Oh, the Ides of March. Julius Caesar was killed on March 15, over 2000 years ago. On March 17 this year, an arrest warrant was issued for Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and on March 18, former President Trump announced that he expected to be arrested soon. What is it about this time of year?
If you’re curious about Caesar, read Shakespeare’s play. Or watch HBO’s Rome.
If you’re curious about Putin and Trump, read on.
The warrant for President Vladimir Putin
On March 17, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. The ICC claims that Putin has violated human rights by illegally transferring children from occupied parts of Ukraine to Russia.
So, what does this mean, exactly? If the ICC issues an arrest warrant, who goes and grabs Putin and puts him in jail?
The arrest warrant is symbolic. The ICC doesn’t have its own police force, which means that they rely on the law enforcement agencies of its 123 member nations to carry out the arrests they want. Russia has never been part of the ICC; neither has the United States or China. Ireland, Croatia, Austria, and Germany have said that they will carry out the arrest if Putin comes to their countries.
His travel within Europe might be a little more restricted, but that will probably be the only way in which Putin is affected.
And even some of the ICC signatories have proven unwilling to carry out the arrest. South Africa, for example, still plans to host Putin for the 2023 BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Summit. South Africa has refused to condemn the war in Ukraine, and government leaders say that they’re looking at all options right now. Hungary has said that they will not arrest Putin. The UK and France, like South Africa, aren’t making any commitments.
The Russians are angry, though. Shortly after the ICC issued its warrant, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev threatened the judges that issued the warrant with missile strikes.
And while Putin likely won’t wind up in jail, his arrest warrant will make it difficult for him to travel to any individual country in Europe that may have wanted to negotiate with him. Making individual peace treaties more difficult to discuss may be the biggest effect of this arrest warrant.
President Donald Trump is facing legal trouble too.
And Putin isn’t the only world leader with legal troubles at the moment. Former President Trump began making claims on his Truth Social media account about getting arrested the week of March 20. He said he expected to be arrested Tuesday, though that didn’t happen.
What’s this all about? Well, the former stripper Stormy Daniels claimed she and Trump had an affair in 2006. In 2016, when Trump first ran for president, she went to the press and made noise about it. Trump has denied the affair since day one, but in 2016 his lawyer at the time, Michael Cohen, gave her $130,000 to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
Is this kind of scummy? Sure, though, in my personal opinion, if Stormy had had any hard evidence, she would have gotten more than $130,000 out of him. In 2016, Donald Trump had a net worth of $4.5 billion. $130,000 isn’t even chump change for someone with that kind of money. But I could be wrong.
More importantly, though it looks bad, it’s actually not illegal. And as professor and constitutional law expert Jonathan Turley explained on Fox last weekend, there are a multitude of reasons that the indictment probably won’t go anywhere, unless some totally new information comes to light.
A grand jury session had been assembled to vote on whether or not Trump would be indicted. They were supposed to vote on whether or not the payment made to Stormy Daniels back in 2016 violated campaign finance laws. However, on Wednesday, March 22, the jury session was called off with no apparent reason being given.
Why are these efforts to arrest controversial world leaders happening?
So, there are efforts being made to arrest Trump and Putin, two controversial world leaders widely hated by establishment figures but who enjoy a wide base of grassroots support nonetheless.
And I suppose I should make it clear that I don’t particularly like Trump or Putin. I think the religiosity of both is a sham; I think they use it to manipulate voters and portray a certain image. Putin, particularly, knows how bitterly Russians resented the Soviet crackdown on religion. He knows how much the rest of the world is tired of Western leaders promoting values that don’t necessarily align with theirs. Putin uses that resentment to his advantage, promoting himself as the defender of traditional values against the decadent Westerners.
This, of course, is pure political theater.
If you want details of how Russians and Ukrainians are treating each other, you can read the UN’s Report on the Human Rights Situation in Ukraine. Russian soldiers have been brutally beating up Greek Catholic and Protestant missionaries, telling them that only Orthodoxy is allowed. However, when Zelensky bans not only Russian but also Ukrainian Orthodox Churches, repossesses church property, and expels clergy, of course, Putin uses it to prove his point.
Trump, likewise, is a master of self-aggrandizement in all its forms.
Having said that, both men are nationalists. They are not team players. They want to rule their own respective countries and aren’t overly upset by what the international community thinks of them.
And that might be the real issue.
These arrest warrants and threats of criminal charges reek of desperation. Trusted institutions, from the government to health to banking, have been losing their authority; the powers that be are desperate to fixate our minds on anything other than their own failures.
It’s not working. People are asking inconvenient questions about the war in Ukraine, and indeed a few major Republican players, like Ron DeSantis, are openly questioning why Americans are hemorrhaging money we don’t have into what he called a “territorial dispute.” Too many medical professionals have been coming forward with details of what went wrong during Covid. With the largest bank failures since the 2008 financial crisis, global banking is a total mess right now.
American emperors are not the only ones being disrobed. The Dutch political party representing those protesting farmers just won 15 out of 75 parliament seats, making it the largest party in the high chamber. This was a party that didn’t exist five years ago.
Massive protests have forced transportation within Germany to grind to a halt. Even though this has been hugely disruptive for the average German, a majority (55%) support the strikes. Striking workers are demanding a 10.5% pay raise to help them deal with ever-increasing inflation. The February overall inflation rate was 9.3%, though food prices were 21.8% higher and energy prices were 19.1% higher than the previous year.
Over a million people took part in French protests last week, some of which became violent. The French have been protesting the government’s attempts to raise the retirement age.
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been protesting judicial reforms this week. As well I feel obliged to point out that Yuval Noah Harari, Klaus Schwab’s right-hand man, has been giving speeches in favor of the protesters. I really don’t understand Israeli politics well enough to say I support one side or another.
In Greece, tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets for weeks to protest the horrific train crash that killed 57 people, mostly students, and injured more than 80 others. Despite crippling high taxes, Greeks feel that neglect of the infrastructure was responsible for the disaster, and they are demanding accountability and justice for the victims.
My point is simply that people around the world are furious, and they’re starting to cause trouble.
The charges against Putin and Trump are redirection.
I think the charges being leveled against Putin and Trump are establishment attempts to channel people’s rage against figures whom it’s currently acceptable to hate.
The truth is, the reasons for the protests above are varied, and unless the quality of life starts improving for a lot of people really fast, it’s going to be hard getting that rage genie back in the bottle.
By “quality of life,” I don’t mean more stuff. Americans have been getting overly distracted by cheap crap for years. I don’t mean more “conveniences,” either. Many people in the First World, while not about to freeze or starve, simply want more control in their day-to-day lives, whether it’s what their children are learning at school or if they have chicken or crickets for dinner. People all over the world feel as though their ability to choose their own life journey is disappearing, and they are angry.
And many other people, some within the First World and more that are not are getting closer to freezing or starving. They’re angry too. It’s a big, ugly package.
So, what does this have to do with prepping?
Situational awareness is vital to prepping. People have had varying degrees of pain over the past few years; if you’ve been blessed with a great deal of job security and flexible childcare arrangements, count your lucky stars. And watch what’s going on near your neighborhood. I hope I’m wrong; I might be. But I also think it would be foolish to ignore the protests.
The political theater surrounding Trump and Putin is an attempt to distract from the worldwide rage bubbling just below the surface. If you haven’t been paying attention to civil unrest in your area, I think now is a good time to start.
But what do you think? Why do you feel that these charges are being levied right now? Do you think they’re legitimate charges? Do you believe that there’s merit to them? Or do you think it’s a distraction? And if so, what are we being distracted from?
Let’s talk about it in the comments section.
About Marie Hawthorne
A lover of novels and cultivator of superb apple pie recipes, Marie spends her free time writing about the world around her.
I fell like we’re being punked. It’s all smoke & mirrors at this point. Just bizarre.
I think it’s part of this scheme to weaponize legal institutions. It’s part of the scenery now.
Marie,
Just wanted to say thank you and let you know how much I appreciate your articles. You have a great talent for looking at the bigger picture and seeing the real issues. And, you communicate it in a way that I can easily process and understand it. Much appreciated!!
And, I agree with you – so much theater going on right now to distract us from the real issues that impact or will soon impact our daily lives.
Don’t forget Dems have to prep for the election in 2024 too, there will be more tricks to come
As do the republicans. Powell is a conservative. Interest rates will be raised and throw the u.s. into recession to lean the vote republican. And it goes on
The Fed had to raise interest rates in order to bring inflation down. Otherwise we would still be at 8-9%.
Poorly managed banks like SVB, took huge losses as interest rates went up.
Polls show the majority of American’s give a “disapproval” rating to Biden and his handling of the economy. If the vote goes to Republicans it was by the Biden admin own doing.
Just have to jump in here. Definitely the fed had to raise interest rates in an attempt to curb inflation – let’s face it, with the national debt over 31 trillion it’s pretty much the only tool they have left. Let’s also keep in mind that inflation is caused by the government printing too much money. So the FED raises interest rates to curb inflation and the Bidenista’s want to raise the debt ceiling so they can spend another 6-7 trillion dollars. Seems to me that they are working at odds with each other.
I can’t disagree that SVB was poorly managed and that their “woke” policies helped bring them down. But, much of their situation was actually caused by the government and the FED as well. Like every other bank out there they invested in bonds, which is what the FED/government basically tell them to do. Then when the FED raises rates at a fast pace the banks get upside down because the bonds they bought, at government direction, are no longer worth what they were before. Every bank out there is in exactly the same situation – it just hasn’t become a crisis for others….yet!
Barb P: It doesn’t matter if Powell is conservative, democrat, or purple with pink polka-dots. Raising rates is the ONLY thing he can do to keep us from Hyper-inflation, or crashing the economy completely. And the Republicans don’t need help from him, the Democrats are helping them out enough.
^^^
What he said.
Woke policies. Give me a break. Please. Lame fox.news talking point
Lame leftist reply…..
I cut the cord back in 08′.
Dont watch Fox.
And yes, one of SVB’s failures was being heavily invested in ESG loans that went bad, not taking into consideration of risk management and having a balanced pro-folio.
Contributing $75 million to BLM probably didn’t help.
1 person on the board had any prior experience running a bank and most of the rest were high-level political donors who had no idea what they were doing.
I don’t like to think of Fox News as factual either, but if they said that(I don’t watch to know) they were for the most part correct.
FreddiePoster,
I read that too.
But not on Fox.
Alt-media.
Would be hard pressed to find that information on MSM.
Freddie, Who have you watched at Fox recently? There are some good patriots there. Maybe not all, but a good number.
I like Pete Hegseth, Mark Levine, Carlton Tucker, Laura Ingraham…the due on Fox First, an early show are great. hers as well.
I like Newsmax & when before direct tv kicked them off, One America News Network.
THanks.
SamFox
Woke Western society has little use for competence. Fed oversight of SVB also failed dramatically.
As if the tax breaks that go to.the top, considerably adding to the deficit, don’t add to inflation. Come on
You need to educate yourself, you can’t possibly be this stupid….
She is no stupid.
Just misinformed.
That is what happens when you watch MSNBC, CNN.
From the most recent IRS Individual Income Tax Returns, Complete Report, 2020:
The top 1% of US taxpayers paid 48% of total US income taxes. And that’s just at the federal level, not even counting how much of the the local and state taxes the wealthy paid.
The top 10% paid nearly 72% of total income taxes.
Meanwhile, the bottom 40% of US income tax filers paid no net income tax at all. And the next group, those making between $30-$50,000 per year, paid an effective rate of just 1.9%.
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1304.pdf
My goal in life is to make no money. None at all. Zero net income.
I’m close. Almost there.
That should be, under our current system of taxation, everyone’s goal -especially if you have clawed your way out of “poverty” into middle class, into debt, out of debt, found out your middle class status was based on your credit score (management of debt)- being self reliant. Never answering to another man. Ever.
Your stats are accurate but misinterpreted. What they show is the absolute and astounding financial disparity in our country.
The poor, the bottom 40%, are paid so little money that they pay no net Fed taxes. Do you know how poor you have to be to pay nothing? Dirt poor, worse than living paycheck to paycheck poor. Can’t pay for a financial emergency of more than $400 poor. LIke you can’t take mortgage tax deductions because you’ll never own a house poor. Like sometimes you can’t afford food and your medicine at the same time poor.
The top 1%, payed 48% of Fed taxes. Just how stinking rich do you have to be to pay that much in taxes? Like flying to Paris for lunch because you can rich. Like owning a house in the Hamptons and at at Tahoe because you got bored of seawater rich. Like giving your daughter a Porsche for her 16th birthday and she refused it because she didn’t like the color rich (True story, happened with a girl I dated as a teen, her parents lived in Mission Hills, KS).
Oh, now, the poor pay LOTS in taxes…sales tax, property tax (through their rent), car registration tax, ect. The poor pay much more in tax as a percentage of their income than the top 1% ever dreamed of doing. Being poor is much more expensive (as a percent of income). They pay much more on food, rent, car repairs, medical bills, clothing…as a percent of their income than the rich….so the taxes they do pay hit them much harder.
Read what Barb P asserted.
And then my response in that context.
Yawn. Do you even know what a graduated income tax is?
Barb, do you recall when the national debt was $17 trillion during the Trump admin & the left was FREAKING out???!! ‘He’s deliberately tanking the economy’ blah blah blah.
But when Biden has the debt up to what $37 trillion…nothing to see here????
Do explain.
Exactly right. Powell has very few options to try and counteract the results of liberal Democrats’ insane spending in 2021 and 2022.
Biden’s bailout of SVB plays very poorly with working class voters (and rightfully so) and can be used against him very effectively in the next campaign.
I’m not saying this to start an argument. Just want you to understand that beforehand.
I don’t believe that there is a one-cent difference between a Demoncrat or a Republican, regardless of the campaign promises or intentions of the campaigner; the state speaker of the house in Texas is a Republican and he won’t allow any Republican legislation to come to a vote, and only Demoncrats can chair a committee. It’s rapidly becoming the same all over America-the-Beautiful. Whichever ‘party’ gets in, there is still going to be a ‘party’ going on – the Rich class toasting themselves while they eat on the sweet meat of the poor.
But HalleluYah!
The Book of Revelation is true, and the birth-pangs of this day and time are coming to pass. It cannot get any better than it is today, and it will not until the Messiah returns as the Lion of Judah – dispensing the wrath of the only true God on the rottenness of the people of the world.
Then all of this mess will just become un-remembered history.
We are truly living in some exciting times!
Blessings,
Allen
We were all supposed to be enslaved to the satanic overlords by now. Get with the program!
Based off of legal analysis from several lawyers, the Trump indictment is a long, long stretch by DA Bragg. The fact Bragg’s would be star witness, Michael Cohen, stated in a email he paid Stormy Daniels with his own money and Trump was not aware of it, makes Bragg’s case all the more difficult to move forward with.
The question some were asking, why would Bragg put himself out there like that?
Distraction?
From the Ukraine/Russo war that does not appear to be going well for the Ukraine?
The economy?
The bailout of SVB?
Biden has flown all over the country, even to a train to the Ukraine, but has not visited East Palestine OH?
The open southern border?
The record numbers of fentanyl flowing into the country?
New studies showing how much damage the COVID lockdowns did?
New studies showing natural immunity is just as good as the vaccines and some studies showing natural immunity is even better?
The Twitter Files?
How DEI training in the military is leading to less unit readiness, combat effectiveness, and lower recruitment?
Bragg may have just made the most significant contribution possible to the Trump 2024 campaign. Look for Biden to request indictment as we draw closer to the next presidential election…LOL.
French protests are not about pension age…it’s about wasteful govt spending and asking more and more from workers, instead of proper frugality in govt spending
And the fact that their President is trying to sidestep their democratic process and dictate what they are going to do, because he knows that he can’t get this bill passed. Sound familiar. (Executive Order)
The ICC made a stupid move…..period. This indictment of Putin is going to do nothing to him in a real sense, and will hamper any possibilities of peace talks/negotiations. The only way this makes any difference in the real world is if Russia suffers a complete and total defeat, and there is a change of leadership in Russia, with the new leaders offering Putin up on a silver platter. That just doesn’t seem likely at this point in time. What is more likely is that this simply strengthens Putin’s will to win “at any cost” and if by some miracle it looks like NATO is going to win, may create a situation where Putin is willing to actually use nuclear weapons.
Also, Russia, China and the United States are not signatories of the ICC. Why? Because all are military powers, and know that in any war or police action that circumstances arise that could have you branded a “War Criminal” by the international community. Do we need to bring up what the U.S. did in Afghanistan, and Iraq. Or more recently the drone strikes in Yemen?
We’ve already had the Wagner group declared a terrorist organization. How are they any different than Blackwater, or the myriad of other groups that we used in Afghanistan and Iraq? The truth is that we’re no better, and no different than Russia – we’re just sneakier about it, and use our international position to bully the world into our way of thinking.
Is it all a distraction – maybe. Or is it one more attempt by NATO t try and isolate Putin and bring him to heel in an effort to protect and preserve western hegemony, and our financial dominance of the world through the petro-dollar/world reserve currency.
Zelensky outlawed the so-called “Ukrainian” Orthodox Church that is under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox patriarch. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church that is under the jurisdiction of the Ukrainian Orthodox patriarch in Kyiv has not been outlawed.
The Russian Orthodox patriarchs have for centuries been appointed by the political leaders of Moscow and have made the Russian Orthodox Church an arm of the government, even in the Soviet era. Ukraine does not need a fifth column posing as a religious entity.
Marie, you make a LOT of really valid points. And I always enjoy the way you communicate. The institutions you mentioned are all being exposed for what they are — built on sand. For humanity to move forward, we’re not going to keep on trying to patch the existing system. We need whole new paradigms. BTW, love that you love apple pies. Apple pies are God’s gift to humanity. If you have a favorite organic recipe u can share, I’d love to see it.
I think our biggest threats are the conglomerate corporations that control 99% of the true wealth. We need cut back on what they sell us and produce more for ourselves and our neighbors. My husband and I aren’t there yet, but we are getting closer every day! Alone, we’re nobody, but if all the people decided to boycott them, there would be a change in our way of life that would benefit us rather than them. (I know, crazy talk, right? That’s what they told Sam Adams!)
Yep – just try to find things not made in China (won’t even ask for made in USA as that is almost impossible) – but the board makes a nice profit for the company by making us all subject to China’s production.
The article is embarrassing. Juvenile.
Your trolling is embarrassing.
You only comment to insult the writers. Please, share with us your brilliant literary works so we can see what articles should really look like.
YEAH YEAH, ORANGE MAN BAD. WE’VE HEARD IT ALL BEFORE.
Tell us you didn’t read the article without saying you didn’t read the article.
One advantage to being in the Low Income Bracket is that there’s not enough in the bank to lose.
The Government gets it all regardless.
I wonder if 10% of that 6 to 7% inflation we’re paying goes to Biden? Wouldn’t surprise me if it did.
“More importantly, though it looks bad, it’s actually not illegal.”
The person on Fox who said this is misleading you. Fox lies, yet again.
While it isn’t illegal to pay someone hush money to sign an NDA, it IS illegal to have your lawyer pay it for you to further your campaign and then reimburse you lawyer for “legal expenses” in order to circumvent campaign finance laws.
On Fox, this would be like if you were driving and were pulled over and given a ticket. You complain on a fox interview that you weren’t even speeding but failed to tell the viewers the ticket is for reckless driving, not speeding.
“Then, on Thursday, a letter written on Cohen’s behalf stating there had been no reimbursement began circulating on social media, presented as a new and significant development in the case.
The letter, written from the offices of Trump’s former attorney, dated February 8, 2018, stated: “In a private transaction in 2016, before the U.S. presidential election, Mr. Cohen used his own personal funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000 to Ms. Stephanie Clifford (Stormy Daniels’ real name).
Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford and neither reimbursed Mr Cohen directly or indirectly.”
Although the letter states that only the Trump Organization and Trump campaign was not involved in the transaction, not naming Donald Trump directly, the letter could contradict Cohen’s statement that he acted as the in-between man for his then-client.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/michael-cohen-letter-stormy-daniels-statement-what-we-know-what-we-dont/ar-AA192qro
“Although it may be politically popular, the case is legally pathetic. Bragg is struggling to twist state laws to effectively prosecute a federal case long ago rejected by the Justice Department against Trump over his payment of “hush money” to former stripper Stormy Daniels. In 2018 (yes, that is how long this theory has been around), I wrote how difficult such a federal case would be under existing election laws. Now, six years later, the same theory may be shoehorned into a state claim.”
https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/3906498-get-ready-for-manhattan-das-made-for-tv-trump-prosecution-high-on-ratings-but-short-on-the-law/
Paula Jones, $850,000. Its only illegal if the Justice Department doesn’t like you.
Firstly: I honestly don’t believe you are seeing the real Putin. Compare photos of him from 2019 to today. Not the same guy. But that’s okay. He’s taking out the American child trafficking Capitol of the world. Oh, and there is a ‘Chyna in Kiev. Home of many biolabs. Not everything is what it seems. Trust God. Not the media.
It is said that the first casualty in war is the truth. On the Russian side they even refuse to call it a war. The propaganda is coming out thick on both sides. The Russians especially are wooing the American right with their phony socially conservative actions. Biden and the left are making a show of being anti-Russian while doing everything they think they can get away with in weakening our defenses. None of the news sources are trustworthy, even alternate sources are often misled by the propaganda.
NATO is a joke. Especially Germany. Poland is the exception, and they are arming as fast as they can beyond having the best defenses already among European NATO countries. Ukraine is a lost cause because after using up NATO’s guns and ammo, the Russians can have more coming. Then there’s China. These are all outside of our personal control of what we can influence.
Looking at the local scene where I presently stay, things are pretty quiet. “An armed society is a polite society” and local people are for the most part armed. There has been zero violence from the local BLM or Antifa so far. The biggest problem I see is the local climate—without irrigation there are no gardens, and irrigation is dependent of availability of electricity. There are no grassy lawns. What will happen if the supply chain of imported food breaks down?
On a personal level I’m learning skills that I can barter with the tools I get. We need to be flexible.
Look at the signs, banners, and flags being carried in the Israeli protests.
Black fists, rainbows, and gay rights demands? This is Israel?
Your an idiot. Trump and Putin are taking the shithole lying world down… so it can be reborn. Purifying the globe… read your bible. Someday you will look at yourself in the mirror, and think “i was such an idiot. I was wrong all along, and I misled my readers because of my ego, and lack of faith.”
That’s so sweet.
ANYTHING — TO DISTRACT OUR ATTENTION
********************************
THE 16TH AMENDMENT COUP
The Citizens have lost control to prevent confiscation of the wealth of the nation by nefarious actors. The scheme of the income tax, allowed to be arbitrarily escalated by corrupt politicians/financiers since 1913, is the harbinger of the destruction of our society. The 16th Amendment abrogated Sovereignty of the Citizens — Sovereignty is the status of immunity from taxation by a subordinate political power — and established an uncontrollable tyranny of corrupt bureaucrats and financiers. The Amendment negates the restrictive conditions on Direct and Indirect taxes imposed by the Founding Fathers.
If a government has political power to impose a tax, it has the power to confiscate 100% of the assets of the taxed object. “Unreasonable” is not a judicial defense to a tax; the power to tax is the power to destroy. If an income tax on Citizens exists (assuming one exists which conspiracy theorists deny), the U.S. government can impose slavery on the citizens. Slavery is illegal in the U.S.
The Amendment was a Coup that must be corrected. Ref: Constitution, Article IV, Section 4.
NO COURT HAS JURISDICTION TO IMPOSE OR ENFORCE A COUP !!
I’ve seen no evidence that Zelensky is any more trustworthy or ethical than Putin, yet Western media lionize him.At heart he seems to be a world-class grifter.