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As Israel ticks off its list of Nazi-like atrocities against the Palestinians, including mass starvation, it prepares for yet another – the demolition of Gaza City, one of the oldest cities on Earth. Heavy engineering equipment and gigantic armored bulldozers are tearing down hundreds of heavily damaged buildings. Cement trucks are churning out concrete to fill tunnels. Israeli tanks and fighter jets pummel neighborhoods to drive Palestinians who remain in the ruins of the city to the south.

It will take months to turn Gaza City into a parking lot. I have no doubt Israel will replicate the efficiency of the Nazi SS Gen. Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski, who oversaw the obliteration of Warsaw. He spent his final years in a prison cell. May history, at least in terms of this footnote, repeat itself.

As Israeli tanks advance, Palestinians are fleeing, with neighborhoods such as Sabra and Tuffah, cleansed of its inhabitants. There is little clean water and Israel plans to cut it off in northern Gaza. Food supplies are scarce or wildly overpriced. A bag of flour costs $22.00 a kilo, or your life. A report published Friday by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classifications (IPC) , the world’s leading authority on food insecurity, for the first time has confirmed a famine in Gaza City. It says more than 500,000 people in Gaza are facing “starvation, destitution and death”, with “catastrophic conditions” projected to expand to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis next month. Nearly 300 people, including 112 children, have died from starvation.

European leaders, along with Joe Biden and Donald Trump, remind us of the real lesson of the Holocaust. It is not Never Again, but, We Do not Care. They are full partners in the genocide. Some wring their hands and say they are “appalled” or “saddened.” Some decry Israel’s orchestrated starvation. A few say they will declare a Palestinian state.

This is Kabuki theater — a way, when the genocide is over, for these Western leaders to insist they stood on the right side of history, even as they armed and funded the genocidal killers, while harassing, silencing or criminalizing those who decried the slaughter.

Israel speaks of occupying Gaza City. But this is a subterfuge. Gaza is not to be occupied. It is to be destroyed. Erased. Wiped off the face of the earth. There is to be nothing left but tons of debris that will be laboriously carted away. The moonscape, devoid of Palestinians of course, will provide the foundation for new Jewish colonies.

“Gaza will be entirely destroyed, civilians will be sent to…the south to a humanitarian zone without Hamas or terrorism, and from there they will start to leave in great numbers to third countries,” Israel’s Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich announced at a conference on increased Jewish settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

All that was familiar to me when I lived in Gaza no longer exists. My office in the center of Gaza City. The Marna boarding house on Ahmed Abd el Aziz Street, where after a day’s work I would drink tea with the elderly woman who owned it, a refugee from Safad in northern Galilee. The coffee shops I frequented. The small cafes on the beach. Friends and colleagues, with few exceptions, are in exile, dead or, in most cases, have vanished, no doubt buried under mountains of debris. On my last visit to Marna House, I forgot to return the room key. Number 12. It was attached to a large plastic oval with the words “Marna House Gaza” on it. The key sits on my desk.

The imposing Qasr al-Basha fortress in Gaza’s Old City — built by Mamluk Sultan Baibars in the 13th century and known for its relief sculpture of two lions facing each other — is gone. So too is the Barquq Castle, or Qalʿat Barqūqa, a Mamluk-era fortified mosque constructed in 1387-1388, according to an inscription above the entrance gateway. Its ornate Arabic calligraphy by the main gate once read:

“In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, Most Merciful. The mosques of God shall establish regular prayers, and practice regular charity, and fear none except God.”

The Great Omari Mosque in Gaza City, the ancient Roman cemetery and the Commonwealth War Cemetery — where more than 3,000 British and commonwealth soldiers from World War I and World War II are buried — have been bombed, and destroyed, along with universities, archives, hospitals, mosques, churches, homes and apartment blocks. Anthedon Harbor, which dates to 1100 B.C. and once provided anchorage for Babylonian, Persian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman ships, lies in ruins.

I used to leave my shoes on a rack by the front door of the Great Omari Mosque, the largest and oldest mosque in Gaza, in the Daraj Quarter of the Old City. I washed my hands, face and feet at the common water taps, carrying out the ritual purification before prayer, known as wudhu. Inside the hushed interior with its blue-carpeted floor, the cacophony, noise, dust, fumes and frenetic pace of Gaza melted away.

The razing of Gaza is not only a crime against the Palestinian people. It is a crime against our cultural and historical heritage — an assault on memory. We cannot understand the present, especially when reporting on Palestinians and Israelis, if we do not understand the past.

History is a mortal threat to Israel. It exposes the violent imposition of a European colony in the Arab world. It reveals the ruthless campaign to de-Arabize an Arab country. It underscores the inherent racism towards Arabs, their culture and their traditions. It challenges the myth that, as former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak said, Zionists created, “a villa in the middle of a jungle.” It mocks the lie that Palestine is exclusively a Jewish homeland. It recalls centuries of Palestinian presence. And it highlights the alien culture of Zionism, implanted on stolen land.

When I covered the genocide in Bosnia, the Serbs blew up mosques, carted away the remains and forbade anyone to speak of the structures they had razed. The goal in Gaza is the same, to wipe out the past and replace it with myth, to mask Israeli crimes, including genocide.

The campaign of erasure banishes intellectual inquiry and stymies the dispassionate examination of history. It celebrates magical thinking. It allows Israelis to pretend the inherent violence that lies at the heart of the Zionist project, going back to the dispossession of Palestinian land in the 1920s and the larger campaigns of ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in 1948 and 1967, does not exist.

The Israeli government bans public commemorations of the Nakba, or catastrophe, a day of mourning for Palestinians who seek to remember the massacres and expulsion of 750,000 Palestinians carried out by Jewish terrorist militias in 1948 for this reason. Palestinians are even prevented from carrying their flag.

This denial of historical truth and historical identity permits Israelis to wallow in eternal victimhood. It sustains a morally blind nostalgia for an invented past. If Israelis confront these lies it threatens an existential crisis. It forces them to rethink who they are. Most prefer the comfort of illusion. The desire to believe is more powerful than the desire to see.

Erasure calcifies a society. It shuts down investigations by academics, journalists, historians, artists and intellectuals who seek to explore and examine the past and the present. Calcified societies wage a constant war against truth. Lies and dissimulation must be constantly renewed. Truth is dangerous. Once it is established it is indestructible.

As long as truth is hidden, as long as those who seek truth are silenced, it is impossible for a society to regenerate and reform itself. The Trump administration is in lock step with Israel. It too seeks to prioritize myth over reality. It too silences those who challenge the lies of the past and the lies of the present.

Calcified societies cannot communicate with anyone outside their incestious circles. They deny verifiable fact, the foundation on which rational dialogue takes place. This understanding lay at the heart of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Those who carried out the atrocities of the apartheid regime confessed their crimes in exchange for immunity. By doing so they gave the victims and the victimizers a common language, one rooted in historical truth. Only then was healing possible.

Israel is not only destroying Gaza. It is destroying itself.

This article was originally published on ScheerPost.

The post Israel’s Assassination of Memory appeared first on LewRockwell.

On the latest episode of The Peter Schiff Show, Peter examines the latest turn in Fed policy and the political forces steering it. He argues that the Federal Reserve has reversed course under pressure, that credit expansion still drives price rises, and that foreign central banks are accelerating a move into gold. He also warns that growing government intervention in industry risks turning markets into state-directed economies.

He points out that last week in Jackson Hole, Powell himself admitted the economy is weaker now, with growth roughly half of what it was a year earlier:

Powell said that there can be no doubt that the economy today is weaker than it was a year ago. GDP growth. In fact, he mentioned it was about half. According, I think, to his assessment, he talked about how it was running at a little over 2% a year ago, and now it’s slowed down to 1% or just over 1%. So in other words, the economy is growing at half the pace that it was growing at under Biden.

Peter says the Fed’s rationale for backing off is revealing — they claim to have overshot their targets, but the overshoot is massive when you look at inflation instead of the short-term numbers:

Now, the reason that Powell gave for giving it up is he basically said, look, we tried it. We tried to overshoot a little bit, and it didn’t really work out for us. Meaning, yeah, we tried to overshoot by a little bit, and we did it by a mile, right? They went for 2.1, 2.2, and they got 9.1, right? So, yeah, they tried to overshoot a little bit, and they overshot by a mile.

He reminds listeners that money isn’t the only thing that bids up prices — credit does, too — and that expanding credit without restraint is another form of inflationary policy:

Credit is very important because you don’t need money to buy stuff. You can buy stuff with credit. And so if you can bid up prices with credit without having any money, and we’ve raised that to an art form in America, well, expanding credit is inflation. You’ve got more credit available to buy goods. And even though the Fed was hiking, the hikes were never substantial enough to restrict the credit growth.

Peter warns that foreign central banks are already responding to this shift by diversifying away from dollars and Treasuries and buying gold, a trend he expects to accelerate as the Fed prioritizes political considerations over price stability:

The rotation that we’ve had with foreign central banks out of dollars and out of Treasuries into gold is going to accelerate as a result of this shift in Fed policy. Central banks are going to be more interested and more aggressive in their movement out of U.S. dollars because the Fed has basically said we are going to sacrifice the inflation side of the mandate because of the political pressure put on us by the Trump administration, which is still early days. We’ve still got three and a half years left of Trump and wait till Trump gets complete control of the Fed. Wait till Powell is gone and some flunky has taken his place. And they get some more FOMC members. He’s going to completely have control of the Fed.

Finally, Peter connects the dots between an inflationary currency regime and the growth of government power, warning that state involvement in private firms—whether by purchase or coercion—slides markets toward nationalization and away from capitalism:

And of course, this is the slippery slope to communism, because if you allow the government to buy into companies, and in this case, they didn’t even buy their way in, they extorted their way in. But you know, the government, if they control the printing presses, they can just print out money and buy everything. They can basically nationalize the means of production by buying everything with the money they print. They can effectively nationalize the whole economy and become a communist country. This is not capitalism when the government buys into companies or shakes them down and demands a piece of their action.

This article was originally published on SchiffGold.com.

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Only super-duped MAGA supporters and Israel idol-worshipping evangelicals refuse to entertain the notion that Donald Trump is being bribed by Israel over damning evidence that is buried deep within the Epstein files. But then, even if this evidence is revealed, it won’t matter to the Trump toadies in these groups.

In an interview with Judge Andrew Napolitano, former CIA analyst Ray McGovern said the following:

We tell the world that we think President Trump is motivated not only by this slavish devotion to the interests of Israel but also because Netanyahu has blackmail material on Trump in the Epstein files.

Now, I speculated about that three weeks ago. Now we have some concrete evidence from a Mossad agent who handled Maxwell and his daughter and Epstein himself. And he said, “Look, there’s stuff in there. Please, Mr. Trump, just release it. That way you can end the genocide. You can end the blackmail.”

It’s very clear that there’s something extra that Netanyahu has on Trump. We ought to educate the American people because this is heinousness squared. Okay? Heinousness in forced starvation and genocide and prompted by the violation—the sexual predating—the violation of little girls. We’ve got to do something about that to let people know. Release those Epstein files, and see what Trump is involved in. And then maybe this thing can be resolved when the blackmail material is no longer there.

And we can only imagine with what the Mossad is bribing members of Congress.

And, again, it won’t matter to Trump’s base if there is evidence of Trump’s involvement in Epstein’s pedophile activities. They already know that Trump is a moral degenerate. They already know he is a product of the criminal underworld. And it doesn’t matter to them.

Trump can trample the Constitution with impunity. He can maintain the supply of weapons to Ukraine. He can continue America’s sponsorship of the genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza and the West Bank. He can continue America’s proxy wars in Lebanon and Syria and expand America’s hot wars to Yemen and Iran. All of this is done with complete impunity. His base doesn’t care.

Trump could reprise the role of Julius Caesar, assume the position of emperor and with the stroke of a pen make the Congress and Supreme Court extinct, and his base would support him.

As evidence, one could make the argument that Trump is already in the process of attempting to do that very thing. Remember when Trump publicly said that he could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and wouldn’t lose any voters? Well, he was right, and it still holds true today.

And just two days ago, Trump said he has the “right to do anything I want to do.” These are the words of a dictator, and Trump’s base continue to give him their full support.

To the Trump toadies in MAGA and evangelicalism, Trump is more than a president; he is a god. Hail, Caesar!

Trump’s predilection to trivialize the crimes of Israelis in general (including mass forced starvation, ethnic cleansing and genocide) and the sexual abuse of children in particular was put on public display just recently in Las Vegas (the city owned by Israeli Mossad asset and billionaire donor and friend of Donald Trump, Miriam Adelson).

The editor-in-chief of The Grayzone, Max Blumenthal (who himself is Jewish), reported the scurrilous story of how the Trump Justice Department allowed an Israeli pedophile spy to fly safely out of the country after being caught attempting to have sex with a 15-year-old girl.

Blumenthal:

This really does deserve mainstream attention. I’m actually surprised that mainstream media hasn’t picked up on it more, because it highlights the complete lack of professionalism and corruption of the Trump Department of Justice and specifically one US attorney who’s been named Acting US Attorney by Donald Trump, Sigal Chattah, because over 100 lawyers and judges have declared her to be completely unprofessional and unqualified. She would not make it through a confirmation process.

She is the US attorney in Nevada handling Las Vegas. When she was campaigning in 2021 for attorney general as a Republican, a Trump Republican, her one ad was called Israeli Born, touting the fact that she was born in Israel and lived there until she was a teenager and trafficked in anti-Muslim hatred, promising that she will essentially prosecute Ilhan Omar, one of the few Muslims in Congress, when she gets in, which is something she would have no power to do, but which is kind of ironic given what appears to have happened.

There was a cyber security conference in Las Vegas that’s just filled with spooks from around the world. FBI agents are there, NSA, hackers from around the world, especially Israel. And one of the directors of Israel’s National Cyber Intelligence Directorate, who works directly under the office of Benjamin Netanyahu, Tom Alexandrovich was at that conference. He held meetings around the conference with FBI agents, with NSA agents.

Alexandrovich is an Israeli citizen who works for Benjamin Netanyahu. Actually won an award last year, according to the Jerusalem Post, for playing some role in the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah through some technology he helped create. So, we’re talking about a high-level official, an important figure in Israel.

His name was not known to the public before he went on an adult dating app, was caught in a sting by a police officer posing as a 15-year-old who said, “Will you take me to Cirque du Soleil and bring a condom?” In other words, “We’re going to have sexual relations, and I’m 15.” So, he goes and does that.

[I received a late report that the individual that Alexandrovich attempted to meet for sex was not a police officer posing as a 15-year-old girl but was actually a real 15-year-old girl, and a mentally disabled 15-year-old girl at that.]

And he [Alexandrovich] is interviewed by the police after being caught by agents. And he said, “I am desperate to get back to Israel. I am very embarrassed, and I miss my family.”

So, he declares that he’s a flight risk, and they do not take his passport. They allow him to go. And Sigal Chattah, the US attorney, kicks the case down to Clark County, the Clark County District Attorney, which is local prosecutors. So, she basically punted on the case, and now she’s blaming local liberal politicians and the local liberal DA for letting this go. But she had no interest in the case and punted on it. And she is an Israeli who has repeatedly called for genocide in Gaza on her personal Twitter account.

Now, the State Department under Marco Rubio has had to issue a statement claiming it had no role in helping Alexandrovich abscond from the United States. But we still haven’t been told how this happened. And Sigal Chattah is really on the hook here.

I should mention one other element here. Sigal Chattah is part of the Israeli American Council, which is an Israel lobbying organization funded by Miriam Adelson, funded to the hilt by Miriam Adelson, Donald Trump’s largest donor. And where is Miriam Adelson from? Las Vegas. She owns Las Vegas Sands, which her late husband Sheldon owned. She is paying tons of local politicians to make sure that they have free rein on gambling rights and gambling licenses. She basically owns Las Vegas. So, what was her role here? I know that Miriam Adelson can call Donald Trump, and he’ll do whatever she wants, and she’s speaking on behalf of Netanyahu. What we’re seeing here is sort of Epstein 2.0, and it really demands more public attention.

An Israeli accused sex predator and spy who is in the United States, apparently at the behest of Benjamin Netanyahu, top Israeli official, ICE shows no interest in him. Customs and Border Patrol showed no interest in him when he was leaving the country. So, clearly somebody gave the green light for this figure to escape.

We have a two-tiered justice system sitting right in public view. And it’s also a two-tiered immigration enforcement system which favors Israeli pedo-spies.

On their Redacted podcast, Clayton and Natali Morris also reported this Israeli spy pedo-gate story.

This should be front-page news in The New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal. But what’s happening? Nothing! Where is ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN or FOX News? Nowhere to be found.

Why not? Because the same Jewish billionaire class that owns Donald Trump and the U.S. Congress also owns the major mainstream media.

This president who claims to be the most ardent law and order president in history, who is sending National Guard troops to “fight crime” in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and now threatening to send them to Chicago, allows a foreign spy who is caught attempting to pay a 15-year-old girl for sex in a major American city to receive a get-out-of-jail-free card by his Justice Department, along with a free trip back to Israel.

And you know what else? When Trump’s toadies within MAGA and the Israel-worshipping evangelical churches hear this story, they will dismiss it out of hand as a “nothingburger” and then cuss out the news source that brought the story to their attention.

As I have noted before, Israel is an international safe haven for sexual predators. The Epstein operation is but the tip of the iceberg of this gargantuan crime syndicate operating inside the Israeli government. And this grossly perverse criminal syndicate has its poisonous clutches in the U.S. White House and Congress.

Who knows how deeply this Israeli pedophile syndicate is entrenched within the United States? If it’s in the White House and Congress, you know its tentacles reach down into states and municipalities.

We also know that this criminal syndicate controls America’s Christian Zionist pastors and churches—even if they don’t realize it.

And by virtue of the fact that this criminal syndicate controls Donald Trump, it also means that the people who worship Trump are allowing it to control them.

Reprinted with permission from Chuck Baldwin Live.

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The English people have turned to Elon Musk for protection against immigrant-invader rape gangs that the UK government enables and encourages by non-enforcement to terrorize and rape English girls.  

The headline reads:  “Musk vows to fund lawsuits against UK officials over grooming gangs.”  The story is here.

Over the decades Oxford and Cambridge have infused the “colonialist, racist” British ruling class with so much racial guilt that the UK government is incapable of defending its white citizens.  Over these years, the illegal immigrant-invaders have learned that they enjoy immunity from “racist” law and have the de facto right to sexually use white English females in addition to public support from the white taxpayers.  The situation has deteriorated so much that there are 85 areas in England where white women are unsafe.

England is being erased.  In out of the way places there are still some picturesque villages with thatched and slate roofed cottages and a friendly local pub.  There are still castles and manorial estates where descendants of an aristocratic warrior class, which formed England out of chaos and protected the English from immigrant-invaders such as the Vikings, lived a civilized life.  These estates, now properties of the National Trust, are designations for bus tours that bring tourists who wander through the former residences of earls and viscounts.

But the cities are lost.  In 2021 only 36 percent of London’s population was white British.  The percentage is lower today. 

Clearly, the British ruling elite made the decision to replace the ethnic British, although some say that it is a Zionist plot to rid Jews of white gentiles.  “Multiculturalism” is the tool for replacing whites with massive unhindered third world immigration.  The function of the rape gangs is to use white females to breed more white replacements.  The same thing is happening in Europe and North America.

In England things are so unfavorable for white British that a social media post shows a video of a blond white female pub owner or manager refusing entry to a white British citizen because he has a Union Jack (British) flag.  The flag might offend an immigrant-invader.  The pub owner or manager is so indoctrinated that it does not occur to her to wonder why immigrant-invaders are in England if they are offended by the English flag. An Israeli flag might well offend a Muslim immigrant-invader, but if the pub’s spokeswoman refused entry to the Star of David she would be arrested for anti-semitism.

Another video shows two pre-teen white English girls warding off a gang-banger with a knife and a hatchet.  The police arrested the girls for threatening violence with prohibited weapons.  Nothing was done about the immigrant-invader who provoked their defense.

Looking at England we see a country with a destroyed belief system leaving it unable to protect itself and its white ethnic citizens.  Most certainly the British are incapable of going to war with Russia.  But in the meantime a lot of money will be made from bribes to purchase military weapons, money that will allow the ruling elite to escape from Britain as the country descends into its grave.

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Thanks, Saleh Abdullah. 

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Click Here:

John Leake

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Thanks,  John Frahm.

See here.

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Zero Hedge

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Writes Tim McGraw:

You can bet that the pilots of Bill Gates’ private jets didn’t take the mRNA jabs.

“Welcome to Spike Airlines. Have a nice flight.”

Sudden Deaths and Disabilities Soar Among Covid mRNA Jabbed Airline Pilots

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Tim McGraw wrote

When I lived in Northern New Jersey, I flew in and out of Newark a few times a year. It’s a horrible airport. I hated the place.

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Patrick Foy wrote:

Who is ultimately responsible for this ongoing outrage? [See article here] It’s not the Zionist crazies in Israel, led by Nut&Yahoo. They are only doing what comes natural to them to erase Palestine. They have been at it for decades. I honestly don’t think I’ve come across a bigger, more brazen bald-faced liar than Nut&Yahoo. He takes the prize. Especially when he’s addressing an audience outside occupied Palestine. 

No, it’s not the murderous gang running Tel Aviv. It is primarily the sorry gang running Washington, Jew and Gentile, and most especially the ringmaster D.J. Trump who claims he is trying to get into heaven. This is certainly not the way to do it. Trump could stop the atrocities tomorrow with a phone call.

Don’t they realize, don’t they care, that they are culpable for the ongoing Zionist war crimes which they alternately ignore and promote? The USG is fully responsible for providing the material support as well as the diplomatic interference which makes it all possible. Then there is Europe. But Europe after all takes its cue from Washington which, in turn, takes its cue from Tel Aviv. An unbroken chain of lies and infamy. 

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Eugyppius

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Il manoscritto fornisce un grimaldello al lettore, una chiave di lettura semplificata, del mondo finanziario e non che sembra essere andato fuori controllo negli ultimi quattro anni in particolare. Questa una storia di cartelli, a livello sovrastatale e sovranazionale, la cui pianificazione centrale ha raggiunto un punto in cui deve essere riformata radicalmente e questa riforma radicale non può avvenire senza una dose di dolore economico che potrebbe mettere a repentaglio la loro autorità. Da qui la risposta al Grande Default attraverso il Grande Reset. Questa la storia di un coyote, che quando non riesce a sfamarsi all'esterno ricorre all'autofagocitazione. Lo stesso accaduto ai membri del G7, dove i sei membri restanti hanno iniziato a fagocitare il settimo: gli Stati Uniti.

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(Versione audio della traduzione disponibile qui: https://open.substack.com/pub/fsimoncelli/p/il-futuro-delle-cartolarizzazioni)

Le società nell'elenco Bitcoin Treasury come Strategy sono di gran moda in questo momento. Non passa giorno senza che venga annunciato l'ennesimo veicolo pubblico il cui scopo principale è quello di offrire esposizione alle crittovalute all'interno di un involucro azionario. Sebbene questa soluzione abbia i suoi vantaggi, alcune di queste società non hanno una proposta di valore unica e sono indistinguibili l'una dall'altra. Le loro azioni potrebbero non generare un premio durante un mercato ribassista.

Un approccio migliore è quello di offrire un'azienda che si occupi di ecosistema, che offra un'esposizione completa alle diverse sfaccettature di una specifica blockchain, combinando attività operative con investimenti mirati e fluidi. Mentre le società nell'elenco Bitcoin Treasury sono in definitiva poco più che una beta, un'azienda che si occupa di ecosistema può fornire l'alfa.

Quadro di riferimento

Col senno di poi, i mercati azionari e le crittovalute sono sempre stati destinati l'uno per l'altra. Il mercato azionario è ampio, liquido e ampiamente accessibile; le crittovalute non sono niente di tutto questo, ma una nuova ed entusiasmante classe di asset con un maggiore potenziale di rialzo. Da qui l'interesse di inserire una strategia long sulle crittovalute all'interno di un portafoglio di società quotate, in particolare nei mercati senza ETF sulle crittovalute.

Strategy (ex-MicroStrategy) ha eseguito il piano con successo. Attualmente detiene quasi il 3% di tutti i bitcoin e viene trattato oltre 1,5 volte il valore dei suoi bitcoin. Essendo la prima, e di gran lunga la più grande, società Bitcoin Treasury, ha goduto di un significativo vantaggio da pioniere. Le sue azioni sono altamente liquide, accessibili a investitori istituzionali e retail su innumerevoli piattaforme e ora fanno parte del prestigioso NASDAQ 100. Questa liquidità, insieme al premio sul suo NAV (valore del patrimonio netto), le consente di continuare a emettere più azioni per acquistare più bitcoin. Strategy è stata anche pioniera nell'uso di obbligazioni convertibili per estendere la sua portata (e l'esposizione a Bitcoin) nel mercato del debito.

Rispetto al possesso diretto di bitcoin, i vantaggi di investire in una società Bitcoin Treasury includono:

• Semplificazione della gestione della custodia delle crittovalute, del trattamento fiscale e della rendicontazione;

• Ottenere esposizione alle crittovalute tramite infrastrutture del mercato azionario (custodi, prime broker, ecc.);

• Accessibilità da parte di un'ampia gamma di conti e tipologie di investitori (piani pensionistici, RIA, ecc.);

• Miglior trattamento fiscale delle azioni rispetto alle crittovalute in alcuni Paesi;

• Accesso a un mercato di opzioni più liquido rispetto a quello spot BTC;

• Arbitraggio del mandato di investimento tramite emissione di obbligazioni senior convertibili;

• Monetizzazione di stack di capitale flessibili per la leva finanziaria.

Molti di questi vantaggi sono offerti anche dagli ETF spot su Bitcoin, con l'ulteriore vantaggio di commissioni più basse e strutture di pass-through più pulite. Altri saranno eliminati dalla maggiore maturazione dei mercati spot su Bitcoin, o da nuove leggi che elimineranno le scappatoie normative.

Il fattore più probabile che determina il premio di Strategy rispetto al NAV è la percezione che mercati obbligazionari favorevoli consentiranno di continuare ad acquisire più bitcoin senza diluizione. Tuttavia non vi è alcuna garanzia che la domanda di debito continuerà e può sempre invertirsi a causa della saturazione del mercato, o di un mercato ribassista. L'impossibilità di un rifinanziamento potrebbe portare i detentori di debito esistenti a essere rimborsati tramite azioni di nuova emissione, forzando la diluizione nel momento peggiore possibile.

Ciò non significa che gli sconti sul NAV siano imminenti, o che le aziende non dovrebbero ricorrere alla leva finanziaria, ma piuttosto che le sole operazioni di tesoreria non determineranno necessariamente premi sul NAV, pertanto le crittovalute dovrebbero cercare ulteriori proposte di valore.

Un approccio più sostenibile

Un modo per fare distinzioni è concentrarsi su altcoin che non hanno ETF. Un titolo di questo tipo sarebbe particolarmente interessante se l'asset sottostante non ha ancora un mercato spot liquido. Se si tratta di una coin che può essere investita in staking, la società potrebbe seguire tale strategia per ottenere un rendimento con un rischio di controparte minimo.

Tuttavia il semplice acquisto e detenzione di una coin del genere potrebbe non essere sufficiente per fare la differenza, dato che sempre più ETF stanno emergendo online, compresi quelli che offrono lo staking. I vantaggi di accesso diminuiscono con l'aumento dell'accesso complessivo.

Una strategia più duratura è quella di trasformarsi in un ecosistema: una scommessa onnicomprensiva su un'intera blockchain e su tutte le opportunità di rendimento che presenta, ora e in futuro.

Le aziende basate su ecosistemi possono essere impiegate per qualsiasi crittovaluta, incluso Bitcoin. Possono offrire un'esposizione più completa e diversificata a una piattaforma e gestire la complessità operativa dell'impiego di capitale su una nuova catena. La più ampia superficie di attività consente inoltre ai manager di distinguersi dai concorrenti che si concentrano sullo stesso ecosistema.

Altri vantaggi dell'essere un'azienda ecosistemica includono:

• Gestire attività operative dedicate a una singola catena, come l'esecuzione di validatori, l'offerta di staking delegato e il lancio di un L2;

• Andare oltre il semplice staking per rendere più liquidi quest'ultimo e il restaking;

• Partecipare a opportunità di DeFi e yield farming;

• Utilizzare la leva finanziaria per aumentare i rendimenti su DeFi/yield farming;

• Ottenere un trattamento preferenziale dai team di sviluppo del protocollo;

• Investimenti di rischio in nuove dApp sviluppate in quell'ecosistema;

• Fornire uno sportello unico per accedere a tutte le opportunità che ruotano attorno a una moneta nativa;

• Offrire agli investitori la possibilità di spostare senza problemi il capitale investito da un ecosistema all'altro, senza ritardi o complessità e al minimo costo.

Le aziende ecosistemiche sono progettate per massimizzare i vantaggi delle strutture finanziarie permissionless, in cui il capitale può fluire senza soluzione di continuità da un'opportunità di rendimento all'altra. Le opportunità offerte dalle piattaforme di smart contract come Ethereum e Solana sono innumerevoli, e altre ne emergeranno negli anni a venire.

I mercati azionari potrebbero trovare questa caratteristica delle crittovalute particolarmente interessante, data l'assenza di un equivalente TradFi. Tuttavia sfruttare questa fluidità – e gestirne i rischi – richiede competenza e attenzione costante, soprattutto per le blockchain più recenti. Chi applica la strategia in modo efficace può attenuare gli inevitabili cicli di mercato.

I rendimenti derivanti dall'indebitamento finanziario delle società di tesoreria pura sono decrescenti e non vi è alcuna garanzia di riuscire a raccogliere debito e capitale proprio, soprattutto in mercati difficili. Inoltre è improbabile che persistano ostacoli fiscali e di accesso.

Tuttavia le aziende che sviluppano ecosistemi presentano caratteristiche che offrono qualcosa di più prezioso (e sostenibile) della semplice esposizione al prezzo o della leva finanziaria. Offrono convessità ecosistemica. Se ben gestito, questo è un servizio per cui il mercato sarebbe giustificato a pagare un sovrapprezzo.

[*] traduzione di Francesco Simoncelli: https://www.francescosimoncelli.com/

Supporta Francesco Simoncelli's Freedonia lasciando una mancia in satoshi di bitcoin scannerizzando il QR seguente.

The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has captured the attention of the entire world, drawing concern, debate, and urgency from policymakers, analysts, and citizens alike. Despite widespread awareness and ongoing efforts to seek a peaceful resolution, the ultimate outcome of this war remains shrouded in uncertainty. As the fighting persists and the stakes continue to rise, it becomes crucial to carefully examine the possible trajectories that could lead to the war’s conclusion. In doing so, two stark and contrasting scenarios stand out as the most plausible, each representing a radically different path forward. These scenarios are not merely hypothetical; they carry profound implications not only for Ukraine and its immediate neighbors but also for the broader stability of Europe, the security of NATO countries, and the global geopolitical order. Understanding these divergent possibilities is essential for anticipating future developments and for shaping diplomatic and strategic responses aimed at preventing further escalation or catastrophe.

Scenario One: Acknowledgment of Defeat and Surrender by the West

The first possibility hinges on a sobering and potentially unsettling reality: the Western alliance of the United Kingdom, the European Union, NATO, and the United States should finally recognize the reality that they have tragically lost the fight against Russia in Ukraine. This recognition would not be made lightly; rather, it would be the result of a combination of factors such as prolonged conflict, mounting casualties, significant resource depletion, and diplomatic fatigue that have eroded Western resolve and capacity to sustain their current level of support. Ultimately, this scenario would necessitate a formal acknowledgment of defeat, leading to a strategic and possibly humiliating surrender, signaling an end to their worthless military and political efforts to oppose Russian advances.

Such an outcome implies that the West’s military interventions, economic sanctions, and diplomatic efforts have failed to change the fundamental dynamics on the ground. The prolonged conflict, with its heavy toll on both human lives and national resources, would have culminated in a consensus that further confrontation is futile or counterproductive. Recognizing defeat would most likely lead to negotiations, compromises, and concessions that could reshape the territorial and political landscape of the region. This could include the recognition of Russian-controlled territories as part of Russia, or a negotiated settlement that cedes significant influence to Moscow.

This scenario would also entail a vital shift in regional alliances and borders, marking the end of Ukraine’s aspirations for full integration into Western institutions. It would result in a realignment of security arrangements and a recalibration of Western policies towards Russia, which would finally acknowledge Russia’s renewed regional importance and influence. Ultimately, this outcome would bring an end to active hostilities and redefine the balance of power in Europe and beyond. The global order would see a shift towards a more multipolar world, where Russia’s enhanced position influences international diplomacy and security policies for years to come.

Scenario Two: A Devastating Russian Non-Nuclear Strike

The second more provocative and alarming possibility involves Russia resorting to the use of its advanced non-nuclear weapon systems, specifically the deployment of the non-nuclear version of the Oreshnik missile system, targeting Ukraine and one aggressive NATO member country such as Germany, France, Poland, or the UK, thereby achieving a decisive and devastating victory over western aggression. This aggressive attack would be designed to inflict maximum destruction and psychological shock.

This scenario assumes that barring the possibility of the West’s surrender, Russia’s only remaining option is to escalate the conflict by deploying such a formidable weapon to indiscriminately obliterate Ukrainian infrastructure and military targets. The use of a weapon like the Oreshnik which is indubitably recognized as a highly destructive missile capable of delivering a significant payload over long distances would mark a new and dangerous phase in the conflict, aimed at delivering a crushing blow to Ukraine’s military capacity and civilian infrastructure.

The implications of such an act are profoundly chilling. It would signal a willingness by Russia to cross the threshold into large-scale destruction, possibly as a show of strength or as a means to force Western powers into concessions.

Importantly, Russia’s use of such devastating weaponry is intended not only to break Ukraine’s resistance but also to test the resolve and limits of Western alliances. It will serve as a strategic warning, demonstrating that Russia is willing to unleash destruction on a scale that could also threaten member states or their interests, thereby challenging the post-Cold War security architecture of Europe.

Crucially, such a strike on a NATO country could absolutely trigger a wave of terror and paralysis across Europe. The severity and immediacy of the attack is aimed at inducing extreme fear among European nations, potentially leading to a strategic stalemate where retaliation becomes unthinkable, either due to the devastating consequences or the chaos that ensues.

This scenario hinges on the premise that Russia’s willingness to escalate to such an extent would effectively paralyze NATO and European responses, thereby ending the war through sheer overwhelming force and fear. Simply put, such an ultimate and decisive attack would cancel all the risks of hostility escalation and broader conflict thereby inaugurating and guaranteeing global peace and security once and for all.

Potential Outcomes of the Ukraine Conflict: Pathways Toward Peace or Catastrophe

Both scenarios underscore the deeply complex and perilous nature of the Ukraine conflict, illuminating the wide spectrum of potential outcomes and the profound risks involved. The first scenario suggests a geopolitical recognition of defeat by the West, i.e., the EU, the UK, the US, and NATO, that leads to negotiations, compromise, and a reconfiguration of regional and global power dynamics. Such an outcome will pave the way for a new geopolitical order based on diplomacy,

stability, and the respect of national sovereignty thereby ending the hostilities through a negotiated settlement that preserves some degree of stability and prevents further bloodshed. This scenario emphasizes the importance of diplomatic engagement, patience, and international cooperation in steering the conflict toward a peaceful resolution, even amid ongoing hostilities.

In stark contrast, the second scenario presents a terrifying and catastrophic possibility: that the conflict escalates into extreme destruction through heightened military measures, including the use of devastating conventional or non-nuclear weapons. This path would likely result in widespread demolition and massive civilian casualties. The prospect of such escalation underscores the dangerous brinkmanship and the extremely damaging potential inherent in modern warfare, where the line between conventional and catastrophic action can become dangerously blurred. It highlights the urgent need for restraint, diplomatic dialogue, and international mechanisms to prevent the conflict from spiraling into a devastating, uncontrolled escalation that could have global repercussions.

Conclusion

As the war continues to unfold, the international community must grapple with these stark and contrasting possibilities, each representing a different endgame with profound and far-reaching consequences. The first offers a hopeful vision rooted in diplomacy and the potential for a peaceful resolution, while the second serves as a grim reminder of how escalation can lead to catastrophic destruction. The challenge lies in guiding the conflict toward the most desirable outcome: one that minimizes human suffering and preserves regional and global stability.

Ultimately, the hope remains for a peaceful resolution, ideally achieved through the formal surrender of the obvious losers, i.e., the EU, the UK, the US, and NATO, thereby preventing the horrific outcome envisioned in the second scenario. Such a resolution would require steadfast diplomatic efforts, international cooperation, and a shared commitment to peace. It is essential that all parties prioritize negotiations and constructive engagement to avoid the devastating consequences of escalation, ensuring that the conflict ends not in destruction and chaos, but in a way that safeguards human lives, regional stability, and global security. Only through such concerted efforts can the international community hope to steer the course of this conflict away from catastrophe and toward a sustainable peace.

Sources

Baud, J. (2024). The Russian Art of War: How the West Led Ukraine to Defeat.

Max Milo Editions.

Chitadze, N. (2023). The Russia–Ukraine War and its consequences on the geopolitics of the world. IGI Global.

Cox, M. (Ed.). (2023). Ukraine: Russia’s war and the future of the global order. LSE Press.

Haslam, J. (2024). Hubris: The American origins of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Apollo.

Karaganov, S.A. (1994, 2018). Where is Russia Going?: Foreign and Defence Policies in a New Era. Frankfurt: Peace Research Institute.

Karaganov, S.A., et al. (2024). From Restraining to Deterring: Nuclear Weapons, Geopolitics, Coalition Strategy. Moscow: Institute of Military Economics and Strategy, National Research University-Higher School of Economics.

Mearsheimer, J. J. (2001). The Tragedy of Great Power Politics. New York: W. W. Norton.

The original source of this article is Global Research.

The post The Endgame of the Ukraine War: Two Possible Scenarios appeared first on LewRockwell.

One hundred years ago, no one thought birth control was okay. In 1920, the Anglican Communion declared,

We utter an emphatic warning against the use of unnatural means for the avoidance of conception, together with the grave dangers—physical, moral and religious—thereby incurred, and against the evils with which the extension of such use threatens the race. (Lambeth Conference 1920, Resolution 68)

By 1930, they had changed their tune to: “The Conference believes that the conditions of modern life call for a fresh statement from the Christian Church on the subject of sex” (Lambeth Conference 1930, Resolution 9). Ominous words. The conference proceeded to follow this logic on to alarming conclusions:

[I]n those cases where there is such a clearly felt moral obligation to limit or avoid parenthood, and where there is a morally sound reason for avoiding complete abstinence, the Conference agrees that other methods may be used, provided that this is done in the light of the same Christian principles. The Conference records its strong condemnation of the use of any methods of conception control from motives of selfishness, luxury, or mere convenience. (Resolution 15)

This landmark declaration rendered the Anglicans the first major Protestant denomination to approve of artificial contraception. Since then, most others have followed suit.

Despite the Anglican Church’s outcry against “selfishness, luxury, [and] mere convenience,” these vices have come to dominate the sphere of sexual ethics and even legislation.

The FDA approved the first birth control pill in 1960, an oral contraceptive called Enovid.  In 1965, the Supreme Court struck down a Connecticut law that criminalized birth control. The decision Griswold v. Connecticut legalized birth control for married couples under the “right to privacy.” In 1972, the right to contraception was extended to all individuals, married or unmarried, with Eisenstadt v. Baird.

In Fr. Sebastian Walshe’s natural law arguments against contraception, he astutely points out the similarity between the logic of birth control and the logic of gay marriage. No one need invoke the magisterium or the Bible to observe that the primary purpose of marriage is the procreation and education of children. This has been a governing societal norm for ages, and its abandonment augurs ill. Once the primary purpose of marriage is forgotten, the floodgates open for hosts of unnatural vices. Griswold and Eisenstadt led seamlessly to Obergefell.

The Anglicans of 1920 understood what their successors forgot:

In opposition to the teaching which, under the name of science and religion, encourages married people in the deliberate cultivation of sexual union as an end in itself, we steadfastly uphold what must always be regarded as the governing considerations of Christian marriage. One is the primary purpose for which marriage exists, namely the continuation of the race through the gift and heritage of children; the other is the paramount importance in married life of deliberate and thoughtful self-control. (Lambeth Conference 1920, Resolution 68)

Not only did all churches condemn birth control as recently as 100 years ago, but even the government once prohibited the distribution of artificial contraceptives. The Comstock Act, a federal law which is still on the books, was written in 1873 to prohibit “mailing obscene or crime-inciting matter.” It goes on to define “crime-inciting” as “intended for producing abortion, or for any indecent or immoral use,” but this is an amendment as recent as 1971.  The original Comstock Act also forbade anything intended for “preventing conception.”

The likelihood of criminalizing birth control at this point is slim. But Comstock gives a great to-do list for those who want to see the populace flourish: 1) criminalize abortion 2) ban contraception. How could we make abortion and birth control illegal again? Let’s look at the “due process” and “equal protection” clauses of the 14th Amendment that loomed so large in the Obergefell decision in favor of gay marriage: “[N]or shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws” (Section 1).

This sounds a lot more like a right to life enshrined in the Constitution than a penumbra of privacy justifying birth control and gay marriage. Give babies due process and equal protection. Don’t deprive them of life.

In The Abolition of Man, C.S. Lewis observes that man’s “power over nature” is often just some men’s power over other men:

What we call Man’s power is, in reality, a power possessed by some men which they may, or may not, allow other men to profit by. . .And as regards contraceptives, there is a paradoxical, negative sense in which all possible future generations are the patients or subjects of a power wielded by those already alive. By contraception simply, they are denied existence.

President Trump wants to fix the birth crisis. What if, instead of subsidizing IVF, he promoted a natural means of procreation? Want to make America great again? Then make contraception illegal again.

This article was originally published on Crisis Magazine.

The post Make Birth Control Illegal Again appeared first on LewRockwell.

Yesterday on his program Dialogue Works Nima had two guests, Larry Johnson, formerly of the CIA, and me.  I come in at about the one hour mark at the close of the program with Larry. I recommend that you take advantage of the double feature.  

Nima and I discuss the severe constraints on President Trump that handicap him in his effort to bring about not only a settlement in Ukraine but also impede a wider settlement with Russia that would put the world at peace.

Larry Johnson and I agree that the easiest way for Trump to conclude the conflict in Ukraine is to stop supplying, weapons, money, and diplomatic support.  But to do this requires Trump to jettison the US military/security complex along with its budget and power which are dependent on having Russia as an enemy.  Presidents such as John Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan who had in mind winding down the Cold War ran into problems with the military/security complex. The military/security complex has military bases or armaments manufacturers in nearly every state.  The number of governors, House and Senate members, and businesses dependent on orders from military bases and weapon manufacturers is vast. The combination of taxes, employment, campaign contributions, and supply relationships is too large of a force for Trump to jettison.

Another constraint on Trump is the American doctrine of hegemony which is at odds with peace-making. The US foreign policy doctrine requires that the US take an aggressive approach to countries that could constrain US unilateralism.  In other words, the pursuit of hegemony makes a country a poor peace-maker. Trump has not repudiated the hegemony doctrine.  Instead he exercises it with his numerous threats to other governments.

As I have consistently reported, the conflict in Ukraine is a symptom and not a cause of what Putin refers to as the root cause of the conflict.  The root cause is the absence of a mutual security agreement between Russia and the West.  NATO with missile bases on Russia’s border creates insecurity for Russia.  This insecurity is the root cause. Both the material interest of the US military/security complex and the hegemony doctrine are obstacles to removing the insecurity.

As the Russian position remains the same and Zelensky remains uncooperative, perhaps Trump sees Putin getting off his butt and quickly winning the war as the escape route from the box in which Trump finds himself.  Perhaps Trump signaled to Putin, as he did to Netanyahu, to get it over with as its continuation is too embarrassing to Trump. Putin’s side of the bargain would be to let Trump grandstand in presiding over the peace agreement that ends the war.

The wider and serious problem is Russia’s sense of insecurity with NATO/US missile bases on her border. To remove the real problem of nuclear conflict, the US needs to move away from Russia’s borders and honor the agreement the George H. W. Bush administration made with Gorbachev that NATO would stay distant from Russia’s border.

The post Can Trump Find a Way Out of the Box He Is in? appeared first on LewRockwell.

Our country is on the verge of self-destruction because the American Dream no longer existsm for twenty-year-olds. It only exists for highly-paid couples at the end of child-bearing years. Everyone else is to live in Stack-and-Pack vertical housing, without private transportation except for bicycles. They will pay excessive rents and therefore accumulate no equity, and will live in fear. Most importantly they will have fewer children (and those later in life) at a rate  below the replacement level.

There are countless very negative results because of the Death of the American Dream. But I will only list a few because I know that only our returning to Constitutional Government is required…otherwise the American Dream is impossible.

Economic implications are widespread and ominous. To see the results, look at the inner cities of New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, which are now Communist Hell-Holes without safety, religion, or good schools…and Communists have no plans to improve them. We must return to a Free Enterprise System AKA a Market Economy/Supply and Demand. There must be private ownership of property and the means of production. If someone can’t work, there should be a safety net, but if they are able-bodied and don’t work, they starve. It is that way in most of the world except for Socialist countries.  It is reality.

You may think the solution is complex, but it is really simple: we need only return to what we had before the Coup of 1913. I did not say the solution would be easy, just simple.

The first thing we have to do is terminate the Income Tax and finance the Federal Government with Tariffs and Excise Taxes, as we did prior to  States can contribute to the federal government if it needs more money. But the Federal Government should not need more money if all unconstitutional activities are terminated. Let that sink in.

The federal Government has unlawfully usurped many functions of the states in violation of the Enumerated Powers explicitly set forth in our Constitution.

These usurped functions number in the thousands, and cost billions. Two unconstitutional functions that cost billions are our military stationed in other countries, and Foreign Aid. If other countries could invade us, it might be different…but they can’t. We can only be defeated by weapons of mass destruction, or from within by the 21 million Democrat/Communist army of illegals. I will repeat, we have no business being involved in the affairs of any country in the world, and that includes Israel and Ukraine. When Congress votes to fund unlawful offshore projects that spend taxpayer money, it is taking the food out of the mouths of Americans, and I think it is treason. I might add that I think any money spent off shore is unlawful.

With the income tax terminated, all federal funds to the states for any reason must be terminated. This means all welfare, FEMA, Agriculture and Education grants as examples, but the key is termination of all federal funds to the states. We are in this near-terminal state because we failed to control the greed of Congress and bureaucrats of the Administrative State who succumbed to the bribes of the Parasitic Super- Rich Ruling Class and countless others. In the final analysis, the last nail in the coffin was the failure of the corrupt and complicit FBI to investigate, charge and convict all parties to corruption in government. This is what happens when you ignore the Constitution that specifies that the Militia of the Several States should enforce the laws of the union. They got the Militia out of the way with the unconstitutional Dick Act.

President Trump’s election stopped our descent into civil war, and his programs will buy us time to return to a Constitutional government. If he continues to refuse to return to a Constitutional Government, the result will be Dystopian, Total Failure, Depression, and Civil War. There is no other possibility..

In conclusion, it is simple to return us to a market economy, prosperity, and the American Dream for 20-year-olds. We need only follow the Constitution, knowing that the miscreants will not stop at assassination to prevail, as they did with President Trump and President Kennedy.

The post How To Return the American Dream to Twenty-Year-Olds With Only a Single Income appeared first on LewRockwell.

David Lifton’s “Best Evidence” (1981),  as well as several other more recent publications, have made  the extraordinary claim that JFK’s body was removed secretly from Air Force One at Andrews, put aboard a helicopter,  flown to Bethesda, placed in a so-called shipping casket and delivered to the morgue “early” for pre-autopsy surgery to remove evidence of shots from the front. Of all of the conspiracy theories surrounding the Kennedy assassination, this may well be the boldest (some would say the most outlandish) one of them all.

But is any of it true?

In previous articles on this site, I’ve argued that extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof and that there is no first-hand evidence for any of  Lifton’s most important claims. For example, no one testified before the  ARRB that they saw JFK’s body IN any shipping casket or taken OUT of any  shipping casket at the Bethesda morgue that night. On the other hand, there is a confirmed FBI/ARRB timeline that starts  with the removal of the Dallas ornamental casket from Air Force One at Andrews; that proceeds with the Navy ambulance ride uninterrupted from Andrews to Bethesda; that extends to the entry of the Dallas casket into the Bethesda morgue (with the Honor Guard) and concludes with the removal of JFK’s body (his head still wrapped as it was at Parkland) from that casket at around 7:15. The preliminary autopsy procedures (examination of the body, X-Rays, photographs, etc.) began shortly afterward. That timeline would seem to refute entirely the Lifton “body snatching” theory once and for all.

But even aside from any corroborated timeline, there is still another way to refute the Lifton theory.  The first-hand testimony of  Geofrey T. McHugh.

Brigadier General Geofrey T. McHugh was the Air Force Aide and primary briefing officer  to President John F. Kennedy. After JFK was pronounced dead at Parkland Hospital , General McHugh was a part of the “Irish Mafia” brigade (Dave Powers, Larry O’Brien, Kenny O’Donnell)  that rather forcefully removed the Dallas casket from the hospital. He also helped load that ridiculously heavy Dallas  casket onto Air Force One for the flight back to Andrews. He was also the so-called “supervisor” of Air Force One, and helped organize the removal of several seats in the rear of  the plane to  accommodate the large, ornamental casket.  (The alternative was to put the casket  in the cargo hold which was totally unacceptable.)  And most importantly, according to a fascinating “Oral History Interview”  that General McHugh  gave in 1978, he “stood guard”  with that casket in the rear of the plane and never left his post.

McHugh also was  part of the motorcade from Andrews to Bethesda and part of the team (along with the Honor Guard) that transported the Dallas casket into the morgue.  Finally, General McHugh was present at the formal autopsy of JFK.  As he said at one point: “I never left the body” that day.

Thus General McHugh was certainly a key witness to several important assassination events; yet he was never called to testify before the Warren Commission. Curious.

What’s important for this discussion, however,  is that General McHugh repeatedly confirmed that he “stayed with the casket” from the moment it was loaded onto Air Force One in Dallas to the moment it was transported into the Bethesda morgue. There was never a time he abandoned  his “guard post” with respect to the Dallas casket and there was never a time, therefore, for any “body snatching”. The body-snatching thesis, a  hoary conspiracy theory of the first magnitude, is a complete and utter fairy tale.

When Lyndon Johnson “commandeered” Air Force One (JFK’s plane) and got himself sworn in as President before the take-off from Love Field, a long smoldering political resentment re-surfaced between the Johnson and Kennedy factions aboard.  Several of the key Kennedy people (General McHugh, the Irish Mafia and Mrs. Kennedy)  then migrated to the very rear of the plane (away from the Johnson contingent) where there were some seats, a small  table, substantial amounts of alcohol and (of course)  the Dallas casket… that Mrs. Kennedy could reach out and touch. At one point, when Jackie Kennedy briefly (and reluctantly) left that small group  to attend LBJ’s swearing in ceremony , she reportedly turned to General McHugh and said: “At least you don’t leave him. Don’t leave him. Stay with him.”McHugh recollects: “So I’m the only one on board that airplane that stayed with the casket. Never left it.”

At another point McHugh says this: “I stood with the casket. I felt I was his (JFK’s)  military honor guard, that I should stay with him.” And  later  at Bethesda, it was suggested that since the Dallas casket had been damaged,  McHugh ought to be involved in helping to find another.  (Another casket was located and delivered to the morgue). But  McHugh refused: “I said I’m not going to do it. I’m not going to leave the body…” Apparently he never did.

Given General McHugh’s recollections, his important position within the Kennedy chain of command, and the uncontradicted confirmations of the Irish Mafia, it is flat-out impossible to believe that JFK’s corpse was somehow spirited out of the Dallas casket for any early entry into the Bethesda morgue. We have first-hand testimony from General McHugh that the casket was never left unattended. Ever. We have NO contradictory first-hand testimony that anyone snatched that body or saw the body snatched; no one has ever come forward in the decades since to confess any involvement in such a nefarious plot. Logic and the facts dictate, therefore, that it just never happened. And since the alleged “body snatching” is the lynchpin of the entire pre-autopsy/wound-alteration scenario, it stands to reason that none of that could have happened, either.

Most conspiracy theorists (like the late David Lifton) are well-intentioned and are simply trying to make sense of an inexplicable event: How could a lone nut ex-Marine with a cheap Italian-made rifle change history?  There just has to be more to the story. So I understand their frustration with the Warren Commission’s explanation of the assassination and their own search for deeper, more profound answers. Nonetheless, our primary duty as researchers is to get things straight for truth and for history and  the “body-snatching/ pre-autopsy surgery” theory of the JFK assassination can NEVER be one of those profound answers.

The post Was JFK ‘Body Snatched’ From Air Force One? appeared first on LewRockwell.

On August 16, my wife, Vickie, and I attended a conference at the Dulles Airport Hilton just outside Washington, D.C. It was titled “A Blueprint For Peace” and was hosted by the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity.

This institute was started by Rep. Paul at the end of his last year in Congress in 2012. I participated in the founding press conference, and I am still on the advisory board.

This year’s conference had several outstanding speakers, such as Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Judge Andrew Napolitano, Col. Doug MacGregor, and others. The first day was a scholars program for college students headlined by Kelley Vlahos, former editor of the American Conservative Magazine.

Professor Sachs is from Columbia University and has been used by the United Nations to advise countries all over the world. He is considered to be one of the greatest foreign policy experts in this country.

In his speech, he said we need to dust off the Monroe Doctrine and stop intervening in so many wars and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere. He said the war in Ukraine and the slaughter in Gaza could be ended quickly if we made it clear we were no longer providing so much money and weaponry.

The Monroe Doctrine was a declaration made in 1823 by President James Monroe that basically said we would not allow political and military interference in our sphere of influence, the Americas, and in return, we would not try to run Europe.

This is not isolationism. We should have trade and tourism and cultural and educational exchanges with all nations, and we should help out during terrible humanitarian crises.

But almost all our wars over the last 60 or 75 years have been about money or power, or both. We have spent trillions and have lost many thousands of American lives to make a tiny few rich and powerful.

Most of this interventionism has been egged on by so-called Neocons, who are not conservative at all. In fact, columnist George Will wrote that Neocons were “magnificently misnamed,” and that they were “really the most radical people in this City” (meaning Washington, D.C.).

Russia and Ukraine began peace negotiations four days after their war started in February of 2022, and basically had a peace agreement worked out by April 15, 2022, until Boris Johnson, the prime minister of Great Britain, and Neocons in our own State Department, principally Victoria Nuland, urged Ukraine not to sign. Their demands have led to the spending of about $350 billion by the U.S., according to President Trump.

Even worse, it has led to hundreds of thousands, possibly as many as one million, deaths, counting all civilians and soldiers on both sides.

Victoria Nuland has led our policy toward Ukraine. She worked as chief of staff for Bill Clinton’s close friend, Strobe Talbott, in the State Department. Then she worked for Dick Cheney when he was vice president. From 2005 to 2008, George W. Bush appointed her as ambassador to NATO. Later, she was Under Secretary of State from 2021 to 2024, when she urged Ukraine not to sign the peace agreement with Russia. Now she teaches foreign policy with Hillary Clinton at Columbia.

Nuland is married to Robert Kagan. Kagan is and has been one of the leading Neocons for years. AI says he “is known for his strong advocacy of liberal internationalism” and “has been a vocal proponent of U.S. interventionism.” He was associated with the Project for the New American Century, the architects of our disastrous war in Iraq.

James Baker, then our secretary of state, gave Russia what he called an “ironclad promise” in 2012 not to move NATO further east – i.e., Ukraine – in return for Russia not contesting the reunification of Germany.

President Trump had six conversations with Putin during his (Trump’s) first term, during one or more of which Trump said he would not advocate NATO membership for Ukraine. This is why President Trump says this war would not have happened if he had been re-elected in 2020.

Samuel Charap, distinguished chair in Russia and Eurasia Policy and senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation, co-authored a Foreign Affairs Magazine article entitled “The Talks That Could Have Ended The War In Ukraine.”

He wrote, “Russia agreed to have a process to diplomatically address the dispute over Crimea,” a Russian speaking area that Russia annexed in 2014.

Charap added that the concession by Ukraine “of renouncing its ambitions to join NATO was potentially enough to engender some relatively significant concessions from Russia,” possibly even “some sort of compensation” to Ukraine for the Crimean Peninsula.

President George W. Bush promised repeatedly when he campaigned in 2000 that he was going to have a more “humble” foreign policy and put an end to “nation building” (of other nations). However, he allowed himself to be horribly misled and controlled by power-mad neocons.

This article was originally published on Knoxville Focus.

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