I find something inherently wrong with this association/mashup.

Very good summation B4. You do think about these things. I'm hopeful there will be a turn around or push back because that is the usual way - pendulum swings.
Wish the target of grievance was more clear so peeps could unite, but it isn't. It's an amorphic mess.
Humans suck at collective organization.
Rap on, brother, rap on..

Leader Dementia spreading younger and younger, where will it end?..

Trudeau states
"Russia must win this war."
Then says
"Ukraine must win this war."

Why the confusion?pic.twitter.com/V2Q9JCFkgt

— sonofabench (@therealmrbench) February 26, 2024

You could very well be treading new ground that will require everyone else some time to catch up.

I may have to include myself for that one.

Look forward to it ;).

Lol, hi B4. Do you happen to have a link that exemplifies that those "Dems don't even try"?.

Of course, you don't need one. Why defer to some acclaimed and accredited expert with a Nobel Prize when

You could very well be treading new ground that will require everyone else some time to catch up.

If so, look forward to it - cuz it wouldn't be the first time! ;).

Of course 12, if there is an interest in not addressing the root but rootin' for the home team your inquiry may be moot. ;).

User
same question rephrased in different ways: Why is Trump a thing?.. a movement?. What is not being addressed that creates such an outcry of dissatisfaction?. Are Democratic politicians really oblivious to this fairly large constituency?.. thanks..
ChatGPT

The phenomenon surrounding Trump's rise to prominence and the enduring support for him can be attributed to various factors. Here are several ways to rephrase your question:

What factors contribute to Trump's significance and the movement he represents?
What underlying issues fuel the widespread dissatisfaction that Trump's supporters express?
Are Democratic politicians failing to acknowledge and address the concerns of this significant segment of the population?

The appeal of Trump and the movement he leads can stem from a variety of sources, including economic anxiety, cultural grievances, dissatisfaction with the political establishment, and a desire for change. It's essential to examine these factors to understand the depth of support for Trump and the issues that resonate with his base.

Regarding Democratic politicians, there may be debates about whether they adequately understand and address the concerns of Trump supporters. Some argue that there's a disconnect between certain Democratic policies and the priorities of these voters, while others suggest that efforts to engage with these communities are ongoing but face significant challenges. Understanding and bridging this gap is crucial for effective governance and fostering unity within the broader society.

I got a bit caught up in the Donnie Dementia trending on Twitter and it was good ;).

I keep an eye out for this stuff. Good to see a gov't and gov't body stand to say we are not your whippin' boy.

He may just have been mistaken - in not keeping up with latest data or alike. So, wouldn't be too harsh ;).

https://twitter.com/TOGAjano21/status/1761730677794291835

Nope, link back - Biden doesn't have dementia.

Lol, trending on twitter is Donnie Dementia..

He added: “We have languages coming into our country … they have languages that nobody in this country has ever heard of. It’s a horrible thing.”
 
But Trump broke from the teleprompter into a series of bizarre riffs. One was a convoluted story about flying into Iraq in darkness: “I sat with the pilots ... the best-looking human beings I’ve ever seen. Not my thing ... But they are handsome. Central casting. Better looking than Tom Cruise. And taller.”
 
Once again he had the faithful eating out of the palm of his hand – a scene that may set off alarm bells for defenders of democracy. “By the way, isn’t this better than reading off a fricking teleprompter?” he asked. The crowd cheered.
 
“Nobody can ramble like this,” he said, adding: “They’ll say: ‘He rambled, he’s cognitively impaired.’ Well, it’s really the opposite. It’s total genius – you know that.” The crowd cheered some more.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/24/donald-trump-cpac-speech


Chase that crazy baldhead outta town..

Caroline Kennedy is to swap her chauffeured BMW for the driver’s seat of beat-up Ford Falcon, driving from Adelaide to Perth in April in a car worth less than $1,500 to raise money for cancer research.
 
Shitbox Rally was founded in 2010 by James Freeman who lost both his parents to cancer within a year. It has since raised more than $40m for research across Australia, with each rally crew acting as fundraisers for the Cancer Council.
Caroline Kennedy, the United States ambassador to Australia, meets with John Koloni and Nelma Ane at a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the battle of Guadalcanal.
Caroline Kennedy meets children of Solomon Islanders who saved JFK’s life
Read more
 
Kennedy’s Falcon, dubbed Moonshot, has been named in honour of US president Joe Biden’s Cancer Moonshot, which aims to eradicate the disease, and as a homage to her father’s ambition to reach the moon in the 1960s.
 
“We do these things because they’re hard,” said Kennedy, channelling words spoken in 1962 by her father, former US president John F Kennedy, as he explained why the US wanted to land a man on the moon.
 
“I’ve met so many inspiring scientists here in Australia, who are working to cure cancer and have a lot going on with colleagues in the United States ... [and] having met the people I’ve met, I could not be more hopeful.”
 
On Sunday morning, the ambassador and her team sizzled hundreds of sausages and kilos of onions outside a hardware store to raise money for the Cancer Council.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/feb/25/us-ambassador-caroline-kennedy-prepares-for-shitbox-rally-across-outback-australia
https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/g30186235/caroline-kennedy-pictures/

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Tomorrow, SC starts deliberations on butt hurt repug anti censorship lol - u read that right. Social media corps must print their bullshit and must not influence the political public dialogue ... u know like Citizens United lol:
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/02/supreme-court-order-facebook-x-election-lies.html?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us

Fuagf, enjoyed this movie last night - Sapphires. Has a few elements that overlap with you. Cheers..

Rooster, don't think that qualifier for what type of bitch is appropriate

This is an appropriate use of the term:

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Ukraine has a right to use its Western-supplied weapons to defend itself against Russia, even if that includes striking targets within Russia's borders.

"This is Russia's aggressive war against Ukraine, which is a blatant violation of international law," Stoltenberg told Radio Liberty during an interview on Tuesday.

"And according to international law, Ukraine has the right to self-defense. And it also includes strikes against legitimate military targets, Russian military targets outside of Ukraine. That's international law, and of course, Ukraine has the right to do that to defend itself."
https://www.newsweek.com/nato-gives-ukraine-go-ahead-cross-putins-red-line-1872629

I think better examples would be North and South Korea or the USA where the same "people" split themselves (into civil wars).
Non sectarian for the most part until the larger party made a power play.

No, Ukrainians are not Russians but like many countries made it work
Until it didn't like Czechoslovakia..
Yugoslavia wouldn't be an example - too ethnically diverse.

Almost 2 million Ukies still living in Russia in 2023



Putin just needs a bullet and life can get back to some semblance of sanity.

Yup, one is a behavior and one is atheism. Made me curious if there are any atheist countries:


https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=are+there+any+majority+atheist+countries

A protracted stalemate might be the only solution for Russia to avoid total economic collapse.
The Russian regime has no incentive to end the war and deal with that kind of economic reality. So it cannot afford to win the war, nor can it afford to lose it. Its economy is now entirely geared towards continuing a long and ever deadlier conflict.
It's clear the battlefield is not the only place to look at in forming an opinion as to who - between the West and Putin - is winning or losing the war.
In the big picture -- Putin is losing. Ukraine is losing. The West is winning.

Think I'll remain unaligned and remain with my token comment.

But will continue to maintain a five to one advantage (weapons and fodder)

For sure Fuagf, both things are true at the same time but particularly where one wants to put the emphasis.

My emphasis, I used "token" out of sadness. Sad, how long it is taking to contain Putin and protect the Ukrainian people.
Hundreds of thousand are dead and the next months look like more of the same.

There can be no "lethal blow" to Russia as well. Has to be a long drawn out and incremental war of attrition - ie; terrible outlook.

Do you think if Ukraine/Da West wiped out the whole fleet of those new fancy long range (and nuclear capable) planes one of which Putin
Was riding around in yesterday - that Kiev wouldn't be flattened like Hiroshima?.

Incrementalism fuck.

The original context and where we got the "godless" key word:

What ISN'T equivocating is to state that Johnson is a wannabe theocrat who routinely blurs the line between church and state by always choosing church over state. The GOP Taliban has it's leader in the House. Someone should ask him why he hamstrings Ukraine in it's fight against godless communism.

Then, I would say the context becomes clearer with your

There's no clearer example of a cynically, insincerely, professed faith that cannot walk its talk than Putin's mendacity and international lawlessness as manifested in his invasion of Ukraine, and Crimea before that.

If you mean't Putin when you said godless communism than I concede your point.

If you mean't the Russian State and as I read it [communism.. is an ism usually reserved for conceptual frameworks; ageism, socialism, etc, but sure, can absolutely be attributed to an individual practising such.] then with a minority of about 18% atheists Russian State is quite "god" fearing. Shouldn't probably say it that way either - those peeps may just think of god as a nice cozy comforter like their house insurance. [.. you did go from the conceptual frameworks of "church and state" right to the individual Johnson so I suppose can be either ;]

Thanks, another excellent compilation, good reads and appreciate your "two reasons" may be sufficient but
Yeah, knowing Donnie and the "cartel" of stop at nothing desperate Repug insurgency nutters I'm definitely thinking Iran/Contra.

[Did Donnie "Ollie North" Trump just get cut off from drug cartel slush funds?]

..until and if ever there is any supportive evidence for it

Exactly the type of research I was thinking of and would like to see here by resident super sleuths.

I guess we all script ourselves and Putin is a master calculator for that (read whole article) and

Agree, about the social control which I believe is also fairly universal but no

Russia is no longer the "godless" variety of communism and likely not a communist country by definition or at least a good one:
.. were characterized by one-party rule by a communist party, the rejection of private property and capitalism, state control of economic activity and mass media, restrictions on freedom of religion, and suppression of opposition and dissent.



In early meetings with then US President George Bush, Putin certainly made much of his personal faith, showing off the small aluminium cross that he wore round his neck and making much of his Christian commitment. Bush was by all accounts certainly impressed – relating the account of the meeting in his book Decision Points.[xiv] Bush, of course, was famous for his own evangelical faith and it is entirely possible that Putin emphasised this precisely to win a friend in the US president. However, the story of this little baptismal cross is one which Putin has highlighted on several occasions and figures prominently in a passage from the biography written by Hutchins and Korobko.[xv]

The story goes that this baptismal cross was given to Putin by his Christian mother when she had him secretly baptised in the early 1950s and it has apparently been an object of great sentimental value to him ever since. Putin did not wear it while he was an active KGB officer, but he reports that “in 1993 when I worked on the Leningrad City Council, I went to Israel as part of an official delegation. Mama gave me my baptismal cross to get it blessed at the Lord’s Tomb. I did as she said and then put the cross around my neck. I have never taken it off since.”[xvi]

The story takes on a mythical element to it, however, in an account of a fire at the Putin family dacha.[xvii] According to the story, the property burned down in the mid–90s, destroying many of the family’s key possessions including a good portion of their money. However, the cross survived the fire and was presented back to Putin by one of the firemen. If the account seems extraordinary it is nonetheless one which has been repeated often. It bears, in fact, a close resemblance to an ancient Russian religious myth in which an icon of St Nicholas was said to be impervious to flame.[xviii] Whether or not that connotation is deliberate and the tale of Putin’s cross is a mythical construct, it is striking that this story is one that forms part of the official narrative on Putin’s faith. Putin certainly wishes to portray a strong personal faith that is exemplified in these stories.

There is some reason to believe that this goes beyond cynical self–image. For many years Putin has certainly had a close relationship with Archimandrite Tikhon, the Father Superior of Sretensky monastery. So close, in fact, is this relationship that there are those who would paint Tikhon as an éminence grise. Certainly Tikhon, a former film student, with a reputation as a spiritual healer seems to have served for some years as confessor to Putin. One biographer speculates that Tikhon probably knows more about Putin’s life than anyone else.[xix] He is also a priest with some rather remarkable political views......
https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/comment/2022/02/16/essay-on-vladimir-putin

Ukraine has some more asset targets
https://twitter.com/search?q=Tu-160M&src=trend_click&vertical=trends

President Putin's flight on a Tu-160M strategic missile carrier. The head of state was in the air for 30 minutes. Pre-flight preparations took another 45 minutes. https://t.co/4u50hBXDJD pic.twitter.com/ea26eZW22x

— ⏳Towhee 🌏☮️ (@amborin) February 22, 2024

Someone should ask him why he hamstrings Ukraine in it's fight against godless communism

Not Really Hawks, they are quite into it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Russia

Yes, that's the history. To be fair the US alone has spent 75B. Germany next highest.
Unfortunately, looks like Russia will keep the territory taken and for some time.

You are likely correct - business as usual going forward. Token sanctions and cont'd profits.

Good one!, literally screwballs "travellin' through the cosmos" - at least that's a baseline.

Hope that luck is running out but today's news item contradicts the thrust of your post..
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=173897679

How do you think Trump was profiting from that relationship?.

Lol, I bit as well. Always amazed seemingly very intelligent people into the outlandish conspiracy stuff.

Very cool building in NYC and a bit of a white elephant I suppose.

Rand Paul political writer - keep the stunned bunny base dazed and confused feeding from the Soylent Green Corp.

Yes B4. Saw a poignant sign on the blue and yellow flag - "We now have your respect - now please help us"

To your points:

Russia has earned $653bn from the sale of fossil fuels, since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago, a new report says today, despite western sanctions.
 
The Kremlin has used loopholes and a “shadow fleet” of tankers to bypass an oil embargo by the US, EU and G7 nations, it says. Typically crude oil is shipped legally to countries such as India and China, It is then refined and sold internationally, Reuters reports.
 
The report by B4Ukraine – a coalition of more than 80 civil society groups – calls on western governments in 2024 to close down loopholes and to strengthen sanctions. It wants them to “defund” Russia’s war.
 
With Ukrainian cities under attack, the report said that Russian weapons recovered from the battlefield were made with foreign components. In 95 per cent of cases critical parts originated from coalition countries helping Ukraine, in particular the US. They reached Moscow via third party sellers, such as Hong Kong, Turkey and the UAE.
 
Some 358 multinational companies exited from the Russian market in the wake of Vladimir Putin’s 2022 invasion. But 2138 corporations continue to operate in Russia. They have paid $40bn in taxes – cash used by the state to fund its war economy, the report says.
 
Natliia Popovych, B4Ukraine’s co-founder said:
 
The flow of Russia’s fossil fuel revenue combined with corporate taxes paid by foreign companies and the supply of western military tech explain Russia’s ability to continue to wage war and further militarise.
 
Closing the existing sanctions loopholes and issuing guidance on the risks of remaining in Russia for the non-sanctioned businesses are of paramount importance to defunding Russia’s war machine. Further actions by the West are the key to crippling Russia’s capacity to wage war in 2024 and beyond.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/feb/22/russia-ukraine-war-live-latest-news-updates-avdiivka-volodymyr-zelenskiy-vladimir-putin
 
Progress is f'n slow but this looks like recognition:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/feb/22/uk-quits-treaty-that-lets-fossil-fuel-firms-sue-governments-over-climate-policies

Cool Zab, seems like some headwinds for Trump lol - along with the other raging storms.

Further, to our discussion let's call "Never bet against the American Economy" and in one of my deep dives
I came across a little gem from a gold bug/end is nigh/conspiracist type who indirectly supports your thesis
Who has had some success in his 30 year stock trading/working for Hedgies/etc,.. career

But, the macroeconomic outlook is the thing and has clever word plays as well so extra marks. Hope you like it [link to article if you want to see the charts]:

I haven’t written much about gold in the recent past – since the failed breakout attempt early in December - simply because I haven’t known what to make of it, and that indecisiveness has been reflected in the market itself where we have seen gold stuck in a fairly narrow trading range, but now things are starting to become a lot clearer both fundamentally and technically, and as we will proceed to see, it’s not a pretty picture.
 
On gold’s latest 6-month chart we can see the trading range that has built out since early December and it is now becoming clear that the pattern that has formed is a Head-and-Shoulders top that also has the characteristics of a Double or Triple Top or a Symmetrical Triangle and right now it is on the point of backing off from the Right Shoulder peak of the pattern. We can be a lot more sure that this is what it is from the volume pattern that from early December has been very bearish, with heavy downside volume, which is why the Accumulation line has been in severe decline. This pattern portends a breach of the support and a drop and at the time of writing, Monday morning (charts made yesterday), gold is down quite hard.
 
 
If gold is set to drop then what about PM stocks? The answer is that they will drop more. Now, I know about the valid argument that the gold stocks to gold ratio is already at a low level that is traditionally bullish and leads to a reversal to the upside and new bullmarket, but that won’t prevent a possible flushout first. On the latest 6-month chart for GDX is shown what I believe will happen to PM stocks if gold breaks down soon as it looks set to. Such a drop would really lead to many diehard PM stock holders throwing in the towel in disgust, and the correct way for existing holders of PM stocks to handle this right now (with the exception of a few special situations) is either to hedge or to step aside and buy back once the dust has settled after another drop.
 
Alright, if the PM sector is set to drop hard soon, then what will be the cause of it? – the answer is a rally in the dollar. So now let’s take a look at the latest dollar index chart and we will sharpen this by then taking a look at a dollar proxy where we have the benefit of being able to see the volume pattern.
 
On the 6-month dollar index chart we can see that, while our suspected Head-and-Shoulders top has been building out in gold, the inverse pattern, a Head-and-Shoulders bottom, has been building out on the dollar, which is hardly surprising. The dollar rallied well in January, up from the low of the Head of the H&S bottom, and after a big up day last Friday is now on the point of breaking out of this potential base pattern. Breakout will be signaled by it breaking clear above the resistance marking the upper boundary of the pattern. Momentum has been improving rapidly and moving averages are steadily swinging into much better alignment.
 
 
It is helpful to also look at a dollar index proxy, in this case the Invesco DB Dollar Index Bullish Fund, where we can find additional clues regarding what is going on, especially in the volume pattern. This is very illuminating for on this chart we see that UUP already had a volume breakout last Wednesday and a price breakout from its parallel H&S bottom pattern on Friday, again on strong volume, So “the writing is on the wall” with respect to the immediate outlook for both the dollar and the Precious Metals. This chart looks strong with a bullish volume pattern and the Accumulation line uptrending since late November, momentum rapidly improving and now positive and moving averages swinging into decidedly bullish alignment.
 
This brings us to the next big question – you can see how we are “reverse engineering” this – which is “Why would the dollar rally now?” The answer to this is that threats to the global hegemony of the petrodollar are being addressed and beaten back. It is no coincidence that the military action being undertaken in the Mid-East, specifically with respect to Iran, is taking place just weeks after Iran (and Saudi Arabia) joined the BRICS, which organization represents a clear and growing threat to the global dollar system. This is a threat that will simply not be tolerated and so the enforcement arm of the US Federal Reserve, i.e. the US Military, is over there to “teach the BRICS a lesson” and anyone else who dares to challenge dollar hegemony.
 
So what we are seeing is a gigantic global power play. The US Federal Reserve and the Neocons see themselves as the rulers of the planet and they have been making some very big moves on the chessboard in the recent past and over the past several years. They didn’t like the fact that Europe and Russia and other points east were getting friendly with each other and growing in economic strength through cooperation so they “put a spanner in the works” by blowing up the Nordstream pipeline. Although this was obviously the handiwork of the US – Biden said they would stop it - you didn’t hear a peep about it from European politicians who are all bought off and corrupted with Europe being a mere collection of vassal states. European leaders couldn’t care less that their citizens would suffer from energy shortages and high prices as a result. They also goaded Russia into invading eastern Ukraine and then tried with their controlled media to turn it into an international pariah with the resulting war in the Ukraine providing an opportunity to launder vast amounts of money and also to clear out the population of Ukraine in readiness for it to become a “backup Israel”. The disruption to shipping in the Red Sea also helps the US in relative terms since it is far more damaging to the European and Asian economies than it is to the US.
 
The interesting thing is that the US power play in the Mid-East is actually a bluff, because countries like Russia and even Iran have unstoppable hypersonic missiles that could quickly send US battle carrier groups to the bottom and likewise quickly take out the 50 or so US military bases in the region, so why don’t they use them and stop the hegemon in its tracks? There are two possible explanations. One is that they understand that the leaders of the New World Order are satanic lunatics who would not think twice about using nukes and would actually enjoy it, and we know that this is so because of them trying to shut down farming and force the population to eat insects and the other explanation is that these leaders, of Russia and various Mid-East countries, are in on the plan and are role playing, like the European leaders. Actually, watching the interplay between the Federal Reserve and US Neocons versus European leaders is like watching a chess grand master sat across the chess board from a chimpanzee. European leaders cannot be that stupid, so we must assume they are all bought off and corrupted – they certainly do not serve the interests of the peoples of Europe which is being intentionally mongrelized by means of invading hordes from Africa and the Mid-East.
 
The point is that through its aggressive brinksmanship that it has so far gotten away with, US elites have been and are tilting the balance of power back in favor of the US at the expense of the rest of the world which, if they succeed, will mean that they can carry on the enviable business of printing paper to swap for goods and services from foreign dupes. This is why the dollar index is rallying and this is why gold and silver may be set for another drop. Most importantly, this tilt in the balance of power will shore up the debt markets and the stockmarket, enabling the Fed to engage in continued money creation with ongoing war in the Mid-East (and the Ukraine) providing a perfect excuse, and some of this newly minted money can of course be used to buy off European politicians as usual and also provide food and lodging for the millions of new immigrants across the US.

[.. when I first got into investing many years ago I was exposed to the gold bugs. Buy physical gold cuz fiat currency will be worthless. Buy some cans of beans and guns and ammo too. Anyhow, still waiting for the crash ;]
 
The longer-term outlook for gold and silver could not be better with continued money creation and resulting inflation meaning that their prices must rise to compensate. Banks are known to be buying gold at record rates and short positions in gold and silver are being closed out, creating a potentially explosively bullish setup for the Precious Metals, so the expected short to medium-term drop in the metals resulting from temporary dollar strength will provide a final opportunity to buy at good prices. Tactics now are therefore to hedge or step aside here and be ready to move back in once this last drop has run its course and we will of course be looking out for this.
https://www.clivemaund.com/free.php?id=68

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/u-s-share-of-global-economy-over-time/
 

..........................

This fascinating long read gives pretty cool insights into some of the mechanics and machinations of capitalism in it's many forms and uses the history of the whaling industry to do so!: The Price of a Whale
https://www.economist.com/christmas-specials/2023/12/20/where-capitalism-and-conservation-meet
https://www.statista.com/statistics/268750/global-gross-domestic-product-gdp/

The structure from within – note the eerie resemblance to the hexagonal graphene oxide atomic structure (that is in the “vaccines”)…



Apart from an upmarket shopping mall, an arts center called “The Shed” and a public plaza, the iconic centerpiece of the entire development is a big and highly unusual copper structure called “Vessel”, whose elements were constructed in Italy and then shipped over for assembly. The Vessel has so far had a short and blighted history. Less than a year after it opened the plandemic started, and it is not known how this affected visitors to it, but on 11th January 2021 it was closed to the public due to some people using it as a means to commit suicide. It reopened on 30th May 2021 but was then closed again, this time indefinitely on 29th July 2021 after another suicide, and it remains closed. I was therefore lucky to be able to go up it without washing my hands or wearing a mask. Following is a selection of photos I took of it from the outside, from the inside and going up it and from the top. From the inside it has a pleasing symmetry and the hexagonal lattice structure has an uncanny similarity with the graphene oxide atomic lattice that is currently being injected into millions of people to kill them. It cost towards $200 million and is rather fatiguing to clamber up after a liquid lunch, so you are not advised to take your 85-year old grandmother up it, if it ever reopens and she’s still alive.

Here is a good drone video of the Vessel. [gotsta open the article for dat] In this video you get good overhead views of the shopping mall, the “Shed” art gallery as well as the Vessel from direct overhead and inside it.
 
 
Finally, here is a great video by the Dronalist of the 9/11 memorial at night, which is included not because it’s relevant, but because it’s so good.
 
 
Hope you have enjoyed the show. It’s off-topic, but I want to share some things with you while it’s still possible. I have taken the password off so you can forward the link if you wish.
 
 
Posted at 6.05 pm EST on 5th January 22.

https://www.clivemaund.com/article.php?id=6041

anarchocapitalist https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lew_Rockwell
 
Rockwell was a founding officer and former vice president at Ron Paul & Associates,[20] which was one of the publishers of a variety of political and investment-oriented newsletters bearing Paul's name.[4][5]
 
In January 2008, during Ron Paul's 2008 presidential campaign, James Kirchick of The New Republic uncovered a collection of Ron Paul newsletters that contained "decades worth of obsession with conspiracies, sympathy for the right-wing militia movement, and deeply held bigotry against blacks, Jews, and gays."[5][21] For instance, one issue approved of the slogan "Sodomy = Death" and said homosexuals suffering from HIV/AIDS "enjoy the pity and attention that comes with being sick".[5]
 
Most of the articles contained no bylines.[5] Numerous sources alleged that Rockwell had ghostwritten the controversial newsletters;[22] Rockwell is listed as "contributing editor" on physical copies of some newsletters[23][24] and listed as sole Editor of the May 1988 "Ron Paul investment Newsletter".[25] Reason magazine reported that "a half-dozen longtime libertarian activists – including some still close to Paul" had identified Rockwell as the "chief ghostwriter" of the newsletters,[20] as did former Ron Paul Chief of Staff (1981–1985) John W. Robbins.[26]
 
Rockwell admitted to Kirchick that he was "involved in the promotion" of the newsletters and wrote the subscription letters but denied ghostwriting the articles. He said there were "seven or eight freelancers involved at various stages" of the newsletter's history and indicated another individual who had "left in unfortunate circumstances" and "is now long gone", but whom he did not identify, was in charge of editing and publishing the newsletters.[6] Rockwell has described discussion of the newsletters scandal as "hysterical smears aimed at political enemies."[27] Ron Paul himself repudiated the newsletters' content and said he was not involved in the daily operations of the newsletters or saw much of their content until years later.[22] In 2011, Paul's spokesperson Jesse Benton said that Paul had "taken moral responsibility because they appeared under his name and slipped through under his watch".[28]
 
Paleolibertarianism (1980s–2000s)
Further information: Paleolibertarianism
 
Rothbard, Rockwell and others described their views as paleolibertarian to describe their cultural conservatism fused with their otherwise anti-statist beliefs.[13][30] They forged a "paleo alliance" between paleolibertarians and paleoconservatives in the form of the John Randolph Club in 1989, which allied the Mises Institute and the paleoconservative Rockford Institute.[13][31]
 
In a 2007 interview, Rockwell revealed he no longer considered himself a "paleolibertarian" and was "happy with the term libertarian." He explained "the term paleolibertarian became confused because of its association with paleoconservative, so it came to mean some sort of socially conservative libertarian, which wasn't the point at all...."[32]
 
Other activities and views
Lew Rockwell speaking at an event hosted by the Mises Institute.
 
Rockwell's paleolibertarian ideology, like Rothbard's in his later years, combines a right-libertarian theory of anarcho-capitalism based on natural rights with the cultural conservative values and concerns of paleoconservatism, and he identifies strongly with the modern Rothbardian tradition of Austrian economics. In politics, he advocates federalist or Anti-Federalist policies as means to achieve increasing degrees of freedom from central government and secession for the same political decentralist reasons. Rockwell has called environmentalism "an ideology as pitiless and Messianic as Marxism."[45][non-primary source needed]
 
Rockwell is Catholic.[4

The continued strain was on full display over the weekend, as Hungarian officials refused to meet visitors from Washington.
 
“Allies have been awaiting Hungary’s action on Sweden’s accession to Nato for 21 months,” the US ambassador in Budapest, David Pressman, wrote on social media.
 
“Regrettably, a range of senior Hungarian government officials and Fidesz parliamentary representatives declined to meet with the most senior US bipartisan congressional delegation to visit Hungary in years,” he added.
 
In his weekend speech, Orbán – who is facing domestic political pressure and protests amid a scandal that led to the resignation of the country’s president – made his preferences clear.
 
“We cannot interfere in other countries’ elections, but we would very much like to see President Donald Trump return to the White House and make peace here in the eastern half of Europe.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/19/china-offers-to-deepen-security-ties-with-hungary-orban

Wolf said he had two distinct feelings about the discovery.
 
“One part is a bit of a shock and awe moment, imagining this hellish place … imagining these conditions, and that nature does produce something even more extreme than we’ve contemplated previously,” he said.

 
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/feb/20/astronomers-discover-universes-brightest-object-a-quasar-powered-by-a-black-hole-that-eats-a-sun-a-day
 
“It looks like a gigantic and magnetic storm cell with temperatures of 10,000 degrees Celsius, lightning everywhere and winds blowing so fast they would go around Earth in a second,” Wolf said.
 
“This storm cell is seven light years across, which is 50% more than the distance from our solar system to the next star in the galaxy, Alpha Centauri.”

"Our poll shows that most Europeans are desperate to prevent a Russian victory. But they also don’t believe that Ukraine will be able to recover all of its territory."

“The most persuasive case for a skeptical public is that military support for Ukraine could lead to a durable, negotiated peace that favors Kyiv, rather than a victory for Putin," said Leonard.

https://www.politico.eu/article/europeans-think-ukraine-lose-war-russia-survey/