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Trump and Slick Willy's sock drawer: An old case over audio tapes could impact Mar-a-Lago search dispute
Judge ruled in 2012 that a president's discretion to declare records "personal" is far-reaching and mostly unchallengeable. When it comes to the National Archives, history has a funny way of repeating itself. And legal experts say a decade-old case over audio tapes that Bill Clinton once kept in his sock drawer may have significant impact over the FBI search of Melania Trump's closet and Donald Trump's personal office. The case in question is titled Judicial Watch v. National Archives and Records Administration and it involved an effort by the conservative watchdog to compel the Archives to forcibly seize hours of audio recordings that Clinton made during his presidency with historian Taylor Branch.
https://www.sott.net/article/471222-Trump-and-Slick-Willys-sock-drawer-An-old-case-over-audio-tapes-could-impact-Mar-a-Lago-search-dispute

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Tent cities are taking over vast stretches of our major cities (and it's only going to get worse)
If brighter days are ahead for the U.S. economy, why are so many tent cities popping up all over the nation? At this point things are so bad that even the New York Times is admitting that "America's homelessness problem has the makings of an acute crisis". That article goes on to explain that our homeless population is steadily rising. Tonight, hundreds of thousands of our fellow Americans will be sleeping in tents, under bridges, in overcrowded shelters or in their vehicles. Of course there are many that are so addicted to drugs or alcohol that they just sleep wherever they end up passing out. This is a tragedy that is growing with each passing day, and it is only going to get worse in the months ahead as the U.S. economy slows down even more. Earlier today, I was truly stunned by a Fox News article about what is going on in Portland right now. Tent cities are literally taking over entire neighborhoods, and many residents are "resorting to selling their homes" as a result...
https://www.sott.net/article/471223-Tent-cities-are-taking-over-vast-stretches-of-our-major-cities-and-its-only-going-to-get-worse

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Relax: Just where do you think the IRS is going to get those 87,000 agents?
The IRS will be a bottom feeder for the industry, if they get that far. The Inflation Reduction Act's clarion call to more than double the size of the IRS has raised hackles and ire across the board. A more domineering IRS is frightful to contemplate. My response to this is simple: Don't worry, it won't happen. Why? The biggest obstacle that the federal government is going to face is where they are going to get the bodies with the skills needed to fill these new positions. Having worked for 25 years for one of the big three accounting firms, I am more than aware of the challenges the industry has in hiring qualified accounting staff. At one point my firm had set up a program at the University of Virginia to take liberal arts graduates and turn them into accountants over the course of an intense 18 month program . . . such is the difficulty of having enough staff.
https://www.sott.net/article/471224-Relax-Just-where-do-you-think-the-IRS-is-going-to-get-those-87000-agents

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Apple security flaw 'actively exploited' by hackers to fully control devices
Apple users have been advised to immediately update their iPhones, iPads and Macs to protect against a pair of security vulnerabilities that can allow attackers to take complete control of their devices. In both cases, Apple said, there are credible reports that hackers are already abusing the vulnerabilities to attack users. One of the software weaknesses affects the kernel, the deepest layer of the operating system that all the devices have in common, Apple said. The other affects WebKit, the underlying technology of the Safari web browser. For each of the bugs, the company said it was "aware of a report that this issue may have been actively exploited," though it provided no further details. It credited an anonymous researcher or researchers for disclosing both. Anyone with an iPhone released since 2015, an iPad released since 2014 or a Mac running macOS Monterey can download the update by opening up the settings menu on their mobile device, or choosing "software update" on the...
https://www.sott.net/article/471225-Apple-security-flaw-actively-exploited-by-hackers-to-fully-control-devices

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In defence of a pro-Kremlin stooge
As a defender of free speech, I'm used to taking up the cudgels on behalf of unsavoury people. To quote Lord Justice Sedley in a famous High Court judgment in 1999: 'Freedom of speech includes not only the inoffensive but the irritating, the contentious, the eccentric, the heretical, the unwelcome and the provocative, provided it does not tend to provoke violence.' But the case of Graham Phillips, who was sanctioned by the British government last month, is one of the hardest I've ever had to wrestle with. Phillips styles himself an 'independent journalist', but it's far from clear that the additional free-speech protections we apply to journalists should be extended to him. It would be more accurate to describe him as a pro-Russian propagandist. He's a British citizen who's been based in Ukraine, for the most part, since 2010, writing stories and making YouTube videos about football, prostitution, crime, politics and, most recently, Putin's invasion. There's no evidence he's a paid...
https://www.sott.net/article/471226-In-defence-of-a-pro-Kremlin-stooge

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The media are (finally) admitting lockdown is worse than 'Covid'...but why?
The latest figures from the UK's Office of National Statistics (ONS) suggest that the knock-on effects of lockdown may be harming more people than "Covid" ever did, or so the press are saying anyway. The ONS's weekly data apparently shows over 10,000 more reported deaths than expected. Since none of these excess deaths has been "linked with Covid", the press is calling them the "true cost of lockdown", with some papers suggesting lockdown is "killing more people than Covid". To which the only proper response is: "No shit." Even for those who still cling to the orthodoxy that "Covid" actually exists, the fact lockdown was going to do more damage than it prevented was obvious from the moment early mortality studies showed "Covid" had a 99.5% survival rate, back in the spring of 2020. Many experts in economics, statistics, epidemiology and virology voiced this opinion, and were vilified and abused for their trouble. And, really, anyone with the smallest shred of common sense could...
https://www.sott.net/article/471227-The-media-are-finally-admitting-lockdown-is-worse-than-Covid-but-why

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Ukraine conflict could end Western hegemony - Hungary
The deadly conflict in Ukraine has the potential to "demonstratively" put an end to Western hegemony globally, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has claimed. In an interview with German online magazine Tichys Einblick, published on Thursday, Orban said he expects the European Union to emerge weaker in the global arena once the fighting in Ukraine is over. The Hungarian leader argued that the West is incapable of winning the conflict militarily, and that the sanctions it has imposed on Moscow have failed to destabilize Russia. To make matters worse, the punitive measures have spectacularly backfired on the EU, he said. Orban also noted that a "large part of the world" is clearly not getting behind the US when it comes to Ukraine. He pointed to "the Chinese, Indians, Brazilians, South Africa, the Arab world, Africa" as regions not supporting the Western line on the conflict. "It is quite possible that it will be this war that will demonstratively put an end to Western supremacy,"...
https://www.sott.net/article/471228-Ukraine-conflict-could-end-Western-hegemony-Hungary

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Malaysia's Mahathir says US seeking to provoke war in Taiwan
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Friday accused the U.S. of trying to provoke a war in Taiwan, and in a wide-ranging interview also said he expects Malaysia's graft-tainted ruling party to hold general elections in the coming months. Mahathir, a two-time prime minister long known as a critic of the West and its geopolitics, warned that the U.S. was antagonizing China through recent visits to Taiwan by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others. China considers the self-ruled island democracy part of its territory and regards such visits as meddling in its affairs. The 97-year-old Mahathir said: "China has allowed Taiwan to remain by itself. No problem. They didn't invade. If they wanted to invade, they could have invaded. They didn't. But America is provoking (them) so that there can be a war, so that the Chinese will make the mistake of trying to occupy Taiwan. Then there is an excuse ... for the U.S. to help Taiwan, even fight against China and sell a lot of arms to...
https://www.sott.net/article/471229-Malaysias-Mahathir-says-US-seeking-to-provoke-war-in-Taiwan

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US on verge of becoming party to Ukrainian conflict, Moscow warns
Washington's continued support for Kiev during Moscow's military operation has put the US on the verge of becoming party to the Ukrainian conflict, Russia's deputy Foreign Minister, Sergey Ryabkov has said. He told Rossiya 1 TV channel on Friday: "We don't want escalation. We'd like to avoid a situation, in which the US becomes a party to the conflict, but so far we don't see any readiness of the other side to take these warnings seriously." Moscow rejects Washington's explanation, that providing Ukraine with weapons and other aid is justified by Kiev's right to self-defense, he pointed out. "Excuse me, what kind of self-defense is it if they are already openly talking about the possibility of attacking targets deep in the Russian territory, in Crimea?" According to Ryabkov, such statements are being made by the Ukrainian side "not just under the blind eye of the US and NATO, but with the encouragement of this kind of sentiment, approaches, plans and ideas directly from Washington....
https://www.sott.net/article/471230-US-on-verge-of-becoming-party-to-Ukrainian-conflict-Moscow-warns

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Putin, Macron call for IAEA inspection of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Plant
French President Emmanuel Macron has expressed concern to Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin about safety risks at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant in Ukraine, Macron's office said, adding that Putin had agreed to send a mission of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to the site. A statement also said that the two presidents -- who discussed the situation in Ukraine in a phone call on August 19 -- agreed to continue their talks in the coming days. The Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant was captured by Russia in March, shortly after it invaded Ukraine on February 24. The plant -- Europe's largest -- has repeatedly come under fire in recent weeks, sparking fears of a nuclear disaster. Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of shelling the plant. The Kremlin quoted Putin as saying that the shelling of the Russian-controlled nuclear site, which he blamed on Kyiv, created the risk of "large-scale catastrophe." According to the Kremlin, both leaders called for IAEA...
https://www.sott.net/article/471231-Putin-Macron-call-for-IAEA-inspection-of-Ukraines-Zaporizhzhya-Nuclear-Plant

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This media empire leads the charge in the US-China propaganda war
Australian-born American billionaire, Rupert Murdoch's global media empire has consistently led the charge in pushing anti-China narratives in the Western media. Encompassing a long list of highly influential media, including both television and print media in the liberal and conservative camps, the list of talking points aimed at Beijing is immense. For example, The Wall Street Journal's Editorial Board argued on Monday that China "is paying for the Communist Party chief's policy mistakes," referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping. The editorial argues that the world economy, including China's, is slowing down and that "the latest data released Monday on China's ebbing growth will echo around the world" because "the response from Beijing suggests its leaders are running out of ideas to arrest the decline." The piece goes on to bemoan China's "dynamic zero-Covid" policy, which has objectively saved millions of lives and made China's supply chains resilient and reliable for global...
https://www.sott.net/article/471232-This-media-empire-leads-the-charge-in-the-US-China-propaganda-war

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No longer a pariah? Russia and China could be about to 'normalize' North Korea, leave the US with another Asian headache
At beginning of this week the North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin had exchanged letters with Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un. The report stated both countries had agreed to "expand the(ir) comprehensive and constructive bilateral relations with common efforts". Matching the anniversary of Korean independence on August 15th, Putin's outreach comes as Russia seeks new partners away from the West. It also follows reports that North Korean expatriate workers would be assisting in the reconstruction of liberated territories in the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, to which it recently granted diplomatic recognition. But it's also an indication that the world has changed, significantly. Only a few years ago Russia, as well as China, were at least somewhat willing to cooperate with the United States in imposing sanctions on the DPRK in the bid to curb its nuclear and missile development. That situation no longer exists.
https://www.sott.net/article/471233-No-longer-a-pariah-Russia-and-China-could-be-about-to-normalize-North-Korea-leave-the-US-with-another-Asian-headache

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Andrew Klavan explains the striking similarities between critical theory and porn
Author and Daily Wire host Andrew Klavan spent a segment of his show Friday explaining how critical theories such as equity and radical gender theory display striking similarities to pornography. "Pornography, like your sexual fantasy, [is] just shapes and pictures in your mind — I know there are real women on one end of the pornographer's business — but when it comes to the audience, it's just a shape, it's just a picture," Klavan began. He added that when men get addicted to pornography, many of them stop engaging in sexual relationships. "They become impotent because the woman will not act like the woman in that picture," Klavan said. "They cannot make that leap from the shape of a woman to an actual real woman." This soon becomes a cycle. After a man stops having sexual relations with a woman, he turns to pornography more often, Klavan continued, and in turn, becomes "more alienated from reality."
https://www.sott.net/article/471234-Andrew-Klavan-explains-the-striking-similarities-between-critical-theory-and-porn

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Lockdown fanatics can't escape blame for this scandal
Some time ago, I received a heartbreaking email from a lady called Lisa King, detailing how Peter, her beloved husband of 21 years, had become a tragic casualty of Covid. The father of two, 62, did not catch coronavirus. He died on October 9, 2020 because he was repeatedly denied a face-to-face GP appointment during the pandemic - only to be told that an urgent operation to remove his gallbladder had been delayed because of spiralling NHS waiting lists. His sudden death, in agonising pain, was completely avoidable. As Mrs King told me at the time: "To the decision makers, he is nothing more than 'collateral damage', but to me, he is the love of my life." When journalists like me heard these stories and warned that the lockdown cure might be worse than the disease, we were accused of being mercenary murderers intent on prioritising the economy ahead of saving lives.
https://www.sott.net/article/471235-Lockdown-fanatics-cant-escape-blame-for-this-scandal

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The three I's of a police state education: Indoctrination, Intimidation & Intolerance
"Every day in communities across the United States, children and adolescents spend the majority of their waking hours in schools that have increasingly come to resemble places of detention more than places of learning." — Investigative journalist Annette Fuentes This is what it means to go back-to-school in America today. Instead of making the schools safer, government officials are making them more authoritarian. Instead of raising up a generation of civic-minded citizens with critical thinking skills, government officials are churning out compliant drones who know little to nothing about their history or their freedoms. And instead of being taught the three R's of education (reading, writing and arithmetic), young people are being drilled in the three I's of life in the American police state: indoctrination, intimidation and intolerance. From the moment a child enters one of the nation's 98,000 public schools to the moment he or she graduates, they will be exposed to a steady...
https://www.sott.net/article/471236-The-three-Is-of-a-police-state-education-Indoctrination-Intimidation-Intolerance

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Twitter suspends accounts of Serbian ruling party MPs, officials
Twitter has suspended the accounts of 13 ruling Serbian Progressive Party MPs, a party executive and two state officials, reportedly for contravening the social media platform's rules. Twitter is reported to have suspended the accounts of at least 16 political figures in Serbia, all of them either members of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party or holders of senior state posts. Political rights NGO CRTA on Friday named 13 ruling party MPs whose accounts have been suspended - Nevena Djuric, Sandra Bozic, Milica Nikolic, Jelena Obradovic, Aleksandar Markovic, Krsto Janjusevic, Dusan Radojevic, Jelena Zaric Kovacevic, Aleksandra Tomic, Stasa Stojanovic, Zoran Tomic, Andrijana Vasic and Olja Petrovic. Twitter also suspended the accounts of Miroslav Cuckovic, the newly appointed Belgrade City Manager, and Slavisa Micanovic, a member of the Serbian Progressive Party's main and executive boards.
https://www.sott.net/article/471237-Twitter-suspends-accounts-of-Serbian-ruling-party-MPs-officials

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Canada: Court rules child can't be forcibly vaccinated
A 12-year old schoolgirl who objected to being vaccinated against COVID-19 cannot be forced to take it, a Peterborough, Ontario judge has ruled. "The science relating to COVID-19 is developing," wrote Justice Christopher Corkery of Ontario Superior Court. "The 'facts' are changing." According to Blacklock's Reporter, the decision came in a family court dispute. The girl's unidentified father filed a motion with the Court compelling his ex-wife to have the girl vaccinated before the start of the school year. "It's keeping everyone in our community safe," the father told the Court. "It's keeping you safe."
https://www.sott.net/article/471238-Canada-Court-rules-child-cant-be-forcibly-vaccinated

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Americans censoring themselves on Covid, race and abortion - survey
While liberal views prevail in public, most groups are far more moderate in private. A new survey has found that, despite expressing liberal views in public, most Americans' actual beliefs are less extreme. The self-censorship goes two ways, with conservatives less supportive of the policies pushed by Republican politicians than they let on. The Biden administration and liberal media outlets repeatedly argued that mask-wearing was an effective way of stopping the spread of Covid-19, and while 59% of Americans surveyed in March agreed in public, that number fell to 47% in private. Hispanics and whites were more likely to support pandemic restrictions in public but oppose them in private, as were women. While 63% of women publicly supported masking, only 44% actually believed it was effective.
https://www.sott.net/article/471239-Americans-censoring-themselves-on-Covid-race-and-abortion-survey

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'Biden's Gestapo'? Trump raid hurts voter trust in FBI
Last week's raid by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on former President Donald Trump's home has damaged the FBI's standing with Republican and independent voters. A new national telephone and online survey by Rasmussen Reports finds that 44% of likely U.S. voters say the FBI raid on Trump's Florida home made them trust the FBI less, compared to 29% who say it made them trust the bureau more. Twenty-three percent (23%) say the Trump raid did not make much difference in their trust of the FBI. (To see survey question wording, click here.) Fifty percent (50%) of voters have a favorable impression of the FBI, including 26% who have a Very Favorable view of the bureau. Forty-six percent (46%) now view the FBI unfavorably, including 29% who have a Very Unfavorable impression of the bureau.
https://www.sott.net/article/471240-Bidens-Gestapo-Trump-raid-hurts-voter-trust-in-FBI

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Illegal immigration is getting so bad even CBS is sounding alarms over Biden border crisis: 'No sign of stopping'
It's getting so bad at the U.S. border with Mexico that even CBS 'This Morning' is sounding the alarms over "illegal immigration" that is causing a border crisis to spin out-of-control. Watch:
https://www.sott.net/article/471241-Illegal-immigration-is-getting-so-bad-even-CBS-is-sounding-alarms-over-Biden-border-crisis-No-sign-of-stopping

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NHS blows £1million on 'woke groups' for staff including 'tea and rainbow cake' picnics and a Filipino martial arts performance in the midst of growing cash crisis
The NHS has spent more than £1million on hundreds of 'woke' staff networks at a time when it desperately needs more cash for patient care. Nearly 500 of these groups have been set up by health trusts across the UK - taking up around 36,000 hours of staff time a year. Despite ministers' calls for the NHS to cut back on 'waste and wokery', some groups use taxpayers' money to put on events around transgender issues, sexuality and racism, often held during the working day. These have included 'tea and rainbow cake' picnics, a special session about pronouns and a Filipino martial arts performance. Amid fears of an impending winter NHS crisis, the audit by the TaxPayers' Alliance found there are now at least 493 networks across the UK health service.
https://www.sott.net/article/471242-NHS-blows-1million-on-woke-groups-for-staff-including-tea-and-rainbow-cake-picnics-and-a-Filipino-martial-arts-performance-in-the-midst-of-growing-cash-crisis