Cynical Publius: "Of the top 7 wealthiest counties in America, 4 of them are suburbs of Washington DC.

These counties have no major industries of note other than the federal government, lobbying the federal government and selling things to the federal government.

This is a major reason why the vast majority of Americans have zero sympathy for defunded NGOs, terminated federal employees, cut-off journalists and suddenly irrelevant lobbyists."

🔗 Cynical Publius

🇺🇸 The Story of the Fort Knox Gold Heist

🔗 Wall Street Apes

🇺🇸 Trump administration officials have explored the idea of auditing the gold reserves at Fort Knox.

Ron Paul has repeatedly warned about the U.S. government's secrecy over its gold, sparking theories that it may have been secretly sold to foreign governments.

No member of Congress has been granted access to the vault in over decades.

Ron Paul claimed the gold was stolen from the people by the U.S. government through an executive order in the 1930s.

🔗 Shadow of Ezra

🇷🇺⚡️ Visa and Mastercard will return to Russia in the near future , said Anatoly Aksakov, head of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets

He believes that payment systems will return to the Russian Federation and will offer their services, but it will be difficult for them because “Russians are accustomed to domestic payment systems.”

🇺🇦🇷🇺🇱🇻 ‘Freezing’ Ukraine war would allow Russia to threaten NATO, Latvian intelligence warns

Any pause in fighting in Ukraine would allow Russia to rebuild its forces and launch a confrontation with European Union countries, Latvia's state security service warned Monday, as U.S. President Donald Trump launches peace talks with the Kremlin.

In a newly unclassified report published by the Baltic nation's Constitution Protection Bureau, intelligence officers assess that "the likelihood of a direct Russian-NATO military confrontation in 2025" is "rather low" because Moscow's manpower and resources are tied up in the costly invasion.

"However, if the war were to become 'frozen' and Russia no longer had to suffer significant losses during the active hostilities in Ukraine, Moscow would be able to increase its military presence next to the NATO’s northeastern flank, including the Baltics, within the next five years," the report warns.

https://www.politico.eu/article/freezing-ukraine-war-would-allow-russia-threaten-nato-latvian-intelligence-warns-donald-trump-peace-talks/

🇻🇦📝 — Pope Francis' infection is presenting a complex clinical picture and requires further hospitalization, the Vatican says

➡️ Pope Francis has spent the past days alternating hospitalized, switching between resting and reading, the Vatican added in a brief statement.

➡️ His doctors have advised complete rest and Francis was unable to deliver his regular Sunday prayer to pilgrims in St Peter's Square or lead a special mass for artists held to mark the Catholic Church's Jubilee Year.

🇺🇸💬🇧🇷🇨🇳🔫🕊🗺 — "France has proposed a European deployment that would remain well behind the front lines, reassuring Ukraine without necessarily committing itself to join any future fight. American officials are suggesting a different sort of peacekeeping force, including non-European countries such as Brazil or China, that would sit along an eventual ceasefire line as a sort of buffer."

Source 🖇 | 🗄 Archive

🇺🇸🇷🇺 The FT is reporting Trump plans to withdraw troops from the Baltic states at least, giving Russia a huge strategic win, and weakening NATO's eastern flank at a critical time.

https://www.ft.com/content/11f121f9-391c-4597-93f7-f12894e1b79d

🔗 Jimmy Rushton

🇨🇦🛬❗️ | Delta Airlines Flight 4819 (Operating as EDV4819) crashed on landing today at Toronto Pearson International Airport.

➡️ The Canadair CRJ-900 inverted and caught fire at some point after reaching the runway.