"Not only did the vast majority of us have no say in choosing the two presidential candidates, a similarly tiny fraction of voters is deciding most of Congress. So far in 2024, nearly a third of U.S. House seats have already been decided by only 3% of eligible votes in the eight states that have held primaries for offices other than the presidency. In 2022, 8% of voters elected 83% of Congress.

Nationwide, there are more independents than Democrats or Republicans. Nearly half of veterans identify as politically independent, as do a majority of young people. Because of our primary system, we’re telling those who fought for our country and those who are the future of our country that their voices don’t matter.

The reason our elected leaders don’t seem to represent us is because, quite literally, most of us don’t elect them.

How do we fix this broken system? With two powerful changes: One, allow all eligible voters – including independents – to cast ballots for any candidate, regardless of party, in every taxpayer-funded election. Two, require candidates to secure a majority of votes to win an election.

https://realclearwire.com/articles/2024/04/16/democracy_dies_in_primaries_150797.html

Surprised? I think not!

"They [flyers] also appear to be handed out when illegal aliens use the RCM for assistance in coming to the USA," the group said.

These flyers were discovered by @realmuckraker throughout the Resource Center Matamoras (RCM) location including on the walls of port-a-potties

They also appear to be handed out when illegal aliens use the RCM for assistance in coming to the USA pic.twitter.com/hvlkwOI5Xs

— Oversight Project (@OversightPR) April 16, 2024
RCM founder Gaby Zavala told one of Muckraker's journalists that she is trying to flood the US with as many illegal aliens as possible before former President Trump is reelected.

RCM founder Gaby Zavala implied to @realmuckraker that she wants to help as many illegals as possible before President Trump is reelected pic.twitter.com/foIVJGMM3C

— Oversight Project (@OversightPR) April 16, 2024
"RCM bills itself as an operation which houses functions for Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), which helps illegal aliens enter the United States," Oversight Project said, adding that disgraced Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas "is a former board member of HIAS, which received numerous grants from Soros' Open Society Foundation over the years."

https://twitter.com/legitbrittFLA/status/1780055857587204386

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/shadowy-ngo-mexico-tells-border-invaders-vote-biden

By The Committee for A Responsible Federal Budget

The Biden Administration recently announced a new plan to cancel student debt for up to 30 million borrowers and released a preliminary rule this morning detailing parts of this plan. The proposal, which is being introduced through the rule making process, would replace the Administration’s initial proposal to cancel between $10,000 and $20,000 per person of debt, which was struck down by the Supreme Court.

Elements of the plan in today’s proposed rule would cost nearly $150 billion, according to the Department of Education. However, this excludes a proposal to allow the Secretary of Education to cancel debt for those facing hardship or likely to default. Including this provision, we estimate the plan could cost $250 billion to $750 billion, depending on how the additional cancellation is designed.

MY COMMENT: Buying votes in an election year despite a $34 Trillion National Debt. Let the next generation worry about it. Biden will be out of office by then, so, who care???

https://www.crfb.org/blogs/student-debt-plan-would-add-hundreds-billions-deficit

"Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was enacted to make it easier for the government to address foreign terrorist threats. Targeting Americans is prohibited but intelligence agencies have used Section 702 to spy on hundreds of thousands of Americans every year. And this week it’s looking to get a lot worse.

Elizabeth Goitein of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, does a great job of explaining it and sounding the alarm. ....

By changing the definition of “electronic communications surveillance provider,” an amendment offered by House intel committee leaders and passed by the House vastly expands the universe of entities that can be compelled to assist the NSA.

If the bill becomes law, any company or individual that provides any service whatsoever may be forced to assist in NSA surveillance, as long as they have access to equipment on which communications are transmitted or stored.

When the amendment was first unveiled, civil liberties advocates noted that the provision would encompass hotels, libraries, and coffee shops, and so they were excluded. But the vast majority of U.S. businesses remain fair game. Including barber shops, laundromats, fitness centers, hardware stores, and any small business that provides wifi to their customers via routers.. ....

The Senate is scheduled to vote on the bill this week.

Section 702 expires on April 19, but the Biden administration has obtained FISA Court approval to continue Section 702 surveillance until April of 2025.

Call your Senators now and tell them to block the "Everyone is a spy" surveillance bill.

https://act.demandprogress.org/call/no-on-section-702-call-page/

https://gregreese.substack.com/p/small-us-businesses-to-be-forced?publication_id=706779&post_id=143630095&isFreemail=true&r=kme6p&triedRedirect=true&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

There is a fair amount of controversy on the issue of whether the Pandemic Agreement or Pandemic Accord, together with amendments to the IHRs, which is scheduled to be approved in Geneva, Switzerland, at the World Health Assembly’s annual meeting on May 27–June 1, would ceede U.S. Healthcare policy into the hands of un-elected, foreign bureaucrats.

A number of critics claim that "The proposed new International Health Regulations would give WHO health officials the authority to require you to use biological products labeled “vaccines,” and be tracked and undergo medical exams, quarantine and medical treatment. The proposed pandemic treaty would also greatly expand the authority of UN health officials to globally censor what they consider to be “mis-information” and “disinformation” about diseases and vaccines so you are not allowed to publicly criticize vaccine science, policy and law, which violates your First Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution. 

You should be aware that "the language in the March 13 draft of the treaty appears to be compulsory, stating throughout the document that “the Parties commit to …” and “the Parties shall …” with the word “shall” used more than 160 times.

In addition, the IHR amendments state that member states “recognize WHO as the guidance and coordinating authority of international public health response during a public health Emergency of International Concern and undertake to follow WHO’s recommendations in their international public health response.

Other areas of concern regarding sovereignty include a directive that “health measures” stipulated by the WHO “shall be initiated and completed without delay by all Parties” and that “State Parties shall also take measures to ensure Non-State-Actors operating in their respective territories comply with such measures.”

In addition, references to the documents being “non-binding” on member states were removed.”

You should also be aware that "a 2022 petition signed by 15 state attorneys general argues that the HHS could have such authority once the WHO declares a health emergency.

The state AGs wrote in protest of an HHS decision on Jan. 19, 2017, “one day before President [Barack] Obama’s second term expired,” to give the Director-General of the WHO the authority to declare a public health emergency within the United States."

MY COMMENT: This post should point out the need for the "No WHO Pandemic Preparedness Treaty Without Senate Approval Act".This bill establishes that any convention or agreement on pandemic-related issues reached by the World Health Assembly (WHA) pursuant to a specified negotiating body shall be deemed to be a treaty requiring the advice and consent of the Senate.

Specifically, this bill applies to any international instrument negotiated by the intergovernmental negotiating body established by the WHO in December 2021 to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response.

Contact your Senators and tell them to support this legislation!

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/open-minded-spirit-no-longer-exists-within-npr-npr-veteran-excoriates-outlet-over-hunter

“Everybody who wants an honest election should know that in the long run, we need the French model. Everybody votes on the same day. Everybody has a photo ID, everybody’s accounted as a person.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/judge-upholds-georgias-voter-citizenship-verification-requirements

John Adams, ever the prophet of doom, once quipped, “Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself”—a sentiment echoing through the corridors of time.

And sounding much like the belch of a senator post-banquet in ancient Rome, where democracy was more a concept for philosophical banter than a practice.

Indeed, Rome, with all its pomp and voracious appetite for self-indulgence, serves as a cautionary tale. It’s a well-trodden path.

Once upon a time in Rome, there was Juvenal. Not your garden-variety naysayer, but a man whose tongue was so sharp, he could slice the moral fabric of society with a mere quip.

“Bread and circuses,” he scoffed.

“Keep the masses stuffed and entertained, and they won’t utter a peep against you.”

How a Great Empire Withered on Opulence

And so, Rome bloated, not just in the midriff but in its sense of self, as leisure became the national pastime.

Back then, over 200,000 souls, their fingers sticky from pastry, found the concept of lifting a finger (unless it was to signal for another helping) utterly foreign.

Rome was transformed into a grand stage, where almost every day was a festival, and the citizens were either performers, spectators, or busy in the vomitorium making room for the next course.

Naval skirmishes in makeshift lakes, chariot races that put the fast and furious to shame, and theatre so risqué it could make a statue of Venus look prudish, were all funded by the very people it was designed to distract.

Ninety-three days of sheer, unadulterated spectacle each year, turning Rome from a republic into an extravagant production, where democracy was but a whisper drowned out by the roar of the crowd.

Sound familiar?

MY COMMENT: A proper functioning Constitutional Republic requires an informed and engaged public that is willing to take the time and effort to communicate with their elected representatives on the issues that affect them. How many of you have contacted your Senators about the WTO's Pandemic Preparedness Treaty that may be put into effect without Senate ratification (they are amending the provisions of a previous treaty to get around Senate ratification). Note:Contact your two U.S. Senators and ask them to support S.444 - the “No WHO Pandemic Preparedness Treaty Without Senate Approval Act”, and demand that all World Health Organization treaties be presented to the United States Senate, as required by the U.S. Constitution.

How many of you have contacted both your House and Senate members on our border problem? How about money to Ukraine and Israel instead of dealing with our infrastructure needs? “Keep the masses stuffed and entertained, and they won’t utter a peep against you.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/bread-and-circuses-what-it-means-once-great-nations

Your point is well taken. No, you can't eat gold (but then again, you would best be advised not to eat lead either!).

There is really no "one solution" fits all here. You need a balanced approach to deal the problems that we as a people are going to face in the near future.

Food, water, personal self-protection, beer and wine (just kidding), and financial security, are all important.

Just as you may be able to barter a box of 22's, junk silver coins will also serve that purpose well. Cash on hand, as well as some gold coins all have their place. Stay safe!

As I said in a previous post, I used to listen to NPR years ago. I have not listened to this program for a number of years, and will NEVER listen to it while their NEW and IMPROVED CEO remains at the helm!

"Introspection was the last thing on NPR's mind, however, as new CEO Katherine Maher chastised Berliner as "profoundly disrespectful, hateful, and demeaning" to his colleagues for calling out political bias. MY COMMENT: I read Mr. Berliner's article and found it to be spot on. He is liberal to the core, but honest in assessing facts in a non-partisan manner. If you haven't read his article, here is the link: https://www.zerohedge.com/political/open-minded-spirit-no-longer-exists-within-npr-npr-veteran-excoriates-outlet-over-hunter

As Jonathan Turley notes:

In a memo Friday, Maher told the staff that Berliner attacked not only “the quality of our editorial process and the integrity of our journalists” but “our people on the basis of who we are.”

...

Maher’s response was hardly surprising. She was a controversial hire at NPR. Many had hoped that NPR would seek a CEO who could steer the company away from its partisan and activistic trend. The prospect could have brought moderates and conservatives back into NPR’s listening audience. Maher, however, was part of that trend.

This should come as no surprise given Maher's history as a complete lunatic who spews woke diatribes on X - calling herself "someone with cis white mobility privilege" and other nonsense.

In response to journalist Chris Rufo pointing this out, Elon Musk replied that she's a "crazy racist!"

This person is a crazy racist!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 14, 2024

Maher also says that "America is addicted to white supremacy," which is the "real issue."

New NPR CEO seems to have many symptoms of the Cluster B Longhouse psychopathology. Antagonistic, performative, accusatory, & frankly delusional. Pronouns in bio. Unstable.
— J.D. Haltigan, PhD 🏒👨‍💻 (@JDHaltigan) April 14, 2024

She also excused looters, and even slammed Hillary Clinton for correctly gendering individuals.

Does not represent 90% of America
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 14, 2024

We fund this shite. pic.twitter.com/3QBJ6U5xv4
— Clifford Asness (@CliffordAsness) April 14, 2024

What's the answer? Donald Trump suggests defunding them.

If NPR is going to be used as purely a left wing media outlet, then all federal funding needs to be cut off. pic.twitter.com/QU89EWbGyO
— Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) April 13, 2024

Authored by CJ Hopkins via Substack (https://cjhopkins.substack.com/p/the-palestine-congress)

Yes, that’s right, once again, democracy-loving people here in New Normal Berlin and all across the New Normal world were right on the brink of being exposed to “hate,” and would have been exposed to “hate,” had the Hate Police not sprang into action.

"You probably have no idea what I’m talking about.

OK, what happened was, some pro-Palestinian activists organized a “Palestine Congress,” and attempted to discuss the situation in Gaza, and call for solidarity with the Palestinians, and so on, right here in the middle of Berlin, the epicenter of European democracy, as if they thought they had a right to do that. The German authorities were clearly intent on disabusing them of that notion.

Early Friday morning, hundreds of black-clad Hate Police descended on the congress location. Reinforcements were called in from throughout the nation. Metal barricades were erected on the sidewalks. Hate Police stood guard at the entrance. The German media warned the public that a potential “Hate-Speech” attack was now imminent. Berliners were advised to shelter in place, switch off their phones and any other audio-receptive communication devices, and wad up little pieces of toilet paper and ram them deep into their ear canals to prevent any possible exposure to the “hate.”

Sure enough, minutes into the congress, the anticipated “Hate-Speech” attack was launched! A Palestinian activist — Salman Abu Sitta — who had written an article that allegedly “expressed understanding of Hamas,” and thus had already been placed on the official German “No-Speak” list, started speaking to the congress on Zoom or whatever. Or … it isn’t quite clear whether he actually started speaking. According to a Hate Police spokesperson, they raided the congress because “there [was] a risk of a speaker being put on the screen who in the past made anti-Semitic and violence-glorifying remarks.”

Last week, I was invited to speak (thanks to our national treasure Ray McGovern) at the April 12th UNSC meeting, with the topic of the impact of Western aid in preventing peace in Ukraine. Over 20 years ago I was present in that same building listening to something, I can’t remember what. I recalled the vastness of the chamber, and it was certainly disconcerting on Friday to be on a big screen that reminded me of this scene in V for Vendetta.

Below is the video of what I did say to them. It is also what I really think, of course. The rest of the meeting was eye opening. For what it is worth:

(Go to 11:20 mark in this video, or read Karen Kwiatkowski's comments below):

"Madam President, thank you for allowing me to speak. I am a retired Air Force Lt Col, who began to question the government I served in 2002 as I watched my organization within the Pentagon manipulate information to sell an unnecessary and unjustified war, in that case, the March 2003 invasion of Iraq.

I want to make 3 points concerning how Western supplies to Ukraine have been, and remain, a barrier to peace.

First, Western aid and support has enabled war, and opposed peace. It is not sent there for Ukrainians, but for a government in Kiev initially chosen via a State Department and CIA influenced coup in 2014, to militarily confront Russia. This proxy embraced a kind of Ukrainian nationalism that relied heavily on Ukrainian Nazi ideology. Nazism is publicly rare and always condemned. But in Ukraine, it unified the kind of people who would do what the US and NATO desired. Therefore, history was forgotten, truth ignored, and Ukrainian culture denigrated – because a proxy war to weaken Russia, politically and economically, was desired by some in the west. US Senators and NATO leadership continue to celebrate this “good investment.”

Western assistance in weapons, surveillance and intelligence, as well as diplomatic “help” enabled 8 years of Kiev’s assault on the Donbass. The Russian military response — no doubt violent, deadly, and in violation of international law — reminds me of several US military operations I supported when in uniform – except when the US invaded, we discovered later that we were not really there to stop a war, to liberate anyone, to increase their freedom, or ensure their prosperity.

Without this Western aid and assistance, and unabashed US and NATO hatred for Russia, the Minsk treaties might have been more fully adhered to, and eventual peaceful agreements might have progressed – without war, bringing blessings of peace and trade.

Second, Western arms shipments have turned the Ukrainian military into a massive Rube Goldberg machine. What could have been a coordinated and deeply supplied Ukrainian defense operation became reactive, overly complicated, chaotic and even idiotic. This was predictable. Odd numbers of weapons systems, some defensive, others offensive, many of which required western maintenance and intelligence inputs, were and are used in ways that are wasteful and tragic. Major US and NATO weapons systems have been lost by deploying them into battle operations that cannot fully utilize, maintain or coordinate them. We see tragedy and loss of life on both sides, but the aid-dependent and logistically-impaired Ukrainian Army has become a slaughterhouse for Ukrainian men, a disaster for their families, over ten million of whom now live outside of Ukraine and may never return. Kiev’s frantic demand for more troops to throw at the front is itself a direct result of past Western military assistance.

Western aid – those delivered billions in military and financial assistance — placed Ukraine in a position where it did not seek peace two years ago, last year, or earlier this year, and where cannot seek peace today. Why is this? The West, particularly the US, has cultivated a dependent satrap in the permanent presidency of Mr. Zelensky. Thus, a single rushed visit to Kiev by former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson could overturn a very possible peace in the late spring of 2022, without a single thought of what may come later. The Western “investment” has reduced US and NATO stockpiles, and it has also reduced Kiev’s ability to negotiate directly with Russia. Western leaders see what they have spent and they insist on some sort of return – they do not wish to lose their deposit, so to speak. In effect, the West-by-Proxy Ukraine refuses a settled peace under the sunk cost fallacy.

Third, as billions of dollars of weapons, munitions, supplies, and money, entered Ukraine, we observe another Rube Goldberg problem – this time, with government accountability. Where does this equipment go, and which bank accounts are fattened? We know, as does Interpol, that small arms and other supplies were diverted around the world, some immediately upon arrival to Ukraine. Ukraine had been known as most corrupt country in Europe, something that leaders in the West certainly took advantage of when it suited them. Two years into the war, with half their army dead or missing, we hear stories of widows being sent a bill for their war-slaughtered husband’s uniform, to top off an already unbearable grief. Yet those in Kiev, like the surrounding counties of Washington DC, seem to be living well, with luxury cars and stores seemingly untouched by the war. The US is said to be completely financing the government sector in Ukraine, and it shows in Kiev, as my friend Anatol Lieven observed last summer during his visit. Western aid to Ukraine has accelerated poverty and devastation for the bulk of the population, and widened the gap between rich and poor throughout Ukraine.

There is yet another problem with the massive Western aid to Ukraine. It is jealously viewed by other NATO members, as they look over the horizon to some sort of inevitable peace. Massive new US military bases being built in Romania and in Poland echo the base building spree the US embarked upon in the Balkans in the late 1990s, and later in the Middle East. Does the US cash flow to Ukraine truly make sense to Poland, Romania and other NATO members? Western aid has caused NATO division, which has increased risk of escalation, and silenced common sense and peaceful voices.

What do Ukrainians themselves want? Zelensky was overwhelmingly elected 5 years ago because he promised peace, and an end to the war in the Donbass. The West wasted Zelensky’s mandate, and reversed his every promise. He now begs for dwindling dollars and unavailable weapons systems, arrests people for free speech and journalism, shuts down political parties and churches, and has suspended the upcoming presidential election. Noting the lack of recruits, the shocking decimation of Ukrainian men, and a large Ukrainian diaspora that will never return home – it is safe to say Ukrainians who once voted for peace, want it more today than ever.

Instead of what most Ukrainians want, they are getting more weapons. Thousands of US-confiscated Iranian machine guns, sniper rifles, rocket launchers and hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition were sent to Ukraine last week. Will this patchwork of loose weapons help Ukraine win? No, it will not.

To summarize, Western military aid and money sustains the Ukrainian government, and subsidizes its foreign policy. Haphazard Western and NATO aid, and the odd set of western military advisors in country complicated and confused Ukrainian military operations, and got more people killed. Former Congressman Ron Paul used to say, “Foreign aid is taking money from poor people in rich countries and giving it to rich people in poor countries.” While not always the case, this sentiment defines the Ukraine project perfectly. Western war aid has ended Ukrainian democracy, divided the Ukrainian people physically and spiritually, impoverished them, and warped their economy. Matthew Hoh recently addressed this body, and he accurately – and horrifyingly – explained the abject devastation to people and the environment done by our Western “assistance.” We now have the Ukrainian government, presumably with US and NATO aid and assistance, trying to blow up the Zaporozhye nuclear plant – to create an even more monstrous environmental disaster than expired US cluster bombs and mine fields that litter the land. Conditions for a peaceful resolution have existed for over two years now, yet Western aid continues to prolong the war, and makes it more difficult for Ukrainians to ever return to their homes.

We see deliberate destruction of life, property and liberty in Ukraine. The US government and NATO blames Russia for all of this, confusing correlation with causation. I believe the causation was perfidious Western cheerleading for a proxy war that should never have happened, for reasons yet unexplained, beyond a pressing need for just one more member of NATO.

To stop a bleeding wound, one must be still, remain calm, and apply a strong bandage. US and NATO – like an arrogant Nurse Ratched in the insane asylum – looks at a bleeding Ukraine, and says, “Don’t be still, fight harder, die more bravely, we will send more money and more weapons!” No one in Ukraine or most of the rest of the world believes this is good advice, because it is not good advice.

Thank you for hearing this message, and working as individuals, and as nations, for peace."

Good to hear from you CD. Hope all is well and the beer is cold!

Peg. I need to show my drivers license every time I buy a bottle of wine at BJ's. You need to show ID when you open a bank account. In fact, you need ID for a lot of things. Voting integrity is important, and certainly more important than buying a bottle of wine. Correct?????

I would never do that Auntie!