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😳😳 "Fcvk Sizwe Dhlomo, He hasn't proven himself beyond what he has been given." 😭 Entrepreneur, global speaker, Vusi Thembekwayo address Siz on #ThePenuelShow: Musa Khawula Boity #NationalShutdown Akon Thando SANDF Phala Phala #RIPCostaTitch

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Mark Latham MLC is ruffling feathers in NSW Parliament as they try and turn him into a feather duster. The man with the most famous handshake in Australia has been known to wear his heart on his sleeve. An old school larrikin - a chapter in an Australia we all miss. It was a better time. I didn’t vote for him back in ’04. Not because I didn’t like him, but I didn’t like his team. He held a lot of himself back in those days, as is the unfortunate custom of leadership in Australian politics. The bits of him that did shine through were rather entertaining. Clearly a patriot and a man of substance who was too good for the Labor Party back then, and way too good for it now. The echo of the metoo movement here in Australia has given us the most brutal lingering hangover of any Western nation. Women today are beyond reproach, no matter what. No matter who they are, or their track record. It is offensive to those of us with common-sense, who believe in the rule of law, especially innocent until proven guilty. Mere accusations are now enough to destroy lives and careers. If we are to move more toward equality, surely we must accept that there is equal responsibility and culpability? The lady making allegations against Latham clearly has a history. An OnlyFans history, and multiple allegations against former partners. Worse still, Latham is accused of inappropriate behaviour in Parliament House - consensual - but inappropriate due to the location. As if somehow Latham is the only politician to have behaved badly in there. Laughable. The NSW Parliament, like the others around Australia is filled with power drunk, liquor drunk, liars, cheats and, well, politicians among other things. Their behaviour is not always good, their performance in office here in 2025, substantially worse. But did it prevent him from doing his job representing the people? Does anyone really care what he does in his private relationships? Surely, the only thing that should be of concern to us is whether he is doing his job. Latham is one of the few in NSW that actually takes his job seriously and does it well. We are in a situation where Speakman’s Liberal opposition is utterly feckless and morose. Latham often shoulders the burden of opposition leadership, and does it rather well. He often acts without fear or favour. He serves the people well. As such, he now faces the wrath of the media and the parliament, as they attempt to build a case to throw him out, because you can bet he will not resign over a press beat-up. He is far too seasoned for that. But it goes deeper, Mr. Latham is not employed by politicians in Parliament. There are laws that govern the parliament's composition which to my reckoning he has not breached. So it is not a matter for Mr. Minns, Mr. Speakman or any of the MPs to determine his employment as an MLC. If they don’t follow the wishes of the people in NSW who elected Mr Latham, then why should the people of NSW follow the laws set by their hand? We afford the government some form of consent to govern, insofar as they respect our wishes as to its composition. It is that simple. Anything else is against Australian democracy, even in NSW. It goes without saying. So, Mr. Minns, you can complain, but that is as far as it goes. I just want Australia back.

Matthew Camenzuli

17,216 views • 1 year ago

Exclusive: Vivek Ramaswamy Supported COVID Segregation 🧵 “Could we tolerate a national system in which certain people on the basis of a biomarker are segregated?” That sounds like an excerpt from a science fiction novel about a medical dystopia. But it’s a quote from Vivek Ramaswamy, the biopharma entrepreneur and Republican presidential candidate. In April 2020, as the U.S. went into lockdown, Ramaswamy said he would be open to that kind of system to determine who could “go back to normal life.” He described it as an “inequity,” but concluded that “everyone stands to benefit from it.” Ramaswamy made the comments during an episode of Rockefeller Client Insights, the podcast of Rockefeller Capital Management. A concept like that is sharply at odds with the image of the civil libertarian he has cultivated during the primary. It also raises questions about his anti-establishment bona fides. During the podcast, Ramaswamy talked about different aspects of the coronavirus outbreak with Gregory J. Fleming, the president and CEO of Rockefeller Capital Management. Fleming asked him what a “path to normalcy” might look like, given what he described as a “potentially extended timeline” for the rollout of vaccines and treatments. The country was then more than 15 days into “15 days to slow the spread.” “One path to normalcy and a path that I’d like to see further progress made on is broad rollout of our antibody tests,” Ramaswamy said. He corrected himself and continued: “It’s not our company; I’m saying, as a society, rolling out the antibody tests such that we actually get our arms around what portion of the population is already immune through exposures that they may not have even known that they had. It might be 10 percent, it might be 20 percent, we might discover that it is some higher number. Those people are gonna be able to get back to work pretty quickly, get back to normal life because effectively they have the immunity badge, they have a badge in the form of their antibodies that protect them best we know from reinfection. On the flip side, you then have the people who don’t have immunity, and the question is those who are negative on the antibody tests, what happens with them? Now, this has been—I’ve had discussions in the last few days with policymakers, a couple of people in Congress, one U.S. Senator, and I think this is not lost on folks. But I think one early topic that’s come up is, could we tolerate a national system in which certain people on the basis of a biomarker are segregated? To say you can’t go back to normal life, where certain people get a head start. Is that an inequity we would tolerate? I personally think that it is better than the status quo if we can send 10 or 20 percent of the people back on the basis of having immunity that’s proven on the basis of a lab-based result that’s now available. That’s a good thing, and everyone stands to benefit from it.” A draft for discussion obtained by Contra shows Ramaswamy pitched this strategy to policymakers. “After its apex of COVID-19 cases, each state should start to administer universal antibody testing to determine which individuals have immunity to SARS-Cov-2 and which individuals do not,” he wrote. “Individuals with immunity can return to normal life, be released from social distancing practices, and help restart the economy.” “States should also have a well-designed plan for who should be released from social distancing norms to help revive the economy in advance of the availability of a COVID-19 vaccine,” he added. Read⤵️

Pedro L. Gonzalez

460,817 views • 2 years ago

Analyzing Episode 58. Season 2 aka Balancing the Scales This episode was some of Sinem and Ozan's best work. Their expressions landed every single time, and, frankly, short of screaming what the story is trying to say, they did everything they could to convince the audience that CihAl was, is, and will remain the endgame. With that out of the way, let's begin. We start the episode with Cihan shitting literal bricks as he sees Alya is already at the konak with Sadakat and Meryem arriving, right behind him. The reason is clear - he's caught in a difficult situation yet again. He doesn't want things to look like he's overriding Alya's existence in his life as its core, but circumstances keep making it so that he's put in awkward situations, which only compound his fear of pushing Alya past the point of no return. Meryem is all smiles and teeth at seeing the konak, but the minute her eyes land on Alya, her smile and her eyes drop to the floor. Almost like she was expecting something else entirely, but reality has shamed her. Her eyes remain downcast throughout the entire time she's walking towards Alya, as if Alya's the truth she can't cross eyes with. Alya, on the other hand, remains standing tall. She doesn't flinch, doesn't express any outward anger, but you can see the storm raging in her eyes. When Cihan tells her Meryem will have to stay at the konak, she merely looks at him and nods. And you can see terror mixed with shame (I think) on Cihan's face, but hers remains clear of emotion. And then she walks away, saying she needs to collect Deniz because she's tired. Now that's an exit. Poised, calm, and leaving behind an absolute massacre in the onlookers. The scene where Deniz meets Meryem is another masterpiece because it's very subtle in the message it delivers. Which is - human relations go beyond blood, beyond memory, beyond societal impediments, if the love on both sides is strong enough. When Deniz says he's named after his father, the little boy is telling the truth. Cihan may not be his father in blood, but he's the father Deniz loves, the father he chose for himself. Then the same message is repeated through Deniz about CihAl when Sadakat tries to create trouble by saying Alya and Cihan are divorced. To which Deniz innocently replies, they may be divorced now, but they can get married again. Again, highlighting the importance of human connection. CihAl keep choosing each other through whatever challenge life throws at them, because they love each other equally. Yes, marriages and divorce can be forced, but it's the presence or absence of love that determines the final outcome. Case in point, Alya's marriage to Boran, Cihan's marriage to Seyda, Nare with Ozkan, Zerrin and Demir, etc., etc. That's what anyone opposing CihAl doesn't understand. Love finds a way. Always. That's what the story has been about since the beginning - that love will stand strong in front of all, as long as what you feel is truly love, and not some imitation of it. Also, *hint* *hint* that's the second time someone has mentioned CihAl getting married again, so it's definitely coming. Now for the scene where Cihan and Alya talk in their room. Cihan is right to be afraid of Alya here because he's a first-hand witness to how Alya reacts when she's been betrayed. He's seen how she took off Boran's ring and buried it with him after she found out about the will. An extreme situation compared to this one, absolutely. But fears don't use logic. Cihan knows Alya is strong enough to move on, to rise from the ashes - her strength is what he loves and fears at the same time. So, when he says 'Think of the Cihan in Alya's eyes, I don't want to be that Cihan' he's saying I know it looks like I disregarded you and broke your trust again, but that's not how things were. He needs her to show emotions, not because it'll pander to his ego, but because that's a sign she's still involved. That she's not near the point where she says 'enough is enough.' Alya, on the flip side, can't show her emotions. Because, unlike what Cihan fears, it's because she's so in love with him, so involved, that she's afraid to even ask what Cihan feels. Because if she learns Cihan's past isn't just the past, that he still loves Meryem, it'll shatter her unlike anything else. Despite it all, Cihan manages to reach Alya somehow when he pleads, 'I need you to communicate with me.' It's like his fears break past her barriers and, in turn, allow her to open up a little to him because she admits she doesn't know what to do, and then out comes the real question, 'Don't you feel anything?' Kudos to Cihan for not dodging the question and saying whatever he feels for her is just memory and gratitude. Salak. And I say salak with all my love, because he still misses the elephant in the room. The point is the imbalance. When we tell someone they're the only love of our life, we want an equal declaration in return. If not, the loop remains incomplete - with one side a little more invested than the other. And, CihAl's story thus far has been the opposite of imbalance. Their story is about symmetry; they reflect each other in love, in wounds, in loss. Basically everything. So, how is it that Alya's only love is Cihan, while his isn't? It's not. And that's where that necklace reveal becomes important, but we'll get to that later. For now, let's talk about that little talk in the car. The story itself is giving us hints that this imbalance won't last long, because the minute Alya talks about her first brush with romance is the moment jealous Cihan makes a return. He gets jealous of a nameless, formless, 16-year-old boy who once had the audacity to date his wife. That is, he can't tolerate a contender for Alya's affections even in memory. Cihan is extremely possessive about Alya, which is why he doesn't waste a moment to remind her she told him he's her only love. And Alya, being Alya, doesn't waste a moment in reminding him that he didn't. And then she turns the screw a little by telling Cihan not to burn his heart over her teenage crush because she never planned to marry her crush, nor is she conveniently living under the same roof with him. Mic drop. Cihan's face at that moment is a study in being hoist by one's own petard. Because he's expecting Alya to be okay with something he can't even stand the idea of. He's jealous as hell, but he can't do anything about it. But why is all this happening? Because one of Cihan's biggest truths is - he loved Meryem and lost her. In truth, he didn't love her, which is why he didn't fight hard enough, which is why he lost her. If Cihan had truly loved Meryem the way he loves Alya, he would have fought until the bitter end. Like he's doing for Alya. That's the truth. In Uzak, true love isn't passive - it demands to be seen, to be felt, it doesn't sit back quietly and accept defeat. In this story, love demands to be chosen. And Cihan didn't choose Meryem, not in the way it matters. So, why can't Cihan just accept the truth already? Fear and guilt, I think. Fear of the magnitude of what he feels for Alya, and what losing her would do to him. And guilt because some part of him knows he didn't do for Meryem what he's doing for Alya. And of course, now there's the burden of her shitty ex, too. Nonetheless, fate keeps pushing Cihan to realize the truth, over and over again in this episode. Another glimpse of how passive Cihan may have been in his relationship with Meryem is the dinner scene. Sadakat points out how much Meryem loved stuffed kebabs, and Cihan is barely listening. This is the same man who knows what Alya likes to eat when she's on break during duty. When Meryem points out Cihan's allergy, he says it was something he had in the past, but no longer. Almost like he's comparing the feelings he once had for her to an allergy. What an allegory. See? The signs are all there, but Cihan isn't picking up on them completely. Then fate ups the ante with the arrival of Chef Engin. The first thing Cihan asks Alya when Engin is gone is - Is that him? As in, is that the boy you said loved you? The man goes off the rails in 0 to 60 seconds, and keeps coming up with excuses like he may have changed his name or appearance. The idea of not being the only man in Alya's life makes him lose his cool while Alya rightly points out that she's not the one living with her 'first love' currently. Which then leads to Cihan spending the night at the office. So, fate manages to teach him one lesson here. Which is - ask only for that which you're ready to give. Cihan needs emotional exclusivity from Alya, but hasn't given her the same yet. He's not built to share Alya, not with the past, not with a memory, not with anything. But the second he feels even a fraction of what Alya's been going through, he unravels marvelously. And that's the entire point of that sequence. It's not just jealous drama, it's exposure. Cihan is slowly being led towards the one truth staring him in the face. That's where the necklace comes in. Thus far, Ciho seems to be operating under the misconception that Meryem has moved on, like him. But that necklace (and the video) prove otherwise. Meryem's current attachment to him throws neutrality out the window. Because Cihan will now have to set absolute boundaries, and in doing so, understand why he's setting them. Why what he feels for Alya leaves no room for anyone else because he can't stand the idea of something similar in Alya's past, present, or future. Because they are each other's exception, and everyone else was the rule. And that's it from me for now. Till later. Happy reading, y'all. #CihAl #UzakŞehir

CocoLoco

14,669 views • 4 months ago

If Matt Walsh has been looking and sounding a little stiff and shrill lately, it's probably because he is not able to sit comfortably. This is due to the Big Hand, which had to be inserted fairly deep so that it could move his mouth well enough to create the appropriate noises. The appropriate noises, in this case, being "you have offered no individual solution". Note that word, "individual". The Big Hand is very keen to slip that word into the premises of any debate, lest the discussion turn to solutions that involve collective action. The Big Hand does not want you to discuss collective action, because collective action might actually end up changing the status quo. It is, in fact, transparently obvious that nothing else will. No detailed examination of the problem is required. We need only look at who has the problem. A problem that a few individuals have is a personal problem, requiring a personal solution. A problem that a whole society has is a political problem, requiring a political solution. The problem we have is slave labor. Why is this a problem? It's certainly not a problem for the Big Hand which is moving Matt Walsh's mouth. It's not a problem for the boomers, who need... well, want... cheap workers for the business they own. (Businesses they were able to start or buy because their own labor, in their younger years, was highly compensated.) But it is a problem for them. They just don't realize it, because right all they see is the cheap labor. The bad consequences come along later. Slave labor destroys empires. How? Why? Well, what is a slave? In the political sense, a slave is a worker who cannot participate in the free market, because he is constrained by physical force. He cannot sell his labor to the highest bidder, and therefore he cannot negotiate. He must take what he is given. A literal slave cannot find a higher bidder to sell his labor to, because his employer is legally allowed to use force to make him stay. An prisoner in a labor program cannot find a higher bidder to sell his labor to, because he cannot go where other employers are. An indentured servant cannot find a higher bidder to sell his labor to, because the state will use force on him to compel him to complete his contract. A work visa immigrant cannot find a higher bidder to sell his labor to, because if he quits or is fired, he will be banned for the economy altogether, and must return to where he came from. That's what a slave is. So what is a free market? A free market is an economy where all actors are free from forcible constraint on their economic choices. Obviously, no market is totally free — you're not allowed to start an assassination service, and if you were, it could be used to constrain the economic freedom of others. But nations prosper when their markets are as free as possible, and fail when they are not. When you introduce slavery, whether it is called slavery, or slipped in the back door under some softer name, you destroy the free market. It is impossible for a free worker to economically compete with a slave without becoming a slave himself. Because a slave cannot negotiate, and must take what he is unilaterally given, a free worker must be more expensive until and unless he accepts what a slave receives. And what a slave receives is unilaterally set by his employer. Where slavery exists, a free worker is left with three options: 1. Take what a slave takes, and be treated as a slave is treated, thereby becoming equivalent to a slave. 2. Be unemployed, and subsist through government handouts, charity, or crime. 3. Become an entrepreneur, and own slaves rather than being one... if he can. If he succeeds in ascending to the business owner class, he will become a slaver himself. He will have no choice. If other businesses employ slaves to reduce labor costs, so must he. Obviously, all of this is bad for the free worker. But... so what? What if we are amoral, and we want to be slavers? What if we want to be mob bosses? What if we want America to be a slave empire, built by slave workers and defended by slave soldiers? What if we want an entire world composed of 0.1% white and jewish slave owners, supported by a massive underclass of brown slaves? Sure, those pesky middle class libertarians would fuss, until we got rid of them, but wouldn't it all just work? Wouldn't it be awesome for the 0.1%? All we'd need to do is implement massive technological control programs over news and information to prevent those dumb brown slaves from revolting. And the Big Hand will never be short of an extra Matt Walsh to wield as a puppet. So this sounds awesome, right? Global slave empire, and if you object, you're a loser who gets money from doing work, instead of owning things, and you deserve to be a slave. Well... it sounds awesome until you crack a history or economics textbook. Slavery collapses economies. Collapsed economies collapse empires. You see, when you import slaves, and pay them slave wages, you are able to save money on labor, and produce goods and services more cheaply. That would be great for you... if the economy were a zero sum game. It's not. Because when you produce goods and services, you need someone to sell them to. Has everyone suddenly forgotten how a depression works? What is it that is depressed, in a depression? Wages, that's what. When wages are depressed, the people earning them spend less on goods and services. When they spend less on goods and services, producers of those goods and services must produce them more cheaply so they can sell. Which means they need to save on materials and labor. This drive wages down, both directly when companies cut labor costs, and indirectly when the companies that serve them with material goods need to produce those goods more cheaply. Which depresses spending even further. And then the government starts printing money, because impoverished slaves can't pay taxes. So now the money is worthless, too. That's what a depression is. It's a downward spiral. And slave labor is a fast track ticket to depression and economic collapse. Rome survived Carthage. Rome survived perpetual war. Rome survived rebellion, political coups, assassinations, chaos. Rome couldn't survive this. Neither can America. You cannot prosper alone. If you get rich by making others rich, you have allies. You have a system of mutual support. You have free market capitalism. If you get rich by making others poor, there will be no one to trade with. The most insidious part of this is that it's not a choice that individual business owners can make. Once the gates of slavery are open, and competitors in your industry begin to use slave labor, your only choice is either to be undercut and go bankrupt, or to follow suit and survive... until the economy collapses and everyone goes bankrupt. Whether it is importing foreign indentured servants, or exporting entire industries to places where workers are slaves, slavery has a gravitational force that pulls all economies to it, then gradually destroys them. Slavery anywhere is slavery everywhere. Steep tariffs on H1B and imported goods are not DEI for Americans, because Americans can compete with any workforce on the planet so long as those workers are free. Tariffs on imported workers, goods, and services, are incentive barricades against slavery. They are a temporary measure until we can eradicate slavery from the planet. Which we must do, or any advanced civilization, including America, will not survive. Some may not care if America survives, but you need to. It's where you keep all your stuff.

Devon Eriksen

66,349 views • 1 year ago

"How do you know you can trust what [a non-human intelligence is] saying?" ~Bigelow Bigelow/Knapp 2: If I Was President, I'd Tell the World We Have Non-Human Craft and Bodies "The President that took on the challenge of Disclosure and of confirmation...is gonna go down in history as having really accomplished something." ~Bigelow Do China and Russia also have non-human bodies and craft? "Oh yeah, freaking yes!" ~Bigelow ~ "You've opened up Pandora's box." ~Bigelow ~ 17:44 (I'm using the KLAS YT video for time stamps. As you'll see, I add a lot to these, so they take forever to put together.) George Knapp (GK): "Would you guess - based on what you know about the topic and how it's been handled over the decades - would you guess that [Trump] had been briefed, or that any other presidents have been briefed? You know that Bill Clinton was not, even though he expressed an interest in it. So at some point, the President has to be told, 'No, we can't tell ya.'" Robert Bigelow (RB): "I think Bush Sr. knew quite a bit because he was the head of the CIA." (Dr. Eric Davis says Bush. Sr. told him some interesting things, including that he (Bush) was partially briefed in 1976 about the alleged 1964 Holloman AFB landing and meeting, and more, when he first became the director of the CIA in 1976. Watch Davis explain it, here. ) ~ RB: "I think Nixon did." (We have the Jackie Gleason story, where Nixon allegedly snuck away from his Secret Service detail and took Gleason to see non-human bodies at Homestead Air Force Base. But that was a claim from his ex-wife, and Gleason, who died in 1987, never said anything about it, on the record. The controversial Larry Warren (Rendlesham) claims Gleason told him the same story, but that's it.) Bigelow: "I think Eisenhower did. So, it's kind of hit and miss over historic...over the period of history as to who has and who hasn't." 18:20 Knapp: "Can you tell us what would be in the briefing document that you left behind? Was it cases? Here's a wave of UFOs, here's a case, here was a crash. Anything like that?" Bigelow: "Yeah, I related conversations I have had with General De Brouwer, who was the chief of the Air Force for Belgium. And there was a very interesting flap that was about 18 months long (1989-1990) with triangular craft. And he was in command of all the Air Force, and he really chased the heck out of these. "And he told me, he said, Bob, 'I'm just burning fuel, and it makes no sense.' He said, 'We're gonna stop because we're not getting anywhere. All we're doing is getting closer, you know, photographs and things, but we're not getting anywhere. We're not getting any information that is really valuable for us to understand anything.'" (I wonder if those were OUR triangles? If so, it's still a solid case/flap of anomalous craft. Dick D'Amato was a longtime (18 years) senior staffer for Senate Democratic Leader Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia.) "Dick D'Amato has returned from Belgium where he met with Colonel De Brouwer, a 'very interesting fellow.' Dick’s conclusion, again, is that the triangular objects are very plain human craft. ~Jacques Vallée's Forbidden Science Volume 4 - November 1992 And then we have this... Jeremy Kenyon Lockyer Corbell: "We hear about all these people on military bases seeing triangles, and you're doing this study, AAWSAP, to try to figure out the physics of how to do that. Do you think it's already been achieved by the U.S. government, or it hasn't, and that's why AAWSAP had a lot of value." Lacatski: "[three-second pause] It hasn't been achieved to its full extent." Video... ~~~ RB: "And I gave [Trump] other examples of where large amounts of witnesses were involved, and so that he could read about these particular [incidents]. And, of course, the one with Fife Simington in '97 was so interesting. Because there you had a governor who was an actual witness, and he made a joke of it on and brought a guy in an alien suit on stage because he was scared to death." GK: "It's the Phoenix Lights case." (Great case for Bigelow to show Trump.) RB: "The Phoenix Lights, which weren't just lights, it was actually friggin' craft, and it came from northern Arizona. I think it started, actually, in southern Nevada, is where the craft began. In the Henderson area (not far from me. ~Joe), I think, somewhere in there. And, so you see this huge triangular craft, gigantic craft, going slowly, and [Symington] was scared to death. "But finally, fast forward 10 years later, and he confesses that he was an eyewitness, but he didn't know what to do. So he was there at a point in time when the dynamic of disclosure could have been forced, and actually, confirmation could have been from a governor of the state like that. He was a credible guy. "So we've had many [incidents] like that in the early 50s, flying over the White House and the Capitol building. We've had so many of those. So, in my report, I included a lot of very dramatic, beyond-a-reasonable-doubt kind of witnesses of exhibitions." GK: "Did you share with him anything about your knowledge of a classified program?" RB: "No." GK: "You got a Top-Secret security clearance, right?" RB: "Yeah" GK: "It was for the AAWSAP program for BAASS." RB: "Right." GK: "Operated under the DIA." RB: "Yeah." GK: "You learned a lot during that program. It's the largest accumulation of UFO info. of any government-funded UFO program ever." RB: "Yeah." GK: "You didn't tell him about it." RB: "It wasn't credible enough, I felt, for him." (Someone on here watched this interview and told me that Bigelow said the AAWSAP data wasn't credible. That is NOT what he said. Not credible enough for Trump, is what he said. And if you read "Skinwalkers at the Pentagon" or listen any of Lacatki's interviews where he talks about UFOs being under a paranormal umbrella, I think Bigelow made the right decision for an 11-minute briefing for someone (Trump) who seems to be struggling (at least in public comments) with the reality of the basics.) RB: "[The AAWSAP data is] just something pertaining to me. And whereas, these other examples are historic, and they're in a lot of literature, they're very famous. The amount of witnesses were huge. We operated under a private situation with the Skinwalker Ranch, and he wouldn't relate to...well, we all had hitchhikers, we all took things home with us. You know, we all saw a lot of stuff. Whether it was at the ranch or where we lived, it didn't make any difference where in the United States we lived. We saw a lot of things, but that wouldn't be relevant for him to be able to relate to that, right?" GK: "Well." RB: "So, why talk about it?" GK: "Yeah, I mean, you know, you're kind of jumping into the deep end of the pool when you get into hitchhikers and skinwalkers." RB: "Yeah." GK: "Maybe for your first big conversation on this topic, that might not be the place to go." RB: "No, you know. And I couldn't even...if he said, 'Oh, I need a beer (Knapp laughs),' I couldn't even give him something to drink. You know, maybe stronger than that. So, I didn't wanna do any, you know." 22:15 GK: "You used the term non-human intelligence in the sentence you gave him. Hey, try this as you're climbing aboard Air Force One. Say that to media, and then, you know, close the door." RB: "Right." GK: "You said non-human intelligence, not ET. Are they the same, and did you share anything with him about what you think it is?" RB: "Well, there have been reports of humans on board, right? But the non-human are more interesting. I mean, if a human's on board and he or she has free reign of the craft, that's pretty damn interesting, right? And you don't know where those people are when they're not on board." (I wonder what cases he's talking about? Travis Walton reported seeing humans with non-humans and John Keel wrote about humans being seen onboard craft.) ~ Bigelow: "But the other ones are...some are scary, you know? It's not surprising, that, in the Universe, everything is [not] gonna look like us. Every intelligent organism is [not] going to look like us. But you have to have... It's also a matter of respect for any really intelligent animal or creature, whatever it is, right? And the more advanced, the more respect because you don't know what they know, and you don't know the future. And they may know. They may know more than just the now." (In interviews (which I can't find right now), Bigelow has hinted at an unstoppable, not-so-rosy future for mankind. Have people in the Legacy programs told him that the NHI have warned us about our doomed future or some cataclysmic event? Or, has Bigelow encountered these non-humans (or humans) and had them make claims about our future?) ~ 23:34 GK: "If you were to have a second conversation with him, would you explain that ET is one idea, but it's not necessarily the only option for a non-human intelligence that's out there?" RB: "You have to tell me first how much time do I have with the second conversation?" GK: "[laughs] Let's make it an hour. You have an hour with the President. What would you tell them about who they are, who they might be?" RB: "Umm... So, I would try to get into the complexity of the relationship. That once you've had confirmation, you know, you've given that text of that little sentence I wrote and quoted there, and you start to go down the path of disclosure, where it's more than than just FLIR videos, and you're seeing other things that are much more crystal clear, you know, in video. "Or, legitimate people in places that you recognize these people, and they're around something, or with some thing, or somebody that's a holy cow, that's wow, you know. That's a very dramatic kind of disclosure about something landing on the lawn somewhere, you know." (I have no idea what he's talking about. Anybody else able to decipher that? Is he saying that there's evidence (that he's seen?) of people that we know (a President or head of state?) hanging with a non-human or next to a downed or landed craft?) RB: "So I think what I would have spent time doing is talking about, how do you establish: You've been in 80 years of denial as a nation, and the world. We have countries who are very upfront, and others that are also in denial. Now you wanna pivot 180 degrees. How do you start that relationship? How do you do that? "And it's not as though that we've ever been in control. We haven't been in control of anything, ever, for this 80 years of modern history. Nothing. We have no ability to control anything." GK: "That's a tough thing to tell the President, right? I would think that would be a tough thing for a President to accept." RB: "Well, you're giving me an hour to talk to him, you said." GK: "[laughs] Yeah, okay." RB: "So I'm using my hour." GK: "All right." 25:46 RB:" So, yeah! So, that's a really intriguing thing is: How do you do that, where do you start? And into a relationship? And I would say more like, well, I would wanna start with, the biggest question I would ask, I would say, what I wanna get from them is... My first question is: What are the chances we are gonna survive ourselves? That we are not going to annihilate ourselves. "Because they already are familiar with a whole lot of other species on a lot of other worlds or other planets. So, chances are they have a pretty good idea of percentage." (That assumes a lot, since we have no idea how long they've been around, what they've seen, or where they're from. Unless...Mr. Bigelow has seen evidence that relates to those questions or heard it from folks who work in the Legacy programs?) RB: "And it's not that we're a spiritual species. You talk to people that have near-death experiences; they're changed for the rest of their life. They've become a spiritual person of a caliber that they've never been. "Well, we're a long way, as an average, from that category, from that level. There are monsters among us, as human beings, and they're angelic people among us. So we are a danger to another species, we're potentially the Klingons. We have a technological maturity that is not just going on a line, but it's vertical and it's segmented because it's jumping. "And meanwhile, our spiritual maturity just bumps along the bottom, you know? So, we look at the 20th century; 60 million people were killed. Are we ever gonna get beyond that? So, the thing of it is, we know so little about how to have a relationship. I'm not in any position to really advise, except for the few ideas I have as to where to start, and the how is really super important. 27:49 "It's not gonna be like a 'Close Encounter of the Third, Kind,' which was a really cool movie. And it's not gonna be because of SETI. You know, it's gonna be by some other kinds of means that you're embarking on. And I'm interested in that kind of research." 28:06 GK: "We go back to your meeting with the President. You walk into the Oval Office, they clear off the Resolute Desk, you spread out your seven piles of stuff, and you start making a presentation about each one, in particular about ET, non-human intelligence. You can't say what he said to you. Can you say whether he asked questions? Was he curious?" RB: "He was distracted by other things. So, he also asked me... He did ask questions, but he asked questions about other stuff that wasn't necessarily just on what I was talking about." GK: "He's getting your input on other things going on in the world." RB: "Yeah, yeah." 28:49 GK: "If you had to make a guess, would you guess that you got through to him on this issue? I mean, he hasn't stood in the doorway of Air Force One and made those remarks yet, but he has taken some pretty dramatic steps on this topic since you met with him. Do you think you made a dent?" RB: "Don't know. I advised him on something that I can measure, and he hasn't taken my advice so far on what I suggested to him, on a totally different, unrelated subject. But so far, he has not taken my advice." GK: Well, somebody seems to have got through to him, because he's been taking steps that we're seeing real results. I mean, people are either..." RB: "Well, I'm talking about an unrelated subject altogether. So, yes, there there are a couple of different task forces that are involved. So, there is an initiation of an activity in this subject, [but] it remains to be seen, though, that he gives actual presidential confirmation. I don't, I haven't... Maybe you're more aware than I am. Has that been...has he done that?" GK: "Not, not really. Nothing like what I'd call confirmation. But that's really what you're talking about. I remember us having a conversation in 2008, right after you had signed the contract with DIA for BAASS to run [AAWSAP]. And you made the case then that what we need is not Disclosure; it's confirmation." RB: "Yeah." 30:25 GK: "For somebody like the President, I'm not sure if it could be anyone less than the President that steps forward and says this, and it carries the same kind of weight." RB: "Yeah. It's a big appetizer. You know, you're looking for the entree, and where's the dessert in this whole buffet? But the confirmation is a huge appetizer to start with, and that's why I started with that in my conversation with him. Is, pushing him to try and make a confirmation. And maybe he wants to get personally more comfortable?" (I have said that I want the entire enchilada NOW, but I'm also a realist, and would take a simple confirmation that somebody else is on this planet with us. That SHOULD wake up the mainstream media and masses, but no guarantees since Trump is so controversial and people might just ignore it, IF he ever did it. I've also said that I'd surround him with people like Schumer, Rubio, Rounds and Gillibrand in order to show that it's bipartisan. And a few firsthand whistleblowers who say they worked hands on, IN one of these alleged Legacy UFO/UAP programs.) 30:57 Bigelow: "And, you know, he will go down in history for a lot of things, for better or worse, that people are on both sides of the fence about him and so forth. But he's involved in so many different things and has been, that I don't know what his legacy is gonna be, I really don't. "He has an opportunity, in this serious subject, to build a legacy using this as part of the blocks, part of the brick and the structure...the content of a structure that is very unique. So, you can have all the political programs that you want, and so forth, and nobody is gonna really remember those as time goes by, as the decades fade away. "Nobody can remember Benghazi and Afghanistan and Iraq, different kinds of things, and that's just recent history. You know, the world goes so fast. But the President that took on the challenge of Disclosure and of confirmation, and actually built a satisfactory conclusion of a relationship between human beings and that subject is gonna go down in history as having really accomplished something. And if it's handled right, it can be done successfully." (To me, it's a no brainer. His presidency would go down as one that changed the world and our species. Or course, I'm sure he has people in his ear telling him that confirmation would cause societal disruption that we're not prepared to handle, and that THAT would be his legacy.) (32:21) GK: "A lot of Presidents have made comments, often after they're out of office, on this topic. 'Yeah, gosh, I'm real interested in that.' Or, 'Wouldn't that be something?' Or, 'I think aliens could exist.' Something like that. But nothing like what you're talking about, which amounts to confirmation, saying, 'It's real. They're here. We gotta figure it out,' and stopping it there, not disclosing..." RB: "Well, the dialogue, the ability to learn something from them is huge. What can we do for you? I mean, that's where...one of the first things I would ask is, not just, are we going to survive ourselves? Yeah, that's pretty damn important. That's like, probably number one, you know? "But close behind that is: Okay, we've been aware of you for a long time, and the government's never admitted it. But us as a public, we know it, and we're really curious. Is there anything that we can do for you? Not just what can you do... I loved what John Kennedy, what he said famously: Don't ask what the country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. That huge. So that's giving them a kind of a respect that they deserve." (Do they deserve respect? I'm not so sure. It all depends on if they're upfront with us and tell us their true intentions. Of course, how do we know they're telling us the truth? Why have you (or some of you) been abducting us against our will, and injuring some of us? See Jim Semivan's abduction story with his wife. "I don't think [the phenomenon] cares whether it does harm. I think it may go out of its way not to do harm, but, if it does harm... "I had a hole in the back of my neck, and my wife...unexplained bleeding for 17 days." ~Former CIA Officer, Jim Semivan to Engaging The Phenomenon ~ 33:33 GK: "If you were President, would you announce that yes, we've got crash retrievals, yes, we have reverse engineering programs, and yes, we've got bodies?" RB: "Yeah, because the rest of the world already knows that. The people that count in Russia and China already know." GK: "Because they've got their own." RB: "Oh yeah, freaking yes! Yeah! They've had their missiles shut down, they've had their missiles activated. You know, depending on which country you're talking about." 33:56 GK: "Have you considered the political fallout for a President? Let's say it's Trump, because he might be the guy that would do it and just cast his fate to the winds. But, he makes an announcement: 'Yeah, they're here. Yeah, we've got programs. Yeah, we've got crashes, we've got bodies. That's as far as I'm able to go right now.' What happens to him, politically? Is he able to get anything else done?" RB: "That's more than I would have said, for him to say. What you just said." GK: "That goes too far." RB: "I wouldn't advise him to say, initially, what you just said." GK: "You just say, non-human intelligence, been here a long time, and leave it at that." RB: "Yeah, that one sentence is a starter because it's a huge canon. You've opened up Pandora's box, in terms of, 'Oh my gosh, what's gonna happen?' Okay. So now, you can categorize and segment into topics. And you need time to do that, and it needs to be digestible." ~ “I have met with people who I know are in the know. One of them told me the truth is indigestible.” ~Jim Semivan to James Iandoli ~ RB: "And it needs to be not packaged in a scary kind of way, and it can't be packaged in a way that you're divulging what you shouldn't be divulging. You know, other countries aren't, so there's reasons to have national secrets. There really are. I mean, that's kind of like common sense, right?" (Well, David Grusch claimed that some other countries aren't divulging for a specific reason." Grusch on Yes Theory: "So there are certainly friendly governments, both across the pond and say, local to where we...our landmass, that are for this. And a lot of them know that they got a raw deal with the U.S. because they were, basically, part of the secrecy, through kind of agreements like, bilateral, unilateral agreements. And they're like, you know, they kind of wanna be, 'Release me!' Like, you know, because they they do realize it was a bad deal. "With the ecosystem secrecy, some people, one of their arguments is like, 'Well how would they keep the secret?' I'm, like dude, I was cleared to some of the most nation's most sensitive programs, I used to handle the PDB (Presidential Daily Briefing). You know, I had full access to most DoD activities. And most of the stuff, BROAD programs that were enduring, have NEVER leaked. "So the U.S. and its allies are very good at keeping secrecies, to include programs that are, let's say, global in nature. And really, it's been leaking like a sieve in some weird way for many decades. Now it's been mixed in with some BS in ufology and stuff, but the general gist of it's actually been out there for a long time. It has been leaking in some sense, so." ~ 35:06 GK: "We don't want the Russians and Chinese and maybe other adversaries to know how far along we are, or are not, in configuring this out." RB: "Absolutely. Especially of that. I think that the relationship (with he phenomenon) thing is a mankind relationship. It's not just for America. When you are embarking as a President on trying to initiate a solemn relationship, you're not doing for U.S. of A. only. "And so, the...and then we probably can do a show on communication (with a non-human intelligence), but it's really complex because, who are you going to have initiate it? Are you going to have politicians initiate? Are you going to have military people? Because everybody has kind of their own mindset. Are you gonna have a bunch of lawyers initiate it? Are you gonna have scientists only, initiate it? (And what if we're dealing with more than one non-human intelligence? Who do we communicate with? And what if it's one intelligence pretended to be multiple? How would we even figure that out?) "[Hynek] cited the 'poltergeist' phenomena experienced by some...after a close encounter; the fact that some witnesses develop psychic abilities after an encounter. 'Do we have two aspects of one phenomenon or two different sets of phenomena?'" ~J. Allen Hynek ~ RB: "And how do you know to whom you're talking? You know, how do you know you can trust what they're saying?" (I'm so glad he said that. We don't, and we don't.) RB: "Because it depends on the form of communication, and what are you asking for in the way of proof or demonstrations to establish trust, both ways, in the communication process?" "Because, we haven't had that happen before. It is totally new ground, and frankly, we need The Others' help. We need the help of The Others to help, to guide us." (Firs off, it MAY have happened within these Legacy programs. And, if we don't know who we're talking to, or if we can trust them, why would we enlist the help of The Others? Doesn't seem to make sense to me.)

Joe Murgia

47,347 views • 9 days ago

The tragedy of Zimbabwean politics is that there is reality, and then there are aspirations, aspirations that often drift into political delusions that hope for miracles. Too often, our people choose the latter. Instead of confronting the hard political realities before us, they cling to the hope that events will somehow unfold in their favour miraculously, regardless of the evidence saying otherwise. I have listened carefully to Vice President General Constantino Chiwenga’s latest remarks, given to us through a parable of Lazarus and the other biblical analogies he has shared at different intervals. He has demonstrated that he understands religion, reads the Bible extensively, and is comfortable using scripture to communicate political ideas and messages to the Zimbabwean citizenry. That, however, does not change our political reality. In 2017, General Chiwenga successfully marshalled the military, worked hand in glove with other senior figures within the security establishment, mobilised ordinary citizens onto the streets with the help of the opposition, and carried out the military coup that removed former president Robert Mugabe from power after forcing him to write a resignation letter with a gun over his head. Today, however, General Chiwenga faces a far steeper challenge because Zimbabweans are deeply disillusioned by what followed. Fairly or unfairly, many do not see what happened after November 2017 simply as Mnangagwa’s project. They see it as General Chiwenga’s military intervention because he was the Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces who executed it; he was the poster boy of the military coup. Zimbabwean citizens jokingly called him General Bae. “Bae” is an affectionate term for someone you love or care about deeply. Whether one agrees with that assessment or not, that General Chiwenga bears responsibility for what followed the coup is a political perception that remains ingrained in the country’s memory. Anything that emerged from that military coup inevitably falls, to some extent, on his shoulders. That leaves him with an enormous task if he hopes to redeem himself politically. His biggest challenge is that, unlike Robert Mugabe, President Emmerson Mnangagwa is an exceptionally patient, calculating, and tactical politician who plans years ahead of eventual execution, and who does so ruthlessly, without any mercy for his political opponents. Today, we are confronted with Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3, which is now on President Mnangagwa’s desk awaiting his signature. Once enacted, it will, barring a political miracle, effectively extinguish Chiwenga’s path to the presidency and also extinguish the little prospect of an opposition president. But this story did not begin in 2026. It began in 2021 with Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 2, which abolished the running mate clause. That provision would have significantly strengthened General Chiwenga’s prospects of automatically succeeding President Mnangagwa. When Amendment No. 2 was introduced, I argued that it was unmistakable evidence that President Mnangagwa had no intention whatsoever of handing over power to Chiwenga. As usual, because many people preferred comforting illusions to uncomfortable facts, many disagreed with that political assessment. Some within ZANUPF accused me of talking political nonsense. Others insisted that Mnangagwa and Chiwenga were inseparable political brothers who would always work together. Even sections of the opposition dismissed my political analysis, arguing that Mnangagwa would never have the political capacity to sideline Chiwenga because powerful forces would stop him. Reality has partly answered that debate. The results are before us. The so-called forces have not been able to stop him so far. Today, the Vice President increasingly relies on biblical parables to communicate his political messaging while Mnangagwa steadily and ruthlessly tightens his grip on every important lever of state power. The military itself illustrates this shift. The Zimbabwe National Army is now commanded by Major General Walter Tapfumaneyi. His rise is politically significant to the story so far and to where the story might take us as it continues to unfold. General Tapfumaneyi left the army as a colonel after falling out with the military establishment during General Chiwenga’s tenure as Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces. He was made a Brigadier General upon retirement from the army. He joined the Central Intelligence Organisation, where he rose to become Deputy Director-General. He also commanded Forever Associates Zimbabwe (FAZ), the organisation widely associated with supporting President Mnangagwa’s electoral machinery during the 2023 elections. When President Mnangagwa returned him to the Zimbabwe National Army, he was promoted to the rank of Major General. He leapfrogged several Major Generals who had served longer at that rank when he was appointed Commander of the Zimbabwe National Army. President Mnangagwa was now building the army in his own desired image and dismantling General Chiwenga’s army management network. His appointment strengthened Mnangagwa’s influence over one of the country’s most important institutions, the military. He was appointed after President Mnangagwa fired General Chiwenga’s right-hand man, General Anselem Nhamo Sanyatwe, who had been the commander who supervised the 2017 coup when he was commander of the Presidential Guard. He was appointed as Sports Minister, replacing Kirsty Coventry. Today’s Presidential Guard presents a similar picture. It has also been reshaped to suit President Mnangagwa’s political pursuits. The same formation that played a decisive role during the 2017 military intervention, then commanded by Colonel Anselem Sanyatwe before his subsequent promotion to Brigadier General, is today under a commander aligned with Mnangagwa. Major General Fidelis Mhonda, who commands today’s Presidential Guard, was promoted a few days ago to the rank of Major General, reinforcing the widespread perception that the Presidential Guard is now firmly within Mnangagwa’s sphere of influence and political control. Above them sits the Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, General Emmanuel Matatu, from the Midlands province. Unlike Chiwenga during his tenure, General Matatu has generally not been viewed as an overt political operator. His role has largely been seen as maintaining institutional continuity rather than building an independent political constituency within the military, as General Chiwenga did during his time in the army. Taken together, these developments are seen by President Mnangagwa and his close associates as significantly reducing the prospects of another military coup to remove him. Over time, President Mnangagwa has systematically reshaped the senior military command structure. Military officers perceived to be close to Chiwenga have either retired, died, been reassigned, or gradually lost influence, while others considered more acceptable to Mnangagwa have risen through the ranks. Whether intentional or simply the natural evolution of military succession, the result has been the steady consolidation of presidential influence over the security establishment, weakening General Chiwenga’s influence. Meanwhile, many Zimbabweans have begun looking to Chiwenga for a viable counterforce because they see little prospect of meaningful change emerging from the fragmented opposition. Yet Chiwenga’s recent biblical parable appears to carry a different message. Rather than suggesting that salvation will come through him and his military associates alone, he seems to be telling Zimbabweans that they must act for themselves instead of waiting for someone else to rescue them. If that is indeed his message, it presents a political dilemma. Zimbabweans have repeatedly been encouraged to “wait and watch,” with suggestions that decisive, overwhelming action was imminent. Now they are being reminded that they themselves must participate. The difficulty is that many Zimbabweans remain traumatised by the state’s historical response to public demonstrations using the same military. When Chiwenga commanded the Zimbabwean military, those who protested often encountered overwhelming force. In August 2018, when he had become Vice President, soldiers shot civilians during post-election protests in Harare. The global media and British politicians like Kate Hoey directly blamed General Chiwenga for those killings because of Zimbabwe’s army history of dabbling in politics. Emmerson Mnangagwa’s public relations machine kicked into action and blamed General Chiwenga when speaking to diplomats and international businessmen about the circumstances surrounding what had taken place. A very powerful narrative was created that pointed to General Chiwenga as the culprit. President Mnangagwa told African presidents that when the killings took place, he was actually in a meeting with the former Ethiopian Prime Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn and the former Ethiopian dictator, Mengistu Haile Mariam. In 2008, while he was Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, the military killed hundreds of opposition supporters during the post-election violence that ultimately led to the formation of the Government of National Unity (GNU). Those events remain deeply embedded in the political memory of Zimbabwean citizens. Consequently, many Zimbabweans today are understandably reluctant to return to the streets for fear of being killed. Ironically, it is a political environment that Chiwenga himself helped create. Successful military interventions that seek public legitimacy usually require significant civilian mobilisation. Unless one is contemplating an outright seizure of power through force alone, public participation matters. Today, however, fear has largely replaced mobilisation. Across Zimbabwe and throughout the diaspora, many people hold General Chiwenga partly responsible for the political situation the country now finds itself in. They argue that in 2017 he possessed both the military authority and the political leverage to shape Zimbabwe’s future differently. Former president Robert Mugabe sent former central bank governor Dr Gideon Gono during the coup in November 2017 to engage General Chiwenga and other senior military officers with proposals that would have allowed General Chiwenga himself to assume power. General Chiwenga refused this offer and remained loyal to President Emmerson Mnangagwa during the coup. President Mnangagwa, by contrast, has demonstrated unwavering commitment to securing his own political future in a ruthless and Machiavellian way. Every major constitutional change, every strategic appointment, and every restructuring of the security establishment point in the same direction. His political objectives have been pursued with remarkable political discipline, patience, and clarity, coupled with an iron fist. Regardless of how objectionable his actions have been, he continues to execute them, and so far he has been succeeding. That is why I return to where I began. Zimbabwean politics has become a contest between reality and aspiration or delusion. Many continue to believe that somehow events will take a different course through a political messiah despite the evidence accumulating before them. But politics rewards those who deal with reality and political actors who are not scared of executing their plans, regardless of how controversial they are. It does not reward those who substitute objective reality with hope. Whatever one thinks of President Emmerson Mnangagwa or General Constantino Chiwenga, the evidence available today points overwhelmingly in one direction. Mnangagwa has spent years methodically consolidating power, while many of his opponents have spent those same years believing circumstances would somehow change in their favour. The other element that helped the ascension of President Emmerson Mnangagwa was the main opposition political party of the day, the MDC. Former Prime Minister and founding MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai and his successor, Nelson Chamisa, worked with Mnangagwa in sanitising the coup by putting their supporters on the streets to make it look like it was a popular uprising against the sickly geriatric leader, Robert Mugabe. Today, the opposition is in disarray, crippled and, in many cases, comfortably ensconced in ZANUPF pockets. To put it more accurately, it is in Emmerson Mnangagwa’s pockets. The country’s most popular opposition leader, Nelson Chamisa, has also made his position clear through one of his own parables on social media. In a recent post, he suggested that he would not allow himself to be made to write Paper Two, in other words, another military coup. His argument is based on the fact that the first military coup delivered nothing but grief for the opposition. The opposition was promised a lot of things and as the coup ended successfully, former Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa told Zimbabweans that it was a strictly ZANUPF affair. Chamisa believes that repeating the same approach, when there is already evidence of what the first coup produced, would be politically futile. He is therefore clearly not prepared to marshal his supporters onto the streets on behalf of one ZANUPF faction against another because he sees this primarily as an internal ZANUPF power struggle as he sees it. Another important element is that President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been able to create massive wealth through public procurement for a coterie of loyal political backers. That wealth has played a significant role in securing political favours, consolidating power, and extending influence across many facets of Zimbabwean society. Mnangagwa loyalists have publicly donated luxury vehicles and other expensive gifts to senior military commanders, universities, churches, celebrities, and many related key institutional figures. In the religious sector, which has millions of fanatic followers, influential church leaders have received financial support and gifts. In the entertainment industry, prominent musicians such as Jah Prayzah, Alick Macheso, and others have also received gifts from wealthy Mnangagwa loyalists who openly support President Mnangagwa’s political agenda to extend his term of office. Taken together, these patronage networks have helped consolidate political influence well beyond the structures of the state itself. The odds facing the Vice President are therefore enormous. Barring a miracle, his path to the presidency appears increasingly very difficult. The irony is that part of the political architecture he helped build over the past two decades has created the very climate of fear that now stands in his way. If he were ever to seek public mobilisation, many Zimbabweans would be reluctant to take to the streets because of the state’s historical response to protests, much of which occurred while he occupied positions of immense power in the security sector. The other risk is that, if nothing changes, he could eventually be dismissed. Some of his ardent supporters like Knox Chivero have already gone onto public social media platforms claiming that there are plans to remove him from office. That possibility does not surprise political analysts at all. At some point, Mnangagwa may conclude that there is little political value in retaining a deputy whom he believes has been politically and militarily neutralised. Many political analysts now say, barring a political miracle powered by a military coup, Chiwenga could ultimately find himself leaving office as an ordinary civilian. Any attempt to remove a government through a military coup carries enormous risks and requires tonnes of money, as we saw with the 2017 military coup, which was reportedly funded by fuel tycoon Kudakwashe Tagwirei. Such an attempt must succeed because, historically, failed coups often have severe, and sometimes fatal, consequences for those who participate in them. It is a kill-or-be-killed situation once it unfolds. So, Vice President Chiwenga finds himself in an extraordinarily difficult position. His own faction is looking to him to lead and deliver. At the same time, many opposition supporters who now feel politically orphaned, with no credible political home, are also looking to him in the hope that he can bring about change but are terrified of the streets. As all this drama unfolds, President Emmerson Mnangagwa continues to tighten his grip on power. Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 now sits on his desk awaiting his signature, and it could be signed into law at any moment. Yet, for General Chiwenga, this is a make-or-break moment. If the Bill is signed into law and the General does nothing, many will conclude that his political presidential ambitions have come to an undignified end. If he attempts to act and fails, he could place himself in mortal danger. And if he simply waits, the political outcome may ultimately be the same, he risks being removed once Mnangagwa concludes that he no longer serves a useful political purpose. Time, as always, will be the ultimate judge. Reality and aspiration are now facing each other, and we have not a long time left for the ultimate showdown, or, as many suspect, little resistance.

Hopewell Chin’ono

105,598 views • 1 month ago

💥 LAP Alert 💥 "I did this sort of spy thing where I changed hotel rooms and I changed taxis. I was making sure I wasn’t followed." ~Knapp Is Lacatski Lying to Us About the Craft and Breaching the Hull? ~ "If not for that [2017 NYT] story about AATIP and the problems that [Lacatski] saw with it, he would never have mentioned [AAWSAP]...I don't think, ever." ~Knapp (So, in other words...thank you from the UFO community, to the NYT, for getting it wrong? 🙂) ~ Jeremy Kenyon Lockyer Corbell: "Should we listen to Dr. James Lacatski on UFOs, on the fact, or the idea, that our government has at least one, he's admitted, and we breached the hull? Should we listen to him, George?" George Knapp: "I know a lot of people have noticed that he's talked about his role in counterintelligence as part of the AAWSAP program. And because they equate counterintelligence with lies, false info., cover stories, misdirection. Aha! He's putting out a bunch of false info. a decade after he retired from government service." (I saw one person suggest that, and I thought it was a questionable take...) Grant Lavac: "Given that Dr. James Lacatski was the 'counterintelligence coordinator' for AAWSAP, how much confidence can we invest in the veracity of his public statements that 'at least one recovered craft of unknown origin, a flying machine with no wings, no engine, no fuel, and no fuel tanks' is in the possession of the US government and that they had 'breached the hull' of the UFO? In the context of the counterintelligence value of UAP/UFO, his comments in this most recent interview on WEAPONIZED (edited for brevity) only raise more questions for me." ~~~ Knapp: "A, it's not [Lacatski]. He's not out there beating the bushes. He's talked to us, but that's pretty much it. He's telling the full story as much as he can in a series of books. And I was co-author on two of those, not on this one. And, you know, I remember the first time I met him, it was in 2018." ~ (In April of 2019, Knapp shared that story, minus Lacatski's name, at UFO MegaCon. Knapp in 2019: "I thought today I would share with you, sort of the informational foundation that I’ve acquired. So, one year ago, I made this trip to Washington, D.C. at the invitation of Senator Harry Reid. It was St. Patrick’s Day, 2018 and I already knew a little bit about AATIP and AAWSAP and what they’ve been studying and where the money came from and how the program was created. I did this sort of spy thing where I changed hotel rooms and I changed taxis. I was making sure I wasn’t followed. And if there was ever actually, anybody following me, they must have thought I looked ridiculous because it was way over the top. "But I ended up having to meet with Senator Reid and some other people who were directly involved in these programs and they gave me a download. And I thought I knew a lot about these programs when I went there and realized that I only knew a little tiny bit. The purpose of this was to learn about these programs. We all know about AATIP, but in reality, there was something before that. "I sat down for a couple of hours with Senator Reid and other people whose names, they don’t want to be known. They brought me up to speed on how AATIP was created. How its predecessor was under way for a number of years. It coexisted for a long time. People in this room. People who investigate this topic may have suspected for a long time that there was some kind of a program that still existed. We’ve all heard that Project Bluebook was the end. 1969 it ended and the government was done with UFOs. They closed up shop. And the reason they closed it down is because there was no evidence that it involved national security. "And we all knew that was baloney because of the stories that we’ve seen that are really well documented. For example, UFOs over nuclear missile bases. UFO encounters with the military installations and atomic facilities. Things of that sort the have been well documented over the years. There are cases that involved national security. So at the end of Blue Book, of course, this memo said, alright, any cases involving national security will continue to be investigated in the regular way. Well, what the heck was the regular way? We didn’t know. Well now we do know. At least a little bit of it." (Project Blue Book was shut down in December of 1969, but a few months earlier, in October, we had the Bolender memo, which noted that "reports of UFOs which could affect national security should continue to be handled through the standard Air Force procedure designed for this purpose." What standard Air Force procedure? The regular way? Where did those cases go? We still don't know what Bolender was referring to in that memo.) ~ Knapp in 2019: "And one of the regular ways was this program called AATIP. So I went on this trip. [and] I learned this stuff about AATIP. I had known a lot about it before but I got this briefing about this alphabet soup of different programs, how they began and what they studied. December 2017, the New York Times breaks this story about AATIP. Now, I had known about it for a long time because I lived in Las Vegas. I knew Bob Bigelow. I knew Harry Reid. We’d talk about UFO stuff and what was going on. "So when I was told the New York Times was gonna break the story, I’m kind ticked off about it. Because hey, I’ve been sitting on this for a long time. Why don’t I get to break the story? And they had to, one after another, gently remind me, 'You know. You’re not the New York Times.' Which I had to admit! It was true. And if I had done the story, the Times had said that they weren’t going to do it if somebody else breaks it. So, if I had done it, it’d be another story from a UFO reporter. "The New York Times did it and they changed everything. Because they did it, wider organizations did it. Some of them took shots at the New York Times because The Times got the story and they didn’t. But that story was accurate, to a degree. But the story that it told was not the full story. AATIP, that we know about…the AATIP that studies nuts and bolts saucers…case of UFOs that have encounters with military units such as the USS Nimitz, that is studied by a group of people, Lue Elizondo was the head of it. "It’s not so much a program as it was a loose network of intelligence officials in different agencies, including the Air Force and the Navy, CIA, DIA, DARPA…there might be a couple of other agencies. But a case would come in from any one of their units [and] it would be shared with this group of people, analysis would be done, evidence would be looked at and then stashed in a draw and nobody ever sees it. It’s not passed up the chain of command. "In 2007, that changed. One of the guys (Lacatski. ~Joe 2025) I met with in this meeting in Washington is the one who changed it. He had been in the same position that Lue Elizondo had been in. And his name is just not out there. He grew frustrated with what was happening with the phenomenon and he suspected that UFOs flying around the sky, buzzing our military units every once in a while, is not the full story. Even if you could solve that part of the mystery it wouldn’t solve the bigger part of the picture. "So he grew interested in Skinwalker Ranch and he had read the (Knapp/Kelleher – 'Hunt For The Skinwalker') book. And after he read it, he called up Bob Bigelow and said…actually, he wrote him a letter and said, 'Hey, can I go to the ranch…go look around? I’m with the DIA.' Bigelow says, 'Come on out to Las Vegas and I’ll take you there.' And that’s what happened. He flew to Las Vegas. They flew on Bigelow’s jet. They went to the ranch. "This guy’s not there fifteen minutes and he has an experience. And I’m not gonna go into detail. I’m hoping that he’s going to maybe come forward at some point and describe his experience. But it was just for him. Of all the people in this room, in the encounter, he was the only one who could see it. He’s the only one who had an angle on this thing that appeared. And he’s pretending that he’s not seeing it but it’s right out of the corner of his eye. And he doesn’t say anything until he leaves the ranch. And he gets off and he asks Bigelow if he had seen it. And he had not. The other people who had been in the room had not seen it. "He flies back to Las Vegas, goes back to Washington, D.C. and looks up Harry Reid and tells him about it. Now Reid had some experience in these matters that I’ll get into in a little bit. But as a result of that conversation, Reid, who had an interest in UFOs and had maintained that interest over many years – and I can attest to that personally – called in a couple of his friends in the Senate – Daniel Inouye and Ted Stevens. They had a conversation in a secure room and they decided to provide some funding for a much broader study. Something that looked at…beyond flying saucers, that looked at other paranormal aspects…supernatural aspects that we would not normally associate with aliens or ETs. Assuming that that’s what this is, which I’m not sure anyone knows for sure. And that is how AAWSAP was born. The Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program." ~~~ Knapp Yesterday: "The only reason [Lacatski] came forward, he was ticked off about how AATIP had been described in major media reports, and no mention had been given to the actual, real program. That one that had a $22 million budget, lasted 27 months, and which put together the biggest UFO data warehouse in history, that had written all these papers that still have not been released." (In the most-recent interview (Part 1) with Weaponized, Lacatski let it fly with his issues related to the 2017 NYT article: "The initial reporting...by the New York Times story in 2017 was totally inaccurate. Contrary to what some people claim, the authors knew my name and position at AAWSAP, yet never attempted to contact me. Likewise, the The Washington Post. POLITICO (laughs) contacted me within hours after the articles were published in the free publications, asking for my opinion. They knew my name, they had my phone number. Why didn't they contact me [beforehand]?" ~Dr. James Lacatski on Weaponized ~ Knapp: "So, Jim was a counterintelligence guy for AAWSAP, but in this role. He wasn't putting out cover stories or lies, he didn't put out anything. The world didn't hear that AAWSAP existed until years later, at least by that name. There was one statement made to the press about that program. It was by Robert Bigelow, whose company, BAASS, got the contract. A week after he signed it, he came on with me on Coast to Coast AM and said, 'We got this program dealing with UFOs, we have an unnamed partner, and we're excited to get going.' That was it. "Jim Lacatski wasn't putting out PR releases about AAWSAP. There was nothing. That was the last thing anybody said until the New York Times did the AATIP story, and then Jim Lacatski felt the real story was being covered up. If not for that story about AATIP and the problems that he saw with it, he would never have mentioned this. I don't think ever." (Well, then, thank you to the NYT journalists and editors for pissing off Lacatski!) Knapp: "You'll recall, AAWSAP, at the time that things went downhill, that the funding was moved away, they were trying to make it into a SAP, a Special Access Program. And if it had happened, we probably would never have heard of it. If it had happened, Lue Elizondo would have been the counterintelligence guy for AAWSAP, that he had already talked to Lacatski. "But Lacatski is not proclaiming the greatness of the program. He's not out there beating the bushes on podcasts and newscasts, other than with us, and he never put out in counterintelligence. His role, counterintelligence, meant something different for AAWSAP. The thing that DIA had told him was, 'Look, you know, it's not a rogue program. I know it gets weird into some of the phenomena that was at Skinwalker Ranch and other places. We don't care. Here's what we care about: Don't let the secret out. We don't want to see this on the front page of the Washington Post. We want it kept secret.' (John Greenewald was one person questioning whether AAWSAP was actually a prosaic program and Lacatski just decided to go rogue with a foray into UFOs and the paranormal.) Greenewald Tweet: "Did the U.S. government really sanction this, and if so, is this really how it was run? Or was this a rogue operation by a select few on the inside playing with Uncle Sam's coffers?" (Greenewald was quote tweeting a Greenstreet hit-piece video on AAWSAP. In his interview on Weaponized aired over the past few weeks, Lacatski said that former Deputy Director of AARO, Tim Phillips, also used the "rogue" word when describing AAWSAP. Did DIA really not know what AAWSAP was about? Did Lacatski go rogue and turn a program that was supposed to look at prosaic, advanced technology into one that studied UFOs and the paranormal? Here's an exchange from the 2023 interview Knapp and Corbell did with Lacatski and Colm Kelleher.) Kelleher: "The critical part of AAWSAP that we tried to convey in 'Skinwalkers at the Pentagon,' was that there were two fundamental, parallel tracks that AAWSAP ran on. The first one was the examination of UFO performance. And, you know, the UFO performance part was getting all of the data from eyewitnesses, plus deploying sensors into the field, in order to gather data on the performance of UFOs. That was track number one. And track number two was: What effects do UFOs have on humans? That was a parallel track that, from the get go, AAWSAP decided, unambiguously, to run both tracks in parallel. We documented psychological effects, and then we also documented paranormal effects." Lacatski: "Anything can be said on the internet it seems, factual or not. Well, one thing that is not factual is, DIA knew what it was getting into in regard to both aspects that Colm just described to you. And let me end my statement right here. We had no choice but to pursue both aspects." (That was a poor way of him saying: The claim that DIA was unaware of AAWSAP looking into all aspects of UFOs, including the paranormal, is NOT true.) Lacatski: "I want to emphasize something I said on my first and only interview. It was a closed program. It operated very similar to a SAP. The director, the director of analysis, and my office chief...and, of course, division chief, knew about this program. No one else did. Now, I was also protected by the stovepipe nature of that. I did not have to address political-type questions. I was insulated, but they were, too. There was no one else. People in the surrounding cubicles didn't know. Nothing was purposely being hid. It was a closed, stovepipe system, and it needed to be. It needed to be operated that way." ~~~ Knapp: "And so, Jim Lacatski took it on himself, put it in his own hands. He and Colm Kelleher interviewed all these people who applied for the jobs, the 50 full-time positions that they staffed, in a matter of months. They did background checks, they required security clearances for all those people, and they were worried about leaks. They didn't want information to get out. "They also were concerned about espionage by foreign players, by foreign companies, things of that sort. And some of that really did happen. As Jim has shared with us, there were a couple of phones that were transmitters that were found inside Bigelow Aerospace, inside the Bigelow, uh, facilities, and it was very alarming because they weren't sure who was doing it. I think they think it was a foreign government. I'm not going to say which one, uh, they suspected the most." (Lacatski said that the phones in question were made in China.) Knapp: "But, and then they also found weird frequencies emanating from Skinwalker Ranch. That's not strange, and there's a lot of unusual stuff that happens there, but it was some sort of a an espionage program that they believed was was not only looking at the ranch, but also at BAASS. "That was his primary concern. He was worried that the story gets out, because secrecy was of paramount interest to the heads of DIA and he's worried about the information getting out to the public. Because once it happened, then the knives come out in the Pentagon and within the intelligence community, which is kind of what happened. A memo was sent from Harry Reid's office, let other people know that AAWSAP existed, and that's when things started getting problematic." Corbell: "The bugging thing. So, it's not just like Bigelow Aerospace was tapped with something, he said, specifically, AAWSAP, right? So they were looking at that new UFO program. And I don't know how public this is, but he did say it was - not just him, other people have all said - it was multiple nations, multiple, different devices from those phones. And he also said that they worked with FBI, they had FBI liaisons looking at the ranch property, and also at Bigelow Aerospace. "Because, remember, they were supposed to receive a transfer of materials. That's why they reverse, reverse engineered (laughs), you know, they built everything to be able to hold SCIF-capable and material-capable property at that classification level. So, look, I think if we pull it back, the whole idea is, James Lacatski made a statement at some point that he was, you know, head of, or part of, or running the counterintelligence for AAWSAP. But his point was to keep AAWSAP itself secret from foreign nations. So then he has to keep it secret from the U.S. He did it. He did a great job. They actually kept it secret. That doesn't mean he's going out and creating false information to the public like he's been accused of. "So, should we listen to Jim Lacatski? That was like, you know, the main question. Oh, one second. He also identified that there is currently a counter-programming, counterintelligence operation going on to the American public, but not against the American public, by AARO." (In other words, spread misinformation to the American public so they can advance their goal of misinforming and confusing our adversaries who are always listening. National security! IMO, that's only acceptable if we're talking specifics related to propulsion, technology and weapons that can be used to give us a leg up on said adversaries. But everything else should come out and be made public. We shouldn't be told a bunch of lies about information we paid for and that could, potentially, give us some clarity about our species and other lifeforms on this planet.) Corbell: That was so clear in our interview with him that he said that, you know, 'Look, they're acting this way. They are telling you lies about AAWSAP and what happened.' And that's why he said, 'My books, I'm a government employee. This was paid by taxpayers. I'm trying to give you information.' And that's what his books are. "So it's clear from these rounds of interviews that we just had with Dr. Lacatski that he supports a controlled UFO disclosure. He made that very clear. So should we listen to what he has to say? I mean, he was a big dog, right, George?" Knapp: "He was the head of the largest U.S. government-funded UFO investigation in history, that we know of. He worked with Colm Kelleher, who was the boots-on-the-ground guy in Las Vegas. He worked with Jay Stratton. Stratton's role in the development of AAWSAP has not been really fully explored, but he's got a book coming out at some point, once it gets through the DOPSR process. But then we'll get additional information to buttress what Lacatski has said."

Joe Murgia

56,558 views • 9 months ago

Analyzing Episode 55. Season 2 aka The Violence of Alignment If I visualize CihAl's journey for this season, a spiral tightening its rings comes to mind. There's always one problem after another, spiking in intensity and reaction. And, the weight of it is reflected in both Alya's increasingly somber demeanor. But, here's the thing. In every new problem, there's an echo of the old one, which leaves one with an inevitable feeling of deja vu - for the audience and the characters. We'll get to why towards the end of this analysis. For now, on we go. We kick off epi 55 with Cihan being introduced to Meryem *cough* dishrag *cough* by Sadakat. And what follows is a breakdown of her story with Cihan listening. However, when Meryem recounted her past woes, I focused less on her words and more on Cihan's words and expression. And what follows is a masterclass in the difference between sympathy and empathy. Kudos to Ozan Akbaba for portraying the difference. I couldn't help but compare the situation to when Cihan is listening to Alya's account of her past. With Alya, Cihan leans forward, barely moving. He listens, but his face tends to reflect his own emotion and mirrors Alya's at times - in other words, he's living those events with her. When he talks, his voice drops lower, but more importantly, there's a gentle softness meant to soothe. With Meryem, Cihan's body language is a tad more detached. When he's leaning forward in the seat, his hands are extended in front of him, clasped together, creating space. Then he leans back, one arm extended on the table, the other on his thigh. Again, there's this feel of distance. His voice remains soft, but there's no tenderness. He's not trying to alleviate, rather he's simply listening. Don't get me wrong, it's not like the guy doesn't feel bad for her, because what she relates shouldn't be experienced by anyone. But empathy goes beyond sympathy. Empathy is when you hurt with the one who's hurting. And that difference, to me, is clear between the two scenes. Long story short, when he's heard what Meryem's gone through, he offers to help get her out of prison because he feels responsible in part for her misfortunes. He says it's his 'duty' to help her. Here's what's interesting: when Meryem says his kindness and heart haven't changed, he gets uncomfortable. And after that, he's the one to get up from the chair, signaling the end of the conversation. Like he wants to get out of there, because some part of him that's not stupidly male understands Meryem's still attached to him, but he has no interest in that whatsoever. His method of saying goodbye is a handshake, again, a testament to his aloofness. And when Meryem hugs him, his hands remain at their sides; the man could have been a pillar. So, while he speaks not of Alya, the one time he takes her name, he drives the message across that 'she's no one ordinary' and 'tread carefully'. Honestly, I don't think he wants to talk about Alya to Meryem. Not because Alya's not important, but because Alya is too important. The part of his life that Alya represents is his alone, and he's very possessive about sharing that with anyone. To him, Meryem is a past that exists, but one that he would erase if he had the choice, because it hurts Alya. And that's pretty much the whole feel of this conversation. He wants to help Meryem, but he also wants her gone because her presence is a source of discomfort to Alya. Speaking of discomforts, the next scene I want to talk about is when the massive turd, who happens to be Alya's ex-husband, goes to the hospital to threaten her some more. Seriously, this character is a step short of absolute psycho. He's incapable of true emotion, just like his mother. Anyway, when Alya is explaining why she hasn't moved out yet, the zombie's eyes zero in on her wedding band. And, of course, being who he is, he absolutely ignores the topic of Deniz, his own flesh and blood, and instead, wants the ring gone because it symbolizes Alya's love and attachment to Cihan. Thankfully, Cihan arrives in time to push away the zombie and to hear Alya proclaim that while Boran has the power to use her son and distance her from Cihan physically, he has no power over her heart and who reigns over it. Now, think back to that conversation where Deniz wants her to pick between Cihan and himself. And Cihan says Deniz's throne (or place) in her heart is so secure, he's happy to live in the shadow of that throne. While Alya smiles at Cihan's response, she also looks miserable later at the thought of not being able to tell Cihan that things aren't exactly so. However, I think she manages to get her point across in this scene without even realizing it. Because while she may make sacrifices for her son, no amount of blackmail, pain, or hurt can remove Cihan's love from her heart. Now, I don't know about you, but that sounds almost like an equal footing. The only difference is that she's bound to protect her son, because, unlike Cihan, he can't protect himself. And that's what leads Cihan to later tell Alya that her words are etched across his heart, and that he's never felt that loved by anyone. Curiously enough, this scene also brings the spotlight on two other details: Alya's 'anka' side and the wedding ring. Both of which will feature rather greatly, in the coming episodes, I think. Now, there's a rumor going around that Alya will take off her wedding ring. And, I don't know, the fact that Cihan's almost preening at Alya, still wearing the ring, and Alya saying 'I couldn't take it off' tells me that's not what's going to happen. For some reason, I'm beginning to get the vibes of a showdown of trust in the same vein as episode 27. Now you may argue that Cihan actually tells Alya about Mine's pregnancy in that episode, but CihAl have had a long journey since then. Alya has seen Cihan choose her over Boran with her own eyes. She's seen the lengths the man has gone to for her and Deniz. So, yes, she might be pissed about something or the other related to Meryem in future episodes, but her taking off the ring seems not within her character somehow. But hey, that's just me, and I could be wrong. Anyway, the final scene I want to talk about is, of course, the ending. Everyone kept focusing on why Cihan allowed Meryem to hold his hands, but I focused on his words. Because he very clearly tells Meryem that he's no longer in love with her, that he's moved on, and that she should not hang about in the hopes of that ever changing. In his own way, Cihan is quite ruthless here. He draws a line, but his words are designed not to hurt, because he's not an ahole. He just wants dishrag to understand that even the thought of Alya being hurt pains him more now than anything else. And, he's not very kind to people who try to hurt Alya. It's a disclosure and warning, but in the form of steel wrapped in satin. Now, let's go back to the beginning for a bit, where I mentioned spiraling events. See, I somehow thought that those vows Cihal took 'savaşta, bedelde, kararda, kaderde, aşkta' were linear levels. That they'd clear them one by one and get to love. But when you see the overall structure of their journey in this season, it's not linear at all. Because all those things have existed in one form or another since ep 29. There's always an element of all of these conditions in every episode. Which is why we keep thinking, wait a minute, we've been here before. But as I said, the spiral is tightening itself. With every episode, the stakes are raised higher, and CihAl are pushed a little bit closer to the edge. Almost like the deep breath before the plunge. And here’s where things get interesting. Because what feels like repetition is not actually stagnation, it’s confrontation deferred, coming back sharper each time. Every cycle brings them back to the same point. Their love deepens, fear follows, a decision is made in the name of protection, and that decision creates distance instead of resolution. Which brings me back to the vows - savaşta, bedelde, kararda, kaderde, aşkta. I was wrong to think of them as steps. They’re not something Cihan and Alya are moving towards; they’re something CihAl are already inside of. Every episode is them living those vows in real time. But with every new episode, the pressure mounts, like music builds to a crescendo. And yet, within all of that, aşk remains. Not as a reward at the end of the journey. But as the one thing that refuses to disappear, no matter how many times everything else goes wrong. And maybe that's why episode 55 feels the way it does. It creates the illusion that everything is falling apart, yet again, when in reality, everything is being forced into alignment. Something is moving all the pieces on the chessboard for an ultimate showdown. And the process gets more violent by the minute. Cihan hides the truth because he thinks love needs protection. Alya experiences that same act as distance, almost betrayal. Meanwhile, Boran and Sadakat keep pushing, and Meryem drops like a freaking bomb at the worst possible moment. Suddenly, everything that could have remained unsaid, unresolved, or postponed is dragged into the open. This has all the hallmarks of a breaking point. Note, I said breaking point, not breakdown. Because, unlike breakdowns, breaking points are used for revelations. I guess what I'm trying to say is things are headed towards alignment, not just for the overall story, but also CihAl's journey individually. Because Cihan and Alya also keep repeating their mistakes. Their growth requires something along the lines of a push, too. So, we have war, sacrifice, decisions, fate, and love, all coming to a head. And while there are plenty of reasons to feel ominous, I personally don't. The story is no longer about them loving each other - we're well past that. It’s about whether they can finally stand in that love openly and without any fear. Because everything is pushing them toward a breaking point, not to destroy them, I think, but to shape them into who they need to be. And if there’s one thing CihAl have proven since day one, it’s this - they don’t fall apart under pressure, they grow stronger, and they survive the impossible. #CihAl #UzakŞehir

CocoLoco

21,061 views • 4 months ago

Akira Kurosawa on his experience watching 'Solaris' (1972) & drinking vodka with Andrei Tarkovsky in Moscow: "I met Tarkovsky for the first time when I attended my welcome luncheon at the Mosfilm during my first visit to Soviet Russia. He was small, thin, looked a little frail, and at the same time exceptionally intelligent, and unusually shrewd and sensitive. I thought he somehow resembled Toru Takemitsu, but I don’t know why. Then he excused himself saying, “I still have work to do,” and disappeared, and after a while I heard such a big explosion as to make all the glass windows of the dining hall tremble hard. Seeing me taken aback, the boss of the Mosfilm said with a meaningful smile: “You know another world war does not break out. Tarkovsky just launched a rocket. This work with Tarkovsky, however, has proved a Great War for me.” That was the way I knew Tarkovsky was shooting 'Solaris' (1972). After the luncheon party, I visited his set for Solaris. There it was. I saw a burnt down rocket was there at the corner of the space station set. I am sorry I forgot to ask him as to how he had shot the launching of the rocket on the set. The set of the satellite base was beautifully made at a huge cost, for it was all made up of thick duralumin. It glittered in its cold metallic silver light, and I found light rays of red, or blue or green delicately winking or waving from electric light bulbs buried in the gagues on the equipment lined up in there. And above on the ceiling of the corridor ran two duralumin rails from which hanged a small wheel of a camera which could move around freely inside the satellite base. Tarkovsky guided me around the set, explaining to me as cheerfully as a young boy who is given a golden opportunity to show someone his favorite toybox. Bondarchuk, who came with me, asked him about the cost of the set, and left his eyes wide open when Tarkovsky answered it. The cost was so huge: about six hundred million yen as to make Bondarchuk, who directed that grand spectacle of a movie “War and Peace,” agape in wonder. Now I came to fully realize why the boss of the Mosfilm said it was “a Great War for me.” But it takes a huge talent and effort to spend such a huge cost. Thinking “This is a tremendous task” I closely gazed at his back when he was leading me around the set in enthusiasm. Concerning Solaris, I find many people complaining that it is too long, but I do not think so. They especially find too lengthy the description of nature in the introductory scenes, but these layers of memory of farewell to this earthly nature submerge themselves deep below the bottom of the story after the main character has been sent in a rocket into the satellite station base in the universe, and they almost torture the soul of the viewer like a kind of irresistible nostalghia toward mother earth nature, which resembles homesickness. Without the presence of beautiful nature sequences on earth as a long introduction, you could not make the audience directly conceive the sense of having-no-way-out harboured by the people “jailed” inside the satellite base. I saw this film late at night in a preview room in Moscow for the first time, and soon I felt my heart aching in agony with a longing to returning to the earth as quickly as possible. Marvellous progress in science we have been enjoying, but where will it lead humanity after all? Sheer fearful emotion this film succeeds in conjuring up in our soul. Without it, a science fiction movie would be nothing more than a petty fancy. These thoughts came and went while I was gazing at the screen. Tarkovsky was together with me then. He was at the corner of the studio. When the film was over, he stood up, looking at me as if he felt timid. I said to him, “Very good. It makes me feel real fear.” Tarkovsky smiled shyly, but happily. And we toasted vodka at the restaurant in the Film Institute. Tarkovsky, who didn’t drink usually, drank a lot of vodka, and went so far as to turn off the speaker from which music had floated into the restaurant, and began to sing the theme of samurai from Seven Samurai at the top of his voice. As if to rival him, I joined in. For I was at that moment very happy to find myself living on Earth. Solaris makes a viewer feel this, and even this single fact shows us that Solaris is no ordinary SF film. It truly somehow provokes pure horror in our soul. And it is under the total grip of the deep insights of Tarkovsky. There must be many, many things still unknown to humanity in this world: the abyss of the cosmos which a man had to look into, strange visitors in the satellite base, time running in reverse, from death to life, strangely moving sense of levitation, his home which is in the mind of the main character in the satellite station is wet and soaked with water. It seems to me to be sweat and tears that in his heartbreaking agony he squeezed out of his whole being. And what makes us shudder is the shot of the location of Akasakamitsuke, Tokyo, Japan. By a skillful use of mirrors, he turned flows of head lights and tail lamps of cars, multiplied and amplified, into a vintage image of the future city. Every shot of Solaris bears witness to the almost dazzling talents inherent in Tarkovsky. Many people grumble that Tarkovsky’s films are difficult, but I don’t think so. His films just show how extraordinarily sensitive Tarkovsky is. He made a film titled 'Mirror' (1975) after Solaris. Mirror deals with his cherished memories in his childhood, and many people say again it is disturbingly difficult. Yes, at a glance, it seems to have no rational development in its storytelling. But we have to remember: it is impossible that in our soul our childhood memories should arrange themselves in a static, logical sequence. A strange train of fragments of early memory images shattered and broken can bring about the poetry in our infancy. Once you are convinced of its truthfulness, you may find Mirror the easiest film to understand. But Tarkovsky remains silent, without saying things like that at all. His very attitude makes me believe that he has wonderful potentials in his future. There can be no bright future for those who are ready to explain everything about their own film." ("Akira Kurosawa on watching ‘Solaris’ with Andrei Tarkovsky", Cinephilia & Beyond)

DepressedBergman

197,819 views • 8 months ago

Whitney Webb, February 19, 2026: "The Clinton Foundation, I would argue, was largely set up... by Epstein. That's particularly true for the Clinton Health Access Initiative, and a lot of its work in Africa with AIDS, which obviously coincides with a lot of vaccination policy." "And at the same time that Clinton set up his foundation, Bill Gates set up his foundation. They collaborate together on those things. And Epstein has also obviously had an interest in these types of networks as well, 'for health,' they say." This clip of Webb (Whitney Webb), author of One Nation Under Blackmail and contributing editor of unlimitedhangout(.)com, is taken from an interview with Clayton Morris (Clayton Morris) and Natali Morris (Natali Morris) posted to the Redacted YouTube channel (Redacted) on February 19, 2026. ---------------Partial transcription of clip---------------- "Yeah, so the Clinton Foundation, I would argue, was largely set up— major aspects of... it were provably set up by Epstein. That's particularly true for the Clinton Health Access Initiative, and a lot of its work in Africa with AIDS, which obviously coincides with a lot of vaccination policy. "And at the same time that Clinton set up his foundation, Bill Gates set up his foundation. They collaborate together on those things. And Epstein has also obviously had an interest in these types of networks as well, 'for health,' they say. "But obviously, you know, in the COVID era, we became a lot more skeptical of those types of quote-unquote philanthropies. And obviously Bill Gates as well as Epstein himself, as, as particularly revealed by some of these new releases, but it was known before, have an outsized interest in eugenics and also transhumanism, which is the modern rebranding of eugenics. "Even some of the people that used to run the British Eugenics Society, like Julian Huxley, you know, authored texts in the mid 20th century talking about how transhumanism was the future of eugenics and this is how they'd sell it to a new generation. These people are intimately involved with a lot of this stuff. "And, you know, Epstein was intimately involved in those aspects. But we have to go back to, to Epstein being intimately involved also in illicit cash flows, which the Clintons absolutely love and have loved for a long time, ever since Clinton, was, you know, Governor of Arkansas through the presidency and after, and so, you know, Clinton Foundation has obviously been dogged by what were once rumors, but thanks to WikiLeaks became, you know, proven, that it was basically a pay-to-play scam, and that they were taking money and then returning political favors when Hillary Clinton was, you know, Secretary of State or, they thought she might even be president, right? "And then after, you know, she lost to Trump in 2016, it, it dried up, essentially. But also, you know, in addition to the, the other philanthropies, you have the Clinton Global Initiative, which was allegedly Epstein's idea. According to his defense lawyers. He was part of the core team that developed the concept for the Clinton Global Initiative, which is kind of like a Clinton broker Davos, you know, World Economic Forum style meeting. "But they passed money around to, you know, Ghislaine Maxwell's TerraMar, for example, you know, among other things. And so, you know, Epstein was obviously very sought out in the not-profit world, arguably because he was very good at tax shelters. And a lot of these billionaires want to, you know, get tax write-offs or not have to pay money in tax. "And so, you know, setting up these philanthropies the right way. When Epstein's background, going back to his time at Bear Stearns, was in tax evasion, you know, obviously I think that that points to why they were so interested, in having him be involved in setting up their nonprofits. "And there's also the fact that you had Epstein, you know, I think it was Bill Gates, wanted to talk to Epstein about getting a Nobel Prize, apparently because he had influence over the Nobel Prize committee. So, I mean, it went even beyond nonprofits. "And so a lot of this world that we, the public has been shown, about these do-gooder nonprofits and these do-gooder philanthropists, it's, you know, Epstein was an expert in money laundering, he also became an expert in reputation laundering, for these, these billionaires, most of which are criminals and some of whom are provably connected to organized crime."

Sense Receptor

21,764 views • 6 months ago

Churches, protests, and bribes: Hichilema’s triple power play to secure Edgar Lungu’s body By Sishuwa Sishuwa So committed to telling lies is President Hakainde Hichilema that he seemingly either cannot help himself or experiences a “high” when deceiving others. I know that politicians are generally perceived to be liars, but such is Hichilema’s uncontrollable urge to lie, often compulsively and without any apparent reason or benefit, that one can be forgiven for thinking that delivering lies was one of his major campaign promises in the last general election. In countries with robust oversight institutions, the President would have already been subjected to a thorough evaluation by professional experts to determine if he has pseudologia fantastica, also known as mythomania – a condition in which individuals frequently tell lies, often for no clear reason. The latest in the long running series of the President’s constant deviation from the truth occurred on 17 July 2025 when he told journalists that his administration is “quietly” holding negotiations with the family of late former president Edgar Lungu aimed at resolving the impasse between the two parties regarding Lungu’s burial. This is the second time in the preceding two weeks alone that Hichilema has made this claim. The first was on 9 July when he met US Ambassador to Zambia Michael Gonzales at State House. On both occasions, the President has been untruthful. I have spoken with the Lungu family, and they have confirmed that there have been no discussions whatsoever between the two parties since Hichilema's administration initiated the court case that stopped Lungu's burial nearly a month ago, on 24 June 2025. Why then does the President keep telling lies on this matter? What prevents him from telling the truth even on straightforward issues where his lies can more easily be uncovered? In search of answers, I reached out to different sources in government and at State House for insights. The sources, who spoke to me on condition of anonymity and provided irrefutable evidence in support of their insights, revealed that the President, fearful that the Pretoria High Court might rule against the Zambian government because the South African law is on the side of a deceased’s family, has devised a strategy consisting of three elements aimed at preventing this outcome and securing the elusive access to his predecessor’s body. The first element of this plan is to persuade the influential Catholic Church to release a statement urging the Lungu family to agree to a mediated settlement that would allow the former president to be buried in Zambia. While some religious and civic groups have already been pressured to make similar appeals, the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB) has not yet done so. Hichilema believes that a statement from the ZCCB would carry more weight. To achieve this goal, the President sent a four-member, high-ranking government delegation to meet with the ZCCB in Lusaka on 18 July 2025. The presidential delegation, consisting of Minister of Defence Ambrose Lufuma, Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security Jack Mwiimbu, Minister of Community Development and Social Services Doreen Mwamba, and Special Assistant to the President for Legal Affairs Christopher Mundia – all practising Catholics – met with three representatives of the ZCCB, namely Ignatius Chama (Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Kasama and President of ZCCB), George Lungu (Bishop of Catholic Diocese of Chipata), and Valentine Kalumba (Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Livingstone). During the meeting, Hichilema's representatives expressed concern that the Catholic Church had not issued a statement on the impasse between his administration and the Lungu family. Embracing the pathological lying disposition of their boss, the delegation also mentioned that negotiations between the State and the Lungu family were progressing, and the government hoped the Catholic Church would participate in the discussions. One or two members of Hichilema’s delegation in the meeting reportedly said: “since Archbishop Alick Banda appears to be close to the Lungu family, how can we get him to intervene in this matter and help us?” To be clear, Banda is the Archbishop in charge of Lusaka Archdiocese whom the ruling party has previously called a “thief”, the “Lucifer of Zambia”, and a man with no credibility. In addition, the Catholic Church has itself been the subject of regular attacks and harassment from both State actors and ruling party officials. In response, the Bishops explained that they have stayed away from the matter because they do not have sufficient knowledge of the underlying facts and only comment on issues they fully understand. The Bishops also expressed hope that the issue would be resolved conclusively since it is now before a competent authority – the South African High Court. Given the despicable attacks that Hichilema’s administration has repeatedly unleashed on both Archbishop Banda and the Catholic Church in general, and in the absence of any public apology or atonement for this State harassment, it was unlikely that the Bishops would be deceived. However, one cannot blame Hichilema for trying his luck. The timing of this State-orchestrated meeting with representatives of the ZCCB was not coincidental. For much of this week, the Catholic Bishops have been meeting in Lusaka to, among other things, look at various issues affecting the membership of the church and the nation. Such meetings usually culminate in the release of a pastoral letter that is read out in parishes across the country. The sources disclosed that Hichilema’s fear is that a rebuke from the ZCCB on how his administration has handled Lungu’s funeral would be politically damaging, especially when one considers the other two elements of the strategy that the President has devised to secure access to his predecessor’s body. In dispatching his officials to meet the Catholic Bishops, Hichilema is not only lobbying the influential religious organisation to publicly support his cause based on the false impression that negotiations with the Lungu family have reached an advanced stage; he is also seeking to pre-empt the ZCCB’s possible criticism of his failure to provide leadership on a matter that has seen him use taxpayers’ money to sue a grieving family and halt a funeral that was underway. The second element of Hichilema’s strategy is to carefully orchestrate State-financed public protests in Lusaka, on the Copperbelt, in Eastern Province (Lungu's home area) and in other parts of Zambia to create the false impression of widespread public outrage against the decision by the Lungu family to lay the former president to rest in South Africa. The sources revealed that Hichilema has already set this plan in motion and is closely working with Robert Chabinga, a renegade member of parliament belonging to the main opposition Patriotic Front (PF) party. Chabinga, who is guarded by State police, is the MP that Hichilema’s administration – using the office of the Registrar of Societies which falls under Mwiimbu’s ministry – has installed as the government-recognised leader of the PF in the absence of an election. He has also been installed as Leader of the Opposition in Parliament by the Speaker of the National Assembly, Nelly Mutti, Hichilema’s former personal lawyer, though he was elected by no one. According to insiders, Hichilema had initially wanted Chabinga to join the court case in South Africa as Leader of the Opposition. After the President received advice against the move, he and his allies then hatched the plan to organise “mass public protests” across the country by placard-carrying ruling party supporters masquerading as PF members and Zambian nationalists demanding the return of Lungu’s remains so that he could be buried at home. The objective of these demonstrations would be to manufacture evidence of popular anger against the Lungu family's position, fabricate visible proof of “public interest” in Lungu’s funeral, and create the pretext that the government hopes it can use to persuade the South African judge to rule in its favour. These acts of “nationalism” would not be as they would seem, however. What would appear to be spontaneous demonstrations of widespread outrage would be carefully orchestrated by Hichilema as part of his power play to wrestle Lungu from exile in death and bolster his beleaguered presidency. For Chabinga, who remains at the helm of Zambia’s main opposition party because of the complicit role of the judiciary, delivering on this presidential aspiration would cement his State-backed illegal leadership of the PF and reduce the political costs that might befall Hichilema in next year’s election should Lungu be buried abroad. The third and final element of Hichilema’s strategy is to attempt to bribe the South African judge who is handling the legal case between the Zambian government and the Lungu family. Hichilema and his allies have resigned themselves to the possibility of losing the case. In private conversations, they admit that the law in South Africa favours the Lungu family and that if the Pretoria Court is allowed to decide the case based on the facts and law, the Zambian government is likely to lose. To avoid this almost certain outcome, Hichilema and his supporters have considered the option of bribing the judge presiding over the case. There is no evidence yet that an approach has been made, but Chabinga, who was recently in South Africa on a State-facilitated trip, has privately expressed confidence that the judge might be amenable to bribery. "The judge needs to eat", Chabinga was heard saying. If the planned mass demonstrations are successful, Hichilema's proxy added, "the judge will make a ruling based on the public outcry in Zambia...to support the Attorney General". The renegade PF MP further conceded that there is "a possibility that the judge can rule in favour of the Lungu family because the laws of South Africa give too much power to a deceased's family than to the government". He however reiterated his belief that if the judge is "pressured", aided with cooked up public protests, and made to "consider the fact that Lungu was a former president", the judicial official can rule in favour of the Zambian government. Chabinga and his backers know that attempting to bribe, in any way, a judge of a foreign country would be a major scandal that could adversely affect diplomatic relations between Zambia and South Africa. However, they seem determined to try their luck at implementing what Chabinga, in private conversations, calls a "special operation". Earlier, Chabinga had complained to his associates that he had been woken up by Hichilema at an ungodly hour to undertake, at short notice, the trip to Johannesburg but felt the need to sacrifice for the man he calls "ba boss". After briefing him about Hichilema's agenda for the "special operation", State actors had originally hoped to book Chabinga a seat on the first flight out of Lusaka, but he ended up traveling on a 10am Airlink flight. This followed a discovery that there were many prominent PF members on the earlier flight also traveling to South Africa. Ironically, even on the 10am flight, Hichilema's representative met several PF prominent figures such as Chanda Katotobwe, Nakiwe Simpungwe, and Christopher Shakafuswa who all greeted him and to whom he lied that he was traveling to Cape Town. It is important to clarify that the confidence of Hichilema's team that the affected judge might be open to bribery does not come from any personal knowledge of the justice handling the legal case. Rather, and as one of the sources stated, it stems from the knowledge that they have done similar things with some Zambian judges, particularly on matters involving the resolution of PF leadership wrangles, and got away with it. In private, Chabinga, for instance, acknowledges that a questionable judgement by the Pretoria High Court in favour of the Zambian government is likely to be reversed on appeal by a superior court. Nevertheless, the President's proxy is optimistic that the Lungu family will become fatigued by the time the verdict is delivered and ultimately consent to the return of the former president's body to Zambia rather than pursuing an appeal in the event of a dubious loss. The unfolding saga surrounding the burial of former president Lungu reveals more than a mere dispute over a final resting place. It exposes the depths to which political ambition can drive deception, manipulation, and ethical compromise. President Hichilema’s persistent falsehoods about negotiations, the planned orchestration of State-sponsored protests, and the alarming prospect of judicial bribery involving a foreign judge paint a troubling picture of governance undermined by desperation and duplicity. This strategy not only disrespects a grieving family but also erodes public trust in the institutions meant to uphold justice and truth. What began as a matter of state dignity and national closure has morphed into a volatile mix of political manoeuvring, public mobilisation, and devious ecclesiastical diplomacy. President Hichilema’s reported three-pronged strategy — courting the Catholic Church, rallying public protests, and attempting to sway a foreign court — suggests that the battle over Lungu’s body is about far more than burial rights. It is a symbolic struggle for control over Zambia’s political memory and moral authority. Whether these efforts succeed or backfire, they highlight a deeper crisis: the lingering divisions of Zambia’s political landscape and the extent to which historical rivals still cast long shadows over the present. In life and now in death, Lungu continues to provoke conflict, and President Hichilema appears determined to ensure that even in the afterlife, the final word belongs not to the Lungu family but to Hichilema himself. In a country that is yearning for transparency and integrity, such actions as the ones initiated by Hichilema highlight the urgent need for accountability at the highest levels of leadership. The true cost of this political theatre extends beyond the burial dispute; it threatens the moral fabric of Zambia itself. As citizens, observers, and custodians of democracy, we must demand honesty, respect for due process, and, above all, compassion in honouring – both in life and in death – those who have served the nation. No amount of spin or scheming can bury the truth forever. The nation watches and waits.

Sishuwa Sishuwa

69,112 views • 1 year ago

Really hard not to make the parallel between JD Vance's speech right now at the Munich Security Conference and Putin's 2007 speech at the very same podium. Both were watershed moments that fundamentally transformed the existing consensus. Putin at the time delivered the speech that marked the beginning of the end of the unipolar moment. JD Vance's speech will probably be remembered as the speech that marked the beginning of the end of the post-WW2 Western alliance. As a European, I'm in two minds about what Vance said about Europe. He is of course right about many things. For instance Europe's attitude with respect to Romania's elections was beyond appalling and unequivocally antidemocratic. I myself called it out repeatedly on this platform. But - and this is a very big BUT - on Romania and much of Vance's criticism directed at Europe, the U.S. was right there alongside Europe acting jointly, and often even guiding Europe's actions. Specifically on Romania for instance, I believe that the US State Department was first in issuing a statement on December 4th ( expressing its concern about "Russian involvement in malign cyber activity designed to influence the integrity of the Romanian electoral process" which led to the elections being cancelled two days later (and which, it was later proven, was completely false: it turned out that this "malign cyber activity" were paid for by the very Romanian party in power that cancelled the elections!). It's only after that State Department statement that the Europeans followed the U.S.'s lead. So it's a bit rich, even very rich, for Vance, less than 2 months afterwards, to lecture Europeans on this without as much as acknowledging the U.S.'s own role in a lot of it. Same could be said about European content moderation and "censorship." He conveniently forgets that much of Europe's current approach was developed in close coordination with American agencies and tech companies. The EU's content moderation framework didn't emerge in a vacuum - it was heavily influenced by American practices and pressures. Or take Vance's criticism of European mass migration policies. He spent a big part of his speech lamenting over the attack in Munich yesterday by (apparently) a young Afghan asylum seeker, describing it as a direct "result of a series of conscious decisions made by politicians all over the [European] continent". But he conveniently fails to mention why Afghans migrated en-masse out of their country, which might have a little something to do with a certain great power that decided to wage a 20-year long war over there and completely wrecked the country... Same story for many migrants in Europe, a huge share of them being a direct result of disastrous US foreign policy decisions. I'm also extremely uncomfortable with Vance's stated intentions to meddle in European politics. He calls out - rightly - Europe for not living up to its democratic values, yet in the same breath he's explicitly announcing America's intention to intervene in European politics by supporting certain movements against established institutions. He criticizes European elites for not respecting democratic choices while simultaneously suggesting that a Trump administration would actively work to influence those choices. How is this any different from the kind of interference he hypocritically condemns? Perhaps most worrying of all, Vance's vision seems to completely disregard why the post-WW2 European architecture was built in the first place. Europe is the place where both world wars started, 100% of them. The past 80 years were a uniquely peaceful time in European history: due to the high density of states in a relatively small geography and the somewhat disagreeable character of many European nations (the French very much included), the continent had been in almost constant conflict for the previous millennium. I really dislike European institutions as much as the next guy but I don't forget the original spirit with which they were built: to put an end to endless war in Europe. By positioning America as an ally of nationalist forces against these institutions, Vance isn't just ending an alliance - he's actively working to unwind the entire post-war European peace architecture, which could have immense ramifications. In fact I think we can even legitimately ask ourselves if the U.S. doesn't now have war in Europe as one of its strategic objectives. Given the U.S.'s history in triggering wars left, right and center when it believes they're in their interests, and given Vance's speech, I think the question has merits. All in all, I'm not ashamed to say that I much prefer Putin's 2007 speech to Vance's. Whatever you may think, Putin remained within the confines of what he thought were challenges to Russia's national interests, issues like NATO expansion or American attempt at global hegemony. He didn't try to meddle in intra-Western politics or position Russia as an active force for undermining Western institutions from within. His vision was about creating a multipolar world where Russia would be one independent pole - not about dismantling the internal architecture of other poles. Where Putin wanted to limit Western power globally, Vance seems to want to fracture the European order locally. That's a far more dangerous proposition. I'm all for reforming Europe and I constantly call for it. But to me by far the biggest issue for Europe is its lack of sovereignty and strategic autonomy, especially vis à vis the United States, in almost all domains. If Vance's speech could have any silver lining, it would be to finally wake Europeans up to this reality: let's hope that for once Europe draws the right lesson.

Arnaud Bertrand

850,094 views • 1 year ago

"You just hate Hichilema": The dramatic fall of Zambia's president By Sishuwa Sishuwa Hakainde Hichilema stood in the queue to becoming President of Zambia for 15 years before voters finally removed him from it in August 2021. This demonstrates how badly the man wanted this job. But it has taken him only five years in office to display his unfitness for the role. When it comes to the bigger national issues, such as safeguarding our cherished democracy, getting the best out of Zambia’s mineral wealth, respecting the constitution and the rule of law, fighting corruption beyond rhetoric, genuine promotion of national unity and equitable distribution of appointments to public service positions, sorting out the cost-of-living crisis and the deplorable conditions of life for most Zambians, Hichilema has lamentably failed. In fact, I would go as far as saying that the President has become a clear and present danger to Zambia’s economy, to our democracy, our constitutional order, our nationhood and its 'One Zambia Nation' foundation, and to the lives of ordinary Zambians. Voting Hichilema out of office will be the highest expression of patriotism. As I have previously stated, I am convinced that Hichilema will lose the election on 13 August. The only thing that can save him from defeat is pre-ballot death (of any candidate) or industrial scale vote-rigging. I really hope that we Zambians will never again elect a lying, tribal, corrupt, unpatriotic, vindictive, hypocritical, lawless, and undemocratic scumbag. In addition to his policy failures on major issues of public concern, one reason why Hichilema is losing the election (unless he rigs it on an industrial scale) is because of having extremist supporters, mostly Zambezi supremacists, who dismiss legitimate criticism of his leadership actions as hate speech and consequently enable his continued failure to be receptive to criticism, to reflect on the feedback provided by the governed, and to change for the better. When citizens (be it the Catholic Bishops, opposition parties, civic actors, or ordinary Zambians like me) raise governance concerns, they do so in the spirit of accountable democratic governance. They do not do so because they hate the president as a person, hate his ethnic identity, or hate where he was born. I insist that a better Zambia is possible but we won’t get it if we treat criticism of presidential leadership failure as expression of hate. Unfortunately, even Hichilema himself has embraced this warped thinking that any criticism of his leadership actions is hate speech. This attitude has deprived him of the much needed feedback on his leadership performance and capacity to listen to divergent views, consequently impoverishing his presidency. We must embrace the unfamiliar, eschew haste in passing judgement, and be more tolerant and understanding. These qualities are especially essential to those in public leadership roles. I once raised concern that we seem to have prepared different standards for this president compared to those who came before him. If a leader can only provide five hours of electricity to the people in a day, they have failed. If a leader can only increase the cost of living, they have failed. If a leader…I can go on. In addition to denying the president the benefit of legitimate public feedback on his performance, misconstruing criticism as hate makes it look like the responsibility of holding our public leaders to account falls on those who either love him or hail from the region where the president does not come from. If his supporters and Tongas, Lozis and Zambians from Northwestern Province join in calling out the wrongs of Hichilema, he will no longer play the tribal card of reducing all criticism of his leadership to ethnic hatred. In the uncritical minds of some of the president's supporters, I criticise Hichilema because I hate him! Most of the individuals who hold this view are people who repeatedly criticise me on this platform, even when their criticism is quite often devoid of reason or substance. I do not think those who criticise me do so because they hate me. I think they criticise me, even if I hold no elected public office, simply because they have a different take, different opinions, on things. Why is it so hard to apply the same logic to my criticism of an elected public leader like Hichilema who is accountable to us, the public? I have been providing regular political commentaries on Zambian affairs since 2009. Why was my much stronger criticism of Hichilema's predecessors, namely Rupiah Banda, Michael Sata, and Edgar Lungu, not considered hatred of these individual leaders? In fact, many of the individuals who today accuse me of harbouring hatred for Hichilema were people who were very happy with my much stinging criticism of the leadership failures of his predecessors. When I called Sata a tribalist and undemocratic leader who did not listen to advise, and provided evidence in support of my conclusions, they were happy to cheer me on, even as Sata's supporters said I was bitter and a Hichilema supporter. When I called Lungu a tribalist and corrupt leader, and provided evidence in support of my conclusions, they were happy to cheer me on, even as Lungu's supporters said I was bitter and petitioned the police to arrest me for sedition. Some of Hichilema's supporters, as part of the enjoyment of their exercise of the right to free expression, even insult me, call me names, or outrightly declare that they dislike me. Of course I would prefer content-based discussion, but if the best that anyone's mind can do is to insult me, I will consider their actions as part of the right to free expression. I recognise that people have the right to dislike me, to call me names, to wish me whatever they desire, to feel however they want about me. I have no problem with all this. I do not speak to be liked or secure the validation of anyone. I speak to express myself and I respect the right of other people to do the same. As I have repeatedly stated, free speech is not just for the people or thoughts we like or agree with; it is also for people we despise and opinions that we do not support. The important point is not the position I take on a given issue of public interest. It is the reasoning advanced in support of said position. If I say Hichilema is a lying, tribal, corrupt, unpatriotic, vindictive, hypocritical, lawless, and undemocratic scumbag, what is important is not simply this description; it is the reasons and evidence I have adduced in support of this conclusion. Anyone is welcome to challenge my conclusions or evidence, to say "I disagree with your argument for this and that reason." What I totally reject is the idea that criticism of a president's leadership actions amounts to hate; it does not. If I point out that Hichilema is failing to ensure adequate ethnic diversity in public appointments and provide evidence in support of this assertion, anybody else is welcome to demonstrate weakness in my stated point of view. If I point out that Hichilema is a compulsive liar and provide evidence in support of this assertion, anybody else is welcome to demonstrate weakness in my stated point of view. If I point out that Hichilema’s fight against corruption is a sham and provide evidence in support of this assertion, anybody else is welcome to demonstrate weakness in my stated point of view. If I point out that Hichilema is a compulsive liar and provide evidence in support of this assertion, anybody else is welcome to demonstrate weakness in my stated point of view. If I point out that Hichilema has eroded Zambia’s democracy and provide evidence in support of this assertion, anybody else is welcome to demonstrate weakness in my stated point of view. If I point out that Hichilema has failed to reduce the cost of living, as per his campaign promise, and provide evidence in support of this assertion, anybody else is welcome to demonstrate weakness in my stated point of view. If I point out that Hichilema (working in cohort with his friend Situmbeko Musokotwane) has facilitated the extraction of the country’s mineral wealth by multinational corporations without ensuring sufficient returns in revenue collection for Zambia and provide evidence in support of this assertion, anybody else is welcome to demonstrate weakness in my stated point of view. If I point out that Hichilema has failed to…and provide evidence in support of this assertion, anybody else is welcome to demonstrate weakness in my stated point of view. Simply dismissing my criticism as an expression of my alleged hatred for Hichilema is most unhelpful. Those who do so are depriving me the opportunity to learn what I do not know and Hichilema the opportunity to adjust his leadership style and change for the better. While I do not hesitate to share my opinions on matters of public concern, I also retain the intellectual integrity of one who is willing to abandon their point of view if its weakness can be shown. I have repeatedly stated that I harbour no hatred against Hichilema. What I hate is his bad leadership, whose meaning I have explained in the article below. There is no constitutional democracy in the world that requires citizens to love their elected leaders. Loving individuals is the responsibility of their spouses and family members. Once these individuals step up to hold elective public office, we owe them one thing: accountability or feedback on their performance. No elected public leader or their supporter should burden me or another person with any demand for affirmation or affection. In a functioning democracy, the duty of citizens is to hold their elected leaders to account so that they deliver basic services and do not undermine accountable democratic governance. This is what I have been doing across different administrations, including this one. As early as December 2021, when I analysed Hichilma's first 100 days in office, I raised governance concerns of his leadership in the hope that he could address them so that they do not grow into bigger problems. He did not listen. In 2022, when he was celebrating one year in office, I raised governance concerns of his leadership in the hope that he could address them so that they do not grow into bigger problems. He did not listen. In 2023, I raised governance concerns of his leadership in the hope that he could address them so that they do not grow into bigger problems. He did not listen. In 2024, I raised governance concerns of his leadership in the hope that he could address them so that they do not grow into bigger problems. He did not listen. In fact, as did his predecessor in 2021 in response to my criticism of the abuse of state institutions to fix critics and opponents, the president asked his supporters to report me to the police for alleged hate speech against him! In 2025, I raised governance concerns of his leadership in the hope that he could address them so that they do not grow into bigger problems. He did not listen. This year and for the many reasons that I shared in the interview on the link below, Hichilema is losing the election because he did not listen to criticism that we, as citizens, raised about his performance. He is also losing the election because of his extremist supporters who, in addition to a wilful but harmful failure to hold him to account, dismiss legitimate criticism of his leadership from other people as hate speech. What a pity! What a wasted opportunity! I have just read a story on a ruling party platform casually dismissing Global Witness's report that "Ahead of Zambia's general election...First Quantum Minerals and its associates have been running a decades-long covert influence campaign distorting the copper-rich nation's democracy" and that the Canadian firm has "become his [Hichilema's] largest funder in the upcoming 2026 election after pledging up to $50 million in support." The report adds that "FQM has reaped enormous benefits: major changes to Zambia's tax regime have save the company $771 million between 2022 and 2025, and it has been shielded from legal scrutiny." Rather than interrogating these grave concerns, the publisher, the Zambian Watchdog which is run from State House, is treating the issue so casually when Global Witness, a very credible international outlet, raises serious corruption and governance allegations. In January 2019, I raised questions about Hichilema's relationship with foreign mining firms, but was told by his supporters that I just hate him. Today, we are ere. The net result is that Hichilema, who in opposition politics had positioned himself as the reformist leader Zambia needed to reclaim its democracy, eliminate corruption, unite the country, and set it on the path to economic recovery, has, in power, turned out to be nearly everything he detested about his predecessor and, in some cases, much worse. Under his watch, corruption has thrived on a massive scale, the economy is a shambles, ethnic divisions have worsened, Zambia’s previously principled foreign policy has been shredded into something unrecognisable, and democracy is essentially non-existent. The man who was expected to lead reform has instead transitioned into an aspiring despot. Unless he rigs the election, or eliminates his main rival, Zambians should prepare for a new administration after 13 August. Many voters have reached a point of no return and it is too late for Hichilema to change their mind. A combination of failure to listen and the "you just hate Hichilema" brigade has destroyed his once promising presidency. I see many people expressing surprise at the huge turnout at Brian Mundubile's rallies. What they miss is that the turnout reflects the revulsion against Hichilema rather than genuine support for Brian. Even if Brian was not there, voters would have rallied behind another candidate through which to express their opposition to Hichilema as a result of his major policy failures. As early as 2023, wen I noticed Hichilema's direction of travel, I warned that the greatest opposition that he and the UPND face is a politically alert and informed citizenry, not an opposition party: “The biggest opposition that Hichilema faces is the people, particularly if he fails to lower the cost of living and tackle the huge unemployment outside the health and education sectors. They can stop opposition rallies like Edgar Lungu and the PF tried to do but if Zambians would have decided in a year or two that Hichilema must go at the next election, there is nothing that he can do to stop them....Even if Hichilema tries to, he cannot stop the people’s will. Even if he succeeds in killing the PF and in his manoeuvres to block his main political opponents from running in 2026, another platform and another candidate to serve as the outlet of opposition will be found. The voters will support any visionary patriot they see as better placed to be used as the vehicle for removing Hichilema just like they chose him as the vehicle for removing Lungu. Please tell him”. Hichilema did not listen. Again. This continued failure to listen prompted my conclusion two years later that "Many Zambians may not know yet who they will vote for in the 2026 presidential election, but they already know who they won’t vote for." The truth is that I tried to warn Hichilema in good time and at different points that he was heading in the wrong direction. The President, dripping with arrogance, did not listen. Think of it this way. A bus (representing a political party in power) is transporting passengers (active citizens) from Intercity terminus (2021, being the departure point of where we did not want to be anymore) to Nakonde (2026, being the arrival point of destination before subsequently deciding whether to book the same bus for the return trip). After leaving Intercity, some passengers notice that the bus is heading towards Livingstone (a wrong destination that takes us back to before 2021). A few of us (active citizens) decide to stand up (holding the leader to account) and confront both the driver (the president) and his conductor (Minister of Finance), demanding an explanation for why we are heading to Livingstone when we were promised that we woud be taken to Nakonde. Other passengers, mainly those who came from the ethnic group of the driver and conductor, defended the duo even before it could respond to our concerns. They repeatedly told us that "You just hate the driver. Please sit down!" One or two relatives of the conductor joined in support, saying the "The driver and the conductor are excellent and one of them has even won awards for stellar performance on his duties, including his remarkable capacity to understand direction of travel"! That is how some passengers kept quiet. I kept on talking, especially after we reached Choma in the hope that if we turned atthat point, we woudl not wast more time. I talked because I could not get off the bus at undesigned stations, so the only solution was to appeal to the driver to change course. I explained that it would be an act of extreme irresponsibility on my part as an active passenger to wait until the bus has reached Livingstone before holding the driver to account about the direction of travel. That is why I tried to warn the driver that we were headed in the wrong direction. Unfortunately, other passengers said we should just sit back comfortably, enjoy the ride which included some morsels of food delivered by the bus, and trust the driver because other drivers before him were much worse. In the end, we arrived in Livingstone, our undesired destination. Just when we were arriving, we saw another bus, loading passing from there directly to Nakonde. The driver, upon realising the cost of his failure to listen and the disappointment in the eyes of the passengers, urged everyone to sit down, promising that he would take us to Nakonde if we give him more time. With the exception of those who came from the driver's ethnic group and the auxiliary ones, most passengers, who had shown great faith in his driving skills by paying (voting) the fare for the bus as their mode of transport from Intercity to Nakonde, have left the bus for the other. These include those who had adopted silence during the journey after realising that the driver, aided by the choir mentioned, was not a listening kind. As I write this post, the alternative bus is almost full. The same passengers who accused those of us who, along the way, advised the driver to change course, of harbouring hatred for the driver are now wondering why nearly everyone is leaving the bus we came with for an alternative one that is promising to take us directly to Nakonde. One of the driver's supporters, reiterating the driver's earlier appeal that we should stick to the bus that brought us to Livingstone, just shouted at us a moment ago: "The alternative bus will take you to a wrong destination. Its driver cannot be trusted; just stick to this one because you won't have to pay a new fare". The supporter is overlooking the point that we are already at a wrong destination, the current driver has betrayed our trust, and that we would rather repose our trust in another person. It is not good to remain on a bus, driven by a person who does not listen, out of the fear that an alternative one might be driven by someone who could be worse. Let us try the alternative bus. If its driver takes us to a wrong destination, we will disembark from the bus we are about to jump onto, as we have done before, and find another one until we reach Nakonde. For me and other active passengers, such has been the the current driver's betrayal of our trust that we have reached a point of no return. We cannot trust this driver anymore, especially that when we tried to correct him, no one explained to us why our concerns were unfounded. We were just told that we hate hate the driver or his ethic group or or the province where he comes from. Recently, Dr Lee Habasonda, a lecturer in political science at the University of Zambia, told Reuters (watch the video clip on the link below) that electoral success is a matter of thresholds – of grievances, feelings, frustrations, etc. Lee’s view is that once a certain threshold or tipping point has been reached, "no matter your manifesto, ideology, lies" or whatever those in power do or say, the voters will "decide to change government" because they would have reached a point of no return. Emotionally, many Zambian voters, including some that I know who voted for Hichilema in 2021, have passed that threshold where no matter what Hichilema or UPND does, these voters will reject him. This is because the threshold, or the point of no return, has been reached. As Lee argued, those in power "may say we have already won this election when they campaign but the political coalitions and realignment" suggest otherwise. When the opposition wins next month, we will need to advise them to get non-sycophants at State House and in the critical posts in the civil service. It is important that they understand that unless there is a clear shift away from the harmful culture we have raised concerns about, we will be compelled to challenge them with the same resolve we previously applied to both the PF and UPND governments. On my part, I promise that I will always be on the side of the people. You will not find me in government even after the election. Once Hichilema is out of office, I will leave him alone and my attention will shift to holding to account the next set of public leaders. As I made clear in 2021, I am content serving as an academic and I will work, as part of my civic duty, to hold the new Government to account as I did with previous Governments. I am not available for or interested in any form of government job. For now, Iet me continue listening to the attached song. Chalo chesu.

Sishuwa Sishuwa

31,040 views • 1 month ago

.President Donald J. Trump We are all rooting for you Mr. President. Show that 4 times indicted, twice impeached, 1-term loser who is the boss. American people deserve better than TFG: - Contractor Fraud: He cheated hardworking contractors, knowing they couldn't afford prolonged legal battles. - Trump University Scam: Misled veterans and regular people, resulting in millions in fines. - Misuse of Donations: Used $250 million from donations for personal expenses under the guise of a "defense" fund. - Elderly Exploitation: Set up recurring donations to drain elderly supporters' bank accounts. - Charity Theft: Stole money from a children's cancer charity. He faces consequences for attempting to undermine U.S. democracy, including calling for the dismantling of the U.S. Constitution, which he vowed to defend. If you still believe he's innocent, the problem isn't with him; it's you. You are in a cult. Trump's other actions: - Tax Breaks for the Ultra-Rich: Gave over $1.7 trillion in tax breaks to the wealthy. - Deficit Increase: Added $7.8 trillion to the deficit with minimal achievements. - Lavish Spending: Spent $150 million on golf trips. - Constant Praise: Required constant praise and lied over 30,000 times in four years. -Putin Affiliation: Humiliated the nation by praising Putin in Helsinki. - Impeachments: Impeached twice in one term. - Election Interference: Tried to manipulate the election results. - Misuse of Secret Service Funds: Overcharged taxpayers for Secret Service stays at his properties. - Taliban Deal: Released Taliban leaders without an exit plan. - Criminal Associates: His campaign chair and NSA chief were indicted or pardoned. - Self-Declared Messiah: Called himself "The Chosen One." - Fifth Amendment Abuse: Pleaded the Fifth 440 times. - Post-Presidency Fund Misuse: Took $250 million from supporters for personal bills after leaving office. - National Security Breach: Stole national secrets, leaving top-secret folders empty. - Unrecorded Putin Meetings: Met with Putin without recordings. China Tax Payments: Paid over $188,000 in taxes to China from 2013-2015, more than he paid in the U.S. Foreign Transactions Post-White House: Son-in-law received $3.1 billion from a foreign government after leaving office despite failing a security clearance. Election Conspiracy: Tried to halt the 2020 election certification through fraudulent tactics and pressuring officials. Obstruction Charges: Accused of obstructing the January 6th certification, urging Pence to invalidate the election, and inciting the Capitol insurrection. Evidence Handling: Kept unauthorized documents, revealing them only after an FBI search, suggesting criminal intent. Russian Ties: - Financial Dependencies: Relied on Russian finance according to Eric Trump in 2014. - 2016 Campaign: Donald Jr.'s meeting with a Russian agent for dirt on Clinton and Trump's request to Russia for Clinton's "missing" emails. - Paul Manafort: Shared election details with a Russian, resulting in a pardon. - Investigation Results: Yielded 199 charges, 37 indictments, and 5 incarcerations. - Michael Flynn: Assured Russia about reducing sanctions privately. - Helsinki Summit: Trump sided with Putin over U.S. intelligence. - Private Putin Meetings: Only a translator present. - Revealing Conversations: Admitted to firing the FBI Director to ease the Russian probe. Fourth Indictment: Attempted to overturn Georgia's election results, spread false fraud claims, pressured state officials, and solicited pro-Trump electors, abusing his power and misleading lawsuits. Third Indictment: - Conspiracy to Defraud the U.S.: Unlawfully disrupted the 2020 election. - Obstruction of Official Proceeding: Hindered the January 6th certification. - Conspiracy Against Rights: Intimidated election officials and disenfranchised voters. Second Indictment: - Knowledge and Intent: Withheld subpoenaed documents, indicating illegal intent. - Obstruction of Justice: Kept unauthorized documents hidden. - Evidence Depth: Indicated illegal document concealment. We deserve better than him and the do-nothing Republicans with their hollow "America First" slogan. He should've been held accountable to law long ago and so should you. President Biden is right. Trump capitalized on Obama's recovery for three years, claiming credit until the pandemic struck. Faced with his first real test, he fell flat on his face. He prioritized golf over leadership while thousands of Americans died from COVID-19. We need attention-seeking, Putin sympathizers as much as we need another pandemic. Your attempt to rewrite history by glossing over the previous administration's catastrophic failures is audacious. You all want us to forget 2020 existed. Here's the lowdown: - Unemployment soared from a 50-year low of 3.5% in February to 14.7% by April as the pandemic forced businesses to shut or scale down. - By the end of Trump's term, the U.S. lost 2.9 million jobs, marking the first presidency since Hoover to end with fewer jobs than it started with. - Public federal debt jumped from $14.4 trillion to $21.6 trillion. - The economy shrank by 3.4% in 2020, the steepest decline since 1947. On the pandemic front, Trump's response faced heavy criticism: - He consistently underplayed the virus, likening it to the flu and suggesting it would just vanish. - His campaign rallies, lacking in social distancing and mask mandates, were tagged as potential super-spreader events. - Trump's golf outings during the pandemic's early days were seen as a sign of his crisis mismanagement. - A slow response to mobilize essential supplies for healthcare workers, including a delayed invocation of the Defense Production Act, led to critical shortages. The economic impact hit small businesses hard: - Many had to shut permanently due to lockdowns and decreased consumer spending. - The CARES Act's Paycheck Protection Program aimed to help, but faced criticism over its deployment and accessibility for the neediest businesses. Marjorie Taylor Greene knows that very well. She took PPP the amount of $182,300, which was later forgiven with interest, totaling $183,504. Transitioning to the Biden era came with its own set of hurdles: - Trump's delayed election concession hampered the formal transition process, including crucial pandemic response briefings. - The January 6 Capitol attack by Trump supporters disrupted the Electoral College result certification, sparking national security worries. - Biden took over a nation grappling with the pandemic's health impacts and in dire need of economic and societal healing. In essence, Trump's tenure concluded with the U.S. entrenched in a health crisis, economic slump, and polarized political scene, leaving the Biden administration to tackle the pandemic's ongoing challenges and to kickstart to recovery of a destroyed economy. This still overlooks his dealings with the Taliban, bypassing the Afghan government, which had been bolstered with hundreds of billions of dollars in training and arms. He opted to negotiate with the Taliban, a move that led to the Afghan government's collapse. He freed their leader along with 5,000 soldiers, while reducing U.S. forces to 2,500, all without a clear exit strategy for May 2021. This act served as a parting gift to Putin, cornering Biden into either redeploying 10,000 troops to continue an endless conflict or withdrawing to avoid Taliban aggression. That’s what Republicans are hoping slips your mind: They’d prefer you overlook the sheer incompetence of a president who's been indicted four times, impeached twice, and still only served one term. They're trying to erase 2020 from memory. But we won’t let that happen. Integrity, truth, and justice should be the pillars of our public conversation, not baseless accusations and distorted facts. One shall not LIE! We are not FOOLS! Joe Biden's tenure as President has been marked by substantial achievements and a determined effort to address the complex challenges he inherited from the Trump administration. Upon taking office, Biden was faced with an unprecedented global pandemic, a fragile economy, and deeply entrenched political divisions. Despite these challenges, his administration has made remarkable strides, affirming the United States' position as a global leader and a resilient nation. Biden's Achievements: Economic Recovery: Biden's policies have spurred a robust recovery, adding 15 million jobs to the U.S. economy, a record for any president in three years. This achievement is particularly notable given the economic turmoil at the pandemic's peak. Infrastructure Investment: The passage of a landmark infrastructure bill, a feat that had eluded previous administrations, will modernize the nation's infrastructure, creating jobs and improving quality of life for Americans. Climate Action: Biden has made the largest investment in climate action in U.S. history, demonstrating leadership in addressing the global climate crisis. Healthcare and Veterans: His administration has worked to lower drug prices and improve healthcare for veterans, addressing longstanding issues in veterans' care. Gun Safety Law: Biden achieved what hadn't been done in 30 years by passing significant gun safety legislation, reflecting his commitment to addressing gun violence. Economic Indicators: Under his leadership, the U.S. has seen the longest stretch of sub-4% unemployment in half a century, along with a record-high stock market and surging consumer sentiment. Recovery from Global Inflation: Biden's policies have also contributed to a faster recovery from global inflation than many other nations, showcasing the effectiveness of his economic strategies. Obstruction by Republicans: Despite these achievements, Biden's efforts have been consistently obstructed by Republicans, who have chosen to block meaningful legislation at every turn. This obstructionism is not just about thwarting Biden's agenda; it's aimed at creating hardship for Americans, hoping it will translate into political gains for Trump in 2024. Strength and Resilience: Folks, the narrative that the U.S. is a nation in decline is categorically false. The accomplishments of the Biden administration, in the face of significant adversity, underscore the nation's strength and resilience. These achievements, along with Biden's proactive measures on immigration, border security, and international relations, reaffirm the U.S. as the strongest nation globally, capable of leading with integrity and innovation. Conclusion: The contrast between the forward momentum under Biden and the stagnation and division fostered by obstructionist Republicans is clear. The achievements of the Biden administration, particularly in areas handed off in turmoil by the previous administration, highlight a government working tirelessly for the betterment of its people and standing firm on the world stage. The path forward requires continued leadership that builds on these successes, not regressive policies that seek to undo this progress for political points.

Human☮🇺🇸🇺🇦🇺🇸🌊

80,271 views • 2 years ago

"I'm telling the administration...that if they don't release those [videos I've seen], then I have the capabilities of getting those videos and releasing them." ~Burlison (Transcript and comments by me on one of my fav segments in a long time.) ~ Will Cain: "Missouri Republican Congressman, Rep. Eric Burlison, joins me now. Congressman, thanks for being with us here today. You and I, Congressman, I think we've had a very candid conversation together. We have both talked about the fact that I am open and curious about this subject of UAPs, but I do feel like we're at a place where evidence needs to start meeting expectations. What we've seen today, what does this tell us? Does this meet any expectation?" Burlison: "I think that there's...we have to take a step back and recognize the historic nature of this. Every president prior to President Trump has really demurred any kind of questions on this. They dismissed them, they would not talk about it. People would, if anything, snicker or sneer anytime this kind of subject came up. So the fact that we have a president who is open and willing and trying to be transparent is something to celebrate. "That being said, I think that this is a teaser, this is a kind of a, you know, something to open up with. This was the low-hanging fruit kind of videos and content for this administration to release. A lot of this has been...some of this has been out there before. It's not been acknowledged, right? So, you're looking at Apollo 17 video..." Cain: "I've seen the same thing said by Rep. Tim Burchett Press Office. That this is sort of the beginning, and there will be other releases that could leave Americans with a holy crap moment. I believe that's a direct quote from Congressman Tim Burchett." (This is what Burchett tweeted today: Burchett: "The 1st drop will be big but in comparison to what is coming they will be a drop in the bucket. I would say 'Holy Crap' is coming." I hope so. Or people are going to be upset that the videos and evidence didn't meet the hype, and you may see a lot of people losing interest in this topic. Last month, he told Elizabeth Vargas: “I’ve seen pictures and video of things that defy any reason that we have." ~Burchett And also last month, he told NEWSMAX: “If they would release the things that I've seen, you would stay up. You'd be up at night worrying about or thinking about this stuff... And for the record, I'm not suicidal and I don't take risks.” ~Burchett (That's some major hype there and, again, I hope future videos live up to it. I'm gonna guess that Burlison is NOT a fan of getting people's expectation up like that.) Cain: "My question for you, or the congressman, would be: Why? Why slow roll this out like it's a season of 'Game of Thrones'? Like, why would Episode 1 be somewhat uninspiring - leave us with more questions than answered - if there's something coming after the teaser? What's the point in staging the release?" Burlison: "So, again, this...just from talking with the White House and this administration, this is not an easy thing to do. There's not one huge repository of all of these documents and videos and photos. Despite what most people believe, they're really...at least we haven't found that one, you know, big repository. So what the Agency is doing is going and finding, first and foremost, the items that are readily available to be released. And they wanna be quick...move quickly and release those." (Okay, so they haven't located the best videos yet? Then what was Burchett shown? And if what he was shown is really THAT amazing, why haven't those videos or photos been released? Drip, drip? The excuse that they haven't been able to locate them yet doesn't hold water IF Burchett's take is accurate and they showed him SOMETHING that blew his mind and will blow our minds. Or, did he just hype it up and whatever he saw is really not that impressive? As I've asked several times in the past: Do these amazing videos actually exist?) Burlison: "I would ask you, would you prefer to have them wait for, you know, years, what would probably take years if they were to do a comprehensive study and then release it all at once, in one big batch? I would prefer that they release it as they find it, and I think that that's...this administration wants to be transparent and do that." (Great! How about releasing what Burchett was referring to in his interviews?) Cain: "My criticism is not for the decisions of the administration." (Well, if the Trump administration isn't releasing the best of the best videos that they already have in their possession because they're afraid of how Americans (and the world) might react (fear and panic), then they DO deserve some criticism, right?) Cain: "My criticism is for the expectation built by many out there that have these conversations, that there will soon be a bomb to drop when it comes to revelations about aliens." (Burchett, and then Rep. Anna Paulina Luna with her repeated comments about interdimensional beings. Luna: "...this is something you can go back and watch with the Congressional hearings - but I was actually able to ask some of the witnesses, 'What are these things?' And they keep saying interdimensional. "I wouldn't call them aliens. I really like what Grusch calls it. He says that they're interdimensional beings and he's very specific about that." Grusch has NEVER said that, nor has any witness who testified in front of Congress, so I have no idea where she's getting that from.) Cain: "And, if that's true, are we trying to prepare the American people with a slow drip, drip, drip tease of this stuff? If not, then Congressman, I would say, if this is all we've got, then I'm not sure that there's anything the American government really has that tells us anything about the existence of aliens? I'm just beginning to feel like this entire story is teased out always just beyond our reach." (That's why we need just ONE (for starters) clear and close-up video of an object performing maneuvers that we thought were impossible. And as of right now, we don't have that. I've said this many times. Does that type of video exist?) Burlison: "I can sense your frustration. I've experienced it personally myself. I've seen videos that I think are in the process of being declassified, so I think that there is more to come. If they're not going to be declassified, I'll probably do an effort to release them myself under Speech and Debate." (In short, the Speech or Debate clause says that a Senator or Representative can speak freely about anything, or share anything, in either house of Congress and have absolute immunity from civil or criminal liability. I'll link to an example in the replies.) Burlison: "But again, a lot of the footage that I've seen is similar to what has been released today. There's some that are pretty interesting, and especially given the environment and the circumstances of the videos. Whether they are videos of UAP that are flying around Russian submarines or a video of our aircraft that are firing on some of these UAPs? I've seen those kind of videos. And so I'm teasing that because I know that...I'm telling the administration, through you (Will Cain) at this moment, that if they don't release those, then I have the capabilities of getting those videos and releasing them." (How much better are those videos than what we've seen today?) Cain: "Can I say one more thing about this, congressman? I expect you and I will have much longer conversations like we have in the past, where we have fewer time constraints. But what I'm seeing here, and we're sharing today, and what's been released, there are probably hundreds, perhaps 1000s, of explanations for what we see on these video screens. They don't lead us directly to extraterrestrial or out-of-this-world explanations. "Is there something else? Is there some other proof that you've seen? Is there a more compelling video that can't be described or explained as a drone or a light refraction or any other thing. Again, I'm not cynically dismissing these things, as I've always mentioned to you. I'm open and curious. I just don't think the evidence is meeting the moment." (I agree with Cain. The government-released or government-acquired footage just doesn't get us over the hump with the masses and skeptics.) Burlison: "I think you and I are at the exact same place. I continue to look for these things and try to follow the narrative that people are saying. Follow the historical narrative that we have a crash retrieval program, and this is the kind of information I keep getting presented. It doesn't mean that we don't stop looking." Cain: "Fair." (If we have recovered craft and bodies of non-humans, and it can be PROVEN, then these videos from today will be forgotten instantly.) Burlison: "And I have...and so the White House and the ODNI is looking for the next places to go investigate. And I think that...and they've actually been open in asking me where those next places should be, and so we're offering..we're gonna be working to offer those locations. A lot of this, Will, is gonna be in the hands of these agencies that are quasi-private or private companies, and that's gonna be a harder dig for this, for this administration to do, but that's where I think we're gonna get to the truth." (Let's start with the "holy crap" videos Burchett hyped and saw and see if they are as good as he's claiming.) Cain: "Well, to his defense, the President hasn't made big promises about what this would reveal. I don't think I can say that about everyone who purports to have seen something that there are big revelations, and so far, the evidence in the videos haven't met the promises. I do hope we continue to see more, congressman. I hope you do fight so we can see more. Obviously, transparency and answers is what we're seeking here on what would be a gigantic issue. Congressman Burlison, thanks, as always, for your time." Burlison: "Anytime."

Joe Murgia

22,530 views • 3 months ago

‘Doctor Death’ Gives Life to Gold Mines Dave Fennell chain-smoked and studied law while winning 6 Grey Cups. He sent 3 quarterbacks to the hospital in one game, becoming 'Dr. Death' and a household name in Canada. Next Dave turned to gold exploration, building 5 ventures worth ~$5 billion. He's never shared his story publicly—until now. After dominating football, Dave Fennell's Midas touch in Guyana could lead to his greatest victory. Mining legends Louis Gignac, Rick Rule and others weigh in. "I was capable of playing very violently," recalls Fennell. "If you're going to survive as a defensive lineman. The people who are opposite you, have to be afraid of you." He played 10 seasons for the Edmonton Eskimos (renamed Elks in ‘21), appearing in 8 Grey Cups (Canada’s Super Bowl). The Eskimos won 6, including 5 in a row 1978-1982. Fennell, who turned 71 Feb 4, is chain smoking Marlboros on a Zoom call with me Feb 5. He’s reflecting on a career that spans beyond the gridiron to golden ventures. His resume includes co-founding Golden Star (US $467M sale in ‘22) and Miramar ($1.5B sale in ‘08). Fennell was a tenured director of Sabina ($1.1B sale in ‘23) and Torex ($1.2B market cap). His Reunion Gold ($485M market cap) has rapidly discovered a major gold deposit after setbacks. Fennell's sons picked up his drive too. David Jr. played Michigan State football then turned engineer. John raced luge at the Sochi Winter Olympics, now he's a corporate analyst. – Raised in a middle-class Edmonton, Alberta family, Fennell was the second of four children. “I was taught very early on, you're not allowed to quit when you start something. It was not acceptable.” He completed a 4 year undergrad degree at U of North Dakota in 3 years. Fennell could have gone to the NFL, but chose to stay in Edmonton, joining the Eskimos on the condition he’d also go to law school. It's hard to imagine a pro athlete smoking, studying law, and winning six championships today. But Dave Fennell did it all. He planned to play pro for 10 seasons, and wondered, “What do you do when the cheering stops?” Joining a law firm next, the bosses leveraged his "Dr. Death" fame for networking. Fennell recalls, “They loved taking me to the Petroleum Club on Mondays.” His law practice worked with many small miners. After three years and a Guyana field trip, Fennell decided to get into gold mining himself. At 32, Fennell founded Golden Star Resources (GSR). He partnered with Roger Morton, a U of Alberta geology professor, to explore Guyana. GSR spent $20K staking the forgotten Omai gold deposit. “It was open ground.” Anaconda Copper explored Omai extensively in the late 1940s but stopped when the Korean War began. Secrets of the Anaconda Library A private detective helped Fennell find Anaconda’s geological data. They learned of a cavernous library in Montana, holding 100 years of records. A librarian, just laid off, liked Fennell and sold him the Guyana files for $30K. GSR hired SNC Lavalin, with their top supercomputer, to process this historical information. It showed a big potential mine. Placer Dome partnered on Omai in ‘87, before walking away. Fennell didn't give up. He invited Louis Gignac’s Cambior to visit Omai during a 3 day rainstorm. Cambior ended up funding construction for a 70% stake. It produced 3.7 million gold ounces from 92-05. Renowned mining investor Rick Rule says Fennell is easy to underestimate. "The physicality obscures a great intellect and a guy that's actually very kind. He's the classic entrepreneur. When he sees an opportunity, he can't not grasp it.” Next, GSR pursued Cambior to partner in Suriname. “If I had a mine each time someone told me a story about a property, I'd be a very rich man,” Gignac says. GSR’s Rosebel discovery was in region reeling after Suriname’s civil war. “David, why don’t you settle down, get married, do something easier than this,” Gignac advised him. Fennell persisted, inviting Gignac to tour Rosebel. It poured rain again on that trip, which Gignac saw as a good omen after Omai’s success. Cambior eventually built the mine. Rosebel became one of South America’s largest, yielding over 6 million ounces. Today, it’s operated by Zijin. GSR stock jumped 600% in the early '90s thanks to these wins. Investor Mike Halvorson says GSR’s work in the Guianas and Suriname put the area on the map for mining. “Back in those days, from a political point of view, it was considered high-risk to go into the Guianas,” Gignac remembers. “It took a lot of guts for [Fennell] to get involved, and a lot of guts to follow him there. We eventually mined about twice the [initial] reserves at Omai. By doing Omai, it was that much easier to do Rosebel. We were comfortable with the region and its people. There's a lot of advantages in these countries. It's simpler. Decision makers are easier to know and be in contact with.” Halvorson remembers Fennell throwing a 'chirping' analyst into a pool on one Suriname stay. The guy skipped on the water like a stone. Fennell and Halvorson connected in Edmonton in the 1980s through their love of migratory bird hunting. “Anything that walks, flies or swims, Dave has killed,” says mining engineer Bruce McLeod, who hunts and fishes with Fennell. A massive Anaconda snake skin once adorned the crown mouldings in Fennell’s Montreal offices. At 41, Fennell lucked out as the sole bidder for Sigrist House, once King Edward VIII's Bahamian villa. Fennell lived there 28 years before downsizing. In the late 90’s, Fennell clashed with GSR's board and was pushed out. Later, GSR refocused on Africa and was sold to a Chinese company. To avoid GSR conflicts, Fennell eyed new gold regions. BHP's Hugo Dummett offered him all their gold assets for $80 million. But with few flush bidders, BHP sold the portfolio in pieces. Ivanhoe got Mongolia and discovered Oyu Tolgoi. Randgold took West Africa, and Harmony got East Africa. "If you'd have kept that package together, it'd be the second largest copper company [today]. And you'd be arguing with Newmont about who was the biggest gold company," Fennell says. He bought the Canadian assets for US $20.4 million. It had Hope Bay, a 4 million ounce gold discovery in the high arctic. Fennell dealt through Cambiex Exploration (CBX), where he’d been appointed Chair and CEO in January ‘99, when CBX was a 15 cent stock with a $3.5 million market cap. CBX split the tab with Miramar, a modest gold miner sitting on cash. Miramar swallowed CBX in 2002, appointing Fennell Executive Vice Chairman. Miramar invested about $100 million in Hope Bay and led it through permitting. In 2008, Newmont bought Miramar for $1.5 billion. Every $1 invested in CBX’s equity funding when Fennell took over in early ‘99 was worth $19.50 when Newmont acquired Miramar 9 years later. CBX shareholders made even more money through a spinout company, Ariane Gold, acquired by Cambior in ‘03. Rob McLeod, a geologist at Hope Bay, admired Fennell's strong presence, humour, and optimism. Fennell built bonds with Inuit partners through fishing and Crib games, easing the permitting process. Fennell would need that optimism for his next venture. – In 2004, Fennell listed Nevada explorer New Sleeper. A name change to Reunion Gold (RGD) came in 2006, after recruiting former GSR colleagues and pivoting again to the Giuanas. The stock ran from 30 cents to over $2 in early ‘07 on the back of a Suriname gold find. It didn’t pan out. RGD crashed to 3.5 cents during the ‘08 financial crisis. “When you take your shareholder's money and you say you're going to do this, and if it's not successful, my job is to fix that and I'm not going to roll all the stock back. I'm not going to wipe shareholders out,” Fennell says, explaining RGD’s current 1.23 billion shares. Reunion roared back above $2 again after a Guyana manganese discovery. Then, metal prices crashed, cutting RGD to one penny by 2016. “You're going to fail a hundred percent guaranteed in both exploration and football,” Fennell says. “The real question is, what are you going to do after you fail?” A US $10 million sale of the manganese project provided a lifeline. In 2019, Barrick partnered with Reunion on exploration, committing $4.2 million. Reunion was a 7 cent stock in 2020 when they found gold at Guyana’s Oko project. But, Barrick quickly abandoned the alliance and skipped a $3 million commitment. They even sued Reunion after Oko's success. In 2023, Barrick and RGD settled, owing nothing to each other. Oko moved from a prospect to a major gold deposit rapidly. An initial 2023 resource estimate showed 4.3 million ounces (indicated plus inferred). Fennell believes Oko could be the best gold mine in South America. He sees a 300--400,000 ounce per year, low-cost mine, with a 12 year initial mine life. "It’s going to be much bigger and longer,” Fennell says, optimistically. “Whether we're going to live longer is a whole different question." Reunion aims to publish a PEA study on Oko before Summer. Fennell also looks forward to a feasibility study and final permits in Q1 2015, with construction to start soon after. "From a discovery to a tier one mine in [potentially] six years, it doesn't get any better," Fennell says. He’s in Georgetown this week, talking with the Guyanese government about Oko's future. Reunion’s looking at options: build, sell, merge, or partner up. Fennell wants RGD to avoid execution risk and debt. G Mining Services, led by Fennell's old friend Gignac, is advising on Oko. They've successfully built many mines, like Fruta del Norte in Ecuador (Lundin Gold - $3.7B market cap). Gignac's G Mining Ventures, doing well and on track in Brazil, could be a key player in Oko's future. “There will be a mine [at Oko]. There's absolutely no question,” says Gignac. “The size, grade, and gold content. That's going to be the next one to put on his record.” There’s a slight problem with Venezuela’s claim over Guyana’s Essequibo region, where Oko is. Fennell isn't worried. He says the US will protect it because of Exxon and Chevron’s huge oil investments there. Gignac says Fennell hasn't changed since they first met in the late 80s. "Always glass half-full, always enthusiastic. A track record as good as anybody at finding deals, doing exploration, and developing orebodies." Fennell is honest and a consummate salesman according to Rule. “I don't think in 35 years he ever lied to me, but he would polish the living shit out of the rear view mirror.” Some colourful highlights of my 2 hour Zoom with Mr. Fennell were published in raw video form below. It’s full of wisdom about gold exploration and football. “David is one of the most low key and commercially successful entrepreneurs in [mining],” Bruce McLeod wrote. “He has played a huge part in mentoring others too. Without David I wouldn't be where I am today.” Fennell says, "We always overcome challenges. I never give up." Reunion Gold (RGD-TSXV) is worth $485 million at press time, last at 39.5 cents. Fennell owns 61 million RGD shares. He has warrants and options to purchase 12.6 million more. B. McLeod, Rule & Halvorson all own the stock. All figures CAD unless otherwise indicated. Like, Share, & Follow me Tommy Humphreys for more Big Score stories!

Tommy Humphreys

166,264 views • 2 years ago

The Enemy Within: An American Muslim Claims - The U.S. is the Enemy of Islam By: Ofer Binshtok Sheikh Ahmad Musa Jibril, whose many followers rely on his vast and profound knowledge of Islam, positions the United States—his birthplace and country of citizenship—as an enemy of Muslims. He asserts that the West, led by the U.S., fundamentally opposes Sharia and Tawhid, listing it alongside Israel and Russia as part of a hostile coalition against Islam’s victory. To him, Islam views the U.S. as an enemy, and every believing Muslim must recognize this. "The army of the Jews is a stone’s throw away with tanks and planes, waging war alongside the U.S.," he says, yet emphasizes: "They achieve a stunning, lightning-speed victory"—a clear allusion to the conquest of Damascus and the fall of Assad through Jihad. He declares Jihad as "the central pillar" of Islam, rejecting any permanent treaty with disbelievers like the U.S., who "will never accept Sharia," as it negates the struggle to impose Allah’s laws. Citing verses such as "And fight them until there is no more fitnah" (Al-Anfal 8:39), he permits only temporary truces. Jibril sees the victory over Assad as a step in the Jihad to establish Sharia, paving the way to defeat the U.S. and Israel—Islam’s primary enemies. Details of His Criminal Acts: In 2004, Jibril was convicted in Detroit, alongside his father, on 42 serious charges: conspiracy, bank fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, tax evasion, and possession of firearms and ammunition as a felon. The prosecution uncovered a sophisticated scheme involving the destruction of his properties to collect insurance money, resulting in losses of about $400,000. A mail carrier identified mail sent to over 80 aliases, and fake voter registration cards under fictitious names were found at his sister’s home. Sentenced to 6.5 years in a maximum-security prison in Terre Haute, Indiana ("Guantanamo North"), he was released in 2012 and ordered to pay $250,000 in restitution. These crimes reveal a pattern of criminal behavior that aligns with his views. Background: Sheikh Ahmad Musa Jibril is an Islamic-American preacher, a graduate of the University of Medina in Sharia, and holder of a law degree from Michigan. He gained prominence through his lectures on Tawhid and Jihad, attracting numerous followers who admire his deep knowledge, though he sparked controversy after his 2004 conviction. His words are seen as influential among Jihad supporters via social media. Part Two: Implications for the U.S. and the Historical Dimension Muslims in the U.S. who adopt Jibril’s worldview pose a cunning and dangerous internal threat lurking within American society. With his profound knowledge, he makes it clear this is a religious duty for every believer, backed by commands like "And fight them until there is no more fitnah (non-Muslims)" (Al-Anfal 8:39) and "Slay the Mushrikun (non-Muslims) wherever you find them" (Al-Tawbah 9:5), perfectly aligning with Jihad’s practical actions. They live in the U.S. but are loyal to a vision aiming to topple it from within—part of a 1,400-year Islamic colonialist campaign that began with Muhammad’s sword, conquering Persia, Byzantium, and Spain, replacing entire cultures with Sharia. For them, the U.S. is a future battlefield, continuing a patient tradition that waited centuries to seize "infidel" lands. America’s internal security faces a severe threat—not immediate, but as part of a long, calculated historical process that Jibril and his followers represent. They exploit democratic freedoms to grow stronger and plan, just as Islam waited before Constantinople fell in 1453. The victory over Assad proves their plan is in motion, and the U.S. is a future target that could take decades or centuries—a strategy that reshaped the world over 1,400 years and, in their view, will succeed again. Chapter on Additional Supporting References: As stated in Quran 8.39: "...fight them until disbelief (non-Muslims) disappears and the whole Dean (way of life) is for Allah alone...(for Islam)” As stated in Quran 9.5: “...kill the Mushrikun (non-Muslims) wherever you find them…" Al-Bukhari: "To wage war against Allah means to reject faith in Him." As stated in Quran 2.191: "The sin of disbelief in Allah is greater than committing murder." - The concept of Jihad as defined by Sharia law. 09.0 JIHAD (0: Jihad means to war against non-Muslims, and is etymologically derived from the word mujahada, signifying warfare to establish the religion. And it is the lesser jihad. As for the greater jihad, it is spiritual warfare against the lower self (nafs), which is why the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said as he was returning from jihad, "We have returned from the lesser jihad to the greater jihad." The scriptural basis for jihad, prior to scholarly consensus (def: b7) is such Koranic verses as: (1) "Fighting is prescribed for you" (Koran 2:216); (2) "Slay them wherever you find them" (Koran 4:89); (3) "Fight the idolators utterly" (Koran ); and such hadiths as the one related by Bukhari and Muslim that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: "I have been commanded to fight people until they testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and perform the prayer, and pay zakat. If they say it, they have saved their blood and possessions from me, except for the rights of Islam over them. And their final reckoning is with Allah"; and the hadith reported by Muslim, "To go forth in the morning or evening to fight in the path of Allah is better than the whole world and everything in it." Details concerning jihad are found in the accounts of the military expeditions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), including his own martial forays and those on which he dispatched others. The former consist of the ones he personally attended, some twenty seven (others say twenty-nine) of them. He fought in eight of them, and killed only one person with his noble hand, Ubayy ibn Khalaf, at the battle of Uhud. On the latter expeditions he sent others to fight. himself remaining at Medina, and these were forty-seven in number.) THE OBLIGATORY CHARACTER OF JIHAD 09.1 Jihad is a communal obligation (def: c3.2). When enough people perform it to successfully accomplish it, it is no longer obligatory upon others (0: the evidence for which is the Prophet's saying (Allah bless him and give him peace), "He who provides the equipment for a soldier in jihad has himself performed jihad," and Allah Most High having said: "Those of the believers who are unhurt but sit behind are not equal to those who fight in Allah's path with their property and lives. Allah has preferred those who fight with their property and lives a whole degree above those who sit behind. And to each. Allah has promised great good" (Koran 4:95). If none of those concerned perform jihad, and it does not happen at all, then everyone who is aware that it is obligatory is guilty of sin, if there was a possibility of having performed it. In the time of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) jihad was a communal obligation after his emigration (hijra) to Medina. As for subsequent times, there are two possible states in respect to non-Muslims. The first is when they are in their own countries, in which case jihad (def: 09.8) is a communal obligation, and this is what our author is speaking of when he says, "Jihad is a communal obligation," meaning upon the Muslims each year. The second state is when non-Muslims invade a Muslim country or near to one, in which case jihad is personally obligatory (def: c3.2) upon the inhabitants of that country, who must repel the non-Muslims with whatever they can). 09.2 jihad is personally obligatory upon all 'those present in the battle lines (A: and to flee is an enormity (dis: pH)) (0: provided one is able to fight. If unable, because of illness or the death of one's mount when not able to fight on foot, or because one no longer has a weapon, then one may leave. One may also leave if the opposing non-Muslim army is more than twice the size of the Muslim force). 09.3 Jihad is also (0: personally) obligatory for everyone (0: able to perform it, male or female, old or young) when the enemy has surrounded the Muslims (0: on every side, having entered our territory, even if the land consists of ruins, wilderness, or mountains, for non-Muslim forces entering Muslim lands is a weighty matter that cannot be ignored, but must be met with effort and struggle to repel them by every possible means. All of which is if conditions permit gathering (A: the above-mentioned) people, provisioning them, and readying them for war. If conditions do not permit this, as when the enemy has overrun the Muslims such that they are unable to provision or prepare themselves for war, then whoever is found by a non-Muslim and knows he will be killed if captured is obliged to defend himself in whatever way possible. But if not certain that he will be killed, meaning that he might or might not be, as when he might merely be taken captive, and he knows he will be killed if he does not surrender, then he may either surrender or fight. A woman too has a choice between fighting or surrendering if she is certain that she will not be subjected to lin indecent act if captured. If uncertain that she will be safe from such an act, she is obliged to fight, and surrender is not permissible). Source: Reliance of the Traveller - Revised Edition. The Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law 'Umdat al-Salik by Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri (d. 769/1368) in Arabic with Facing English Text, Commentary, and Appendices. Edited and Translated by Nuh Ha Mim Keller. Amana publications-Beltsville. Maryland U.S.A. Page 599-601. [CERTIFICATION OF AL-AZHAR] IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, MOST MERCIFUL AND COMPASSIONATE al-Azhar Islamic Research Academy. General Department for Research, Writing, and Translation. Mr, Nuh Ha Mim Keller. Amman, Jordan. Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. To commence: In response to the request you have submitted concerning the examination of the English translation of the book 'Umdat al-salik wa 'uddat alnasik by Ahmad ibn Naqib in the Shafi'i school of jurisprudence, together with appendices by Islamic scholars on matters of Islamic law, tenets of faith, and personal ethics and character: we certify that the above-mentioned translation corresponds to the Arabic original and conforms to the practice and faith of the orthodox Sunni Community (Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jama'a). There is no objection to printing it and circulating it. The stamping of the pages of the above-mentioned work with the seal of the department has been completed. May Allah give you success in serving Sacred Knowledge and the religion. Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Composed on 26 Rajab 1411 A.H.l11 February 1991 A.D. General Director of Research, Writing, and Translation Fath Allah Ya Sin Jazar [signed] Muhammad 'Umar Muhammad 'Umar [signed] Seal of al-Azhar [stamped] General Department for Research, Writing, and Translation. - Can Islam live in true peace with the infidels? No. By: Ofer Binshtok Only Hudna (truces), a temporary ceasefire, is made because Islam is in a weak position against the infidels. Hudna buys Islam time until its power overcomes the infidels, and then it will exterminate them, in accordance with Allah’s commands from the Quran and Muhammad. *According to Muhammad, Bukhari 1765, the earth belongs to Allah and his messenger, to Islam: Bukhari 1765: "…The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: I want this... - He said to them (the same words) the third time (and on getting the same reply) he added: You should know that the earth belongs to Allah and His Apostle…" * According to Allah, from Qur'an 47.35, Allah commands the believers, do not seek peace when your hand is uppermost: Qur'an 47.35: "…So do not weaken and call for peace while you are superior…" * When Islam is in a position of weakness against the infidels, they have a holy command from Allah from the Quran and Muhammad to lie to the infidels to buy time: Muhammad in Bukhari hadith 3029: Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) called,: "War is deceit". Muhammad in Hadith Sahih, in Tirmidhi 1939: “Lying in time of war”. The message from Quran 3.28: Permission to lie to disbelievers as a defense, when Islam is in a state of weakness. Taqiyya. The message from Quran 16.106: "...Whoever disbelieves in [i.e., denies] Allāh after his belief...except for one who is forced [to renounce his religion] while his heart is secure in faith..." * Indeed, Islam is in a constant state of war against the infidels: “Islam is in an eternal state of war against heresy and disbelievers”. Quran 9.29 begins with: “Fight those who do not believe in Allah...” The message is also from Quran 8.39 Fight the disbelievers until only Islam will exists in the world. Quran 9.123 begins with: "O you who believe, fight those disbelievers who are near you..." The message is also from Hadith Bukhari 25: "Fight the disbelievers until they all convert to Islam and only then will their lives and property be protected…" * In 628 AD, Muhammad moved towards Mecca with an army of 1,400 warriors, a force that was not strong enough to face the mechanical army of the Quraysh tribe. This is why he signed the Hudna Treaty of Hudaybiya, a temporary 10-year ceasefire with the Quraish tribe. An agreement that was considered humiliating for him since he was forbidden to sign it while mentioning his status as a prophet and messenger of Allah. But Muhammad saw this agreement as a victory that gave him time to break the Quraysh's defense agreements with third parties (Bukhari 2731-2732). Which indeed allowed him a year later, in 629, to also attack the Jews of Khaibar. * According to Sharia law, hudna is a temporary ceasefire agreement for ten years; this is the only agreement that Muslims are allowed to sign with the infidels: * TRUCES (Hudna) 09.16 (O: As for truces, the author does not mention them. In Sacred Law truce means a peace treaty with those hostile to Islam, involving a cessation of fighting for a specified period, whether for payment or something else. The scriptural basis for them includes such Koranic verses as: (1) "An acquittal from Allah and His messenger..." (Koran 9:1); (2) "If they incline towards peace, then incline towards it also" (Koran 8:61); as well as the truce which the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) made with Quraysh in the year of Hudaybiya, as related by Bukhari and Muslim. Truces are permissible, not obligatory. The only one who may effect a truce is the Muslim ruler of a region (or his representative) with a segment of the non-Muslims of the region, or the caliph (o25) (or his representative). When made with other than a portion of the non-Muslims, or when made with all of them, or with all in a particular region such as India or Asia Minor, then only the caliph (or his representative) may effect it, for it is a matter of the gravest consequence because it entails the nonperformance of jihad, whether globally or in a given locality, and our interests must be looked after therein, which is why it is best left to the caliph under any circumstances, or to someone he delegates to see to the interests of the various regions. There must be some interest served in making a truce other than mere preservation of the status quo. Allah Most High says, "So do not be fainthearted and call for peace, when it is you who are the uppermost" (Koran ) Interests that justify making a truce are such things as Muslim weakness because of lack of numbers or materiel, or the hope of an enemy becoming Muslim, for the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) made a truce in the year Mecca was liberated with Safwan ibn Umayya for four months in hope that he would become Muslim, and he entered Islam before its time was up. If the Muslims are weak, a truce may be made for ten years if necessary, for the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) made a truce with Quraysh for that long, as is related by Abu Dawud. It is not permissible to stipulate longer than that, save by means of new truces, each of which does not exceed ten years. The rulings of such a truce are inferable from those of the non-Muslim poll tax (def: 011); namely, that when a valid truce has been effected, no harm may be done to non-Muslims until it expires. * In 630 AD, Muhammad's power increased; he broke the agreement with Quraish and moved towards Mecca with about 10 thousand warriors and conquered it. The Quraish tribe converted to Islam, and Muhammad abolished the religious tolerance that existed in Mecca. With his own hands, he began to destroy the 360 holy sites for the different religions that lived there in mutual tolerance and harmony. He abolished this tolerance and left only the Islamic holy site. * Quran 8.58, in fact, allows Muslims to cancel any contract for "fear” that the other party will break it. Not because the other party violated the agreement, but only out of fear. So signing an agreement with Islam is basically meaningless. Quran 8.58: "If you are afraid of the treachery of some of your allies, you may disregard your treaty with them. God does not love the treacherous ones." In conclusion: As a religious command, from Allah, from the Quran, from Muhammad, and from Sharia law: * Islam is in a constant state of war against the infidels, until it destroys them. * When Islam is weak, the believers are commanded to obtain a hudna (temporary ceasefire) so that they can gain strength that will surpass the strength of the infidels. * There is no meaning in signing an agreement with Islam since they are allowed to violate it at any moment. * When the power of the believers exceeds the power of the infidels, the believers are ordered to abandon the Hudna agreement and destroy the infidels. - A Muslim must be loyal only to the Islamic Ummah By: Ofer Binshtok The identity of the Muslim is solely to be a part of the global Islamic Ummah, without any connection to a nation-state or to another culture that is not the Islamic Ummah. The idea of independent Islamic nation-states contradicts the Islamic idea as it is found in the Quran and Muhammad's Sunnah. A Muslim, wherever he is in the world, is part of the Islamic Ummah. A Ummah that should be ruled by a caliph through Sharia law. Islam is a global political-religious worldview of a world without borders. The existing Islamic nation-states are actually an act of heresy. A disbeliever who converts to Islam must completely break away from his former identity, become part of the Islamic Ummah, and serve its purposes personally. Every Muslim, wherever he is, is personally obligated to act so that the Islamic Ummah will be established—that is to say, to collapse every nation-state that exists in the world so that the Islamic Ummah will replace it. The fact that the idea of Ummah is included in the central motif of the Quran is evidence of the vital significance of this concept. In Islamic terminology, the term "Ummah" refers to the religious community, also known as the Islamic holy community. This is the primary interpretation of the phrase found in the Quran. Quran 5.51: "O you who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians as Auliyâ’ (friends, protectors, helpers), they are but Auliyâ’ of each other. And if any amongst you takes them (as Auliyâ’), then surely he is one of them. Verily, Allâh guides not those people who are the Zâlimûn (polytheists and wrong-doers and unjust)." Quran 2.143 "Thus, have We made of you an Ummat justly balanced, that ye might be witnesses over the nations, and the Messenger a witness over yourselves; and We appointed the Qibla to which thou wast used, only to test those who followed the Messenger from those who would turn on their heels (From the Faith). Indeed it was (A change) momentous, except to those guided by Allah. And never would Allah Make your faith of no effect. For Allah is to all people Most surely full of kindness, Most Merciful." Quran 3.104 "Let there be one nation of you, calling to good, and bidding to honour, and forbidding dishonour; those are the prosperers." Quran 3.110 "You are the best nation produced [as an example] for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and believe in Allah. If only the People of the Scripture had believed, it would have been better for them. Among them are believers, but most of them are defiantly disobedient." Quran 16.92 "And be not like her who undoes the thread which she has spun after it has become strong, by taking your oaths a means of deception among yourselves, lest a nation may be more numerous than another nation. Allah only tests you by this [i.e who obeys Allah and fulfills Allah's Covenant and who disobeys Allah and breaks Allah's Covenant]. And on the Day of Resurrection, He will certainly make clear to you that wherein you used to differ [i.e. a believer confesses and believes in the Oneness of Allah and in the Prophethood of Prophet Muhammad SAW which the disbeliever denies it and that was their difference amongst them in the life of this world]." Tafsir Al-Qurtubi, volume 1, page 649: Muhammad said, "The earth was made a mosque for me." Sahih al-Bukhari, 3167: "The Prophet said, "If you embrace Islam, you will be safe. You should know that the earth belongs to Allah and His Apostle." - Islamic Conquests Throughout History

Ofer Binshtok - Kafir - עופר בינשטוק

122,846 views • 1 year ago

Over the last two and a half years, the two of us, Michael Shellenberger and alex gutentag, have written and published hundreds of articles and testified before Congress on multiple occasions about the clear violations of the spirit and letter of the Constitution by former President Joe Biden and other Democratic leaders. We exposed a sweeping effort by former and current officials with the CIA, FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and its intermediary organizations to construct a Censorship Industrial Complex to censor President Donald Trump and millions of his supporters. We documented that Democrats and Democrat-appointed judges were abusing the justice system in an unconstitutional effort to incarcerate Trump or otherwise prevent him from running for office. And we published extensively on efforts by Democrats, Europeans, and Brazilians to engage in mass surveillance of social media accounts and text messaging apps to search for disfavored speech. In addition, we have repeatedly defended Trump and the Trump administration from false and malicious claims that they have violated the Constitution or undermined democratic norms any more than Democrats. We showed that Trump and Republican demands for censorship have paled against the totalitarian weaponization by Democrats of the Intelligence Community to spy on the Trump campaign, spread disinformation, interfere in elections, and create a global Censorship Industrial Complex. We repeatedly pointed out that between 2017 and 2021, the Trump administration obeyed court orders, consistent with the clear requirement under the Constitution that it do so. And we were the first to report on new evidence that President Barack Obama’s CIA Director had ordered the spying on Trump campaign officials to justify surveillance of the Trump campaign, spread disinformation, interfere in the 2016 election, and undermine a duly elected president. Since Trump’s reelection, we have defended his administration’s justified cuts to USAID, the Department of Education, and other agencies. We have welcomed his use of legal executive authority to make sweeping orders to end “gender-affirming care” for minors and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. We documented and condemned the role of the CIA and USAID in instigating and justifying the impeachment of Trump in 2019, and USAID for contributing to the Russia collusion hoax. We have argued that Democrats and the media’s claims that these actions are unconstitutional are false and politically motivated. Few formerly Left-wing journalists and commentators have done more to recognize and document the Left’s descent into totalitarianism and irrationality. We have made the case that, given Democrats’ many failures and abuses of power, Trump’s victory was a moral win, not just an electoral one. Given all of this, we believe it is necessary to speak out against the Trump Administration’s recent violations of the spirit and, and perhaps the letter, of the United States Constitution with regards to free speech, privacy, and the separation of powers. The Trump administration detained and may deport a Palestinian student activist named Mahmoud Khalil for his involvement in university protests and his alleged support for Hamas. The Trump administration is using AI to review the social media accounts of tens of thousands of foreign students for wrongthink. And the administration, over the weekend, ignored a judge’s order to return planeloads of alleged gang members from Venezuela to the United States and instead sent them to El Salvador, claiming that the 1798 Alien Enemies Act allows for its noncompliance because it is non-justiciable outside of the court’s authority. These actions do not, either individually or together, approach anything close to the unconstitutional “whole-of-society” censorship and weaponization of government by the Democratic Party, but they may become a pattern that, if left unchecked, threatens to undermine the administration’s moral authority. Given the ongoing assault on free speech and individual rights in Europe, maintaining this authority is sorely needed if civil liberties and Enlightenment values are to be upheld in the West. The courts may still rule that some of those actions are constitutional. The fact that the Palestinian student activist is not a citizen may make his deportation constitutional. Democrats have been using the National Science Foundation for the last decade to fund universities the development of AI-based censorship tools to give or sell to social media platforms. And the Justice Department has complied with orders by a judge for a sworn declaration, and the court will hold another hearing on Friday. Even so, the Trump administration’s actions violate the spirit of the Constitution’s protections for freedom of speech, privacy, and due process. Khalil was indeed involved in negotiations between Columbia University and student protestors, and many foreign students have expressed anti-Israel views, but deporting someone for exercising what appears to be a lawful exercise of free speech and using AI surveillance tools to surveil foreign students’ views on a complex topic, establish a dangerous precedent that will likely have an intended chilling effect on speech for foreign students and citizens alike, particularly around the Israel-Palestine conflict. Such a chilling effect is overreaching, counterproductive, and wrong. Both critics and supporters of Israel alike should reject such broad measures and instead support open discourse and debate on university campuses. And, given that American presidents have only activated the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 during wars, and since Congress has not approved of any war with Venezuela, it is for the judiciary, not the executive branch, to decide whether the Act is non-justiciable. The Alien Enemies Act has only been invoked previously during the War of 1812, World War I, and World War II, and even then, the courts reviewed whether the Act was being appropriately applied. Trump’s invocation of the statute refers to a “hybrid criminal state that is perpetrating an invasion of and predatory incursion into the United States.” The Act, however, specifies that the “invasion or predatory incursion” must be one perpetrated “by any foreign nation or government.” The administration claims that the Venezuelan gang is acting as a “de facto government in the areas in which it is operating,” but this argument is not legally sound. There is also not sufficient evidence to support the DOJ’s claim that the gang is taking directions from the Maduro government. Reinforcing the perception that the Trump administration is violating the Constitutionally protected separation of powers, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts yesterday condemned calls for the impeachment of the judge overseeing the Alien Enemies Act case. “For more than two centuries,” said Roberts in a public statement, “it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.” Roberts’ statement may have been partly motivated by Trump’s statement, made a few hours earlier, about the Alien Enemies Case judge. “This judge,” wrote Trump on Truth Social, “like many of the Crooked Judges’ I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!!” Roberts’ statement likely reflects the opinion of the majority of Supreme Court justices. It is rare for justices to issue public statements, as they tend to let their rulings speak for themselves. Two weeks ago, Roberts and Trump-appointed justice Amy Coney Barrett joined liberal justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Ketanji Brown Jackson in refusing to overturn a lower court order requiring the Trump administration to pay out USAID grants. Barrett’s other rulings suggest that there are at least five justices who agree with Roberts. None of the three cases described above are needed for the Trump administration to implement its agenda. If any foreign students are a proven national security threat then they can be deported on that basis and not on their expressions of sympathy with Gazans or even Hamas. Our highest court has repeatedly ruled that Nazis can march through neighborhoods of Holocaust survivors as long as they do not immediately incite violence, and we should defend that high bar for censorship, as difficult as it is sometimes. And the Trump administration could have simply returned the alleged gang members to the United States, kept them in detention, and appealed the court’s order. Whatever political gains the Trump administration believes it is getting from such actions are significantly outweighed by their moral and political harm. In all three cases, the administration’s actions undermine the ethos in which our founding fathers created the United States of America as a beacon of freedom, privacy, and rule of law protected through the separation of powers. And the Trump administration’s actions undermine one of the central claims upon which Trump was elected, and which drew him support from independents and Democrats, which is that Trump would protect the public from an out-of-control deep state. “They’re not coming after me,” said Trump, famously, “they’re coming after you. I’m just standing in the way.” A top Democratic pollster recently confirmed that Trump won the popular vote because he persuaded Democrats and Independents to vote for him. While those voters may care more about inflation and immigration than civil liberties, many of them also care about free speech, privacy, and the separation of powers. And many of Trump’s new independent and liberal voters were likely alienated by the Democratic Party’s assault on civil liberties. If Trump signals that he is attacking free speech, violating the separation of powers, and “coming after” independent justices, he will undermine his presidency and destroy his nationalist and populist coalition. Trump himself must understand deeply the importance of civil liberties and the separation of powers. The IC illegally spied on his campaign and spread disinformation about him. The FBI invaded the sacred privacy of his home in Florida. The government censored his voters. No president in American history has been more victimized by unconstitutional governmental abuses of power than Trump. It is disrespectful to the civil libertarians and constitutionalists in the Republican coalition for the Trump administration to behave in ways that run contrary to their values. Many independents, Democrats, and liberals were reassured by Trump’s alliance with former liberal Democrats Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who are lifelong advocates for freedom of speech and privacy. The Transportation Security Administration apparently spied on Gabbard through its “Quiet Skies” program because of her foreign policy views. And the Biden Administration demanded and achieved censorship of Kennedy for his constitutionally protected speech. Trump’s former campaign manager and current chief of staff, Susie Wiles, understands the importance of building a big tent, including one that includes civil libertarians; it was at the heart of her successful strategy to win a majority of the popular vote in the 2024 election. Vice President JD Vance received his law degree from Yale Law School and has spoken out eloquently against European censorship. And Secretary of State Marco Rubio has made clear that he wants to put free speech at the center of America’s foreign policy diplomacy. Why, then, is the Trump administration engaged in such self-destructive behavior? Why has it been ignoring the multiple warnings it has been given, including from its own supporters and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court? Please, subscribe now to support Public's defense of free speech, read the rest of the article, and watch the rest of the video!

Michael Shellenberger

647,545 views • 1 year ago