KMAG DAILY THREAD 20260218 & VENEZUELA

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This IS VERY MESSY! I was going to include Colombian President Gustavo Petro because he shares the drug trafficking problem with Maduro However this article got way too long. So I will save him until next week. I am starting with a video by Gordon aka Ghost (GhostofBasedPatrickHenry) since it gives a look at the background. It is long 1 ½ hours but the 15 minutes from 19:45 to around 32 minutes gives a decent summary.

The Book of Trump Chapter 42: Hugo Chavez Pt. 2

THE HIGH POINTS:

19:45 — Ghost mentions Fake news Bloomberg, can’t keep its lies straight and later shows what he means.

21:30 — Sec of State Rex Tillerson as CEO of Exon starts the anti Chavez & Madero lies (2006), Exon Mobil Current president gets tossed by Trump.

23:00 — Ghost says he fell out of the chair. He found a Business Insider article describing how Exon went into arbitration and LOST getting a much lower award, in line with what Venezuela originally offered.

24:30 — Chavez negotiates successful buyouts with 22 oil companies. They get paid for assets nationalized when they refused to renegotiate the contracts. Chevron stays & gets new deal.

Exon then pulls the dirty using English Guyana by drilling off shore in waters considered to belong to Venezuela but claimed by Guyana too. on Nov 23, 2023 Paramilitary move into Venezuela from Guyana possible connected to Israel – Gaza mess. The whole goes back to Tillerson and when he was CEO of Exon.

Prior to that in June there was a court ruling against Exon dealing with Chevron buying out Hess. Exon had an option to buy rights to oil in Orinoco Belt but the entire company is sold not just that contract.

Trump gives Chevron special exemption from sanctions.

32:31 – Ghost starts picking apart a recent Bloomberg’s video & explains what actually happened.

PDVSA was formed in 1976 when Venezuela nationalized it’s oil. It negotiated concession agreements like those used for renting out farmland. Most of the contracts were written for 1% the largest was a 16% royalty. Also included is an additional amount based on net profit. However the companies cheated by creating subsidiaries which were paid mucho $$$ for services so the ending net profits were very low.

34:45 — Ghost goes into the differences between the Saudi model & the Venezuelan model.

1:28:00 — The law firm Sullivan & Cromwell (more about them later) devised the Holding Company. It allows monopolies and vertical integration to become a legal form of corporation. He then goes into the following information:

Nicolás Maduro and Juan Guaidó became rival claimants to the Venezuelan presidency following the 2018 presidential election, which the opposition and many international observers deemed illegitimate.Trump had originally supported Guaidó. “U.S. law firm Sullivan & Cromwell LLP will be the lead counsel for Venezuela’s opposition as it seeks to restructure the country’s foreign debt,opposition leader Juan Guaido’s overseas legal representative said on Tuesday” REUTERS LINK

Please note Guaidó was not the actually president and therefore had no authority.

POTUS stopped the money grab in January 9, 2026 — Executive Order 14373: Safeguarding Venezuelan Oil Revenue for the good of the American & Venezuelan People


With that as a background, let’s start with this tweet & video from Mike Benz. It agrees with Colonel Towner’s information about color revolutions in Latin America. They are fomented by the CIA on behalf of the big corporations.


Which is backed up by this video (6 minutes) I found at The CIA-Soros Partnership. And there is NED again, The National Endowment for Democracy.


Also see:

The British Intelligence Hand Behind the NED and Modern Color Revolutions

Now I want to add a bit of history:


Allen Dulles and his older brother John Foster Dulles both worked for the Wall Street law firm Sullivan & Cromwell. In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson appointed John Foster Dulles, a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell,  as legal counsel to the United States delegation to the Versailles Peace Conference where he served under his uncle, Secretary of State Robert Lansing (WIKI) This would be WWI and the treaty whose terms were so harsh it set Europe up for WWII and Hitler.

History | Sullivan & Cromwell LLP

Domestic and international finance has been at the core of the Firm’s work since its inception. Before World War I, S&C represented European bankers and bond syndicates in financing the development of America’s railroads and industrial infrastructure. William Cromwell himself proved instrumental in paving the way toward the construction of the Panama Canal.

Heading into the 20th century, as international capital flows diversified and increased, the Firm responded by opening branch offices in Berlin and Buenos Aires…

MORE @ Grokipedia

And finally from BRAVE AI Sullivan & Cromwell’s current business.

Sullivan & Cromwell LLP has been involved in multiple high-profile legal matters related to ExxonMobil’s claims against Venezuela, particularly in the context of sovereign litigation and arbitration enforcement. 

  • The firm has represented ExxonMobil affiliates in a long-running ICSID arbitration case concerning the nationalization of oil assets by Venezuela under Hugo Chávez and later Nicolás Maduro. 
  • In October 2025, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled in favor of ExxonMobil affiliates, awarding $985.5 million plus interest and legal fees, after Venezuela failed to appear in enforcement proceedings. 
  • Sullivan & Cromwell is also working with ExxonMobil on Supreme Court proceedings related to the enforcement of the ICSID award, including a petition filed in December 2024 (No.  24-699).
  • The firm previously served as lead counsel for Venezuela’s opposition (under Juan Guaidó) in 2019 in efforts to restructure the country’s foreign debt, highlighting its deep involvement in Venezuela’s political and financial legal landscape. 

These engagements underscore Sullivan & Cromwell’s central role in resolving complex international disputes involving Venezuela’s oil sector and foreign investment claims.

Followed by a couple interesting moves by POTUS Trump.

Trump says he might keep Exxon out of Venezuela after CEO called it ‘uninvestable’

AND

Why the Trump administration is holding millions of dollars from Venezuelan oil sales in a Qatari bank


…The funds were sent to Qatar, rather than being held in US banks or sent directly to Venezuela… Venezuelan banks have started advertising cash, suggesting the oil proceeds have arrived in the country… Venezuela has been sanctioned by Western governments across the globe, essentially cut off from the global banking system for years. Its authoritarian government seized oil assets over the past decades for which foreign energy companies have demanded compensation…🤔


“…Its authoritarian government seized oil assets over the past decades for which foreign energy companies have demanded compensation…”

Fear all ye men who sail the Caribbean!

So why do I bring all this up? Because we know we will not get the true story from the Mockingbird Media. So how true is that highlighted sentence? Is it ALL energy companies or just ExonMobil. Are those two moves by POTUS Trump AGAINST Exon for a reason?

And most important, is Maduro a prisoner or is he a protected witness?

Ghost and others dig up information NOT covered in Mainstream Media reports. Ghost is the first to acknowledge he has no way of determining if his conclusions are correct, however the information is certainly interesting. That is why I am bringing it here.


Above, I started by documenting the CIA – Sullivan & Cromwell – State Department – ExonMobil ties because Ghost brought up former CEO, Rex Tillerson’s long, troubled history in Venezuela.

Oil facilities at Venezuela’s western Maracaibo lake November 5, 2007.

I am going to use Badlands News Briefs and Some of Ghost’s videos as well as MSM clips. The briefs have the advantage of having clips of the actual documents Ghost uses. Click on his name to go to each different article.


Jan 05, 2026 GhostofBasedPatrickHenry:

Let me start by saying that I have long believed that we would see the extraction and “arrest” of President Maduro by the US military. Here I am on October 7th predicting as much, right down to Maduro willfully surrendering.

So nothing about this development is a total surprise, nor does it contradict any of my speculation that Nicolas Maduro is working in cooperation with President Trump. In fact, when I read that Maduro’s wife was also “arrested” (extracted) by US Special Forces and indicted as a narco-terrorist, it all but affirmed the theory that we are witnessing a cooperating witness/informant being brought into protective custody — not the toppling of a foreign ruthless dictator…

First off, the CIA apparently leaked the details of the operation to the New York Times and Washington Post so they could have the articles written and ready for publication.

WTF???

There was then widespread speculation about who would be taking over as leader, until President Trump clarified that President Maduro had appointed Vice President Delcy Rodriguez as Acting President, and Trump said he would be honoring the appointment. (Because that’s what one does when arresting a ruthless narco-terrorist dictator.)…

I do think that this was a negotiated surrender between Maduro and Trump, not because Maduro is some ruthless dictator, but because Maduro is actually a cooperating witness who needs to be protected. I also think that Trump’s claims of the oil companies paying to rebuild the infrastructure of Venezuela could be reparations that are legitimately owed related to the lawsuits that were filed back in 2018 against dozens of the world’s most powerful oil executives, accusing them all of corruption and stealing Venezuela’s wealth. The lawsuit was filed by the Venezuelan oil company, PDVSA.

Obviously, this story still has plenty of plot lines to develop.

So now we have dueling lawsuits.

Jan 07, 2026 GhostofBasedPatrickHenry: 


For those that may be new here, or otherwise unfamiliar with my research on both Nicolas Maduro and Colombian President Gustavo Petro, here is a 10 minute clip that provides a decent summary.

[It is a clip of Colonel Douglas Macgregor on Tucker talking about the idiocy of regime change, how unsuitable Maria Corina Machado would be given the 8,000 columbian drug criminals in the hills around Caracus.]

…Then there is this little factoid: Eric Prince of Blackwater went to Venezuela and met with Delcy Rodriguez six years ago. Many analysts are [wrongly] pointing to this as the moment that Rodriguez betrayed Maduro…


What if the Maduro “arrest” subverted the civil war plot? [To install regime darling Maria Corina Machado.Note that she visited Trump and got the side door treatment. 😂 -GC]

A SIDE TRIP INTO MARIA CORINA MACHADO


Maria Corina Machadowas a 2009 Yale World Fellow, a prestigious program at the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs that brings emerging global leaders to Yale for a four-month residency. During her time at Yale, she studied at the School of Management and engaged in cross-cultural dialogue with other international leaders, including Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny. — Brave AI

Alexei was Killed by Russia with frog toxin, 5 European governments say. And if you believe that I have a bridge to sell you. Remember he died just after a visit from his wife.

Back to Ghost’s Article

I even joked that Trump’s reaction was basically, “Yeah, we’ll probably leave the side door open for her, or something… And then the Mad Man actually did it. He forced Maria Corina Machado to enter the White House grounds through the guard gate like all the other tourists. Nobody came outside to meet her….
Even when Maria Corina Machado was departing, nobody could be bothered to see her out to her vehicle. They just ushered her out of the door and slammed it behind her.

Badlands team

Following Maduro’s removal, a group of U.S. lawmakers reportedly expressed support for Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado as a potential future leader of the country. Members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee are said to have unanimously endorsed Machado after a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill, praising her long opposition to Maduro’s government and calling for free and fair elections. The lawmakers’ backing comes despite Trump previously dismissing her prospects as Venezuela’s leader and reflects a degree of congressional support for the opposition figure’s role in shaping the country’s post-Maduro political landscape. (rt.com) —

>>>>>>>>>>

Now Trump is promising to turn his crosshairs on Colombian President Gustavo Petro— whom I have demonstrated in the video above is at the tip of the spear of the war against the cartels. Yet Trump insists that Petro is a cartel drug lord, just like he accused Maduro of being.

…It is also worth noting that Petro held a rally after Maduro’s arrest, where he said that “a clan of pedophiles”— specifically, “friends of Epstein”— were attempting to take over Colombia and Venezuela and must be stopped. — Ghost


Later on Jan 12, 2026 GhostofBasedPatrickHenry said

…The plan had been negotiated through the Qataris, with Special Presidential Envoy for Special Missions Ric Grenell acting as intermediary, and approved by President Trump.

The Miami Herald reported on this rumor back in October.

Nicolás Maduro Guerra, spoke at a rally over the weekend and affirmed… they were following the directions left by his father.

…I have since stumbled onto new information that I think further validates the move, and it has to do with Scott Bessent’s announcement to imminently lift the sanctions President Trump imposed on Venezuela during his first term, so that oil sales could begin resume, as normal.

As I have detailed in this news brief and on stream countless times, President Maduro was given a laptop in March 2017. Maduro lawyer, David Boies, said: “In terms of the quality of the evidence, the extent of the misconduct, the amount of money, this was right at the top of anything I’ve seen in my career. It really demonstrated a long-running, massive and very sophisticated conspiracy.”

One year after Maduro was given the laptop (by the scorned wife of one of his corrupt officials), Boies filed civil lawsuits in the District of Southern Florida against 42 oil industry executives. He also filed those lawsuits in Geneva, Switzerland, where the companies involved all had offices. The Swiss authorities immediately raided the office of Helsinge, seizing computer servers that would launch a number of additional investigations, leading to countless arrests of industry officials in subsequent years.

Three months after the raid on the Helsinge office in Geneva, the Helsinge office in Miami was raided, and German-national Matthias Krull was arrested and charged with laundering $1.2 billion that had been stolen from PDVSA. A month later (August 2018) Krull pled guilty, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, though the judge advised that if Krull fully cooperated with authorities, he could have his sentence reduced.

Krull complied, and thus began “Operation Money Flight,” spearheaded by the Southern District of Florida’s International Narcotics and Money Laundering Section in cooperation with law enforcement in London, Rome, Madrid, and Malta, with the mission “to identify, investigate and prosecute high-level members of drug trafficking enterprises, bringing together the combined expertise and unique abilities of federal, state and local law enforcement.”

Simply put, this was the operation that would connect the white collar cartel (oil/energy/minerals) to the traditional cartel that trafficked drugs, guns, and humans, and Matthias Krull was the key to unlocking the case.

Krull, who was responsible for laundering the money that was being stolen from the Venezuelan government by the cartel, mapped out the financial network for authorities, demonstrating how the embezzled funds moved from Venezuela to the US and Europe. He helped secure plea deals from two other defendants, and the information led to Swiss regulators sanctioning the Swiss bank Julius Baer. For his cooperation, Matthias had his ten year sentence reduced to three and a half years, which is the largest sentence reduction ever granted by a US federal judge.

Krull’s information provided the road map for sanctions imposed on Venezuela by President Trump, which were strategically crafted and issued in a layered sequence that allowed for asset forfeiture and to ultimately crush the corruption ecosystem.

  But the sanctions did something else that I had not fully appreciated before now.

I have previously relayed that because of Executive Order 13850 that President Trump issued in November 2018, which targeted entities doing busy with PDVSA by freezing bank wires and Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs), the defense attorneys for the 42 oil officials were able to convince the judge that proceeding with discovery would violate national security. The judge agreed, and dismissed the lawsuits filed in Southern Florida.

 What I didn’t realize was that what this meant wasn’t that the case was over. What it meant was that the case was paused, due to the sanctions, and would resume as soon as the sanctions were lifted. Meaning that discovery to pursue that evidence will still be viable.

Not only that, but as soon as Scott Bessent lifts those sanctions, and the [now lawful] bank wire transfers proceed from PDVSA operations, the regulators who monitor those transfers will quickly begin to notice discrepancies between how the money is flowing now versus how it was flowing prior to the sanctions, triggering new SARs that will likely lead to new investigations.

When the information from the discovery from PDVSA’s 2018 lawsuit is coupled with the information that was seized in the Helsinge raids, not to mention any new intel that is generated from newly filed SARs, that is going to create a massive web of conspiracy that will surely implicate a number of individuals and corporations.

I plugged the lawsuit filings into ChatGPT (which provides a list of alleged embezzlers) and asked it to run scenarios of how this could play out. It speculated that a single banker cooperating could lead to multiple companies being exposed. It speculated that, given the information already publicly available, that the private banks involved (Julius Baer Group, EFG International, Credit Suisse) were almost certain to cooperate first, along with the compliance officers and internal auditors. It then ran through the whole list of defendants, gauging their likelihood to cooperate in exchange for reduced time.

While many of the senior executives will likely avoid prison time (though plenty have already been prosecuted), given the countless loopholes and insulation from the criminality, in these situations the real goal is the asset seizure.  However, what makes this case unique is the fact that certain PDVSA officials do have ties to the traditional cartels, and those entities have been designated terrorist organizations by the Trump administration. So things could get very interesting very quickly, if this plays out the way that it should.

So to answer Jon Herold’s question, “Why did Maduro have to initiate COG and remove himself from power?”

So that the optics would allow Scott Bessent to lift the sanctions against PDVSA, and open up the floodgates for discovery via lawfare, which should ultimately link banks and oil companies to the cartel.

Checkmate, Deep State.

A SIDE TRIP INTO JULIUS BAER

Julius Bär – About us

…the renowned Swiss private bank with origins dating back to 1890…

For more than 130 years, we at Julius Baer have managed our clients’ wealth and served them as trusted, truly personal and holistic advisors…. Julius Baer is present in around 25 countries and 60 locations. Headquartered in Zurich, we have offices in key locations including Abu Dhabi, Bangkok, Dubai, Dublin, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hong Kong, Lisbon, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Mexico City, Milan, Monaco, Mumbai, Santiago de Chile, Shanghai, Singapore, Tel Aviv, and Tokyo. Our client-centric approach, our objective advice based on the Julius Baer open product platform, our solid financial base and our entrepreneurial management culture make us the international reference in wealth management.

If we are talking CIA and Drug trafficking you can not leave out the BANKS needed to launder the money.

Feb 09, 2026 GhostofBasedPatrickHenry: 

Last week we had a story break about the Swiss bank, Credit Suisse, about old Nazi bank accounts and may others related to human trafficking and drug trafficking.

Now we have a story about UBS, which was forced to purchase Credit Suisse in 2023 by the Swiss government, when it became clear that Credit Suisse was facing insolvency.

Nothing about any of this feels organic.

We also had Colombian President Gustavo Petro, in his press conference (entirely in Spanish) following his meeting with President Trump, where Petro said that he had talked to Trump specifically about joining forces to go after all of the bankers who were the “bosses of bosses” in charge of the cartels.

An excerpt from his remarks:
PS – I managed to get the transcript of his statements and translate them into English, and read through the remarks during my show on Friday.

The Swiss Have a (Nazi) Banking Problem  — Badlands Team


U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced that an independent investigation uncovered 890 previously undisclosed accounts at Credit Suisse with potential links to the Nazi regime during World War II….

The probe, conducted by U.S. lawyer Neil Barofsky, also found that Credit Suisse expropriated funds from accounts belonging to Jewish individuals during the Nazi era and transferred them to Nazi clients.

Additional details emerged regarding the bank’s involvement in schemes to assist Nazis in fleeing to Argentina after the war… Barofsky had initially investigated Credit Suisse as an independent entity, but was fired after the bank allegedly obstructed his efforts.

Following UBS’s government-brokered acquisition of Credit Suisse in 2023, UBS rehired Barofsky to continue the voluntary review.

GhostofBasedPatrickHenry: 

This is where things get very spicy, and very interesting. It’s also where the narrative “cloud of war” seems to benefit a White Hat plan.

Allow me to explain.

This Congressional investigation into Credit Suisse was initiated by Democrat Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.

You may recall that Whitehouse was the insufferable prick who viciously excoriated all of President Trump’s Cabinet nominations last year.

The reason Whitehouse opened the investigation was to determine whether Credit Suisse had helped Nazi SS officers flee Germany and escape to Argentina by providing them banking services with extreme discretion. Whitehouse was first put up to this task in March 2020 by the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC), a Jewish human rights organization named for a famous Nazi hunter.

In 2021, Credit Suisse hired former US prosecutor Neil Barofsky to act as an independent ombudsman to conduct an internal investigation into the bank’s Nazi-era accounts. A year into his investigation, the bank pressured Barofsky into limiting the scope of his inquiry, ultimately firing him in December 2022— just months before Credit Suisse would face insolvency and be forced by the Swiss government to be acquired by their competitor, UBS Bank.

By this time, Whitehouse and the co-chair on this committee, Chuck Grassely had heard that Credit Suisse had likely fired Barofsky in an attempt to conceal the depth of the scandal, they intervened, demanding that Barofsky be reinstated— which he was, by UBS Bank, after the acquisition was completed in 2023.

I will remind you that Credit Suisse’s insolvency was most likely triggered by massive asset forfeiture that was conducted by the DOJ’s Operation Money Flight, which had arrested investment banker Mathias Krull in July 2018, after determining that Krull had laundered $1.2 billion worth of funds embezzled from Venezuela’s oil company PDVSA. While investigations into PDVSA’s stolen funds had been underway for years prior to Nicolas Maduro filing his infamous [though relatively unknown] RICO lawsuit against the oil industry in March 2018, the trove of evidence provided by Maduro created a map that led to multiple raids in both the US and Europe— including Mathias Krull.

If the name Neil Barofsky sounds familiar, that’s because he was the Special Inspector General at the heart of the 2008 financial crisis, appointed to investigate the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP,) but also the [$55 trillion credit default swap] Mortgage Fraud investigation in the Southern District of New York.

It was Barofsky who testified in a Senate hearing that, “It is extremely unlikely that the taxpayer will see a full return on its TARP investment,” referring to the $3 trillion bank bailout.

Prior to these gigs, Barofsky worked as an assistant US district attorney in New York, where he “prosecuted 50 leaders of the Colombian militia group FARC on narcotics charges and successfully argued one of the largest accounting fraud cases in history.”

Simply put, Barofsky understands the corruption of the banking and financial systems as well as anybody, and also has the unique experience of prosecuting Colombian cartel members on narcotics charges.

I share all of this to demonstrate that in this fog of war, we see multiple lines of inquiry coinciding in strange and wonderful ways, with Nicolas Maduro’s 2018 RICO civil action lawsuit running right into a congressional inquiry that was started by a Jewish human rights organization, with both investigations ultimately setting their sights on the Swiss banking system—specifically, Credit Suisse—the irony being that Maduro is the most staunch and vocal anti-Israel world leader of the Trump era, which is why the Zionists have been so eager to see him overthrown.

Digging into articles from the past few years, I found one from Argentina that specifically cites Credit Suisse and PDVSA, while alluding to Credit Suisse’s history with the Nazis going back to the 1940s.

It even discloses that Credit Suisse has over 18,000 accounts owned by both white collar criminals and hardened cartel bosses that total over $100 billion in assets.

Citing criminal investigations— not the Maduro lawsuit—the article states that the PDVSA-related accounts at Credit Suisse, which were used to hide the money that was embezzled and laundered from PDVSA, were all opened between 2004 and 2015. That’s interesting because that is the exact corruption timeline that is cited in the Maduro lawsuit— though the lawsuit did not mention Credit Suisse or any other banking institution.

So would this explain why the Venezuelan economy was completely gutted an collapsing by the time Nicolas Maduro comes into office in 2013, compounded by the artificially crashing of oil prices by the Deep State in 2014, which brought Venezuela’s economy to a grinding halt?

The article names former PDVSA official Nervis Villalobos, who was arrested in Spain in 2018.

In a separate article that I found that was published around the same time (2022) by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, look who shows up and gives insight on Villalobos:

That’s our guy, Mathias Krull, who became a cooperating witness for the DOJ in exchange for clemency on his 10 year prison sentence.

 The point is that the global banking system is being exposed—through multiple different tracks—for the fact that it is the actual cartel.

Reuters —Trump touts good relations with Venezuela, says oil magnate Sargeant does not represent US

And back to the start with Sullivan & Cromwell entering the picture.

GhostofBasedPatrickHenry: 

I recently learned that the Venezuelan opposition, operating out of the United States and led by Juan Guaido, among others, retained the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell back in 2019 to prepare to restructure the $60 billion in debt that Venezuela had

For those who aren’t familiar with this firm, I would implore you to look into them—listen to any of the many podcasts we have done on the subject here at Badlands—but the short version is that they were the CIA before there was a CIA. (Both of the Dulles brothers maintained employment there throughout most of their lives.)

It’s clear that when President Trump signed his recent Executive Order that intends to protect Venezuela’s oil profits from creditors and other vultures, Sullivan and Cromwell was at least one of the “targets” of the EO.

I would also recommend that you take a listen to last night’s episode of The Book of Trump—Hugo Chavez, Part Two—where I explain that it was ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson who started the Deep State’s crusade against Venezuela in 2007, ten years before he would become President Trump’s first Secretary of State.

Tillerson flexed on Maduro during Trump’s first year, leaning on Steve Mnuchin to issue sanctions against him. President Trump then fired Tillerson in March 2018—the exact same month that Maduro’s famous lawyer, David Boies, filed those infamous lawsuits against 42 entities related to a RICO-styled corruption case.

Boies filed in both the District of Southern Florida and in Geneva, Switzerland. Within days of this filing, the Swiss authorities raided the office of the lawsuit’s primary defendant, Helsinge. Four months later, Trump’s DOJ raided the Helsinge office in Miami, arresting banker Mathias Krull and charging him with laundering over $1.2 billion for not just the oil companies and banks, but also for the cartel. Meaning Krull is the keystone, along with Executive Order 13850.

So in spite of Delcy Rodríguez’s theatrics, all of the evidence suggests that she and Maduro are working with Trump against the Deep State/CIA, MI6, and Israel/Mossad.

Badlands Team

Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, publicly said she has had “enough orders from Washington” and called for Venezuela’s internal conflicts to be resolved by Venezuelan politics without foreign interference in her first public address since Maduro was removed from power.

“Enough orders from Washington on politicians in Venezuela. Let Venezuelan politics resolve our differences and internal conflicts. Enough of foreign powers,” Rodríguez said, according to AFP…

The CIA Is Moving Back to Venezuela (If They Ever Left)

See: CIA plans quiet establishment in Venezuela, CNN reports

Badlands: Rubio Warns Force Remains an Option as US Presses Venezuela’s Interim Government

Secretary of State Marco Rubio 

said the Trump administration is prepared to use force to secure cooperation from Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, while signaling that the United States expects compliance through political and economic leverage before taking further action.


Trump Unveils Coordinated Trade, Energy, and Arms Moves Across India, Venezuela, and the Middle East — Badlands Team

As part of the agreement, India committed to halting purchases of Russian crude oil and shifting imports toward US suppliers and Venezuelan crude. Trump also stated that India agreed to reduce tariffs and non-tariff barriers on US products, describing the goal as moving toward zero, resolving the 2025 US–India trade dispute tied to Russian energy imports.

In parallel, Trump said the United States welcomes Chinese and Indian investment in Venezuela’s oil sector, making the remarks to reporters aboard Air Force One around January 31–February 1. He stated that China “is welcome” to make deals in Venezuela, and that India is “coming in” to buy Venezuelan oil. Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves, but production has been constrained for years by sanctions and political instability; Trump characterized the current approach as allowing third-country investment and purchases as part of broader energy realignment.

The Badlands team reported this:

U.S. held talks with Venezuelan hardliner Cabello months before Maduro raid

January 17, 2026 By Aytan Shukurova, Reuters

Trump administration officials held months-long discussions with Venezuela’s hardline interior minister Diosdado Cabello before the U.S. operation that led to the seizure of President Nicolás Maduro, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.

The communications, which continued after the 3 January U.S. raid, were aimed at preventing instability inside Venezuela, the sources said. U.S. officials warned Cabello against using the security forces and ruling-party militants under his control to target opposition figures…

And Ghost added:

There is a clear continuity of the Maduro plotline between the first and second Trump administrations, with Ric Grennel meeting Jorge Rodriguez— the brother to now acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez— in Mexico City in late 2020. That story was even reported at the time as Grennel trying to secretly negotiate an exit for Maduro, though I am unconvinced that was the real intent.

Ric Grennel then reunited with Jorge Rodriguez in January of last year, after President Trump was sworn in, when Grennel went to Caracas to meet Maduro and bring home six Americans who had been imprisoned. We now have this story about Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello being warned about using private security forces against political opposition. What’s interesting is that Erik Prince appeared on Steve Bannon’s show last week to explain why it was important that the US not repeat the same mistakes we made in Iraq, and allow Delcy Rodriguez to contract directly with any private military contractor that may be needed to shore up security.

What’s interesting is that Erik Prince secretly traveled to Caracas in November 2019 to meet with Delcy Rodriguez, and it was even speculated at the time by the MSM that this was President Trump’s attempt to establish a backchannel with the Maduro regime, despite the fact that the Trump administration officially supported the opposition leader, Juan Guiado, in their public rhetoric.

About an hour or two after Prince appeared on Bannon’s show, President Trump took a few questions from the media while leaving the White House. When asked why he was supporting Delcy Rodriguez over Maria Corina Machado, he responded, “‘If you ever remember a place called Iraq where every single person was fired—the police, the generals, everybody was fired and they ended up being ISIS… I remember that.”

So Trump is simultaneously disclosing that the US State Department created ISIS when it hired all those private military contractors to run Iraq, while asserting that installing Maria Corina Machado as Venezuelan President would effectively yield the same result?

Based.

We are also learning that Machado brought with her to the White House an advisor who once publicly called President Trump, “an idiot,” for accusing former US President Barack Obama of spying on him.


Trump & Wright: America is Bullish on Relations with Venezuela — Badlands Team

As Energy Secretary Chris Wright toured infrastructure in Venezuela Thursday, President Trump took to Truth Social to talk progress in the embattled nation:

“Relations between Venezuela and the United States have been, to put it mildly, extraordinary! We are dealing very well with President Delcy Rodriguez, and her Representatives. Oil is starting to flow, and large amounts of money, unseen for many years, will soon be greatly helping the people of Venezuela. Marco Rubio, and all of our Representatives, are doing a fantastic job, but we speak only for ourselves, and don’t want there to be any confusion or misrepresentation. There is a story about a man named Harry Sargeant III in The Wall Street Journal….


WIKI

Harry Sargeant III (born December 30, 1957) is an American energy and shipping magnate from Florida. A former officer and fighter pilot in the United States Marine Corps, Sargeant operates an expansive, multibillion-dollar conglomerate of private global enterprises consisting of aviation companies, oil refineries, oil trading operations, alternative fuels development, and oil and asphalt shipping, his father’s company, Sargeant Trading, being the largest fleet of asphalt tankers and barges in the world. He is also the owner of International Oil Trading Company (IOTC), a company that supplies aviation fuel to the U.S. Military in Iraq…

A Pentagon audit has found that the federal government overpaid Harry Sargeant III by as much as $204 millionon several military contracts worth nearly $2.7 billion. The audit by the Defense Department’s inspector general estimated that the department paid the oilman “$160 [million] to $204 million more for fuel than could be supported by price or cost analysis.” The study also reported that the three contracts were awarded under conditions that effectively eliminated the other bidders. Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), who led the probe, asserted in a letter to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates that Sargeant had won the three jet fuel contracts, despite having among the highest bids, because he had an effective monopoly over the routes. Waxman accused Sargeant and his company of price gouging and “engaging in the worst form of war profiteering.”


Makes you wonder if Sargeant is another one of the oil Execs who ripped off the Venezuelan people.


2026.02.17 Daily Thread: The World According To Trade(Bait)

Today we venture into the music industry for something different. Most readers recognize that artists of songs receive royalties on sales of product, licenses, streams, etc. Right?

Then there is Artificial Intelligence, that ubholy term, a subject Wolf, Scott and others have chosen to explore at times. So, today is about what happens now with AI in music?

In particular, how do AI, bots, wire fraud, money laundering and all sorts of criminality play into it?

But first to set the tone, let’s review two scriptures of the day from both Old and New Testaments, which are from Proverbs 2:6,

For the Lord gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding. (NASB)

And James 1:5,

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. (NASB)

These two timeless scriptures tell the reader to look to the Lord for all knowledge, understanding and wisdom. For this time of existence that would tell the believer to test whatever knowledge one gains from the use of mankind’s AI against the Word of God.

That is a Word to the wise.

The Basics

it is worth a quick read below so you will know how it all works and why the changes are impacting the industry and the music you like.

https://royaltyexchange.com/blog/understanding-music-royalty-types-a-beginners-guide-2025

Once again, more strict and loose to discuss. The definitions,

Strict Constructionist – Literal and narrow reading (interpretation) of the document that limits the powers of the federal government to what it provides.

Loose Constructionist – Views it as a “living document” that is interpreted broadly that adapts to society as it evolves and its needs change..

When it comes to AI and music, you knew it would only be a matter of time until the below reared its head.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly3ld9wy3eo

More of the nitty gritty concerns from the artist and political perspective.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/musicians-ai-bands-streaming-1.7581400

Did they say 75 million AI spam tracks in one sweep?! Holy shizola!

https://www.msn.com/en-us/technology/artificial-intelligence/spotify-s-ai-sweep-just-wiped-75m-tracks-and-creators-are-panicking/ar-AA1T7CDw

What can this all possibly mean going forward?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/virginieberger/2025/12/29/nine-predictions-for-the-music-industry-in-2026-how-ai-reshapes-licensing-and-power

One thing we do know is that ultimately the public will probably be the loser and we will regard those 45’s, 33’s, cassettes and VHS tapes as relics of a golden past that we long for again.

AI’s Legal Impact On The Music Industry

To answer this issue, let’s go to an AI horse itself. Here is Brave’s AI (Leo) response. The other couple AI’s I checked were similar in the responses.

The rise of AI in the music industry has created significant legal challenges, particularly around copyright and intellectual property rights. Here are the key legal implications:

Copyright and Training Data

The most contentious legal issue involves AI companies using copyrighted music to train their models without permission. Major record labels including Universal Music Group, Sony Music, and Warner Records have sued AI music synthesis companies Udio and Suno for allegedly committing mass copyright infringement, seeking damages of $150,000 per song used in training. This mirrors similar disputes in other creative industries and represents a fundamental challenge to how copyright law applies to AI development.

Royalty Fraud

AI has also enabled new forms of fraud. In a first-of-its-kind prosecution, a music producer was accused of using AI to create hundreds of thousands of fake songs with randomly generated artist names, then using bots to stream them on platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, allegedly fraudulently obtaining over $10 million in royalty payments.

Ownership of AI-Generated Works

A critical unresolved question is who owns the copyright to AI-generated music. In the UK, works generated by “computer” are currently protected by copyright, with ownership going to the person who makes the arrangements necessary for creation. However, the UK government has proposed removing copyright protection for computer-generated works, arguing they cannot satisfy the originality test that requires human intellectual creativity. US courts have similarly ruled that AI-generated content without human authorship cannot be copyrighted.

Voice Cloning and Deepfakes

AI-generated “deepfake” songs that mimic famous artists’ vocals pose new legal challenges around publicity rights and artist identity. The viral track “Heart on My Sleeve,” featuring AI clones of Drake and The Weeknd, accumulated 15 million TikTok views in under 48 hours. Tennessee responded by passing the ELVIS Act (Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security), the first US law specifically addressing AI’s impact on music, providing legal protections for artists’ voices and likenesses.

Industry Balance

Governments worldwide are struggling to balance encouraging AI innovation while protecting creators’ rights. The UK government’s December 2024 consultation proposed allowing free use of copyrighted material by AI developers with an opt-out option for creators, but this approach has faced strong opposition from the music industry, including high-profile artists like Sir Paul McCartney. The outcome of these policy debates will likely establish precedents affecting AI content creation across multiple industries.

Leo’s info sources were – pinsentmasons.com; unchainedmusic.io; saul.com; soundverse.ai; npr.org; cardozoaelj.com; joneswalker.com; whatnext.law

Do you see the problems here? There are many existing laws covering various aspects, but none that are comprehensively covering a completely new industry that was obviously not envisioned when the Constitution and related laws over the next 245+ years were passed.

As a result there will be strict constructionist interpretation in settled law areas to go with loose constructionist interpretations where no applicable statutory or case law exists. Now add the challenge of meshing both under one umbrella covering just the AI related industry with just license and copyright law in music. Because the music industry is international in scope, some consideration has to also be given to those legal issues and requirements in foreign countries. Now factor which businesses and performers align with specific points of emphasis, legal positions and political parties.

Can you spell “billable hours” and many, many lawsuits that will take ages to flesh out?

😂

Mamas let your babies grow up to be lawyers? Say it ain’t so…

AI Comedy

Let’s finish with some AI comedy since Wolf has been bringing the AI music. It’s worth your short time investment in my opinion. 🤣

AI can be fun if one knows it is AI. I am going to renege on not doing the AI music. Found one going around that is fascinating to listen to if you like Irish folk music. How about an Irish folk version of Billie Jean?

Back to reality.

Remember Wolf’s site rules. Note and label all AI. Please be kind to one another, we are all in this together. May God richly bless America and all of you.

Before all things and people – In God We Trust. Also, trust Trump and the plan.

Dear KMAG: 20260216 Trump Won Three Times ❀ Open Topic

Joe Biden never won. This is our Real President – 45, 46, 47.

AND our beautiful REALFLOTUS.

This Stormwatch Monday Open Thread remains open – VERY OPEN – a place for everybody to post whatever they feel they would like to tell the White Hats, and the rest of the MAGA/KAG/KMAG world (with KMAG being a bit of both).

And yes, it’s Monday…again.

But we WILL get through it!

We will always remember Wheatie,

Pray for Trump,

Yet have fun,

and HOLD ON when things get crazy!

We will follow the RULES of civility that Wheatie left for us:

Wheatie’s Rules:

  1. No food fights.
  2. No running with scissors.
  3. If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.

And while we engage in vigorous free speech, we will remember Wheatie’s advice on civility, non-violence, and site unity:

“We’re on the same side here so let’s not engage in friendly fire.”

“Let’s not give the odious Internet Censors a reason to shut down this precious haven that Wolf has created for us.”

If this site gets shut down, please remember various ways to get back in touch with the rest of the gang:

Our beloved country is under Occupation by hostile forces.

Daily outrage and epic phuckery abound.

We can give in to despair…or we can be defiant and fight back in any way that we can.

Joe Biden didn’t win.

And we will keep saying Joe Biden didn’t win until we get His Fraudulency out of our White House.

Wolfie’s Wheatie’s Word of the Week:

yeomanette

noun

  • old term for a female yeoman in the American naval reserve
  • a yeowoman
  • popular name for Yeoman (F), an enlisted rate for women in the U.S. Naval Reserve during World War I

Used in a sentence

A yeomanette is not necessarily what Michelle Obama would be, if she were the girlfriend of Kanye West, but it could be.

Shown in a picture

Shown in a video

MUSIC!

Yeoman + operetta is close enough for this post!

See: https://www.eno.org/operas/the-yeomen-of-the-guard/

THE STUFF

Speaking of Star Trek, maybe some “first steps” might be useful. So how does Chernobyl fungus help future colonists on Mars?

Mold. Useful stuff?

Just sayin’!

And remember…….

Until victory, have faith!

And trust the big plan, too!

And as always….

ENJOY THE SHOW

W

Dear MAGA: 20260215 Open Topic

This Rejoice & Praise God Sunday Open Thread, with full respect to those who worship God on the Sabbath, is a place to reaffirm our worship of our Creator, our Father, our King Eternal.

It’s also a place to read, post, and discuss news that is worth knowing and sharing. Please post links to any news stories that you use as sources or quote from.

In the QTree, we’re a friendly and civil lot. We encourage free speech and the open exchange and civil discussion of different ideas. Topics aren’t constrained, and sound logic is highly encouraged, all built on a solid foundation of truth and established facts, and not by agenda-driven accusations and pronouncements.

We have a policy of mutual respect, shown by civility. Civility encourages discussions, promotes objectivity and rational thought in discourse, and camaraderie in the participants – characteristics we strive toward in our Q Tree community.

Please show respect and consideration for our fellow QTreepers. Before hitting the “post” button, please proofread your post and make sure your opinion addresses the issue only, and does not confront or denigrate the poster. Keep to the topic – avoid “you” and “your”. Here in The Q Tree, personal attacks, name-calling, ridicule, insults, baiting, and other conduct for which a penalty flag would be thrown are VERBOTEN.

In The Q Tree, we’re compatriots, sitting around the campfire, roasting hot dogs, making s’mores, and discussing, agreeing, and disagreeing about whatever interests us. This board will remain a home for those who seek respectful conversations.

Please also consider the Guidelines for posting and discussion printed here: 
https://www.theqtree.com/2019/01/01/dear-maga-open-topic-20190101/

On this day and every day –

God is in Control
. . . and His Grace is Sufficient, so . . .
Keep Looking Up

Hopefully, every Sunday, we can find something here that will build us up a little . . . give us a smile . . . and add some joy or peace, very much needed in all our lives.

“This day is holy to the Lord your God;
do not mourn nor weep.” . . .
“Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet,
and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared;
for this day is holy to our Lord.
Do not sorrow,
for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Blessed are the Peacemakers

A peacemaker actively works toward peace. Peacemakers will find joy in the experience of seeing people reconciled to one another and to God.

What does the bible say?

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus opens with a series of statements concerning blessedness known as the Beatitudes. The seventh Beatitude is “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). The Greek word translated “blessed” in this verse is one that is also translated “happy.” A blessed person will have joy and contentment. Also, we must understand what a “peacemaker” is. The Greek word simply indicates a person who makes or works toward peace. A person can only work toward peace if he is at peace himself. Believers have peace with God through Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1). God is the source of peace (Philippians 4:7) and calls His followers to exhibit peace in their own lives (Romans 12:18; Galatians 5:22).

From the old testament

Jesus Himself is called the “Prince of Peace” in Isaiah 9:6. Living as a peacemaker follows His example; He provided peace with God through His sacrificial death on the cross.

King Solomon wisely realized the blessings of having a peaceful heart: “Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but those who plan peace have joy” (Proverbs 12:20).

Solomon also knew that inward peace would flow out of our hearts towards others: “When a man’s ways please the LORD, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him” (Proverbs 16:7).

From the new testament

Ephesians 2:14–16 reveals that Jesus is our peace since He reconciled Jew and Gentile both to God and to each other.

Jesus offers this same peace to His followers: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (John 14:27).

Jesus said that peacemakers are blessed because they will be called sons of God. In other words, they will have the honor of being identified as children of “the God of peace” (Romans 15:33).

To live as a child of God is to have the greatest relationship in the world. It’s a relationship made possible by the Prince of Peace: “for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith” (Galatians 3:26).

Implications for today

A peacemaker actively works toward peace. Whether it’s to provide peace between two people or two nations, our world is in much need of those who represent the heart of God to bring peace to broken relationships. Those who assist in such efforts will find joy in the experience of seeing people reconciled to one another and to God. Every believer should be a peacemaker in the sense of spreading the good news that peace with God is possible. “Peace” was part of the angels’ message to the shepherds when Jesus was born (Luke 2:14). “Peace” is part of our message to the world because God “through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18).

Only children of God can bring the peace of knowing God to others. A person must have a real relationship with God before he or she can help someone else know God. Those who witness for Christ, share their faith with their friends, and serve others in the name of Christ are ambassadors for peace (Matthew 5:9; 10:41–42). Those who bring the wonderful message of God’s peace to the world are “peacemakers,” and Jesus calls them the “children of God.”
xhttps://www.compellingtruth.org/blessed-are-the-peacemakers.html

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. (Colossians 3:15)

2026-02-14, Simply Saturday.

Administrivia.

Wheatie Wisdom.  If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.  No running with scissors.  No food fights. 

AI stuff posted, requires a link. Please use spoiler, for longer posts.

Wolf Speak.  No obnoxious behavior towards fellow QTreeper(s). Freedom of Speech is honored here QTree.  But Do Know, every poster, IS personally responsible for what they post. 

America, needs to embrace the following TRUTH…

In No Particular Order, The House AND Senate MUST.

  1. Impeach Activist Judges & Fire Activist Magistrates.
  2. Pass SAVE Act
  3. Pass banning Sanctuary States and Cities
  4. Trash Filibuster
  5. Trash Blue Slips
  6. Confirm Trump Nominations.
  7. Codify Trump Executive Orders.

Speaking of embracing…THIS…

If nothing follows KK below, Night Crew, you are on your own.

KK

Fresh Stuff.  May be worth a read, listen, watch or scroll on by. 

— 

APMEX https://www.apmex.com   Bitcoin https://www.bitcoin.com/

Prices pulled last evening.  Gold $5,060.20.  Silver $78.14.   Bitcoin $68,819.

—

Road To Liberty. (A series)

The White House Salute to America 250 Task Force has partnered with Hillsdale College to provide a history series that tells the remarkable story of American Independence.

It will highlight the stories of the crucial characters and events that resulted in a small rag-tag army defeating the mightiest empire in the world and establishing the greatest republic ever to exist.

This is the story of America. This is our shared heritage and our proud destiny that will continue to lead us to unimaginable achievements in the centuries to come.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/america250

Back by popular demand. Another, Double Feature! More bang for your buck. 🙂

Road to Liberty: Valley Forge

6:19

Road to Liberty: Intolerable Acts

2:20

—

Articles, Xs, YT…

—

IF DP were around AND saw this Chiefio, she’d embrace it. Buy a some 40W incandescent bulbs, Y adapters, perhaps a few Tri adapters.

Chiefio 

Making 75 to 100-ish IC “bulbs”… A How To.

Posted on 7 February 2026 by E.M.Smith

Do LED bulbs keep you awake, or just bother your eyes? How to replace them.

FWIW, some folks have “issues” with LED bulbs, and I’m one of them, The excess blue causes insomnia, and the way they pulse (even if you don’t see it) means the peak brightness is higher than the average and it feels like the light is too bright or even hurting to look at it

So long long ago I laid in a lifetime supply of incandescent bulbs. I do not need to do, at all, what I’m going to say here, BUT this is / was my long term Aw Shit strategy, and one I use when on the road and staying in hotels with LED bulbs. Yes, I have a “kit” I use and swap the lights as needed.

First off, the current “law”: You can buy IC bulbs under about 40+ Watts and over about 2oo W and those designed for “rough service” (basically to mount on vibrating big machines or on the end of long cords dropped on the ground and otherwise abused). Those 2 are the core of the strategy.

The other category still available is 3-Way bulbs, because when the “law” was made, they were not available as LED Bulbs. That’s the second leg of the strategy,

The Y Adapter

When traveling, I try to pack a Y adapter that turns one socket into 2. Currently running between $3 and $4 on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Leviton-128-W-Light-Socket-Adapter-White/dp/B008SDHX6U

Y Light adapter

I have a small box of 2 x 40 W “appliance bulbs” that I carry with me. Together this gives me one 80 W “bulb”. Enough for most hotel rooms. IF I need more, pretty much every hardware store sells these, and every hardware and grocery store tends to still have 40 W “Appliance” bulbs.

I don’t mind re-buying these if I find myself without “my kit” and checking in to a hotel. Having more just means more places I can use them at home later. I also have a couple of “plug to socket” adapters and a couple of “socket to 2 plug-outlets and a socket on the end” adapters for odd cases. I regularly would use the Plug to Socket adapter with a small bulb when working in dark ares (closets, under desks) that had outlets but no lights. Very helpful.

The 3 bulb adapter

I just bought 3 of these ( I have 4 closets that could use them plus the 2 sockets in the garage). I also had bought some 25 W and 33 W decorative “flame shaped glass” bulbs that just were not working where I’d thought to try them. So as of now, I have 2 x 33W + 1 x 25 W = 91 W of IC light in 2 places to use up those otherwise “useless” bulbs. One is my office closet (that will likely take forever to wear them out as I rarely use the light in it), another one is in the garage ceiling fixture (“shop lights” around the perimeter – this is just the “get enough light to turn on more” light), and the last one barely fits in a 2 bulb floor standing lamp just over my shoulder in the “front room”.

I have a whole box of 40 W “appliance” bulbs, and 25 W bulbs are readily available, So I can easily “make” anything from about 75 W (or even lower should I want to buy even lower powered bulbs) to 120 W lights. The only caveat is that it is not going to fit in all lamps, Most of them have a harp that is too narrow at the base, or a shade that is too close for long “decorator flame shape” bulbs. But for closets and other overhead bare fixtures, it works great.

There are a LOT of “socket adapters” on Amazon including even 5 and 6 socket ones, so you can make a much more powerful light should you wish, and maybe find one that fits lamps better too. I just chose this one as it will match my closets just fine (CFL bulbs are slow to brighten in a rapid on-off closet use, so IC is better there).

I presently have large (6 inch) glass IC Bulbs in the closets, but bought these “for that day”, as replacements of the large ball bulbs are running about $27. That’s another “allowed” category – specialty or decorator bulbs. But for how long?… so prepared.

The Amazon search link: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Sockey+Y+adapter

The particular one I bought: https://www.amazon.com/Toplimit-Standard-Splitter-Heat-resistant-86V-240V/dp/B00T5JD2P2/

3-Bulb Adapter

The “Dimmer” Strategy

It turns out that running an IC Bulb at lower volts/watts extends the life exponentially. At about 95% of full brightness, you get many years of added bulb life. Below about 75% to 80% bulb life is longer than my remaining life so “infinite” as far as I’m concerned.

So I put dimmer switches on all bedrooms and bathrooms. AND I bought “corded dimmers” to put on the lamps. This has extended the life span of my existing inventory of IC Bulbs so much that I’ve had to replace only 1 or 2 (that had already been used a while in California before the move) in the last 3 years of use.

AND that isn’t even considering the High Wattage bulbs I have in inventory. I bought a dozen or so of 200 W and a couple of 300 W bulbs so that, run at 100 W to 150 W light equivalent, I’d have “lights forever” even if I ran out of my inventory of regular wattage IC and Halogen bulbs.

Note that Halogen bulbs do NOT like to be run below about 90% of full brightness. The halogen gas in them scrubs tungsten off of the bulb and redeposits it on the filament as long as the filament is very hot, but at low dim, it corrodes the filament instead. Not an issue now unless you already have an inventory of halogen bulbs. But if you do, be aware…

Turning 3-Way bulbs into “normal” bulbs

You can still buy 1C “3-way” bulbs in several sizes. These have 2 filaments in them. A lower wattage and a high wattage. Both, run together, give the highest light output. So a 50, 100, 150 Watt bulb has a 50 W filament and a 100 Watt filament. The base has a center connector for the high wattage, and a “ring” for the low wattage (that sits between the high watt center and the outside shell) and the outside shell is for the ground for both.

Run at low wattage until that filament is “used up” will leave you with a bulb that will still work in regular sockets at the high wattage. So I have an inventory of several different 3-Way bulbs “for that day”. One is presently running as a “night light / ambient light” in my office at 50 W. When it “burns out” I’ll be left with a 100 W bulb to use in any socket I want. I presently have one of them on a dimmer in my Front Room lamp, I run it at about 60 W light equivalent so it will likely outlast me at this point.

I am presently, even with just one 3-Way lamp, “manufacturing” full power bulbs faster than I am consuming them. A nice place to be, really. But it means I have a lot more inventory of bulbs than I’ll ever use as I bought most of the inventory a decade-ish ago before I worked out the whole strategy and process (some as low as a few cents each when companies were dumping them 😉

So in Conclusion

That’s the bulk of it all.

FWIW I also have an inventory of CFL Bulbs and generally run them (especially in summer when added heat load is NOT desired) anywhere they work. You can still buy CFLs and they are made in IC Color temperature (2700 K), a nice medium white (3000 K to 4000 K) and garish “daylight” (5000 K to 6000 K) that doesn’t have the “feels brighter than it is” of LEDs, but is just as prone to too much blue insomnia inducing.

So I only run the 2700 K to 3500 K range, and that works very well.

It IS possible to escape the LED Bulb Hell that Gang Green has pushed us into, and it takes only a little bit of money and work.

I think that’s pretty much everything. IF I think of anything else, I’ll put it in comments.

https://chiefio.wordpress.com

^^^ That was prolly over-the-top. ^^^

Gotta admit. Chiefio identified a problem. Created work around. Shared.

—

Serious time crunch yesterday. Chiefio info timely for me. Perhaps helpful for some. DP sure could have used it. If pressed, The Engineer (DPs Father), could have figured it out.

Saturday also tight schedule. Will try to post stuff….

—

The Who Saturday

Baba O’riley

I Can See For Miles (Tommy Live At The Royal Albert Hall)

The Who – Pinball Wizard (Live at the Isle of Wight, 1970)

PAUSE The Scrolling Guys….

Guys, Pay Attention… 🙂

Night crew, your nickel.

KK

Health Friday 2.13.2026 Open Thread: Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 modRNA “Vaccine” Negative Effects Proven Ongoing Over Three Years Post-Injection: Part Two

The header image of vintage 1955 Pfizer penicillin vaccine bottles is courtesy of Pond5 and Google Images.

Health Friday is a series devoted to information regarding Big Pharma, vaccines, general health, and associated topics. As today’s offering speaks to the negative effects and outcomes of the modRNA COVID-19 BIOWEAPON “vaccines”, Yours Truly dedicates it to all persons, of whatever age or location, who have suffered, and/or continue to suffer, injuries, illnesses, or disabilities induced by these “vaccines” that they took; and, to those who have passed away from the negative effects and outcomes induced by these “vaccines” that they took.

There are Important Notifications by our host, Wolf Moon; the Rules of our late, good Wheatie;, and, certain caveats from Yours Truly, of which readers should be aware. They are linked here. Note: If there is AI-generated content in today’s offering, it will be labeled as such. If readers wish to post AI-generated content in today’s discussion thread, they must cite their source. Thank you.

Part One of this series on the ongoing negative effects of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 modRNA BIOWEAPON “vaccine”, BNT162b2, is here: https://www.theqtree.com/2026/02/06/health-friday-2-6-2026-open-thread-pfizer-biontech-covid-19-modrna-bioweapon-vaccine-negative-effects-proven-ongoing-over-three-years-post-injection-part-one/. Part One discusses one of the ongoing negative effects that this “vaccine” induces: a permanent skin condition called Grover’s Disease.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Today’s offering, Part Two, discusses the ongoing damage that BNT162b2 induces in the mitochondria of the “vaccinated” person’s body.

What are the mitochondria of the human body? These tiny organelles are present in every area and organ of the body. Mitochondria are the “power plants” of the body’s cells: they create energy to fuel the functions and lifecycle of each cell. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) describes what mitochondria are, and what they do, here: https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/mitochondria-health, ” Mitochondria and health”, 22 July 2025. Please see the screenshots from this article, below:

Below is an image of mitochondria in the heart muscle of a rat. The mitochondria cells are brown. They have multiple “folded areas” within them, which increase the area for energy production.

Urbano, et al., has a very good article that explains how the mitochondria function, their importance to human health, and more, here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbadis.2025.167803, “Mitochondria: An overview of their origin, genome, architecture, and dynamics”. Ana M. Urbano, et al. 25 March 2025. Please see the screenshot, below, from this paper:

Walter Chesnut has several blog research articles on mitochondria and how they are adversely affected by the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) virus itself. One such article is here: https://wmcresearch.substack.com/p/mitochondrial-carpet-bombing-the, “Mitochondrial Carpet Bombing: The Endothelium is the Gateway through which the Spike Protein Devastates the Mitochondrial Landscape”, 9 October 2023. Please see the image from this article, below:

The above image is from the paper by Luca Perico, et al., regarding the spike protein and the endothelium: https://doi.org/j.tim.2023.06.004, “SARS-CoV-2 and the spike protein in endotheliopathy.” Luca Perico, et al. 12 June 2023.

Another article by Mr. Chesnut on the damage that the COVID-19 virus spike protein does to the mitochondria of the body: https://wmcresearch.substack.com/p/the-spike-protein-causes-to-the-exact, “THE SPIKE PROTEIN CAUSES TO THE EXACT SAME DAMAGE TO THE ENDOTHELIUM AS IF IT HAD BEEN IRRADIATED”, 7 March 2022. Please see the screenshot from this article, below:

The Salk Institute article referred to above is here: https://www.salk.edu/news-release/the-novel-coronavirus-spike-protein-plays-additional-key-role-in-illness/, 30 April 2021. The paper is found here: https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.121.318902. “SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Impairs Endothelial Function via Downregulation of ACE2.” John Y-J. Shyy, et al. 31 March 2021. Note: Endothelial cells are tiny cells that line the inner surface of blood vessels. The mitochondria of endothelial cells work in “signalling” cellular responses among these cells.

It is obvious how important the mitochondria are to the proper functioning and life cycle of every cell in the human body.

Yours Truly turns again to the just-published paper by Hulscher, McCullough, et al., which was presented in Part One of this series. The paper is here: https://zenodo.org/records/18460099, “Unprecedented Persistence of Vaccine mRNA, Plasmid DNA, Spike Protein, and Genomic Dysregulation Over 3.5 Years Post-COVID-19 mRNA Vaccination.” Nicolas Hulscher, MPH, Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH, Wei Zhang, PhD, et al. 2 February 2026. Please see the screenshots from this paper, below, regarding damage to the “vaccinated” patient’s body in the discussion of genomic dysregulation symptoms that were found: this genomic dysregulation indicates that multiple areas of mitochondrial-level damage had been induced. First, the summary paragraph:

Then, the “persistent plasmid DNA fragments“: text from the paper; then, Fig. 5c-d from the paper:

Followed by, the “exosomal vaccine mRNA“: first, the text from the paper; then, Fig. 5b from the paper:

Note: “exosomal” refers to the exosomes, tiny cells in the body that serve as “carry it from one place to another” cells. Exosomes are found in many areas of the body, including in sweat, saliva, tears, in other types of body fluids; in cells on the surface of the skin; and so on.

And, the “long-lived spike protein“: first, the text from the paper; then, the Fig. 5a from the paper:

The descriptions and abbreviations key of the Fig. 5 from the paper:

Finally, Fig. 7 from the paper, an AI-generated image of the types of bodywide damage that was induced in the patient after he took the three injections of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 modRNA BIOWEAPON, BNT162b2. Please see the box “Genomic Dysregulation“:

Yours Truly wrote about the potential for the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) virus itself, and the potential for the COVID-19 modRNA BIOWEAPON “vaccines”, to damage and/or cause dysfunction of the mitochondrial cells of the “vaccinated” person’s body, here: https://www.theqtree.com/2023/10/28/the-covid-19-virus-and-the-modRNA-covid-19-vaccines-induce-accelerated-aging/. Note: some of the linked URLs in this post may not work any more; for example, the paper by Peter S Rabinovitch, “Mitochondrial oxidative stress in aging and health span”, May 2014, is now found here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24860467/.

Yours Truly will again emphasize that the Hulscher, McCullough, et al., paper, quantifies and proves that multiple negative effects and outcomes of the COVID-19 modRNA BIOWEAPON “vaccines” can be detected in a “vaccinated” person’s body for over 3.5 years post-injection SO FAR. One firmly believes that the negative effects and outcomes of these “vaccines” can, and likely will, continue to manifest for many years, if not the entire lifetime, in the “vaccinated” person. It is likely that, as in the case of the Grover’s Disease that the patient in the cited paper was diagnosed with, there can be negative effects and outcomes that are permanent, with therapeutic approaches that include symptoms control and/or lifestyle-dietary changes as the only options for treatment. The presence of “Long COVID” may also be a permanent aspect in “vaccinated” persons; also controllable, but never completely eradicated from the body.

Those who lab-created the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) BIOWEAPON virus itself worked for years to produce this virus. In a very real way, the word “virus” does not fully describe to this creation. Instead, it is a man-made, lab-created splicing together of bits and pieces of various animal coronaviruses, inventing something that would never have occurred naturally in the animal world.

Those who lab-created (and still are lab-creating) the COVID-19 BIOWEAPON “vaccines” — the modRNA versions, the DNA viral vector versions, and the “subunit protein” / “Inactivated” versions — use at least part of the Wuhan Hu1 SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) BIOWEAPON virus as the foundation for their injectables. This includes the “vaccine booster shots”, which use one or more Wuhan Hu1 “variants” as the foundation (Delta, Omicron, etc., all the way down through the “latest variant”, XFG.)

A chart of the “lineage” of the COVID-19 BIOWEAPON virus is here: https://www.cdc.gov/covid/php/variants/variants-and-genomic-surveillance.html. The source virus is the “Original Strain” at the far left of the chart image in this article. “Original Strain” = the Wuhan Hu1 original SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) virus. Below is a screenshot of this chart:

To date, over 70% of the population of the United States has taken at least one COVID-19 BIOWEAPON “vaccine” injection. Millions of people in the United States have taken multiple injections of these “vaccines.” The Medical Tsunami of negative effects and outcomes induced by these “vaccines” is ongoing. Unless there are complete, detailed, and sophisticated testing performed, as was done for the patient in the Hulscher, McCullough, et al., paper cited in today’s offering — the “fingerprints” of the damage induced by these “vaccines” are very difficult to trace.

Will every person who ever took an injection of BNT162b2 (or any of its “descendant clone vaccines” — the “latest COVID-19 booster vaccine” injection) — suffer the bodywide negative effects and outcomes that the patient in the Hulscher, McCullough, et al., paper, suffer? This is impossible to foretell. However, the potential for multiple negative effects and outcomes in the body (and brain) of a “vaccinated” person has now been proven to exist.

To be continued in Part Three.

THE COVID-19 BIOWEAPON “VACCINES” — ALL OF THEM — MUST BE REMOVED FROM THE MARKET AND FROM USE IN THE UNITED STATES. NOW.

THERE MUST BE ACCOUNTABILITY, JUSTICE, AND TRUTH.

Peace, Good Energy, Respect: PAVACA

(Intellectual Property Disclaimer and Notice: The ideas and opinions in today’s offering are by PAVACA. Credit must be given to PAVACA if ideas or opinions in today’s offering are used by other blog writers, by podcasters, or in social or print media.)

Dear MAGA: 20260212 ✾ Thank God ± Theistic Evolution ∈ Thursday Open Topic

This man, making Christmas calls from the White House, believes the world is a sphere. And he has even flown around it! So has our beautiful FLOTUS, who happens to be his wife!

Truth and common sense must be valued by us, as individuals, in order to lastingly disempower the authoritarian fake news media. This includes the perniciously smarmy science media, which never answers for its errors and lies. I believe that the media has been responsible not only for leftist pathologies like scientism, medical fascism, and radical gender ideology, but also for reactionary movements like modern flat Earth, rejection of all medicine, and Biblical geological literalism.

Just as Wheatie’s Stormwatch Monday Open Thread was created as a place for people to openly express their thoughts and opinions, so, too, is this Thank God Thursday Open Thread, where honest but civil discussion of all topics is encouraged. This thread is also to be known as Theistic Evolution Thursdays, due to the author’s expected “pontification” about his scientific, religious, and political opinions. You are welcome to pontificate back! Free speech matters!

Please label all AI-generated content as being such, unless it is patently obvious (e.g., humorous AI images). It is important that we as individuals not begin to pretend that socially derived artificial intelligence is actually our own, as this form of stealthy social information averaging and feedback would be one more pretense and deception between people, in service of stupid Marxist socialism, and of those who wish to substitute their communally protected lies for actual truth.

The source of alleged truth matters, not for the truth itself, but for validation.

And yes, it’s THURSDAY…again.

And that’s it. We’re done stealing from Wheatie.

OK – maybe her rules need to be posted.

  • No food fights.
  • No running with scissors.
  • If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.

Other rules may be derivable from these, and that conjecture is left for discussion.

If there is nothing beyond the “W” below, then this is a placeholder. For health reasons, I can’t always post a timely opinion before each Thursday, but I will try. Otherwise, you have this placeholder post, where YOU provide the content. Enjoy!

W

Howdy, boys and girls! It’s trinket time!

(1) Another fun math problem with a neat solution that makes sense once you see the answer.

(2-5) And now, a CHESS CHEATING SCANDAL SPECIAL! This one requires no knowledge of chess – just tabloid interest in a cheating scandal.

(2) The beginning in the middle…..

(3) More explanation…..

(4) Things get…… LEGAL?

(5) THE CHAMPIRE STRIKES BACK!

SO – what do I think? I’m still suspicious of the board game that started it all. I think Carlsen’s suspicions that it was being cheated, somehow, were potentially valid.

Notice that in the final battle, the game is not on the board – it’s being observed online. IMO, the CROWD observation prevented any and all cheating. I suspect that’s why Carlsen agreed to it.

(6) Iguana hunting in Florida. Followed by iguana tacos. “Tastes like chicken.” Yes, they’re invasive and quite destructive. No bag limits. Public and private venues, crawling with them. Airguns with .22 pellets are the way to get them. “Chicken of the tree.”

More information:

https://www.fieldandstream.com/stories/hunting/florida-iguana-hunting-guide

That’s enough varmint clean-up.

Have a great weekend!

W

KMAG DAILY THREAD 20260211 & VOTER FRAUD Cont.

Site rules stolen from our good friend PAVACA

There are Important Notifications from our host, Wolf Moon; the Rules of our late, good Wheatie; and, certain caveats from Yours Truly, of which readers should be aware. They are linked here. Note: Yours Truly has checked today’s post for any AI-generated content. To the best of her knowledge and belief, there is none. If readers wish to post any AI-generated content in the discussion thread for today’s post, they must cite their source. Thank you.

Do not forget to LABEL AI articles video and such.

I want to remind everyone that POTUS Trump calls mainstream media FAKE NEWS for a reason. We have been fed lies and distortions for over a century in order to keep the public from revolting. To keep the public willing to fork over wealth and bodies for the Cabals wars of conquest.

That brings us to Election Fraud, hackable machines and Venezuela. I get the feeling that Venezuela is not what we think it is AND that it is a key.

Trump links Serbia to efforts to steal US presidential election

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday shared a post from the X platform on his personal social network “Truth Social”, which states that Elon Musk prevented the manipulation of the results of the 2024 US presidential election by blocking the computers of the company “Dominion Voting Systems” in Serbia.

He lost the 2020 presidential election for a second term to Democratic candidate Joe Biden. He claimed that Democrats had stolen the election, and these claims culminated in his supporters attacking the US Congress on January 6, 2021, writes N1.

Now he has shared the message of one of his loyalists with a verified account, Johnny St. Pete, who on X published information from the American conservative commentator and columnist, Benny Johnson, who, according to him, X’s owner, Elon Musk, saved the 2024 presidential election by monitoring IP addresses in foreign countries through which votes were counted and blocking their computers.

“Musk knew he would win the election and it seems that this happened because they identified the systems and machines in foreign countries that would do what we saw in 2020,” St. Pete wrote in the post that Trump also shared, the Telegraph reports.

He adds that Musk tracked the IP addresses of the company “Dominion Voting Systems” in Serbia and blocked the computers a few days before the 2024 elections. In his post, which Trump also seems to agree with, St. Pete refers to Emerald Robinson, a former White House correspondent who worked for several media outlets, including Newsmax, and is now one of the most well-known conspiracy theorists in the US….

SERBIA???

TheseTruths brought

PROOF: National Security Director Tulsi Gabbard CONFIRMS they have evidence Electronic Voting Machines are rigging elections

The voting machines are Dominion Voting Machines

“Voting machines contain evidence of voter fraud and manipulation according to several national security sources who briefed me on the issue. I’ve had some conversations with Tulsi Gabbard’s office themselves.

“We can now reveal that a secret team led by the United States attorney in Puerto Rico, seized rigged voting machines some time ago that was used in recent elections on the island and had turned them over to Tulsi Gabbard in a joint investigation at the ODNI, the office of the director of national intelligence”

“These machines were not allowed to be wiped, according to my sources, and reprogrammed by the vendor Dominion Voting Machines after being used in elections where widespread issues were reported”

“How bad were those problems? Of the 4,490 polling stations used in the last elections, 3,119, that’s equivalent to roughly 70%, were unable to transmit results from their respective voting centers according to the State Elections Commission in response to a lawsuit filed”

From Last Week


Clintons and Smartmatic

TEXT:

The Clintons had full control over the contracts for anyone getting involved in the Haitian recovery efforts. These efforts also included Hatian elections. The Clintons implemented Smartmatic into Hatian politics after the 2010 earthquake. This is the beginning of the global operation to install these manipulative, backdoor implemented electronic voting machines worldwide to steal elections and install the candidate of their choice. This is the election fraud cartel and its inception.

It is interesting that the Venezuelan engineers headed for Florida and incorporated in Delaware.

Smartmatic – Dominion Voting Systems Timeline:

Ownership, Acquisitions, Reorganizations, and Technology Transfers

by Dynamojo — ABCU|8

“Founded in Venezuela in 1997 by a team of three engineers – Antonio Mugica, Alfredo José Anzola, and Roger Piñate, Smartmatic specializes in the design and end-to-end deployment of technology solutions for specific applications. The company’s niches are: electronic voting systems, smart city solutions (including public safety and public transportation), identity management systems for civil registration, and authentication products for government applications.” [1]

On April 11, 2000, the same three Venezuelan engineers founded the company Smartmatic in Delaware, United States and opened its headquarters in Boca Raton, Florida with seven employees in November of that year.

“Delaware, US: The world’s top secrecy jurisdiction. Register a company here and no one will ever know. If you have overseas income, it will be tax exempt.” [2]

There is a lot more in that article. The references are interesting.

References

[1] The link Between Dominion, Sequoia, Smartmatic, and the CCP—The article that got Powell banned from Twitter, https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/censored-across-the-web-the-link-between-dominion-sequoia-smartmatic-and-the-ccp-the-article-that-got-powell-banned-from-twitter/

[2] Delaware – a black hole in the heart of America,  https://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/nov/01/delaware-leading-tax-haven

[3] SMARTMATIC UK LIMITED, https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/07236594/officers

[4] The Murky Foreign Actors Behind US Election Fraud, https://journal-neo.org/2020/11/23/the-murky-foreign-actors-behind-us-election-fraud/

[5] Smartmatic Announces Sale of Sequoia Voting Systems, https://maloney.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/smartmatic-announces-sale-sequoia-voting-systems

[6] CFIUS Reform: The Foreign Investment & National Security Act of 2007 (FINSA),  https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/international/foreign-investment/Documents/Summary-FINSA.pdf

[7] Source Code Review of the Sequoia Voting System, July 2007, Univ. of Calif. at Davis,  https://votingsystems.cdn.sos.ca.gov/oversight/ttbr/sequoia-source-public-jul26.pdf

[8] Smartmatic Corp. v. SVS Holdings, Inc., et al., Letter Opinion, April 4, 2008,  https://law.justia.com/cases/delaware/court-of-chancery/2008/105040-1.html

[9] LOOK Who Owns Dominion Voting Systems: Politically Motivated PRIVATE Equity NY Hedge Fund,  https://gellerreport.com/2020/11/look-who-owns-dominion-voting-systems-politically-motivated-private-equity-ny-hedge-fund.html/

[10] Hi-tech Election Fraud Exposed: Why Twitter Banned Sidney Powell, The link Between Dominion, Sequoia, Smartmatic, and the CCP,  https://principia-scientific.com/hi-tech-election-fraud-exposed-why-twitter-banned-sidney-powell/

[12] Firm That Owns Dominion Voting Systems Received $400 Million From Swiss Bank Account Funded by Communist Chinese Gov & Companies Before Election,  https://summit.news/2020/12/01/firm-that-owns-dominion-voting-systems-received-400-million-from-swiss-bank-with-connection-to-chinese-government-before-election/

[11] Firm That Owns Dominion Voting Systems Received $400 Million From Swiss Bank With Connection to Chinese Government Before Election, https://stillnessinthestorm.com/2020/12/firm-that-owns-dominion-voting-systems-received-400-million-from-swiss-bank-with-connection-to-chinese-government-before-election/

[13] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UBS_Securities

[14] The CCP Captured U.S. Power by Controlling Sequoia Capital, link redacted to avoid Big Tech censorship

[15] U.S. Investigates Voting Machines’ Venezuela Ties,  https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/29/washington/29ballot.html

Between Dominion, Sequoia, Smartmatic, and the CCP –The article that got [Sidney] Powell banned from Twitter

…In April 2003 in Caracas, Venezuela, Smartmatic officially unveiled its prototype for election automation. The testing of the prototype covered all the details of the process necessary for any type of election. During the tests, emphasis was placed on the system’s encryption capabilities, which are essential for the confidential storage and transmission of data, as well as the robustness of the software and hardware system’s components. The system passed all tests with no shortcomings, said a company spokesperson.

The voting system was developed entirely in-house by Smartmatic. That includes the integration of hardware and software systems from design stage to end-to-end deployment. Such a complex, purpose-built technical solution would require a strong, system-wide R&D capability that would not have been possible in Venezuela without massive technical and financial support. Although Smartmatric established a U.S. presence in 2000, almost all of its products were developed in Venezuela, a country where capital is scarce and scientific research and manufacturing are not sophisticated.

Key conclusion/question #1: where did the financing and R&D knowledge come from?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Now let’s take a quick look at the book  Stolen Elections 

CannCon (Brian Lupo) and Ashe in America of the Badlands weekly podcast “Why We Vote” are dissecting this book chapter by chapter. Ashe and Brian probably have the best overview of the 2020 election fraud since they have spend years interviewing the main players. Of interest, they were supposed to interview Patrick Byrnes and at the last minute, literally as they were going on air, he backed out. Bynes now says he has no idea who Brian is despite the back and forths while setting up the interview.🙄 This was at the time he finally confessed he had been working for the CIA for 25 years.

This is an Article by CannCon that shows his more in-depth look compared to what he writes for The Gateway Pundit.

Grand Jury Testimony From Senator David Perdue Suggests Gov. Brian Kemp Halted Investigation Into 2020 Election

Before I get into this book, this is something about the CIA we should never forget.

I am not going to cover the first 4 chapters. However here are the links to the videos;

Badlands Book Club – Book 5 – Stolen Elections: Intro, Chapter 1 & Chapter 2

Badlands Book Club – Book 5 – Stolen Elections: Chapter 3

Badlands Book Club – Book 5: Stolen Elections – Chapters 1–3 Recap and CIA Narrative Breakdown With Colonel Towner joining the panel

1:22:00 — Claims of Venezuelan election fraud is based on a couple of exit poles.

Badlands Book Club – Book 5 – Stolen Elections: Chapter 4

….


Badlands Book Club – Book 5: Stolen Elections – Chapter 5


CannCon and Ashe in America are joined by Colonel Towner for a deep dive into Chapter 5 of Stolen Elections, continuing a detailed critique of the book’s central claims surrounding Venezuelan election interference. The discussion systematically breaks down assertions about Smartmatic, Sequoia, and Dominion, questioning timelines, source code claims, and the credibility of so-called whistleblowers repeatedly cited throughout the chapter. The panel examines alleged DOJ investigations, the role of intelligence agencies, and inconsistencies tied to money laundering cases, coup attempts, and U.S. political figures used to bolster the book’s narrative. Particular attention is given to how language like “fundamentally the same” is used to imply proof without evidence, along with scrutiny of charts, slides, and unnamed sources presented as authoritative. Throughout the episode, the hosts emphasize logical gaps, historical context, and technical misunderstandings, challenging listeners to separate documented fact from insinuation as the chapter’s argument increasingly unravels.


PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT & DISCUSSION

Since this is a long video, I am paraphrasing a lot of the discussion. I am also adding what I find on the internet that fleshes out the claims. However first there are some very important tidbits from: Badlands Book Club – Book 5: Stolen Elections – Chapters 1–3 Recap and CIA Narrative Breakdown

8:05 – Colonel Towner:

In every book written by a CIA agent, in the front with the copyright and such, it will have a statement that it has been reviewed by the CIA. If it is not written by a CIA agent it will be reviewed and have redactions and there will be a statement that it has been thru that review.

9:30 — The Colonel explains how the true whistle blowers get around this CIA meddling.

In this book, the author, Pazulo, makes it obvious he is writing in collaboration with a CIA officer, Gary Bernstein who he quotes excessively thru the entire book. They talk about all sorts of classified info like the Lebanese Venezuelan Drug dealer that was running drugs for the CIA, about Frank Holder being a triple agent. Was Holder a CIA asset too? The Colonel searched and there is no defamation case based on the Holder chapter which totally slanders the guy.

…

Back to the featured video.

9 min: Examples of the CIA building back doors into software by Colonel Towner.

I add some articles.

Crypto AG was a project in the aftermath of WWII. The Crypto AG company was a CIA front in Switzerland. It made equipment sold to embassies around the world. Trump got rid of it.

Spy Inc: the Secretive Front Companies Run by Intelligence Services

Another example is the Promis Software. The CIA in collusion with the DOJ stole the software from the inventor and created a backdoor, MOSSAD also ends up with a copy. The backdoor allowed monitoring of other money laundering operations and covered up the intel agencies’ own. This allowed the intel agencies to gather evidence and use it against their competitors. There is a discussion on how to make the evidence usable in court.

The Undying Octopus: FBI and the PROMIS affair Part 1 –

35 years later, file reveals dropped leads and confirmed allegations in “the scandal that wouldn’t die”

So when these guys ( who are CIA assets) say voter fraud can not be proved, well the CIA is expert at that.

Colonel Towner: “They have 16,000 emails from Smartmatic and 20,000 emails from Dominion gathered during discovery in the legal case against Fox News. They were involved in briefing Fox News. So why then did Fox settle if these dudes had all the smoking gun evidence from that case? The evidence they are using to write this book? These Emails include admission of fraud by Dominion (15 minutes)

At this point things get fun.😂


In 10/8/2024 there were four criminal indictments in FL for 2 officials working for Smartmatic. The Federal Asst Attorney is Michael Nadler, [they checked it is Jerry’s son although Brave AI at first says it is not and then says it is. A photo shows the poor guy looks just like Jerry Nadler.] you heard [read] that correctly but it gets better. Way back in 2018 Nadler secured the largest judgment to date against a Venezualian insider. The former treasurer who is now serving 10 years in prison.

November 27, 2018 Federal agents have seized $250 million from convicted ex-Venezuelan national treasurer Alejandro Andrade, who is serving a 10-year prison sentence

…..

December 13, 2019 Homeland Security Seizes $2250 Million from Convicted Venezuelan Treasurer

In trying to find info I stumbled on to this case. It is worth noting because none of this is cut and dry.

Court Rejects Sanctions In Venezuelan Oil Defamation Case

Ivan Freites, who lives in Miami, filed the lawsuit in January 2025, accusing Horacio Medina, who is the president of the ad hoc board of directors of PDVSA that controls the company’s U.S. assets, and others, including a former Venezuelan ambassador, a professor and a film director, of orchestrating a campaign to defame them as a result of their lawsuit in Delaware alleging PDVSA workers were denied compensation. Rodriguez and Otero, both of whom live in Switzerland, joined the lawsuit.

They accused the defendants of orchestrating a “coordinated and malicious campaign [of] defamation, intimidation, obstruction of justice, witness tampering and racketeering” as a result of the plaintiffs’ lawsuit against PDVSA and its U.S. subsidiary, Citgo, in Delaware claiming they were wrongfully terminated from their jobs at PDVSA in 2002 and 2003. Citgo’s motion to dismiss that lawsuit is pending.

Specifically, the plaintiffs accuse the defendants of portraying them as “traitors, frauds, and corrupt opportunists” who, among other allegations, received illicit funds from former Venezuelan officials.

….

Back to video:

Colonel: So this is the Attorney and DOJ that used a back dated Interpol arrest warrant to prosecute a guy who wanted to feed the people in Venezuela. And the USA nabbed him on the Tarmac under false pretenses. An Interpol arrest warrant Mike Pompeo personally orchestrated along with John Bolton.

The reason they want to make Alejandro the bad guy is to give Nadler a trophy. Nadler with his ‘Venezuela’ experience [2 cases, years apart] is one of the attorneys for the authors. Martin keeps writing he has 15 yrs experience working in the DOJ as a consultant for criminal investigations and Gary has worked 25 years for the CIA.

They also say “On our own and with outside resources, we decided to launch our own investigation.” Except they had Patrick Byrne, another long time CIA asset, funding them and Jerry Nadler’s son as their attorney so not exactly detached from ‘Authority’ [or at least the Deep State. — GC]

And on page 38 they say “They have no political agenda” [… Jerry Nadler… Bush & Obama’s DOJ… CIA??? — GC]

Martin also says “We conducted this as a criminal investigation. We have focused on collecting evidence and witnesses which is the opposite of what Trump’s Lawyers Sidney Powell and Rudy Guiliani did after the 2020 election when they made claims without conducting an investigation.”

The Colonel points out there were investigations. Rudy flew to Ukraine and got statements. Sidney had a pile of affidavits. However there were people inserted into their investigations to destroy them [This is a very important point. It would explain Sidney’s guilty plea in the Fulton case, would it not? — GC]


Funny how the story changed to a collision not an explosion.

Back to the video.

👉 Ashe: I — 100% agree. Sidney talked about Venezuelan whistle blowers but they never materialized. 👈 That was the key dispute between Tucker Carlson [while on Fox] and Sidney. Carlson humiliated Sydney on air saying she keeps coming to me and saying this stuff and there just isn’t anything. Tucker said “ We tried to vet every single aspect and there is nothing.”

Ashe goes on to say, “You will not convince me that Sydney Powell was operating in bad faith or going off 1/2 cocked. She was told stuff and even shown stuff and then her investigation was sabotaged. So now the authors are throwing her and Rudy under the bus implying that this [their investigation] could have happened if not for Sidney and Rudy.”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The Colonel has been saying the Cartel de los Soles does not exist. It was CIA.

Cartel De Los Soles does not exist, US government [Finally] admits

The US justice department classified the Cartel De Los Soles (Cartel of the Suns) alongside ISIS and Al-Qaeda in November. 43 days later, the US has effectively admitted the organisation does not exist – at least not as a cartel in any conventional sense.

The fact is, Cartel De Los Soles was always shorthand for high-level government corruption in Venezuela. It’s use goes back to the 1990s. The ‘suns’ refer to a rank insignia worn by grifting senior military officials. Which means the US classified a slang term in the same category as actual terror groups…

The Colonel then says these people, the senior military officials, were trained in the School of Americas.

School of the Americas: School of Assassins, USA — Third World Traveler

Founded by the United States in 1946, the SOA was initially located in Panama, but in 1984 it was kicked out under the terms of the Panama Canal Treaty and moved to the army base at Fort Benning, Georgia. Then-President of Panama Jorge Illueca called it “the biggest base for de-stabilization in Latin America,” and a major Panamanian newspaper dubbed it ” The School of Assassins.”

Today, SOA instructors and students are recruited from the cream of the Latin American military establishment. The School trains 700-2,000 soldiers a year, and since its inception in 1946, more than 60,000 military personnel have graduated from the SOA.

There is a list of countries and number of graduates.

The colonel decided to visit this school in Ft Benning GA and who should she see walking out? A Columbian colonel.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

So were the stories of Venezuelan Software engineers who developed hackable voting machines and turned whistle-blowers nothing more than CIA BAIT used to ensnare Sidney Powell and MAGA?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

And another election machine story:

INTEL: US Military Raided Scytl Servers In Germany For Evidence After Vote Switching Scandal — GreatGameIndia

November 14, 2020

According to intelligence sources US Military raided voting machine company Scytl servers in Germany for evidence of manipulation in 2020 US Elections after it was exposed in vote switching scandal by GreatGameIndia. Scytl has a long history of election fraud in various nations including injecting backdoors in its election software. The issue has prompted experts to question why the sensitive job of counting votes was outsourced to a foreign company? How could a bankrupted Spanish company Scytl count American votes in Spain?

WITNESS AFFIDAVIT: How Smartmatic Voting Machines Were Designed To Steal US Elections

UPDATE: Philadelphia Rejected Dominion Voting Systems For Fear Of Foreign Interference In US Elections

According to Congressman Louie Gohmert, Texas there is “compelling evidence” of vote switching in the 2020 presidential election compiled by the Spanish electronic voting machine company Scytl.

The Texas lawmaker said in an interview with Newsmax TV that US military forces seized the company’s server in Frankfurt, Germany. Gohmert said there are some who believe it’s U.S. intelligence “that manipulated all this” to cover themselves…

Secret Germany Raid Reveals CIA Ties to US Election Fraud

More intelligence and reports are coming out to help Americans connect the dots of the election fraud carried out by Deep State operatives.

This information could also explain why Defense Secretary Mark Esper was terminated by President Donald Trump last week…. Now enters WikiLeaks. On Tuesday, WikiLeaks released 8,761 documents showing specific details of secret CIA hacking.

This included “malware, viruses, trojans, weaponized ‘zero day’ exploits, malware remote control systems and associated documentation.”

These leaks may have revealed “that a top secret CIA unit used the German city of Frankfurt am Main as the starting point for numerous hacking attacks on Europe, China and the Middle East.“…

🌧Fog of War🌧

2026.02.10 Daily Thread: The World According to Trade(Bait)

More strict and loose constructionism and many of you will start seeing these two principles of Constitution and law rear their heads often through the years. For these Trade stories I am just occasionally substituting federal documents and authority out while using strict and loose with rules and laws on different subject matters that have different ruling authorities. The principles can be applied in many unrelated subjects. Reminders;

Strict Constructionist – Literal and narrow reading (interpretation) of the document that limits the powers of the federal government to what it provides.

Loose Constructionist – Views it as a “living document” that is interpreted broadly that adapts to society as it evolves and its needs change..

The scripture for today is from I Timothy 6:10,

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (NASB)

Self explanatory scripture.

What else is determined by those who go by the book and those who add to and subtract from the book as it works best for them? How about…

Professional Sports

Let’s have some fun. How about 8 minutes of Academy Award losing NBA floppers.

Of course what else do you expect from a bunch of pampered woke social justice imposters? Next we move to the NFL where we focus on the striped shirts who actually get paid well to do the following with straight faces. About 13 minutes.

in truth those are just a handful of literally thousands of calls and no-calls of infractions each season that have accumulated through the years that those two sports have existed that are just flat azz wrong or intentionally not called.

Yet, each sport has a thoroughly prepared rulebook that coaching staffs, players, and officials are well informed about. Team owners actually participate in determining rules modifications between seasons. They vote on them and then inform the league’s head of officials, whose staff instructs the game officials. But what you can plainly see is that none of that matters if corruption, personal fandom, or vendettas are involved.

How much did Tom Brady’s reputation suffer for Deflategate as an example?

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/deflategate-tom-brady-suspension-patriots-scandal/ef7cffc2e1323d87ef8f348a

Not much. He won a bunch of SB rings in a future HOF career that led to an ownership interest in the Las Vegas Raiders team as well a weekly game analyst gig on network TV since playing career retirement.

Both sports are so eaten up with terrible officiating they added replay review. However, that is also controlled and limited in its scope. Bad and corrupted officiating still rules. Agendas and narratives must be maintained, you know.

While on the subject, let’s take a look a Major League Baseball. Watch what happens even with using the replay booth in the more current examples. Add that to the horrible pitch calls.

MLB is probably better than the NBA and NFL with calls now with more extensive replay ability and as a result, more scrutiny. But the sport also has the benefit of less overall player actions during the course of games, making it easier to call. To MLB’s credit they are going to take it a step further to insure more fair treatment. They have been experimenting with automated computer driven pitch calls in the minor leagues for several years. It will start this next season in MLB. However, it will only be on a challenge basis with each team receiving two challenges. Hopefully, technology continues to advance and automated calls are perfected over time so that they are used for all pitches like they are in professional tennis for line calls. That is the only way it will ever be fair to all batters and pitchers.

https://apnews.com/article/abs-robot-umpires-how-it-works-9b817bb2c4666c984aa86ed29b401461

Rules For Thee, But Not For Me

We can tell from the evidence above that none of the professional sports are all that serious about strict rulebook implementation. Yes, the rulebooks themselves are written in strict constructionist format. However, they are then administered with sport ownership concurrence in loose constructionist methodology to achieve desired results where narratives can be sold to an unwitting, some would say dumb, public that goes along with it all.

Why?

Money. As usual.

In the NFL alone the cumulative take for all team owners was over $23 B in 2024. Add in over $12 B for MLB and over $11 B for NBA teams. For all three sports that is approximately $46 B for 2024 alone. Then add in revenues of associated industries such as television and media, gear, food and household product licenses, security services, and so on.

That action you see on the field or court may be real much of the time, however, the outcomes are subject to being controlled. There is too much money in it to be cleanly administered and called. Besides having eyes, playing as a young man, and knowing the games for over 60 years; how else do I know they have controlled outcomes?

The existence of sports book gambling and television rights.

The latter is simple to understand. How many more eyes will watch a playoff or championship game if the participants are in large markets versus small? More eyes on screens, higher ratings for games, more money charged for advertising. A NY versus LA matchup in any sport would be their dream choice 100 out of 100. As a result, the teams in the large markets receive more exposure and attract more elite free agent players.

The sports driving the bulk of that revenue are the three listed above. Sports book betting will go upwards of $150 billion just this year and is growing rapidly. The sports love it because the activity generates more interest. There is some info on the participants in the link below. You will find the names you see advertising on TV during game telecasts.

https://altenar.com/blog/top-10-us-sportsbook-operators-and-their-owners

But wait there’s MOAR! Read the link below to discover how the sports book revenue streams are divvied up.

https://www.covers.com/industry/how-do-pro-sports-teams-leagues-make-money-sports-betting-august-2025

So you are saying the leagues and team owners benefit from the book action? The same owners who agree to pay the outrageous compensation many players and coaches make? They are all in on the scam together. Say it ain’t so.

🤫 😂

All of it is legal in America. Can you say “gravy train”? Why would any of the three sports discussed and others decide to act on concerns about the administration of rulebooks when the money tells them to keep doing what they are doing? They just have to make sure the cheating is not overly obvious.

Oops.

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/nba-illegal-gambling-investigation-explained

https://www.msn.com/en-in/sports/basketball/nba-betting-scandal-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-shocking-case-involving-players-coaches-and-the-new-york-mafia/ar-AA1SbpRK

Yup, and not only pro, how about college as well? Well, college is pro now with all of the NIL contracts, so, I guess it fits right in.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/47619154/many-college-players-20-charged-point-shaving-scheme

Achilles Heel

As we can see there exists a major issue that has always been present. Shoeless Joe Jackson and the Chicago Black Sox scandal of 1919 was just a harbinger for the undue influence of sports book gambling that existed outside the realm of honest play on the field and court. All of it as authorities looked away and continued involvement in off site criminal bookie operations throughout the country. Pete Rose was not the only one who participated despite the polished images of the leaders of the sports. With the constant need of governments for more and more revenues, it became easier to accept the unsavory and sell it as a good thing along with the usual “we have it under control” comments to the public.

Now we all can sit in the comfort of our homes and literally bet the house on games and specific actions within games, racing, etc. that have controlled outcomes. But as long as we do it responsibly like their PSA’s say, everything will be fine. If you end up with a gambling addiction and losing everything that matters, they provide a hotline you can call to get help. I am sure doing so will cure your addiction and all will end well in the poor house or a jail cell without your spouse and kids.

😉

Since human nature includes the pursuit of riches and to be greedy, there have been and will be more crashes than NASCAR restrictor plate races at Talladega Speedway. Big ones, all the time. Right, Ricky Bobby?

Which people also bet big bucks on as well.

The economics are simple. $150 B was bet in 2024. Approximately 9-10% was retained by the betting houses. That tells the bettor that the odds are slanted against them in the points spreads and odds to one side or the other. The house take is consistent, they rarely go out of business. Which means they know more than the average bettor. How do they know more? Yup, insiders in the sports as well as points shaving players and such. So, no matter what and how you are playing the odds, their business has been arranged for you to lose over time. To beat those odds and be successful you have to be resourceful, smart and very lucky.

There are real world human lives at serious risk. Families are forever altered and destroyed by addictions to gambling. Sports heroes tube their careers and children lose their heroes and icons. Popular diversions from the grind of life are lost due to the corruption. The integrity of the sports become jokes. People lose focus on what matters most. The leaders of the sports become tyrants with perverted values that leads to the Bad Bunnies of the world being celebrated on the world stage. All because many refuse to follow the rules and seek to skirt the edges or dive into criminality for personal and corporate gains and advantages. Their focus is to seek power, fame and fortune no matter the cost.

Nearly all of the issues described in this example of these three professional sports are easily solvable. But the leaders and participants do not have the will to do so because they might make less money. If they get past that in their minds they know that if they rock the boat they will be booted, blacklisted or worse. So it will continue as long as their targets (marks), We the People, give them permission to cheat and be corrupt.

All that is needed is a heart change followed by inaction from We the People. Choose not to play along. Turn your eyes away and redirect your interests. When you shut off the interest and money, the corrupt and corrupted lose.

Which seems to be a recurring theme with all things in America, doesn’t it?

Conclusion

Returning to the light hearted, enjoy!

Remember Wolf’s site rules. Note and label all AI. Please be kind to one another, we are all in this together. May God richly bless America and all of you.

Trust Trump and the plan.

Time to make an addition to my Conclusion with openers. Carl gave a recent reminder.

Before all things and people – In God We Trust. Always. This world is His. He determines how our story goes.

Dear KMAG: 20260209 Trump Won Three Times ❀ Open Topic

Joe Biden never won. This is our Real President – 45, 46, 47.

AND our beautiful REALFLOTUS.

This Stormwatch Monday Open Thread remains open – VERY OPEN – a place for everybody to post whatever they feel they would like to tell the White Hats, and the rest of the MAGA/KAG/KMAG world (with KMAG being a bit of both).

And yes, it’s Monday…again.

But we WILL get through it!

We will always remember Wheatie,

Pray for Trump,

Yet have fun,

and HOLD ON when things get crazy!

We will follow the RULES of civility that Wheatie left for us:

Wheatie’s Rules:

  1. No food fights.
  2. No running with scissors.
  3. If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.

And while we engage in vigorous free speech, we will remember Wheatie’s advice on civility, non-violence, and site unity:

“We’re on the same side here so let’s not engage in friendly fire.”

“Let’s not give the odious Internet Censors a reason to shut down this precious haven that Wolf has created for us.”

If this site gets shut down, please remember various ways to get back in touch with the rest of the gang:

Our beloved country is under Occupation by hostile forces.

Daily outrage and epic phuckery abound.

We can give in to despair…or we can be defiant and fight back in any way that we can.

Joe Biden didn’t win.

And we will keep saying Joe Biden didn’t win until we get His Fraudulency out of our White House.

Wolfie’s Wheatie’s Word of the Week:

xyston

noun

  • short pike used by Greek heavy cavalry
  • long thrusting lance, used in ancient Greece
  • long thrusting spear in ancient Greece, measuring about 3.5 to 4.25 m long, probably held by the cavalryman with both hands, consisting of a wooden shaft and a spear-point at both ends

Used in a sentence

The shaft of the xyston was usually made from sturdy wood, such as cornel or ash, which provided the necessary strength and flexibility.

Shown in a picture

Shown in a video

Historical importance

https://historygreek.org/warfare/xyston

MUSIC!

Cornell – bringing the wood and the ax!

THE STUFF

Cornel, also known as the Cornelian cherry, has a wood that is used for spears. That wood is heavier than water and does not float. The tree is actually a dogwood with an edible faux cherry fruit. This video shows both the tree and preserving the fruit.

Cornel. Not to be confused with Cornell.

Just sayin’!

And remember…….

Until victory, have faith!

And trust the big plan, too!

And as always….

ENJOY THE SHOW

W