Smoke And Mirrors
Head-Faked,
Dima at Military summary has been expounding the analysis that Team-"Biden" turned over CIA protection of asset Zelensky to security services of the UK and France in December 2024, as part of "Trump-proofing" the Ukraine war. Within this framework we can see Zelensky's rejection of Trump and Trump's rejection of Zelensky, until Macron visited from France, and Starmer visited from England yesterday, as Zelensky waited at an Irish airport. Trump seems to have said nice words about Britain and France, but avoided military commitment to backing "tripwire" French and British "peacekeeping" forces in Ukraine. Some deals were made...
Zelensky’s Handover Completed Ukrainians Counterattack Near Toretsk Military Summary For 2025.2.28
The Ukrainian Rada gave Zelensky a fig-leaf of legitimacy this week. Macron persuaded Trump to receive Zelensky in Washington — media
Vladimir Zelensky reportedly began calling the French president, asking him to convince Donald Trump to reconsider all meetings cancellation, as he hoped to sign an agreement on Ukrainian minerals in Washington https://tass.com/world/1920125
UK troops will not go without US commitment to fight Russia if they are attacked, as they would be. Trump refuses to guarantee backup for British military The UK is “ready to put boots on the ground and planes in the air” in Ukraine, PM Keir Starmer has said https://swentr.site/news/613417-trump-british-troops-ukraine/
This is the UK/EU position that they don't want war, but Putin wants to invade Europe. How Zelensky learned the art of the deal and got to visit Trump A lot might have changed between Zelensky and Trump in recent days.
But nothing has changed between Trump and Putin, and the US leader’s latest display of complete trust in the Russian leader on Thursday set off a huge, flashing alarm bell about the kind of deal he might try to do with Russia.
“I think he’ll keep his word. I’ve spoken to him, I’ve known him for a long time now, you know?” Trump said in the Oval Office alongside British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. “I don’t believe he is going to violate his word. I don’t think he’ll be back when we make a deal.”
There’s an argument that only Trump among Western leaders could get Putin to the table and end a war that has inflicted a devastating toll among civilians, destroyed vast swaths of Ukraine and rocked the world. And if the president secures a just and lasting peace, he’ll deserve the Nobel Prize he craves.
But there’s tangible fear among US allies in Europe that Trump will settle for any deal with the Russian leader that validates his illegal conquest of about 20% of Ukraine’s territory, sets the table for an even worse war in the future, and tempts Putin to try to bite off another chunk of Europe – perhaps the Baltic states. https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/28/politics/trump-ukraine-zelensky-putin-starmer-analysis/index.html
Gilbert Doctorow, The Trump-Starmer press conference I note that in my own commentary a day ago on the President’s press conference with Emmanuel Macron I, too, feared that Trump had come close to endorsing the idea of a European peace keeping force in post-war Ukraine. Mea culpa…
No, this fellow Trump is a master at deception. Today’s press conference with Kier Starmer was proof positive that the vague, nonspecific notion of America back-stopping the European peace keepers in Ukraine is, strictly speaking, a tactic to shut up the Europeans while Washington puts together a mutually acceptable end-game solution with Moscow that it imposes on Ukraine and Europe at the appropriate moment... ..Trump spoke of the rare earth deals that he expects to sign with Zelensky tomorrow, saying it itself is a guaranty of peace. He clearly meant that the presence of American engineers, mining experts on the ground in Ukraine would prevent the Russians from further military action. If others chose to interpret his words as meaning that the mining work would be protected by U.S. military, as Larry Wilkerson did, that was nowhere to be found in Trump’s words. It is essential to our understanding of what Trump was doing to consider that he chose to announce his decision to impose 25% tariffs on the European Union countries the day before Starmer arrived. It appears from answers to reporters’ questions that the working lunch Starmer and Trump had was devoted mostly to sparing the United Kingdom from such a fate. Indeed, Trump said that he and Starmer agreed that their assistants would be preparing a great trade deal for the U.K.
In brief, Trump gave Starmer the clear message to be happy to go home with a trade deal that Europeans would all envy, that would confirm the ‘special relationship’ between their two countries. Starmer should therefore just shut up about joining the peace negotiations over Ukraine and about the peace-keeping mission. Let us remember that the British have from the very beginning been the most hawkish, warlike country in Europe, the plotters of Ukraine’s most damaging attacks on Russia and false flag operations. So Trump offered them a valuable prize if they back down. https://gilbertdoctorow.com/2025/02/27/the-trump-starmer-press-conference-today/
John Helmer, SHORT SHRIFT FOR PRIME MINISTER STARMER’S CRIMEAN-WAR HATRED OF RUSSIA On the particulars of an end-of-war settlement, Trump claimed his priority at the moment is a ceasefire. “As I discussed with Prime Minister Starmer, the next step we’re making is toward a very achievable ceasefire. We hope that can happen quickly.” “This will lay the groundwork for a longterm peace agreement that will return stability to Eastern Europe.”
Starmer’s priority was different – he wants to keep warfighting with Russia.
Starmer was emphatic that the peace agreement “can’t be terms that reward the aggressor or that gives encouragement to regimes like Iran.” According to the Prime Minister, “we discussed a plan today to reach a peace that is tough and fair; that Ukraine will help shape; that is backed by strength to stop Putin coming back for more.”
Explicitly, Starmer went on, this means “the UK is ready to put boots on the ground and planes in the air to support a deal.” After reciting claims the UK will be boosting its military aid to the Ukraine, and increasing its own defence spending – “the biggest since the Cold War” – Starmer announced: “What counts is winning. If you don’t win, you don’t deliver.”
Neither Trump nor Starmer claimed they have agreed on any end-of-war terms. “Our teams will be talking about that,” Starmer said. A British television reporter pressed him to say “whether you can do that without a firm assurance that America will have our back in the form of some kind of security guarantee, were Putin to breach that agreement?” Starmer repeated himself without details. “Our teams will be talking about that.”
Starmer insisted on striking a final threatening tone which was not in the script on his lectern. “It’s really important that Putin knows that this historic deal – which I very much hope comes about – is there, is there, and it’s a lasting deal, and that we are able to deal with any inclination he has to go again, or go further.” https://johnhelmer.net/short-shrift-for-prime-minister-starmers-crimean-war-hatred-of-russia/#more-91191
"Zelensky Is Not Ready For Peace": Trump Torches Ukraine Deal After Fiery Exchange, Says 'Try Again Later' President Trump has effectively shredded any deal with Ukraine for the time being, writing on Truth Social following a testy exchange (see full clips below) with Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelsnsky:
"We had a very meaningful meeting in the White House today. Much was learned that could never be understood without conversation under such fire and pressure. It’s amazing what comes out through emotion, and I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations. I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.” https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-meets-zelensky-says-minerals-deal-be-signed-today-will-use-ukraine-rare-earths
FBI Director Cash Patel, at Musk's instigation, became interested in Zelensky's involvement in the death of journalist Gonzalo Lira https://en.topcor.ru/57145-direktor-fbr-kjesh-patel-s-podachi-maska-zainteresovalsja-prichastnostju-zelenskogo-k-smerti-zhurnalista-gonsalo-liry.html
Andrew Korybko, Romania Is At The Center Of The Struggle Between Liberal-Globalists & Populist-Nationalists What’s unfolding in this Balkan country is nothing less than the opening of another New Cold War front, albeit this time an ideological one which also interestingly pits nominal NATO allies against one another as the EU and the US take opposite sides. Romania has been under liberal-globalist control for decades after these forces exploited its political dysfunction and endemic corruption to continually install their preferred candidates into power. Georgescu represents the most promising opportunity in years for a populist-nationalist revolution that could finally resolve the aforementioned systemic challenges and thus restore Romania’s sovereignty. His appeals to history, religion, and national interests genuinely resonate with many of his compatriots. Georgescu can therefore be described as a “Romanian Trump”... ..The Romanian “deep state’s” latest attempt to take down Georgescu is essentially a gauntlet thrown at the Trump Administration by its liberal-globalist opponents in Brussels who fully back Bucharest. They want to test whether the US will do anything in response to the EU’s rolling coup in Romania... .. Liberal-globalists will either entrench their power in full defiance of Trump, possibly at enormous costs to their countries, or they’ll be democratically deposed by populist-nationalists who share the same worldview as his team.
Romanian presidential vote winner asks Trump for help from ‘deep state’ A NATO-skeptic and nationalist, Georgescu's surprise victory in the presidential election first round last year triggered accusations of foreign interference, prompting the Romanian Supreme Court to controversially annul the vote. On Wednesday, Georgescu was arrested as he was about to file to run for the presidency again. He was released later the same day.
“I definitely ask President Trump to take care about the situation,” he told an American blogger, Mario Nawfal, in an interview published on X on Thursday.
According to the Romanian authorities, Georgescu faces a total of six charges, including “anti-constitutional acts” and misreporting his finances. He was barred by a court order from leaving the country, appearing on TV, or posting anything on social media. https://swentr.site/news/613414-prosecuted-romanian-politician-trump-help/
Alastair Crooke, America as Republic, not as Empire – Europe’s “sound and fury” after jaw-dropping pivots in U.S. policy What is going on? The newly confirmed head of the Office of Budget Management(OBM), Russ Vought, says his Office will become the “on/off switch” for all Executive expenditure under the new Executive Orders. Vought calls the resulting whirlpool, the application of Constitutional radicalism. And Trump has now issued the Executive Order that reinstates the primacy of the Executive as the controlling mechanism of government.
Vaught, who was in OBM in Trump 01, is carefully selecting the ground for all-out financial war on the Deep State. It will be fought out firstly at the Supreme Court– which the Trump Team expect confidently to win (Trump has the 6-3 conservative majority).The new régime will then be applied across all agencies and departments of state. Expect shrieks of pain.
The point here is that the Administrative State – aloof from executive control – has taken to itself prerogatives such as immunity to dismissal and the self-awarded authority to shape policy –creating a dual state system, run by unelected technocrats, which, when implanted in departments such as Justice and the Pentagon, have evolved into the American Deep State. Article Two of the Constitution however, says very bluntly: Executive power shall be vested in the U.S. President (with no ifs or buts at all.) Trump intends for his Administration to recover that lost Executive power. It was, in fact, lost long ago. Trump is re-claiming too, the Executive’s right to dismiss ‘servants of the State’, and to ‘switch off’ wasteful expenditure at his discretion, as part of a unitary executive prerequisite.
Of course, the Administrative State is fighting back. Turley’s article is headlined: They Are Taking Away Everything We Have: Democrats and Unions Launch Existential Fight. Their aim has been to cripple the Trump initiative through using politicised judges to issue restraint orders. Many mainstream lawyers believe Trump’s Unitary Executive claim to be illegal. The question is whether Congress can stand up Agencies designed to act independently of the President; and how does that square with the separation of powers and Article Two that vests unqualified executive power with one sole elected official – the U.S. President.
How did the Democrats not see this coming? Lawyer Robert Barnes essentially says that the ‘blitzkrieg’ was “exceptionally well-planned” and had been discussed in Trump circles since late 2020. The latter team had emerged from within a generational and cultural shift in the U.S. This latter had given rise to a Libertarian/Populist wing with working class roots who often had served in the military, yet had come to despise the Neo-con lies (especially those of 9/11) that brought endless wars... ..It seems that one aspect to the surprise has been the Trump Team’s discipline: ‘no leaks’. And secondly, that those involved in the planning are not drawn from the preeminent Anglo-sphere, but rather from a strand of society that was offended by the Iraq war and which blames the ‘Anglo-sphere’ for ‘ruining’ America.
So Vance’s speech at Munich was not disruptive – merely for the sake of being disruptive; he was, in fact, encouraging the audience to recall early Republican Values. This was what is meant by his complaint that Europe had turned away from “our shared values”... Vance implicitly was hinting too, that European conservative libertarians should emulate Trump and act to slough-off their ‘Administrative States’, and recover control over executive power... ..Yet, far more consequential than most of the happenings of the past few days was when Trump, speaking with Fox News, after attending Daytona, dismissed Zelensky’s canard of Russia wanting to invade NATO countries. “I don’t agree with that; not even a little bit”, Trump retorted.
Trump does not buy into the primary lie intended as the glue which holds this entire EU geo-political structure together. For, without the ‘Russia threat’; without the U.S. believing in the globalist linchpin lie, there can be no pretence of Europe needing to prepare for war with Russia. https://strategic-culture.su/news/2025/02/26/america-as-republic-not-as-empire-europe-sound-and-fury-after-jaw-dropping-pivots-in-us-policy/
Who are the guarantors of this deal? US, Russia & China? PKK Founder Orders Kurdish Group To Lay Down Its Arms, Dissolve In Historic Statement A grand deal involving Turkey, Syria, and the Kurds is in the works, and on Thursday a historic announcement was made by the leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Abdullah Ocalan, speaking from a Turkish prison, has called on the group that he founded to lay down its arms and disband. This is the result of years of running Turkish-PKK battles as well as fragile negotiations. The PKK has long been in an official state of war with the Turkish government, which considers it a terrorist organization.
"Convene your congress and make a decision," Ocalan said in the statement, read aloud both in Kurdish and in Turkish. "All groups must lay down their arms and the P.K.K. must dissolve itself." https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/pkk-founder-orders-kurdish-group-lay-down-its-arms-dissolve-historic-statement
Caitlin Johnstone, Palestinian Hostage Released With Obvious Torture Scars; Western Press Ignores Him
Hundreds of Palestinians, including children and women, released from Israeli jails
641 Palestinian detainees have been released from Israeli jails as part of the delayed seventh batch of the Hamas-Israel prisoner exchange deal.The detainees, some showing signs of mistreatment during Israeli detention, were handed over to the International Red Cross and transported to the occupied West Bank and Gaza for medical checks. Some detainees, including Nael Barghouti who was held in Israel's prison for 44 years were forced into exile and expelled to Egypt. This release follows Israel’s previous release of 1,135 Palestinians in exchange for 33 Israeli captives, both living and deceased, as part of the ongoing ceasefire agreement. https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250227-hundreds-of-palestinians-including-children-and-women-released-from-israeli-jails/
World’s longest-serving prisoner freed after 44 years in Israeli prisons After 44 years in Israeli prisons, the world’s longest-serving political prisoner was freed on Thursday as part of the Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement. Nael Barghouti’s time in prison saw him become one of the most prominent figures in the Palestinian prisoners’ movement.
His release marks a pivotal moment in Palestinian history, symbolising steadfastness despite repeated Israeli penalties that failed to break his will. https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250227-worlds-longest-serving-prisoner-freed-after-44-years-in-israeli-prisons/
Jonathan Cook, Netanyahu Views the Hostages as His Excuse To Restart the Slaughter Western leaders and media are helping bolster a propaganda narrative about the Israeli captives that makes the resumption of Israel’s slaughter all but inevitable https://original.antiwar.com/cook/2025/02/26/netanyahu-views-the-hostages-as-his-excuse-to-restart-the-slaughter/
Bibas Family Threatens to Sue Israeli Govt as Official Propaganda on Hostage Killings Unravels https://scheerpost.com/2025/02/27/bibas-family-threatens-to-sue-israeli-govt-as-official-propaganda-on-hostage-killings-unravels/
Just this Monday: Trump admin pushed Israelis to bomb Sayyed Nasrallah funeral A senior official from the Trump administration reportedly sent a message to the Israeli occupation on the eve of Hezbollah leaders Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Sayyed Hashem Safieddine’s funeral, stating that not only did Washington give a green light for targeting high-ranking Hezbollah officials during the funeral procession, but the administration would actually welcome such an action, Israeli media reported on Thursday. https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/trump-admin-pushed-israelis-to-bomb-sayyed-nasrallah-funeral
Israel’s refusal to withdraw from this narrow strip of desert could threaten the Gaza ceasefire The Philadelphi corridor is an empty strip — only 100 meters (yards) wide in some places — that runs the 14-kilometer (8.6-mile) length of Gaza’s border with Egypt. It includes the Rafah crossing, which was Gaza’s only outlet to the outside world not controlled by Israel until the Israeli army captured the entire corridor last May. https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-war-ceasefire-egypt-gaza-corridor-ca9615f42004a47bafe969fef1377e04
The "incompetence defense" hides nefarious agency: Israeli army admits 'colossal failure' in October 7 probe The investigation says the army relied on flawed strategic assumptions and overconfidence in its intelligence superiority. https://www.trtworld.com/middle-east/israeli-army-admits-colossal-failure-in-october-7-probe-18269601
Israeli army's 7 Oct probe further confirms implementation of Hannibal Directive
Israeli choppers fired over 11,000 shells on 'anything that moved' near the Gaza separation wall on 7 October 2023 https://thecradle.co/articles-id/29125
He's not a politician, is he? Musk’s father says son ‘not cut out for politics’ Errol Musk, a retired South African engineer, dismissed the idea of his son entering politics.
“Elon is not cut out for politics,”he said.“Politics is where you have to deal with everyone, from the very incredibly clever to the very somewhat not clever, the highly sophisticated to the very unsophisticated. If you can’t do that, don’t get into politics.” https://swentr.site/news/613406-musk-father-political-ambitions/
Elon Musk floats pay hikes for Congress, top government workers to fight temptation for corruption https://nypost.com/2025/02/27/us-news/elon-musk-floats-pay-hikes-for-congress-top-government-workers-to-fight-corruption/
FBI withheld ‘thousands’ of Epstein docs – US attorney general, The first batch of declassified files reportedly contains little new information https://swentr.site/news/613418-fbi-withheld-epstein-files/
Did she get them? After Lame 'Epstein Files' Release, AG Pam Bondi Demands 'Withheld' FBI Files By 8AM Friday https://www.zerohedge.com/political/epstein-files-tomorrow-ag-pam-bondi-announces-thursday-release-250-victim-names-redacted
Federal Judge Declines To Halt Firings Of CIA Officers Tied To DEI Programs https://www.zerohedge.com/political/federal-judge-declines-halt-firings-cia-officers-tied-dei-programs
Moderna Investors Spooked: Trump Admin Reviewing $590m Bird Flu Contract—Is MRNA Funding at Risk? https://www.trialsitenews.com/a/moderna-investors-spooked-trump-admin-reviewing-590m-bird-flu-contractis-mrna-funding-at-risk-370acab0
Meryl Nass MD, Interesting legal decision at the European Court of Justice on COVID vaccines It is being interpreted as doctors having the right to offer or refuse the vaccines, and if there is liability for injuries, it is the doctors themselves that will be liable, not the licensing agency
Donald Trump is reinstating thousands of members of the military who were discharged for refusing Covid jabs. And they will receive back pay.
Meryl Nass MD, The truth about COVID vaccines is emerging. Soon it will gush. And Kennedy asks for the evidence on COVID vaccine clinical trial before allowing it to go forward, cancels flu shot advisory meeting, while CDC minions test him by pushing COVID vax today for babies
Microsoft Backing Out of Expensive New Data Centers After Its CEO Expressed Doubt About AI Value "The canary just died." https://futurism.com/microsoft-ceo-hesitation-ai-expensive-data-centers
Scientists have a new explanation for the last two years of record heat
Rising temperatures are fueled, in part, by declining cloud cover — which could be a potential climate feedback loop. Earth’s overall energy imbalance — the amount of heat the planet is taking in minus the amount of heat it is releasing — also continues to rise, worrying scientists. The energy imbalance drives global warming. If it rises, scientists expect global temperatures to follow.
Two new studies offer a potential explanation: fewer clouds. And the decline in cloud cover, researchers say, could signal the start of a feedback loop that leads to more warming. https://archive.is/vGGPI#selection-541.0-545.117
"Biotic Pump" model co-originator, Physicist Anastassia Makarieva, Natural ecosystems and climate stabilization Ideas on how to integrate Nature's Complexity into the climate change narrative Highly productive non-forest ecosystems, such as agricultural lands, generate significantly less low cloud cover, as shown by the purple symbols. The more we extract from an ecosystem—whether through timber harvesting or food production—the fewer resources it has to stabilize itself, the surrounding environment, and climate.
It’s almost hilarious that, in the global change discourse, we still tend to view life merely as a physical-chemical system, even though we know that information governs everything. We’ve embraced artificial intelligence and supercomputers, yet when faced with the ultra-super-hyper computer of life itself, we reduce it to simple chemical reactions—CO₂, carbohydrate production—little more. This perspective is not only flawed but also dangerous.
This outdated view—treating life as a simple physical-chemical process—is also embedded in climate models through oversimplified parameterizations. It comes as an intellectual atavism, a relic of our failure to fully appreciate the complexity of the world.
Appreciating Life (with grandson, Atlas and fresh mango)
I’m really tired of a lot. Jesus Russia, just finish this. One more big blow. Kick in the rotten board. We go to the south of France in a couple of weeks for 16 days, or so. I hope it’s not in chaos and that the planes actually fly. Trump… I love him and I hate him. Well, he treated a cheap little hustler and tin plated dictator the way such a creature should be treated.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUGE8Y07-2k
Beautiful little guy!
Zelensky is finished after the food fight with Trump and Vance..Bondi had better get the Epstein files, or at least most of them, or Trump is in big trouble with his constituency...Bondi, as I predicted, has proven erratic and about as tough as a marshmallow...