said

The Department of War announced Monday that it has opened a formal review into allegations of misconduct against Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona over a video calling on service members to "refuse illegal orders."

The Pentagon said it may even call Kelly, a retired Navy captain, back to active duty to face court-martial proceedings or other administrative actions under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

"This matter will be handled in compliance with military law, ensuring due process and impartiality," the department said, adding that further comments will be limited to protect the integrity of the proceedings.

Comment: Though there is no mention by anyone (including Kelly himself) of the "illegal orders" he is referencing, one might presume it is with regard to events in Venezuela:

Kelly might have a point.

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Penis Pump

Macron poised to reintroduce voluntary military service - Le Figaro


RT
Mon, 24 Nov 2025 20:14 UTC
Macron
France needs "a strong army," the president has said, citing an alleged Russian threat.

French President Emmanuel Macron is preparing to roll out a new voluntary military service scheme this week, according to Le Figaro. The proposal was first floated by the French leader in July in response to what he described as a "lasting threat" from Russia - something Moscow has dismissed as nonsense.

The newspaper reported the plan is for a ten-month voluntary service option with compensation, without providing further details on how it would differ from current military service. France suspended conscription in 1997 under then President Jacques Chirac, opting for a fully professional, all-volunteer force.

"In a world of uncertainty and rising tensions... France must continue to be a strong nation with a strong army," Macron said on Saturday on the sidelines of the G20 summit in South Africa.

Up to 50,000 people could eventually pass through the program each year, Le Figaro wrote, citing government sources.

France's effort to expand its armed forces follows similar moves by other EU states since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022.

Comment: Europe is ratcheting up the war rhetoric. Will something stop them before they destroy Europe and hurt themselves?

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Star of David

Hamas: Reports group is heading 'back to war' are Israeli fabrications


RT
Sun, 23 Nov 2025 17:51 UTC
Khan Yunis Gaza airstrikes Israel IDF
© Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty ImagesAftermath of Israeli airstrikes in Khan Yunis, Gaza, April 13, 2024.
Media earlier claimed the Palestinian militant group had told the US the truce with Israel was over

Reports that Hamas is ready to resume military operations in Gaza are fake, a member of the movement's political bureau said on Saturday. He went on to accuse Israel of fabricating the claims.

According to earlier media reports, the Palestinian militant group told US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner that the ceasefire agreement in Gaza had ended, citing repeated violations by Israel.

"Reports from Israeli sources that Hamas informed Witkoff the agreement had ended are false," Izzat Al-Rishq said, according to several Middle East media outlets.
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Dreamsicle

EU sanctions against Russia have 'failed' - US Treasury secretary


RT
Sun, 23 Nov 2025 16:49 UTC
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent
© Global Look Press / Yuri GripasUS Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
EU sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine conflict are ineffective, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told NBC News on Sunday. He also criticized the bloc for pursuing the same strategy 19 times in a row and claimed EU officials were essentially "funding the war on themselves."

Last month, Brussels introduced its 19th package of sanctions against Russia, targeting banks, crypto exchanges, and Indian and Chinese businesses, as well as Moscow's diplomats.

Russia has repeatedly called Western attempts to put pressure on it in a bid to support Ukraine's war effort futile and self-destructive. The strategy also caused rifts within the bloc itself, with dissenting nations, including Hungary and Slovakia, urging Brussels to reconsider its approach and engage in diplomacy instead.

Comment: More evidence that the sanctions against Russia are not working:

'Unfriendly states' pitching deals to Russia at G20 - Kremlin aide

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Syringe

Are new & improved lockdowns coming?

Alex Krainer
Alex Krainer's Substack
Mon, 24 Nov 2025 16:36 UTC
Yesterday The Telegraph published an article about the Right and Honourable Baroness Heather Hallett DBE's 1,531-page COVID-19 inquiry which concluded that 2020 lockdowns could have been "avoided entirely" had the government imposed "stringent restrictions" such as social distancing and face masks sooner and more decisively. By the way, for anyone impressed by Ms. HH's nobility, know that you too can be a noble. You can buy the title of baron or baroness at this link.
Lockdown
© Alex Krainer's Substack
Here's the gist of Ms. HH's conclusions:
"Had stringent restrictions short of a mandatory lockdown been introduced earlier than March 16th 2020 - when the number of COVID-19 cases was lower - the mandatory lockdown might have been shorter or, conceivably, avoided entirely. ... At the very least, there would have been time to establish what the effect of those restrictions on levels of incidence were and whether there was a sustained reduction in social contact. This would have enabled the governments to assess whether stringent restrictions short of a lockdown would suffice to prevent health services across the UK being overwhelmed and whether they were therefore a feasible policy option."
The right and honourable baroness quoted Mark Woolhouse, a Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh, who told the inquiry that "more proportionate and sustainable interventions" such as contact tracing, self-isolation, face coverings and respiratory hygiene, should have been introduced "as early as March 4th 2020."
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Dollars

Best of the Web: "Modi on board": Emails show Jeffrey Epstein central to US-India deals, "part of Israel strategy"

Meghnad Bose, Biplob Kumar Das, and Murtaza Hussain
Drop Site News
Fri, 21 Nov 2025 10:48 UTC
Records of emails and text messages reveal previously unknown details about Epstein's efforts to broker influence on Indian geopolitics and his interactions with a senior leader of Modi's party.
modi trump
Jeffrey Epstein offered to set up a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Trump White House chief strategist Steve Bannon in mid-2019, less than two months before his arrest, according to a review of documents released by the U.S. House Oversight Committee. The documents, which reveal previously unknown details about the depth of Epstein's relationships with high-profile Indian political and business figures in the years prior to his death, also show Epstein corresponding about the India-Israel relationship with a powerful Indian billionaire who had entered into a joint venture with a state-owned Israeli defense firm.

Epstein had close ties with powerful figures in the Israeli intelligence establishment, and his high-level interactions on India also came at a time when the bilateral relationship between New Delhi and Tel Aviv was beginning to accelerate.

Following official state visits by Modi and Netanyahu in 2017 and 2018, in which the two signed cooperation agreements on cybersecurity, aviation, and energy, in 2019, India signed major arms deals with Tel Aviv to acquire advanced anti-tank and surface-to-air missiles. Today, India, which did not have formal ties with Israel until 1992, is the single largest customer for Israeli arms, with purchases unaffected by the genocide in the Gaza Strip.

Several years before this relationship began to publicly blossom, disclosures of his private calendars show that Epstein had several appointments with Hardeep Singh Puri, a senior leader of Modi's ruling BJP party. The appointments took place long after the financier had been convicted of sexual offenses, and while he was engaged in other global dealmaking aimed at furthering the interests of the Israeli government and private firms tied to Israel intelligence.
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Arrow Up

'Unfriendly states' pitching deals to Russia at G20 - Kremlin aide


RT.com
Mon, 24 Nov 2025 01:13 UTC
The Russian delegation has conducted constructive talks with several nations at the summit, Maksim Oreshkin has said.
Maksim Oreshkin
© Getty Images / Zaman Ramazanov/RIA NovostiKremlin aide Maksim Oreshkin at a press conference at the G20 Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, November 22, 2025.
A number of countries that Russia considers "unfriendly" have privately pitched proposals on improving economic cooperation during the G20 Summit, the head of the Russian delegation, Kremlin aide Maksim Oreshkin, told reporters on Sunday.

The summit brought together leaders representing the world's 20 largest economies in Johannesburg, South Africa, this weekend.

"A number of countries we consider unfriendly have approached us with specific proposals for cooperation - on how to improve economic relations with Russia and implement joint projects," Oreshkin said at a press conference.

He added that he would not elaborate on which countries made the offers "lest their colleagues be offended later."

Constructive discussions took place with several nations, according to the Kremlin aide, who formerly served as Russia's minister of economic development.
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Putin

Putin issues response to Trump peace plan after Zelensky, Europe balk

Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge
Sat, 22 Nov 2025 06:58 UTC
Vlod and Don
© Getty ImagesUkraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky • US President Donald Trump
Update(1300ET): Russia's President Putin has responded to the Trump peace plan for the first time, after Zelensky and Europe had earlier issued either mixed or negative statements,

Speaking at a Russian Security Council meeting Friday, Putin began by alluding to the August Alaska summit, "During the discussions, the American side asked us to make certain compromises," he said. According to more via state media translation: According to the Russian president, Moscow confirmed during the talks that it agreed with the peace proposals. However, he added that after the Alaska meeting there was a pause from the US side, which he attributed to Ukraine's rejection of Trump's draft. This is why the "modernized plan" containing 28 points appeared later, Putin said, adding that Moscow has the document.

"I believe it could also form the basis of a final peace settlement. But this text is not being discussed with us in substance," Putin said. So generally this is a positive signal to Washington from Putin. However, given the negative reactions simultaneously coming from European leaders, who are busy talking on Zelensky on coming up with a counter-plan, the Kremlin has also made clear it will not be involved in "megaphone diplomacy."

Comment: Realistically, 'the deck is stacked' and has been since day one. To not accept a truce on behalf of the country and his people is to feed a vortex war that was never his alone. To not end it goads global consequences unimaginable. It's way past time to stand up and defy gravity.

Zelensky said (above) the peace plan is a matter of losing his dignity or a key partner...perhaps he should ask Ukrainian war victims regarding preference and significance of losses. In addition, it is doubtful not-president Z has the power to change Ukraine borders without a nationwide referendum under direction of the Verhovna Rada.

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