Margot Cleveland

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Mar 1, 2025

@ProfMJCleveland

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Susan Rice's interview on MSNBC is telling for 2 main reasons, both revealed in first minutes in same sentence: "Zelensky was compelled to agree to a horrible deal that would have sent Ukraine's minerals to the United States" without any concrete security guarantees." 1/

Margot Cleveland

@ProfMJCleveland

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2/2 So former U.S. National Security Advisor Susan Rice is objecting to a GREAT deal for America. WOW. And second, her language re "without any concrete security guarantees" sure seems similar to what Zelensky was trying to renegotiate. Here's clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tsr3vP3TlJE

A Secretive Movement Known As '#AltGov' Is Openly Rebelling Against Trump And Musk From Inside Our Federal Agencies

We have a government that is literally fighting against itself. The federal workforce has always been more liberal than the population as a whole, but in recent years things have gotten really bad. Prior to this year, Democrats had been in control of the White House for 12 of the past 16 years. Over time, leftists that were hired for key positions just kept hiring more leftists underneath them. In fact, it got to a point where DEI policies at various agencies essentially institutionalized the systematic hiring of leftists. By the end of the Biden administration, leftist domination of most of our federal agencies was virtually complete. But now we have a new administration that most of our leftist federal workers absolutely detest. Many of them have absolutely no intention of cooperating with the new administration, and some of them have started to openly rebel against it.

A secretive movement known as “#AltGov” has become the epicenter of that rebellion. Those that are involved primarily communicate through anonymous social media accounts and an encrypted messaging app…

Calling itself #AltGov, the network has developed a visible, public-facing presence in recent weeks through Bluesky accounts, most of which bear the names or initials of federal agencies, aimed at getting information out to the public – and correcting disinformation – about the chaos being unleashed by the Trump administration.

With 40 accounts to date, their collective megaphone is getting louder, as most of the accounts have tens of thousands of followers, with “Alt CDC (they/them)” being the largest, at nearly 95,000 followers.

The network has also formed a group and a series of sub-groups on Wire, the encrypted messaging app, to share information and develop strategies – as played out on Saturday.

Most people don’t realize this, but the “#AltGov” movement was very active during the first Trump administration.

Of course during the Biden administration it went away, because the leftists inside our federal agencies saw no need to rebel against Joe Biden.

https://themostimportantnews.com/archives/a-secretive-movement-known-as-altgov-is-openly-rebelling-against-trump-and-musk-from-inside-our-federal-agencies

US Lawmakers Express Concern About China's 'Super-Embassy' In London

Two top House lawmakers expressed concerns about China’s plan to build a new large embassy in London, in a Feb. 26 letter to British Ambassador to the U.S. Peter Mandelson.

Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), said that allowing China to build what they called a “super-embassy” on the site of the Royal Mint Court in London would be a “counterproductive and unearned reward.”

The two lawmakers wanted Mandelson to convey their concerns to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who met with President Donald Trump in Washington on Feb. 27.

The Chinese regime first announced plans for a nearly 700,000-square-foot embassy at the Royal Mint Court, a historic site near the Tower of London, in 2018. The plans received a boost in January after the British foreign and interior ministers indicated they would support the construction proposal.

If completed, the new Chinese Embassy would be 10 times the size of China’s current embassy at London’s Portland Place and almost twice that of the Chinese Embassy in Washington. It would also be China’s biggest mission in Europe.

Beijing’s plans have also sparked some opposition in the British Parliament.

In a post on social media platform X on Feb. 17, Conservative MP Iain Duncan Smith said it would be the “biggest act of ‘kowtowing’ in British history” and a “nightmare” if China were allowed to proceed with its plans.

Smith and Moolenaar wrote in their letter that allowing the Chinese regime “such a prominent diplomatic foothold in the UK will only embolden its efforts to intimidate and harass UK citizens and dissidents and experts across Europe who oppose or criticize its policies.”

“China’s transnational repression operations are well-documented in the UK and throughout Europe,” they wrote.

In October 2022, Bob Chan, a Hong Kong pro-democracy protester, was dragged from a protest outside the Chinese Consulate General in Manchester onto the consulate grounds, where he was beaten by staff members. Speaking to The Epoch Times in March 2023, Chan said he was indignant at Chinese diplomats’ behavior but felt “powerless to hold them to account.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-lawmakers-express-concern-about-chinas-super-embassy-london

America's TikTok Ban Is A Threat To Free Speech

TikTok’s servers went dark for 12 hours on Jan. 19, but thanks to an extension from President Donald Trump, TikTok is back on the app stores, and its clock hasn’t run out yet.

The divestment, ban, and then subsequent extension have justifiably sparked criticism, especially among young people. And while half of Americans surveyed in March of 2023 supported a ban, now a majority of Americans disapprove. What accounts for such a swing in public opinion?

For a year, Americans watched lawmakers contradict their own claims that the app is a “national security threat.” Now, they are starting to see the ban for what it really is – an attack on consumer choice and free speech.

Originally, government leaders rejected TikTok’s kill switch and security proposal in 2022. Instead, they claimed the app was such a threat to national security that divestment was the only option. The government presented these concerns to the court which allowed them to override arguments about users’ free speech rights.

If TikTok was such a large threat to national security that it couldn’t continue to operate, then politicians should’ve suspended their accounts after the ban, instead of choosing to campaign on them. And the Trump administration shouldn’t have offered an extension if the product hasn’t changed – especially since Trump originally called for the ban.

Before the divestment vote, lawmakers were given an exclusive report that detailed TikTok’s alleged security concerns – members of Congress said it highlighted problems that existed across all social media platforms, none exclusive to TikTok. Without knowing the extent of those concerns, the public remains at risk. Why allow the data of 170 million Americans to be stolen, tracked, or whatever they believe the crisis is, for an extra year? If the problem is that serious, why haven’t they released that information?

Lawmakers’ concerns about foreign ownership were never really convincing when they singled out one Chinese owned company and not others. What about Temu and Shein? Both are Chinese-owned sites that have similar amounts of American users and data risks, plus well-documented labor violations, and you don’t see Congress talking about forcing them to divest.

https://realclearwire.com/articles/2025/02/27/americas_tiktok_ban_is_a_threat_to_free_speech_152427.html

Trump Approves $3 Billion Weapons Transfer to Israel

The announced arms deal came a day before the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire and hostage exchange deal was set to expire

The White House used emergency powers to approve a $3 billion weapons transfer to Israel. The package includes arms that the Joe Biden administration was hesitant to send to Tel Aviv.

On Friday, the Pentagon announced three arms packages for Israel totaling over $3 billion. The first sale is 35,500 MK 84 and BLU-117 bombs, both munitions with 2,000-pound warheads. Additionally, the US will send 4,000 Predator bombs, 2,000-pound bunker busting munitions. The nearly 40,000 bombs will cost over $2 billion.

Tel Aviv has previously used bunker busting bombs as chemical weapons. The IDF found that if it used multiple warheads, a chemical reaction is created that can cause a suffocating gas in the tunnels below the surface.

The second arms package includes 5,000 1,000-pound bombs and 1,500 JDAM kits to turn the munitions into guided bombs. The 1,000-pound bombs and guidance kits are expected to cost $675 million. A third sale is for Caterpillar D9 Bulldozers with a price tag near $300 million.

The White House claims that the arms sale is an emergency, bypassing Congressional oversight. The Biden administration used the same tactic to rush weapons to Tel Aviv after Israel launched the onslaught in Gaza following the October 7 Hamas attack.

However, the Biden administration did restrict the transfer of 2,000-pound bombs and military bulldozers to Tel Aviv. Last month, Trump released a shipment of 1,800 2,000-pound to Israel that Biden paused in May.

Earlier this week, the Trump White House repealed a Biden-era national security memo that required countries to receive US weapons to not violate international law or block humanitarian aid.

While the Biden administration concluded that Israel was blocking aid transfers into Gaza, it continued to send most of the weapons that Tel Aviv requested. $22 billion in arms sent to Israel has been paid for with US military aid.

https://news.antiwar.com/2025/03/01/trump-approves-3-billion-weapons-transfer-to-israel/

Nothing for the homeless and addicted

Report: Israel lobbying US to keep Russian bases in a ‘weak’ Syria

Jerusalem said to have told Washington that Damascus’s new Islamist rulers, backed by Turkey, pose a threat to Israel’s borders

Israel is lobbying the United States to keep Syria weak and decentralized, including by letting Russia keep its military bases there to counter Turkey’s growing influence in the country, four sources familiar with the efforts told Reuters.

Turkey’s often fraught ties with Israel have come under severe strain during the Gaza war and Israeli officials have told Washington that Syria’s new Islamist rulers, who are backed by Ankara, pose a threat to Israel’s borders, the sources said.

The lobbying points to a concerted Israeli campaign to influence US policy at a critical juncture for Syria, as the Islamists who ousted Bashar al-Assad try to stabilize the fractured state and get Washington to lift punishing sanctions.

Israel communicated its views to top US officials during meetings in Washington in February and subsequent meetings in Israel with US Congressional representatives, three US sources and another person familiar with the contacts said.

The main points were also circulated to some senior US officials in an Israeli “white paper,” two of the sources said.

All the sources spoke on condition of anonymity due to diplomatic sensitivities.

“Israel’s big fear is that Turkey comes in and protects this new Syrian Islamist order, which then ends up being a base for Hamas and other militants,” said Aron Lund, a fellow at US-based think tank Century International.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/report-israel-lobbying-us-to-keep-russian-bases-in-a-weak-syria/

FBI’s Patel says Trump 'honeypot' story not true, defends female agent

Conservative media reported a whistleblower provided evidence the FBI under former Director James Comey ran a “honeypot” operation against Trump to try to entrap him as far back as 2015.

In a rare and extraordinary pushback, new FBI Director Kash Patel said Friday night that media reports claiming a female agent ran a “honeypot” operation against Donald Trump during the Obama years was not true and unfair to the agent.

“A female agent was falsely referenced in the media this week as part of an alleged whistleblower disclosure- she was NOT a honeypot,” Patel wrote in a post on the social media platform X.

“I have reviewed the matter, again, and she did the limited job assigned to her. These actions were also reviewed by Special Counsel John Durham and he found no evidence of any wrongdoing by her,” the director said. “This agent has dedicated her life to public service, and I will have her back for it.”

The statement by Patel was extraordinary since he was a critic of the FBI before he took over as its director, and helped unravel the misconduct of the FBI during the unfounded Russia collusion case known as Crossfire Hurricane brought against Trump during the 2016 campaign.

Reports in conservative media earlier this week suggested that a whistleblower provided evidence that the FBI under former Director James Comey ran a “honeypot” operation against Trump to try to entrap him as far back as 2015.

Patel unequivocally stated the stories were not true and that it was important for him to set the record straight.

“The American people will get an FBI that is transparent, accountable, and committed to justice,” he wrote. “Just like when I exposed grotesque violations and fraud leading the House Intelligence Committee's investigation into Crossfire Hurricane calling out corrupt actors; I will equally defend those attacked falsely, especially as your new FBI Director.

“I will always be the first to push for accountability from within, my track record has established that, but we do not establish guilt by association in this FBI,” he added. “Stay the course and abide by our high standards, and I will always have your back. Deviate in anyway, and you will not be a part of this FBI. She is here to stay.”

https://justthenews.com/government/federal-agencies/fbis-patel-says-trump-honeypot-story-not-true-defends-female-agent

Australia’s internet censors just got shut down, and they can thank America for it

For months, Australia’s eSafety Commission was gearing up to become a global thought police force, wielding the power to silence speech across borders. The plan was simple—pass sweeping censorship laws, fine platforms like X into submission, and dictate what the world could and couldn’t say online. It looked inevitable. Until now.

Thanks to the newly passed No Censors on Our Shores Act, those dreams are officially dead. Any Australian bureaucrat caught censoring free speech that would be legal under the U.S. First Amendment is now banned from setting foot in America. That means no more backdoor attempts to control platforms hosted in the U.S., no more demands for American users’ posts to be taken down, and no more weaponizing massive fines against tech companies that refuse to comply.

This isn’t just a minor inconvenience for Australia’s censors—it’s a direct roadblock to their entire agenda. Every single bureaucrat at the eSafety Commission, along with every Australian MP or Senator who pushed for these censorship laws, could now find themselves locked out of the U.S. entirely. That includes the people pushing age verification requirements on American platforms, effectively making enforcement impossible.

This is a massive victory. For months, it seemed like governments were quietly working together to tighten the noose around online speech, using vague terms like “misinformation” and “harm” as an excuse for broad censorship powers. Now, one of the biggest power grabs in modern history just hit a wall.

Australia’s internet censors thought they could dictate the rules for the entire world. Turns out, America had something to say about that.

https://x.com/craigkellyXXX/status/1895201739139166609

https://issa.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-issas-no-censors-our-shores-act-unanimously-passed-judiciary-committee

https://issa.house.gov/media/press-releases/issa-gop-colleagues-announce-no-censors-our-shores-act

https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/9605/all-info

Project Veritas GOLD BARS Bomb Rocks EPA, Lawmakers Demand Action

https://youtu.be/ybYroguByLg

Epstein Case Documents (Case 18-2868)

https://archive.org/details/epsteindocs

Did the SEC just say meme coins are worthless gambling chips with no legal protection?

According to The Kobeissi Letter, the SEC has finally made its stance on meme coins clear—they aren’t securities, they aren’t regulated, and they aren’t protected. After years of legal battles over crypto classifications, this announcement settles one major question. But the answer is almost too absurd to believe.

This wasn’t some vague legal statement or a carefully worded hedge. The SEC explicitly stated that “a meme coin is not itself a security” because it doesn’t generate yield, offer rights to future profits, or hold any meaningful business value. In other words, they’re saying these coins don’t do anything, don’t promise anything, and—by implication—don’t matter.

That last part is where things get interesting. By ruling meme coins out of securities laws, the SEC is essentially admitting that they hold “limited or no use.” No real function, no protections, no oversight. It’s as if they’re telling people, “Go ahead, gamble on them, but don’t come crying to us when it all disappears.”

For the crypto world, this is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it provides clarity—launching a meme coin doesn’t come with the same regulatory baggage as a traditional crypto project. That’s a green light for more speculative madness, more pump-and-dump cycles, and even crazier meme coin hype.

On the other hand, it’s an open admission that these assets are so detached from reality that the SEC doesn’t even see them as financial instruments. They’re basically saying these tokens are digital junk—worth whatever people are willing to pay, but backed by nothing, protected by no one, and operating outside the rules that govern actual investments.

For those still piling into meme coins hoping for the next 1000x return, the message couldn’t be clearer: Play at your own risk. Because when the house of cards collapses, nobody’s coming to save you.

https://citizenwatchreport.com/did-the-sec-just-say-meme-coins-are-worthless-gambling-chips-with-no-legal-protection/