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Bad Guys

Hungarian FM: Macron's Ukraine summit a gathering of 'warmongers'


RT
Wed, 19 Feb 2025 13:24 UTC
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto
© Getty Images / Sefa Karacan/AnadoluHungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto
The European leaders that answered French President Emmanuel Macon's call for an 'emergency summit' to discuss how to respond to being sidelined by US President Donald Trump are "warmongers," Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has warned.

Moscow and Washington have announced the beginning of bilateral talks on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia ahead of a possible summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump in Riyadh. Macron called EU leaders for an emergency summit on the Ukraine conflict in Paris on Monday after Washington made it clear that the bloc would not be at the table when the US and Russia discuss peace.

Speaking at a press conference in Kazakhstan on Monday Szijjarto said "We trust that the American-Russian negotiations will be successful, and we hope that this will lead to peace in Ukraine as soon as possible... However, we must also see that in Europe, those who do not want peace are organizing," he added.

Comment: The Foreign Minister continued to slam the idiots in the EU who are hell-bent on committing civilizational suicide:
"Pro-war Europeans are decrying they were not invited to sit at the table... but why should they be? The talks are about peace, they are no place for warmongers!"

"We, peace-loving Hungarians, have been waiting for this for three years!"

Speaking to reporters ahead of US-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia on Monday, Szijjarto expressed hope that they will "lead to peace in Ukraine as soon as possible."
Unsurprisingly, the outcome of Macron's summit was the feeble admission that the EU can't take an independence stance on Ukraine. RT reports:
German Chancellor Olaf Schloz said those present agreed, however, that "there must be no division of security and responsibility between Europe and the US" on Ukraine. Macron stated after the meeting that lasting peace could only be achieved through collaboration across the EU, the US, and Ukraine.


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War Whore

Zelensky was a draft dodger - ex-Ukrainian president


RT
Tue, 18 Feb 2025 08:41 UTC
Vladimir Zelensky
© Getty Images / Ukrainian Presidency / Handout; AnadoluVladimir Zelensky
Pyotr Poroshenko has claimed that his successor evaded conscription four times.

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky evaded conscription on four separate occasions, former President Pyotr Poroshenko has claimed in an interview with the Ukrainska Pravda published on Monday.

In 2022, amid the escalating conflict with Russia, Zelensky enacted martial law and initiated a mobilization effort across the country that made it illegal for fighting age men to leave the country without dispensation.

Despite this, Kiev has suffered from a manpower shortage, prompting the authorities to lower the draft age from 27 to 25 and significantly tighten the mobilization rules.

In the Ukrainska Pravda interview, Poroshenko was asked if his son Mikhail, who will soon turn 25, intends to serve, given that all men in Ukraine of that age are subject to mandatory mobilization.

Comment: See also:

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Better Earth

Best of the Web: Rebuilding ties, finding common ground, Ukraine peace negotiations: key takeaways from Russia-US talks in Riyadh


RT
Tue, 18 Feb 2025 22:05 UTC
lavrov rubio saudi
© Getty Images / RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY / HANDOUTRussian and US delegations meet in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has described the meeting with the US delegation as "useful" as both sides look to re-establish contacts

Russia and the US have taken the first steps towards normalizing relations after an impasse which lasted years under the Joe Biden administration.

Delegations from Moscow and Washington met on Tuesday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to discuss the restoration of diplomatic ties, future Ukraine peace talks, and an upcoming summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart Donald Trump.

The Russian team included Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, presidential aide Yury Ushakov, and Russian Direct Investment Fund CEO Kirill Dmitriev. Representing the United States were Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, and special envoy Ambassador Steve Witkoff.

Here's what the sides said following the meeting, which lasted nearly 4.5 hours:
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Wall Street

Acting head of Social Security Administration quits after dispute with Elon Musk's DOGE

Victor Nava
New York Post
Mon, 17 Feb 2025 21:34 UTC
Michelle King Social Security Administration resigned
© SSA.govMichelle King, acting commissioner for Social Security Administration resigned February 015, 2025, over a dispute with the DOGE commission
The Social Security Administration's acting commissioner reportedly resigned over the weekend after a dispute with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) over the Elon Musk-led group's efforts to access sensitive government records.

Michelle King, a career federal worker who had been with SSA since 1994, quit over the DOGE disagreement Saturday and was replaced by Leland Dudek, the Washington Post reported Monday.

Dudek, who has been supportive of DOGE's efforts to root out waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government, will serve as acting commissioner of SSA until President Trump's pick to lead the agency, Frank Bisignano, is confirmed by the Senate, according to the outlet.

King reportedly resigned as acting commissioner of SSA on Saturday, after more than 30 years at the agency.
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Bad Guys

Best of the Web: Krakatoa Blows

James Howard Kunstler
kunstler.com
Mon, 17 Feb 2025 20:58 UTC
trump cbs interview kamala harris lawsuit
© AP Photo; Reuters Photo; Screenshots/CBS NewsPresident Trump's legal team expanded its lawsuit against CBS News after the release of the unedited transcript of the "60 Minutes" Kamala Harris interview.
You've got to wonder who at CBS-News thinks it's a good idea to quadruple down on mendacious grandstanding when the network faces a $20-billion lawsuit from Donald Trump — for assisting Kamala Harris's campaign (aka election interference) — while the FCC under new Commissioner Brendan Carr questions the network's license to operate on the grounds of "news distortion" and violation of the broadcast news fairness doctrine.

So, on Sunday night February 16, CBS's flagship news show, 60-Minutes, pitched a doubleheader of knowingly faked-up feature pieces intended to scramble American minds to benefit the Party of Chaos and its manager, the US Intel Blob. The first piece was a sob-story on how sad and unjust DOGE's deconstruction of the USAID money-laundering operation is. Yeah, boo-hoo. They interviewed several part-timers and consultants pretending to be long-term employees of the outfit. Complete horse-shit, and they knew it. What really matters is that a whole lot of bureaucrat grifters (and politicians) won't get paid anymore. . . and the Blob won't be able to soften-up faraway nations for plunder with its color revolutions and other hijinks.
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Attention

Shocking: Over $151 million earmarked for soldiers' meals at 11 major army bases diverted elsewhere

Steve Beynon
Military.com
Fri, 14 Feb 2025 20:30 UTC
soldiers food mess hall
© U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Osvaldo MartinezSoldiers line up for a meal at Fort Drum
The money is collected in what amounts to a tax on troops -- taken from their Basic Allowance for Subsistence payments, roughly $460 per month that is automatically deducted from the paychecks of service members

The Army is repurposing more than half of the money it collects from junior enlisted soldiers for food, according to data reviewed by Military.com. The numbers suggest that a large portion of those funds are not going toward feeding soldiers, a diversion of resources coming at a time when troops increasingly struggle to find nutritious food on base.

The money is collected in what amounts to a tax on troops -- taken from their Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS) payments, roughly $460 per month that is automatically deducted from the paychecks of service members who live in barracks and is intended to help cover food costs. For junior enlisted troops who earn about $30,000 annually, the cost can be consequential.
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Dollars

Best of the Web: DOGE team uncovers over 25 million people ages 100+ who are receiving Social Security payments


Truth Press
Tue, 18 Feb 2025 19:01 UTC
social security card
© Jenny Kane / Associated Press
Elon Musk's DOGE team has unearthed jaw-dropping irregularity from the U.S. Social Security database.

The numbers are truly mind-boggling: over 25 million Americans registered aged 100 and older, with some purportedly older than the U.S. Constitution itself.

Late Sunday night, Musk tweeted a staggering claim accompanied by a table of ages, suggesting that the Social Security Administration might be paying out benefits to "vampires."

"According to the Social Security database, these are the numbers of people in each age bucket with the 'death' field set to FALSE. Maybe Twilight is real, and there are a lot of vampires collecting Social Security," Musk quipped.

Comment: It's worse than even than this:


The brilliant X poster DataRepublican weighs in:




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Stop

The end of synchronization: How Donald Trump's return challenges the transatlantic alliance

Lucas Leiroz
Strategic Culture Foundation
Thu, 13 Feb 2025 00:00 UTC
Trumpeuro
© Lucas Jackson/Reuters/wallpapertip.com/KJNUS President Donald Trump
The election of the Republican president in the US creates problems for transatlantic integration.

With the return of Donald Trump to American politics, a new chapter opens in transatlantic relations, especially with regard to the practice of "synchronization of watches" between the United States and its European allies. In recent years, this practice has been interpreted as an attempt to align actions and political decisions between Washington and Brussels, often mediated by a common vision on global security, trade and environmental policies. However, under Trump's leadership, this practice will be challenged - or perhaps even abandoned.

Historically, the relationship between the United States and the European Union has been marked by a strong alliance, with the two world powers seeking to coordinate their policies on a variety of issues. Since the Cold War, transatlantic cooperation has been seen as a pillar of the liberal international order. However, President Trump has consistently questioned this alliance, seeing it as a one-way relationship in which the United States was not benefited by its European partners. His criticism of NATO, trade tariffs, and the lack of reciprocity in global trade were just a few examples of his skeptical stance toward the partnership with Europe.

Trump's focus, then, is on a vision that separates American and European interests, highlighting a growing disconnect between the two sides. In his view, the United States no longer needs to act as the "world police" alongside European powers that, according to him, do not share the same American agenda and interests. For him, the European Union's role on the world stage is a reflection of globalism, an ideology that he sees as aligned with the interests of Democrats, especially under the leadership of former President Joe Biden.

Comment: Trump: Redefinition will create space where there was none; realization of an independent US future; realignment with time-honored purpose and ideals...best aims for the USA in decades.

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X

Trump's reality check: The Ukraine conflict won't be settled like a business deal

Sergey Poletaev
RT
Mon, 17 Feb 2025 19:18 UTC
Trump
© Fuente/AFPUS President Donald Trump
How will the situation develop if the US president's efforts to end the war fail?

'Deal' - it's the key word in Donald Trump's vocabulary and he's built his career on striking them, but as he embarks on his second presidential term, he is about to face a challenge that will put his famed negotiation skills to the test. The Ukraine conflict, unlike trade deals or business arrangements, is deeply entrenched in geopolitical, military, and ideological complexities.

While Trump may initially push for a swift resolution — perhaps attempting to broker a ceasefire similar to his approach in the Middle East — he will soon realize that Ukraine is a far bigger challenge. The contradictions surrounding the conflict are not just regional but global, and a quick fix is unlikely. If Trump's efforts fail, how will the situation evolve?

Comment: Pivotable points provide a rotunda of 'what ifs' and 'foregone conclusions'. Consequences, not options, gear the choice.

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Bizarro Earth

Enslaved: Here's how the US made Western Europe its puppet

Timofey Bordachev
RT
Fri, 14 Feb 2025 14:57 UTC
3 guys Europe
© Christoph Soeder/picture alliance/Getty ImagesFederal Chancellor Olaf Scholz • Emmanuel Macron, President of France • Donald Tusk, Prime Minister of Poland
From powerhouse to pawn, the region has slowly descended under American rule.

The biggest obstacles to a rational European foreign policy are American pressure, the internal crisis of Western European elites, and the continent's neo-colonial economic model. Western Europe's current antagonism toward Russia is not a natural state of affairs — it is a function of relentless US coercion. If this external pressure weakens, a shift in rhetoric and policy could come swiftly, transforming the political landscape of the continent.

Regardless of how long the conflict in Ukraine continues, Russia cannot ignore its relations with its immediate Western neighbors. While Moscow has expanded its global partnerships, Europe remains a geographic and historical constant. The region's role in world affairs, however, is changing fundamentally, with its influence declining under American dominance.

Comment: Closed minds, stale thinking...time to upgrade European leadership and kick the crutch.

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