Shorts: Politics, War
Politically, the big story heading into the weekend is this:
Democrat Megadonors Freeze $90 Million in Donations to Biden; ‘Brutal’ Dem Rebellion About to Unfold
Fox News meanwhile reported Friday that a “coordinated Democrat rebellion” against Biden is about to unfold for “a brutal 48 hours.”
So it appears that the aim is to oust Zhou over the weekend—or get the pieces for that into place. The devil remains in the details, however. What happens with the money, what happens on certain state ballots, etc. These are complex matters governed by election laws, so it won’t be easy or pretty. All this indicates a real sense of desperation, which I believe stems from fear of losing control of the base—if a significant part of the base gets the idea that the world doesn’t end if they vote for Trump, politics in the US will be changed forever. The other big question remains, How much of an issue will the question, Who’s been pulling the strings? be between now and January. Can Zhou possibly remain in the Oval Office till then? Doug Macgregor, interestingly, suggested that some of the Megadonors are becoming increasingly alarmed at the reckless foreign policy that’s being driven by this regime. He suggests that dumping Zhou could be a prelude to a major pre-election change in foreign policy. That would require getting Zhou out of the WH, of course. We shall see.
DD Geopolitics @DD_Geopolitics
Maria Zakharova on Biden calling Putin "The President of Ukraine":
"It seems to me that the notorious “Russian interference in the American elections” can no longer be hidden - there is a pro-Russian candidate controlled by the “hand of the Kremlin.” We are waiting for Hillary Clinton’s hysteria about the “attack on American democracy”, and the State Department’s report on uncovering a conspiracy of “domestic terrorists.”
Is this a related big story? Viktor Orban put in a brief appearance at the NATO self congratulation fest, then headed down to Mar a Lago to confer with President Trump.
Peace mission 5.0 It was an honour to visit President @realDonaldTrump at Mar-a-Lago today. We discussed ways to make #peace. The good news of the day: he’s going to solve it!
CTH talks about this at some length, as does Danny Davis today.
Meloni gives Orban the malocchio:
Gotta luv this: Poland is forcibly mobilizing Ukrainian refugees, and is preparing to return them to Ukraine. I’ve maintained all along that Poland will never expand east into western Ukraine. The Ukrainians would never stand for it, and the last thing Poles want is more Ukrainians in their country.
Elon Musk:
"The European Commission offered 𝕏 an illegal secret deal: if we quietly censored speech without telling anyone, they would not fine us.
The other platforms accepted that deal.
𝕏 did not."
China is neither impressed nor amused by America’s war mongering rhetoric and attempted bullying:
Mega Geopolitics @MegaGeopolitics 6h
BREAKING:
Chinese Foreign Ministry:
"Beijing will freeze the assets of American companies in China."
I assume there’s more detail to the story, but obviously the Chinese are not about to accept American diktats. A message the US should have understood a long time ago.
The Russian foreign ministry has a clearer understanding of Who Rules America than most Americans:
Russian Foreign Ministry regarding the mental state of the "lost" Biden:
"The deep state and the American media have long concealed the true situation of President Biden from public opinion"
Compare that clear statement of incontrovertible truth to the gaslighting of our MSM, who want us to believe this is all some big surprise.
This is genuinely interesting. It looks like Erdogan is preparing for a new order in the Middle East, and not one that places Turkey in the Anglo-Zionist camp:
Journalite @journaIite
 I offered Mr. Assad to come to my country or let's meet in a third country.
I want us to overcome this resentment and start a new process.
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
7:03 PM · Jul 11, 2024
A bit more from Reuters:
ISTANBUL, July 12 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday it is not possible for NATO to continue its partnership with the Israeli administration.
"Until comprehensive, sustainable peace is established in Palestine, attempts at cooperation with Israel within NATO will not be approved by Turkey," Erdogan said at a news conference at the NATO summit.
Turkey also continues its diplomatic efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war, he said.
Erdogan said as well that he has instructed Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to start to restore relations with Syria.
Will this affect NATO use of the Incirlik airbase in Turkey?
Readers familiar with these matters may find this article interesting:
Houthi Rebels Are Operating Their Own GuardZoo Spyware
The Register ^ | Tue 9 Jul 2024 | Brandon VigliaroloFairly 'low budget', unsophisticated malware, say researchers, but it can collect the same data as Pegasus
When it comes to surveillance malware, sophisticated spyware with complex capabilities tends to hog the limelight – for example NSO Group's Pegasus, which is sold to established governments. But it's actually less polished kit that you've never heard of, like GuardZoo – developed and used by Houthi rebels in Yemen – that dominates the space.
This is according to Lookout principal researcher Justin Albrecht, who spoke to us about the analyst's report, out today, revealing the existence of GuardZoo. The report says that the Dendroid RAT-based Android surveillanceware, first spotted in 2022, is still active. It has actually been on the scene since at least 2019, Lookout says. The infoseccers believe GuardZoo is linked to Houthi rebels – based on its targeting of Yemeni military members, as well as logs from GuardZoo's C2 server, its lures, and other data points.
GuardZoo is distributed via WhatsApp or direct browser downloads, and appears to rely on social engineering tricks – for example it impersonates legitimate apps and disseminates military-themed content – to con users into installing it. Along with seeing it on the devices of victims in Yemen, Lookout says it has also viewed samples of GuardZoo on hardware belonging to military staff in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Oman.
GuardZoo's developers gave it its own C2 backend instead of relying on the existing code harvested from Dendroid RAT, and the malware is also able to download and use .dex files to update itself stealthily.
Many of the installations detected by Lookout spoofed location tracking apps that allow the use of GPS without a cellular signal, and much of the data pulled by a fresh GuardZoo installation involves extensions like KMZ, WPT and TRK – all of which involve geolocation. This suggests its controllers are using it to gather intelligence and track troop movements – further cementing the link to Houthi rebels, Albrecht claims.
The malware also has the ability to steal photos, documents, device and configuration data.
…
I ran into a Clinton/Obama Operative today (Stephanie Cutter).
She had a huge smile on her face, happier than a pig in sh t.
Take that how you want.
I think it is appropriate to quote Maya Angelou here: "when someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time. They know themselves much better than you do."
Anyone who thinks Biden is going to go willingly didn't listen when he told us who he is. He isn't going.
I don't know how anyone - even the deep state - even the megadonors - even Obama and the Clintons - can force him out if he refuses to leave. He isn't alone in this either. There is an entire administration (and family) who depends on him for their power and wealth. And they have much of the control right now. Things could get very interesting if "they" really try to force Biden out and he really won't go. Get your popcorn ready. Who'd have thunk that Trump would be the boring candidate this time?