HellScape_Podcast_FeatImg_S2

Epstein Is The Tip Of The Iceberg, Elon Musk Wants In Your Brain, And Worse

This season’s featured song is A Story That Shouldn’t Be Told by Zachary Larmer. Thanks to him for being the Season 2 song. If you have something similar you want to be the Season 3 song, LMK.

It’s been too long since the last episode. A bunch of reasons why, but the primary thing – needed to find a new place, in the magical land of cell reception and internet faster than dialup. So I threw myself at that pretty hard. Like, about two months of hard searching hard. The fact that I don’t have credit because I’ve never taken a loan from an organization, combined with not being LGBT+, military, female, and other stuff, and the fact that my employment is primarily odd jobs, made it both impossible to get a normal apartment, and very difficult to find a room for rent, and many people who actually met with me didn’t like my anarchist stuff, which I wasn’t going to lie about. So here I am, signed a three month lease for a room and I can get back at this, and everything else I wanted to do – provided y’all keep spreading the word about my content and supporting it using the links in descriptions and show notes. All I need is your support and I can be better than ever!

And just to clear something up, when I was finishing the notes for this show Saturday morning, I logged into my Twitter, only to find my account had somehow reported itself without my permission, and found itself in violation of the Twitter rules. So I spent a significant amount of time trying to get any info at all on how it’s possible for someone’s account to report itself, and only found some people with similar experiences and no official documentation. I changed my pass and enabled 2FA tho, just to be sure.

https://twitter.com/InsanityIsFree/status/1152635983612919808

So while I’m still allowed on Twitter, which might not be much longer, I’ll still post there. But I urge everyone to get on Pocketnet. Decentralized social media on the blockchain – censor resistant, and improving by the day.

https://pocketnet.app/author?address=PNSuuhvq3xU46JectZCmf8Rk8ir168C5Qs&ref=PNSuuhvq3xU46JectZCmf8Rk8ir168C5Qs&report=shares&msocialshare=true

That, combined with odd jobs I needed to do, in odrer to pay rent in a week, which I still don’t have enough for, is why it took so long to get started. All that aside, let’s get into today’s topics.

Today I’ll be covering the increseament of censorship, infrastructure blackouts, ramping up of global tensions, Epstein and other powerful pedos, and the advancement of tech that should terrify. Elon wants to merge tech with the human brain, all while people walk streets where AI monitors their every move, in a statist world less free by the day. Rebellion is unlikely since people don’t have the means to eat in the coming recession, much less rise up. I go over all that and more today.

We’re fucked and nobody cares, so tell a friend to tell a friend – Weekly Hellscape is back. Get your kit. We’re hunting demons.

For the first story in the “good news” section, government officials can’t block people on social media. Wanna harass a politician with a government account? Go for it! From EFF:

“The Second Circuit made several important findings.

First, the court found that @realDonaldTrump is in fact controlled and maintained by the government, and used to conduct official governmental business. The Court relied on the bio in the @realDonaldTrump profile and other public statements and documented how he used the account to announce changes in his cabinet, changes in government policy positions, and even informing the public about talks with North Korea about nuclear disarmament. In finding that the blocking was state, and not private, action, the court rejected the government’s argument that the President still used the account as a private person, and found it irrelevant that he originally started the account as a private citizen.

Second, the Court found that the interactive components of @realDonaldTrump comprise a public forum, that is, a space generally open, indiscriminately, for the speech of the public, and in which viewpoint discrimination is prohibited.

Next, the court rejected the argument that workarounds existed to allow blocked users to read and reply to the @realDonaldTrump feed in any event, finding that such workarounds nevertheless hindered the blocked users’ ability to participate in the forum, a burden on their speech that “runs afoul of the First Amendment.”

Finally, the Second Circuit rejected the government’s argument that the entire Twitter page for @realDonaldTrump is government speech, in essence, a claim that the President is speaking by curating his reply feed to express his own message. When the government itself speaks, it may pick and choose the viewpoints it wants to express. The court found that the replies, mentions, retweets, and likes were instead the speech of the multiple users who post them, not the government. The court’s ability to distinguish the different functionalities of Twitter and social media pages is fundamental to preserving the public’s ability to speak freely as the government continues to adopt new technologies for communicating with the public.”

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/07/president-trump-loses-government-cant-block-critics-social-media

The right might not like this now, and the left won’t in four years when their politicians are being harassed, but as a free-speech anarchist, I couldn’t be happier. Fuck y’all’s favorite guy. They get flak too. Now it’s law.

And speaking of freedom, CA just approved a measure that would give authorized weed its own banking sector, bypassing federal legislation against money going to scheduled drugs. Now the citizens just need to approve it, too. Assuming voting works, anyway. From ActivistPost:

“Last week, a second California Assembly committee unanimously passed a bill that would establish limited state-chartered banks to serve the cannabis industry. Final passage of this legislation would remove a major federal roadblock in front of the developing industry in the state and further nullify federal prohibition in practice.

Sen. Bob Hertzberg, (D-Van Nuys), along with a bipartisan coalition of eight cosponsors, filed Senate Bill 51 (SB51) on Dec. 4. The legislation would create a self-contained banking system for the cannabis industry in California.

Because marijuana remains illegal under federal law, cannabis businesses in states that have legalized marijuana remain effectively locked out of the banking system. If a federally chartered or insured financial institution touches marijuana money, it takes on significant legal risk. The federal government insures or charters virtually every bank in the U.S. As a result, cannabis businesses have been forced to transact almost exclusively in cash. Passage of SB51 would completely bypass the federal banking system and create a limited banking alternative for the marijuana industry in California.”

California Committee Approves Measure to Create Banking Alternative for Cannabis Industry, Bypass Federal Reserve

And in other freedom news from Cali, Oakland barred use of facial recognition by government.

“Earlier this week, Oakland’s City Council voted unanimously to ban local government use of face surveillance. The amendment to Oakland’s Surveillance and Community Safety Ordinance will make Oakland the third U.S. city to take this critical step toward protecting the safety, privacy, and civil liberties of its residents.

Local governments like those in San Francisco, CA; Somerville, MA; and now Oakland, CA are leading the way in proactively heading off the threat of this particularly pernicious form of surveillance. However, after a series of hearings by the House Oversight Committee, national and international policymakers have also begun to look closely at the technology’s threat to human rights and civil liberties.

On the same day that Oakland’s City Council voted to ban government use of the technology, the House of Representatives passed a bipartisan amendment to the Intelligence Authorization Act (H.R. 3494) that would require the Director of National Intelligence to report on the use of face surveillance by intelligence agencies. David Kaye, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, has also called for a moratorium on face surveillance saying, “Surveillance tools can interfere with human rights, from the right to privacy and freedom of expression to rights of association and assembly.””

Of course, being that CA also barred ammo purchase with no background check, the state still wouldn’t be freer overall, and being that corporations are statist snitches, it might not even matter, but progress is still progress. And BTW there’s a campaign from FightForTheFuture to ban government facial rec entirely. Find more on CommonDreams:

“Facial recognition is unlike any other form of surveillance. It enables automated and ubiquitous monitoring of an entire population, and it is nearly impossible to avoid. If we don’t stop it from spreading, it will be used not to keep us safe, but to control and oppress us—just as it is already being used in authoritarian states.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/09/we-need-ban-it-entirely-beyond-regulation-new-us-campaign-calls-moratorium-facial?fbclid=IwAR1fePBaSXagqkJ7nx8wB8SG6xr2ArdbsRhL_tWi0UcTXHefGEQQLPxwWjA

And Twitter unsuspended a prominent pro-Assange account. Pretty straightforward.

Twitter Restores Assange Activism Account In Response To Backlash

That said… time for the bad news. There’s a lot. And a lot has happened since I’ve been gone, but this is still the “Weekly” Hellscape, so I’ll stick to this week. So let’s start with the fact that the FBI is trying to build a better way to monitor social media. From ZeroHedge:

“Citing the use of social media by terrorist groups, domestic threats, criminal organizations and foreign intelligence services, the FBI “needs near real time access to a full range of social media exchanges in order to obtain the most current information available,” according to the request for proposal.

“In addition to information such as user IDs, the feds are interested in “emails, IP addresses, telephone numbers, and likely aliases” used over social media. The tool would also allow for location-based tracking, persistent keyword monitoring, and access to one’s personal social media history.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-07-15/fbi-ramp-social-media-surveillance

And when you’re not on social media, they’re watching you through your smart devices. From Truth Theory:

“In the past, tech companies like Google have insisted that their smart devices are not a threat to your privacy, but as it becomes more obvious how intrusive this technology can be, they have started to play damage control and are now revealing limited details about the scope of their surveillance.

In a recent statement, Google admitted that they were listening to some of their customers through the Google Home smart speakers, which are always listening, and recording. The company said that they only use .2% of the data that they collect, which is still a lot of data considering how many people have these devices. Also, many Google Home customers are a bit creeped out that the company’s employees are randomly listening in on their private conversations.

“We partner with language experts around the world to improve speech technology by transcribing a small set of queries – this work is critical to developing technology that powers products like the Google Assistant. Language experts only review around 0.2% of all audio snippets, and these snippets are not associated with user accounts as part of the review process,” the statement said.”

Google Admits “Home” Smart Device Is Listening To Your Recorded Audio

So take their word for that if you want, but while that’s happening, ATT is being sued for not only recording a ton of user data, but giving or selling it to third parties, as covered by ActivistPost:

“The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht LLP filed a class action lawsuit today on behalf of AT&T customers in California to stop the telecom giant and two data location aggregators from allowing numerous entities—including bounty hunters, car dealerships, landlords, and stalkers—to access wireless customers’ real-time locations without authorization.

An investigation by Motherboard earlier this year revealed that any cellphone user’s precise, real-time location could be bought for just $300. The report showed that carriers, including AT&T, were making this data available to hundreds of third parties without first verifying that users had authorized such access. AT&T not only failed to obtain its customers’ express consent, making matters worse, it created an active marketplace that trades on its customers’ real-time location data.

“AT&T and data aggregators have systematically violated the location privacy rights of tens of millions of AT&T customers,” said EFF Staff Attorney Aaron Mackey. “Consumers must stand up to protect their privacy and shut down this illegal market. That’s why we filed this lawsuit today.”

The lawsuit alleges AT&T violated the Federal Communications Act and engaged in deceptive practices under California’s unfair competition law, as AT&T deceived customers into believing that the company was protecting their location data. The suit also alleges that AT&T, LocationSmart, and Zumigo have violated California’s constitutional, statutory, and common law rights to privacy.

“The location data AT&T offered up for sale is extremely precise and can locate any of its wireless subscribers in real time, providing a window into the intimate details of their lives: where they go to the doctor, where they worship, where they live, and much more,” said Abbye Klamann Ognibene, an associate at Pierce Bainbridge.

“To sell this information without any notification to users is deceptive, extraordinarily invasive of their privacy, and illegal,” said Thomas D. Warren, a partner at Pierce Bainbridge.”

EFF Sues AT&T, Data Aggregators For Giving Bounty Hunters and Other Third Parties Access to Customers’ Real-Time Locations

And if that isn’t bad enough, millions of people downloaded an app in order to follow a trend, and now that app has access to their faces for any purpose, everywhere, as long as they want, even for profit. The Russian company behind FaceApp has TOS under fire, and TruthTheory covered that as well:

“Since its launch, more than 100 million people have downloaded FaceApp from Google Play. In fact, the app is now the top-ranked app on the iOS App Store in 121 countries, according to App Annie.

Based on the Terms of Service, people still own their own “user content” (read: their face). But, FaceApp also owns a never-ending and irrevocable royalty-free license to do anything they want with the photograph. That includes in front of whoever they wish.

The condition reads:

“You grant FaceApp a perpetual, irrevocable, nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, fully-paid, transferable sub-licensable license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, publicly perform and display your User Content and any name, username or likeness provided in connection with your User Content in all media formats and channels now known or later developed, without compensation to you. When you post or otherwise share User Content on or through our Services, you understand that your User Content and any associated information (such as your [username], location or profile photo) will be visible to the public.”

Selling your face isn’t likely to cause life-altering repercussions. However, as PhoneArena’s Peter Kostadinov said, “You might end up on a billboard somewhere in Moscow, but your face will most likely end up training some AI facial-recognition algorithm.””

FaceApp Now Owns Access To More Than 150 Million People’s Faces And Names, And Users Are Pissed

They also cover Facebook and Apple doing basically the same thing. But nah – nothing to be concerned about here… same with Elon Musk’s new “Neuralink”, launched and explained by the company early last week. The thing will be a matrix of electrode threads running directly into the brain, attached to chips under the skin. As reported by Mac Slavo at SHTFplan.com:

“Elon Musk finally admitted late Tuesday that Neurolink’s (Musk’s brain-machine interface startup) official goal is to eventually merge human brains with artificial intelligence. The ultimate ending would be to “achieve a symbiosis with artificial intelligence.”

Musk plans to begin human trials on an early version of Neuralink intended to treat brain injuries next year, and he says that by “merging with AI,” humans will be able to keep up with AI. “Ultimately we can do a full brain-machine interface,” Musk said in an announcement that was widely live-streamed, according to a report by Vice. “This is going to sound pretty weird. Ultimately we can achieve a symbiosis with artificial intelligence. This is not a mandatory thing, this is something you can choose to have if you want. This is going to be really important at a civilization-level scale. Even in a benign AI scenario, we will be left behind. With a high-bandwidth brain-machine interface, we can go along for the ride and have the option of merging with AI.”…

Musk stated that his goal with this presentation (video below) was to recruit engineers and scientists to Neurolink’s team.”

Elon Musk Announcement: Let’s Merge Human Brains To “Achieve A Symbiosis With AI”

So all this info we’re giving… what could it be used for? Well, Idaho city halls are using AI facial recognition cams to ban people from protest. From MassPrivateI:

“Local governments and private corporations are using facial recognition to secretly blacklist people, despite having no valid reason to do so.

A recent article in the Idaho Statesman and in the video above, prove that local governments are using facial recognition to ban residents from accessing city-owned buildings. The Boise city council claimed that they need facial recognition cameras to protect public employees from disgruntled or unwelcome residents. Wow, there must be a lot of disgruntled or unhappy residents for the city council to justify putting facial recognition cameras in Boise City Hall and City Hall West, right? Would you believe both city halls have banned just one single resident because he opposed using city funds to pay for an NBA developmental league team.”

https://massprivatei.blogspot.com/2019/07/city-halls-use-facial-recognition-to.html

And it’s not just about quelling dissent – it’s about preventing it entirely. TruthStream Media recently put out two great videos. Everyone should watch them both. The first, titled “The Infallible AI “Oracle” and the Future of “One Shot” Answers” goes over the info control inherent in these “home assistants” everyone has. They cite the desire of Silicon Valley to be the new priests of a new religion, where all the answers are on your counter. “Apparently in the next phase, your AI “oracle” voice assistant will do most of the heavy thinking for you… and the Internet will slowly morph into a place where there’s only one “right” (read: “official”) answer.”

The other, titled “Do People Realize They Are Creating Their Own A.I. Overlords?” In it, they go over the increasing tyranny possible in the IoT future people are increasingly consenting to. “It’s bad enough that every government agency now conducts surveillance and sweeps up data continuously. However, consumers continue to welcome surveillance directly into their homes, which only further builds and improves upon artificial intelligence systems.”

So your smart world will be controlled by smart devices run by the elites. The elites can and will use all data to control every aspect of your life to which you consent. Another thing to read is from the blog of Charles Hugh Smith, who wrote a post “Alexa, How Do We Subvert Big Tech’s Orwellian Internet-of-Things Surveillance?”, which among other things accurately notes:

“The Internet of Things is indeed about control–not your control, but control over you– control of what’s marketed to you, and control of your behaviors via control of the incentives, distractions and micro-decisions that shape behavior.

The control enabled by the Internet of Things starts with persuasion and quickly slides into coercion. Since corporations and government agencies will have a complete map of your movements, purchases, consumption, communications, etc., then behavior flagged as “non-beneficial” will be flagged for “nudging nags”, while “unsanctioned” behavior will be directed to the proper authorities.”

http://charleshughsmith.blogspot.com/2019/07/alexa-how-do-we-subvert-big-techs.html

And what comes out when people try to resist this gov? Well let’s check in on Julian Assange… still in prison, and apparently now a Russian asset too! From Caitlin Johnstone:

“CNN has published an unbelievably brazen and dishonest smear piece on Julian Assange, easily the most egregious article of its kind since the notoriously bogus Assange-Manafort report by The Guardian last year. It contains none of the “exclusive” documents which it claims substantiate its smears, relying solely on vague unsubstantiated assertions and easily debunked lies to paint the WikiLeaks founder in a negative light.

And let’s be clear right off the bat, it is most certainly a smear piece. The article, titled “Exclusive: Security reports reveal how Assange turned an embassy into a command post for election meddling”, admits that it exists for the sole purpose of tarnishing Assange’s reputation when it reports, with no evidence whatsoever, that while at the Ecuadorian embassy Assange once “smeared feces on the walls out of anger.” Not “reportedly”. Not “the Ecuadorian government claims.” CNN reported it as a fact, as an event that is known to have happened. This is journalistic malpractice, and it isn’t an accident.

Whenever you see any “news” report citing this claim, you are witnessing a standard smear tactic of the plutocratic media. Whenever you see them citing this claim as a concrete, verified fact, you are witnessing an especially aggressive and deliberate psyop. The Ecuadorian embassy was easily the most-surveilled building in the world during Assange’s stay there, and the Ecuadorian government has leaked photos of Assange’s living quarters to the media in an attempt to paint him as a messy houseguest in need of eviction, so if the “feces on the walls” event had ever transpired you would have seen photos of it, whether you wanted to or not. It never happened.”

New CNN Assange Smear Piece Is Amazingly Dishonest, Even For CNN

And what of Chelsea Manning? For refusing to testify against him, she’s still held in solitary, but now faces a $1000 A DAY fine for refusal! From ShadowProof:

“Daily fines against Chelsea Manning for resisting a grand jury investigating WikiLeaks increased to $1000 on July 16. On May 16, Judge Anthony Trenga held Manning in civil contempt and ordered her to be sent back to the William G. Truesdale Adult Detention Center in Alexandria. The court also imposed a fine of $500 per day after 30 days, and then a fine of $1000 per day after 60 days.

From June 16 to July 15, the court fined her $500/day. Those fines total $15,000. If Manning “persists in her refusal” for the next 15 months or until the grand jury’s term ends, her legal team says she will face a total amount of fines that is over $440,000. This excessive amount may violate her Eighth Amendment rights under the Constitution.”

Chelsea Manning’s Daily Fines For Grand Jury Resistance Increase To $1000

So uh… just a friendly reminder. All she did was expose evil done by the state. All he did is say what the state didn’t want him to. This is the freedom troops supposedly fight to protect. Pretty laughable. And what about the troops? Well the house voted to repeal Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMF) from 2001 and 02, and pre-emptive defunding of war on Iran not approved by congress. From Antiwar.Com – which BTW RIP Justin Raimondo… gone too soon:

“The 2001 repeal passed 237-183, while the 2002 repeal passed even easier at 242-180.

Debates on the AUMF centered on concern that the authorizations could be used by President Trump or future presidents to authorize wars they were never intended for. The aim is to replace the 2001 version with something more current on the global war on terror, and to do away with the 2002 version entirely, since its main goal was to unseat the long-dead Saddam Hussein and conquer Iraq, now a US ally. Opponents of the repeals argued it would tie President Trump’s hands, and that other recent presidents have gotten to launch unauthorized wars without Congress getting in the way.

Which was also a big topic of the debate for another amendment, the preemptive defunding of any US attack on Iran that comes without an explicit Congressional authorization. This passed 250-170.

Bill supporters argued that Iran is just too big of a war to get sucked into without Congress having any say in the matter, while opponents insisted that Congress is so slow in approving wars we’d never get an attack on Iran off the ground without a president doing it unilaterally.

This was a particularly important vote because President Trump has argued he doesn’t need Congressional authorization to attack Iran. While that’s legally incorrect, he may have been de facto right, since he’s been vetoing War Powers Act challenges to other unauthorized wars. Congress thus is using the power of the purse to ensure that there is no money allowed to be spent on such an illegal war.”

House Passes Amendments to End War Authorizations, Preemptively Defund Iran War

And I’d have put that in the “good news section, but as Antiwar also posted…

“After satellite images showed facilities being prepared for them, US officials were quoted in the media as saying that there is a plan to send “up to 500” US ground troops to Saudi Arabia in response to Iran tensions.

Former Congressman Ron Paul commented on the matter, both saying it accomplishes very little, and warning that historically having US troops on the Arabian Peninsula has been a source of anger among Islamists. Osama bin Laden specifically attributed his 9/11 attack to the US having troops in his holy land. After 9/11, the US made a point of removing troops from Saudi Arabia, and now seems to be in the process of sending them back.”

US Poised to Send 500 Troops to Saudi Arabia Amid Iran Tensions

So be prepared for another incident. And while we’re international, let’s talk British police threatening to prosecute any and all whistleblowers. From ActivistPost:

“In another blow against free press, following a leak revealing comments by the British Ambassador to the USA Sir Kim Darroch calling Trump “inept, insecure and incompetent” (leading to the ambassador’s resignation and a spat of Twitter insults between Trump and senior Tory officials), London’s Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu has publicly warned journalists not to publish any government leaks, threatening them with imprisonment.

The publication of leaked communications, knowing the damage they have caused or are likely to cause may also be a criminal matter. I would advise all owners, editors and publishers of social and mainstream media not to publish leaked government documents that may already be in their possession, or which may be offered to them, and to turn them over to the police or give them back to their rightful owner, Her Majesty’s Government.

MET Police Threaten Journalists About Publishing Leaked Documents Holding Government Accountable

There’s more international news but I still have to fit in a bunch of domestic stuff, so here’s that. Let’s start with the governor of Hawaii vetoing a bill that would stop civil asset forfeiture. From FEE:

“Hawaii’s lawmakers attempted to join the trend, but this week were met with a veto from Democratic Governor David Ige.

House Bill 748, introduced by Democratic representatives, would have limited police to seizing property only in cases where a felony conviction has been issued (within the practice of civil asset forfeiture, it is actually the property that is “convicted”). As the bill’s authors wrote in their introduction to the legislation,

The legislature finds that civil asset forfeiture frequently leaves innocent citizens deprived of personal property without having ever been charged or convicted of any crime. This amounts to government-sponsored theft.

According to the Institute for Justice (IJ), Hawaii is one of the worst-ranked states for civil asset forfeiture practices. In the second edition of its “Policing for Profit” report, the organization gave the state a grade of “D-” for its “low standard of proof,” which requires “only that the government show by a preponderance of the evidence that property is tied to a crime.” IJ also cited the heavy burden placed on citizens to prove they are not connected to the alleged crime tied to the forfeiture.

Hawaii’s current policy gives 100 percent of the funds and seized property to law enforcement, including state and local police, as well as prosecuting attorneys and the attorney general. HB 748 would have shifted some of the confiscated money and income generated from the sale of forfeited property to a general state fund to reduce the financial incentives police and prosecutors have to seize property and pursue convictions.”

https://fee.org/articles/hawaii-governor-vetoes-bill-aimed-to-end-confiscation-of-property-without-a-conviction/

And why wouldn’t he veto it? The economy is crashing, and the government is in debt. You’d never hear it from Trump and his Trumpets, but the numbers point directly to it. For instance, a report published Tuesday proves employed and educated homeless are at higher numbers than ever.

“A report published on Tuesday by the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, revealed that 13,400 of the city’s homeless population had jobs in 2017 while another 18,000 had a college education. The report challenges long held stereotypes concerning the homeless that include the false idea that anyone with a steady job or college education is immune from one of life’s most difficult experiences.

After examining 2017 census data, the Chicago Coalition of the Homeless (CCH) found that about 86,000 people experienced homelessness in the city at some point during the year.”

13,400 of Chicago’s Homeless Had Jobs in 2017, 18,000 Had a College Education

And another report from SHTFplan proves US manufacturing is in recession.

“The manufacturing industry in the United States has officially sunk into a recession. The once-booming industry is struggling to stay alive amid the trade war as production slumped in the second quarter.

Data from the Federal Reserve shows that production in June fell flat. In fact, the numbers were below the expectations of a meager 0.1% gain predicted by Wall Street economists. The U.S. factory sector declined in the three months ended in June, the second straight quarterly decline, the Federal Reserve said Tuesday. For the second quarter, production was down 1.2% after a 1.9% decline in the first three months of the year. Manufacturing fell at a 2.2% rate in the second quarter after a 1.9% drop in the first three months of the year, according to a report by Market Watch.

This news comes as the trucking industry faces an economic “bloodbath” – one that’s bankrupting truckers and companies all while workers continue to lose their jobs.”

U.S. Manufacturing Is Officially In Recession

And while they’re at it, Deutsche Bank is liquidating! Michael Snyder says:

“Could it be possible that we are on the verge of the next “Lehman Brothers moment”? Deutsche Bank is the most important bank in all of Europe, it has 49 trillion dollars in exposure to derivatives, and most of the largest “too big to fail banks” in the United States have very deep financial connections to the bank. In other words, the global financial system simply cannot afford for Deutsche Bank to fail, and right now it is literally melting down right in front of our eyes.

For years I have been warning that this day would come, and even though it has been hit by scandal after scandal, somehow Deutsche Bank was able to survive until now. But after what we have witnessed in recent days, many now believe that the end is near for Deutsche Bank. On July 7th, they really shook up investors all over the globe when they laid off 18,000 employees and announced that they would be completely exiting their global equities trading business.”

A Bank With 49 Trillion Dollars In Exposure To Derivatives Is Melting Down Right In Front Of Our Eyes

On another post, he continues the bad news by discussing the many businesses going under, and the raw numbers are staggering.

“The all-time record for store closings in a single year was set in 2017 when 8,139 stores shut down. According to a brand new report that was just released, we are on pace to absolutely shatter that old record. In fact, Coresight says that the number of store closings in the U.S. could hit 12,000 by the end of this year.”

As Wall Street Celebrates Rising Stock Prices, Companies Are Literally Shutting Down All Over America

So what could make it all worse? How about hitting the debt ceiling again! With no end in sight for federal spending! Yes – very good, wow! Much from Clint Siegner:

“The federal government will soon run up against its self-imposed borrowing cap once again.

Current estimates are for the government to max out its credit limit at a little over $22 trillion in early September. Congress goes on recess in August, so there is some pressure to address the cap right now.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has been fulfilling what seems to be the most sacred responsibility of his position: borrowing money. It’s one that each of his predecessors has also undertaken, without fail and without regard to party affiliation, in recent decades.

He is solemnly arguing why it would be wholly irresponsible for Congress not to approve another massive increase in what the Treasury can borrow.

Now that his ritual is complete, the only question is whether Congress and the President will engage in another sham fight before approving an increase, or if the politicians will agree quietly and hope not too many citizens notice.”

Federal Debt Ceiling Reached as Federal Spending Rages

And wanna make that worse? Not only has the recent drought in some places and flood in others tanked domestic food production, as previously mentioned on Hellscape, Europe’s GPS systems failed all at once – for hours! RT reported on the 15th:

“A major technical error has caused Europe’s satellite navigation system to be fully offline since Friday, with most satellites powering the Galileo system broken, the EU’s space agency has said.
Europe’s Galileo system was built to replace the US’ GPS system but, since the outage, users are automatically being switched back to the US positioning system. The Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency (GNSS) said in a statement on Sunday that “a technical incident related to its ground infrastructure” had caused the problem.

The incident led to the “temporary interruption” of the Galileo services since Friday, with the exception of the Search and Rescue (SAR) service, which locates people in distress situations at sea or on mountains, GNSS said”

https://www.rt.com/news/464238-eu-galileo-gps-offline/

“But I’m not in Europe!” American listeners say – okay. 13th – Manhattan blacked out entirely. On the anniversary of the 1977 blackout. As reported by Zerohedge, “Manhattan Goes Dark: Major Power Outage Hits NYC On Anniversary Of 1977 Great Blackout”.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-07-13/manhattan-goes-dark-major-power-outage-hits-nyc-anniversary-1977-great-blackout

So the economy’s crumbling, tech is forming an ever-broadening dystopia, and speech is increasingly criminalized. Let’s throw some pedophilia on top! Since I’ve been gone, Epstein was arrested. Google “Lolita Express” if you need the basics, but here’s a couple updates, courtesy SM Gibson of Anti-Media nad TheMindUnleashed…

Jeffrey Epstein Petitions Court to Live Under House Arrest in His $77,000,000 Mansion

“Attorneys for alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein proposed a deal on Thursday that would allow their client to be released on bail and live in his $77 million Manhattan residence under house arrest.

The request was one of 14 conditions listed in a letter to Judge Richard M. Berman.

Other stipulations outlined by the defense include armed guards being placed at Epstein’s mansion, surveillance cameras being installed inside and outside the home, and that no one would be allowed to enter the residence other than Mr. Epstein and his attorneys. Their client would also agree to wear an electronic monitor with a global positioning system (GPS).”

Jeffrey Epstein Petitions Court to Live Under House Arrest in His $77,000,000 Mansion

And Acosta resigned!

“U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta said on Friday he will resign his position amid fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case.

Speaking to reporters, Acosta made the announcement while standing outside of the White House while and next to President Donald Trump.

Trump said that Acosta called him Friday morning with his decision, and added that it was the Labor Secretary’s idea to step down.

As the former U.S. attorney in Miami, Acosta infamously cut Epstein a non-prosecution plea deal in 2007 for charges relating to the sexual exploitation of underage girls.

Under the agreement agreed to by Acosta, Epstein did not face federal criminal charges and put an immediate stop to a separate federal investigation. The deal also sealed the indictment records.”

Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta Resigns Amid Jeffrey Epstein Sex Trafficking Case

And while it’s becoming clearer and clearer that the swamp isn’t being drained, Vicky Ward dropped a nuke – relates an experience she had hearing he “belonged to intelligence”.

“A couple of years ago, I was interviewing a former senior White House official when the name Jeffrey Epstein came up.

Unaware of my personal history with Epstein, this person assured me that the New York financier was no serious harm to anyone. He was a good guy. A charming guy. Useful, too. He knew a lot of rich Arabs, including the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, and, further, he had clever ideas about creating bond issues for them. “OK, so he has a girl problem,” this person threw on, almost as an afterthought.

Epstein’s name, I was told, had been raised by the Trump transition team when Alexander Acosta, the former U.S. attorney in Miami who’d infamously cut Epstein a non-prosecution plea deal back in 2007, was being interviewed for the job of labor secretary. The plea deal put a hard stop to a separate federal investigation of alleged sex crimes with minors and trafficking.

“Is the Epstein case going to cause a problem [for confirmation hearings]?” Acosta had been asked. Acosta had explained, breezily, apparently, that back in the day he’d had just one meeting on the Epstein case. He’d cut the non-prosecution deal with one of Epstein’s attorneys because he had “been told” to back off, that Epstein was above his pay grade. “I was told Epstein ‘belonged to intelligence’ and to leave it alone,” he told his interviewers in the Trump transition, who evidently thought that was a sufficient answer and went ahead and hired Acosta. (The Labor Department had no comment when asked about this.)”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/jeffrey-epsteins-sick-story-played-out-for-years-in-plain-sight?ref=scroll

And for more info on how deep, long, and wide, the swamp is, check this piece by John Whitehead of the Rutherford Institute. Concludes nicely:

“Here’s what the rule of law means in a nutshell: it means that everyone is treated the same under the law, everyone is held equally accountable to abiding by the law, and no one is given a free pass based on their politics, their connections, their wealth, their status or any other bright line test used to confer special treatment on the elite.

This culture of compliance must stop.

The empowerment of petty tyrants and political gods must end.

The state of denial must cease.

Let’s not allow this Epstein sex scandal to become just another blip in the news cycle that goes away all too soon, only to be forgotten when another titillating news headline takes its place.

Sex trafficking, like so many of the evils in our midst, is a cultural disease that is rooted in the American police state’s heart of darkness. It speaks to a far-reaching corruption that stretches from the highest seats of power down to the most hidden corners and relies on our silence and our complicity to turn a blind eye to wrongdoing.

If we want to put an end to these wrongs, we must keep our eyes wide open.”

“https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/the_heart_of_darkness_the_sexual_predators_within_americas_power_elite

But all that aside, as of writing notes for the show, it already seems like I’ll be well over an hour, so even though there’s a lot on Epstein, let’s get to the “fuck the police” section. Wait, shit – who am I kidding? The cops helped him too! By letting him escape requirements for mandatory check-ins! From NY Post:

“After being labeled a worst-of-the-worst, Level 3 sex offender in 2011, Epstein should have reported in person to verify his address 34 times before he was arrested Saturday on federal child sex-trafficking charges.

Violating requirements of the state’s 1996 Sex Offender Registration Act — including checking in with law enforcement — is a felony punishable by up to four years in prison for a first offense.

Subsequent violations carry a sentence of up to seven years each.

But the NYPD hasn’t required the billionaire financier — who owns a $77 million Upper East Side townhouse — to check in since he registered as a sex offender in New York over the controversial 2008 plea bargain he struck in Florida amid allegations he sexually abused scores of underage girls in his Palm Beach mansion.

Several current and former high-ranking NYPD officials were shocked to learn from The Post that the department had given Epstein a pass on his periodic check-ins, with one saying, “It makes no sense.””

https://nypost.com/2019/07/10/nypd-let-convicted-pedophile-jeffrey-epstein-skip-judge-ordered-check-ins/

I wonder why the state would help a guy who was supposed to check in not do that? Not like he needed time to sanitize a bunch of stuff. Couldn’t be. But okay – now we’re definitely off Epstein – so what next? Oh! I know! The DOD is a huge fucking group of pedophiles! And Congress is introducing bills to stop them from sharing, downloading, and viewing goddamned child porn! From TFTP:

“The problem of government agents viewing horrific images and videos of child pornography on official Department of Defense computers has gotten so out of hand that bipartisan legislation has been introduced to curb the practice. Reps. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) and Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) introduced legislation earlier this month meant to halt the epidemic of government employees viewing and sharing child porn over DOD networks and devices.

According to a report in the Hill, the End National Defense Network Abuse (END Network Abuse) was introduced in the wake of in an investigation called “Project Flicker” carried out by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This investigation identified over 5,000 individuals, including many affiliated with DOD, who were subscribed to child porn websites.

The investigation was conducted by the Pentagon’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service and it netted hundreds of suspects who work for and are affiliated with the DOD. Let that sink in. Hundreds of government employees are using taxpayer funded official DOD networks and computers to view and share child pornography — essentially running a child porn network on a government system.”

HUNDREDS of Pentagon Officials Caught Running Child Porn Network on Official DOD Computers

So that’s it for government pedos, right? “BUT WAIT – THERE’S MORE!” A child who was raped went to cops for help, and was raped by one of em! Also from TFTP:

“That’s precisely what Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Detective Neil David Kimball, 46, pleaded guilty this week to doing to a 14-year-old rape victim.

Kimball met with the family of the victim in late 2017, befriended the teen, and later tied her up and raped her. He then attempted to intimidate the witness and the family from coming forward, even threatening them at some point during the horrific ordeal.

Being a badge wearing police officer, the detective has already been given leniency by not being convicted for the more serious crimes for which he was initially charged. According to KTLA News 5:

The former detective was initially charged with forcible rape against a minor 14 years or older while the victim was tied or bound.

He was subsequently allowed to plead guilty to lesser charges of a lewd act with a child and unlawful sexual intercourse. He only faces a maximum of three years in jail and we at TFTP suspect he will serve even less time once he shows up to serve his sentence.”

Child Rape Victim Goes to Police for Help and Is Tied Up and Raped By Her Detective

So let’s get a little lighter – while the economy’s crashing, counties like Oakland have instituted measures allowing them to arrest homeless people at will, who have committed no crime. From Fox:

“The Orange County Board of Supervisors settled two federal lawsuits filed last year aimed at efforts to clear out hundreds of homeless people who were camped out along the Santa Ana riverbed near Angel Stadium, Los Angeles’s Fox 11 reported.

The settlement reached Tuesday allows Orange County to create two zones to enforce nuisance laws—one in which homeless people can be arrested immediately, another that requires police to first seek help from social workers.

Homeless individuals will be arrested immediately in areas that include John Wayne Airport, flood control channels and high-risk wilderness areas. Police in other designated areas will have to first reach out to social workers to place homeless people in shelters. If transients refuse services, police are allowed to put them in jail.”

https://www.foxnews.com/us/orange-county-reached-settlement-immediately-arrest-homeless-people

Wait that wasn’t very light – how about the guy who murdered Daniel Shaver, a crying unarmed dad, getting a million dollar pension?

“Brailsford was charged with Shaver’s murder but a jury of his peers found him “not guilty” and acquitted him of all charges. Even with undeniable footage the Mesa cop killed an unarmed man who was begging for his life, the citizens on Brailsford’s jury were seemingly conditioned to give the officer a pass. Now, that same officer has collected a pension of $31,000 a year for life!

Since Brailsford is still in his 20’s, if he lives to be 65 he will have been paid over 1 million dollars for killing Shaver, an action which supposedly now has caused Brailsford to be disabled according to the terms of his retirement. Mesa PD rehired Brailsford who promptly retired on the same day his pension was approved.”

Killer Cop Rehired, Gets Pension for Murdering Innocent Unarmed Dad Begging for His Life

Sure looks like we’re not getting lighter. How about a cop lying dozens into jail?

“Dozens of innocent people who were rotting in jail have been freed and their charges erased after the corrupt cop who put them there was caught on his own body camera planting meth on an innocent mother. as TFTP has reported, Jackson County Sheriff’s Deputy Zachary Wester has since been fired and a slew of lawsuits are now rolling in. And, this week, this most insidious police officer was arrested on 52 counts of planting meth and other street drugs on entirely innocent motorists he would randomly pull over.

According to the Tallahassee Democrat, agents with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, who have been investigating Wester for more than nine months, arrested him in Crawfordville and took him to the Wakulla County Jail, where he is being held without bail.”

Cop Arrested for Framing Dozens of People, Including Planting Meth On Innocent Grandma

And if that’s not sick enough, how about a cop stealing from a murder victim? Also from TFTP:

“We at TFTP have been told it’s the highest form of disgrace to be personally fired from a metropolitan police department by the chief himself/herself, a fact which has not gone unnoticed. Officer Richburg was supposed to hand deliver the contents of the wallet, along with a cell phone and other belongings to the family members waiting for their loved one at the hospital. The crime of opportunity was apparently too much temptation for Richburg who could not account for the money, even though it was handed to her from a medic, the actual hand over caught on her own body camera.

The shooting took place in Northwest Atlanta on June 19th. According to Fox 5 Atlanta:

Richburg’s body camera shows her receiving the victim’s wallet from a Grady EMT. The wallet has the folded money tucked inside. Moments later, Richburg puts the wallet in her car. The video shows her transferring the victim’s wallet from her right hand to her left hand. That’s when APD noticed the money is no longer tucked inside the wallet.

Richburg was supposed to hand over the wallet and all of its monetary contents to a sergeant at the hospital but the money was missing when the wallet arrived. It’s now up to the Fulton County District Attorney to decide if any charges will be filed against Richburg.”

Thieving Cop Caught on Her Own Body Cam Robbing Murder Victim of $500

There’s more, and I’m running out of time, but for today’s FTP section, I’ll leave you with a quote from The Punisher, about why cops shouldn’t think themselves like him. He tore a skull decal off a cop car in the most recent release, saying “I’ll only say this once: We’re not the same. You took an oath to uphold the law. You help people. I gave that up a long time ago. You don’t do what I do. Nobody does. You boys need a role model? His name is Captain America and he’d be happy to have you.”

If only real cops could get the memo.

But there you have it. Pedophiles infest the state, the state’s favorte corporations want inside your brain, and tyranny is closer than you think, with a crumbling economy and escalation of war tensions to excuse it, as per usual.

Just another day in the Hellscape. It’s good to be back. See you in Hell.


Join Pocketnet – decentralized, blockchain, censor-resistant social net!

Still solo on this, except my awesome patrons, and shows like this take days of research and many hours to put together solo. I don’t have a staff to feed, but I need to eat. If you want to support articles like this, feel free to help with a monthly or one time donation… as yet, I have not profited from this site. Hell, I haven’t even gotten half minimum wage, and most days, I get zero dollars. You can help change that.

Please consider donating on Venmo or PayPal. And if you really appreciated it, and want to help me make more of these more regularly, consider supporting me on BitBackerSubscribeStar, or Patreon. Without your support, I can’t eat, much less make content.

If there’s a way you want to support me that I don’t list as of yet, let me know, and I’ll likely be more than happy to accomodate. But thank you so much if you decide to. I want this to be my job, and you could bring me one step closer. Also, consider subbing to my newsletter for a weekly update as to happenings. Also, feel free to subscribe on one of the platforms not-too-statist to have me.

Google Play | Stitcher | TuneIn