February 02, 2026
We know she received this secret award from John Brennan for unknown services provided to the CIA only because she immediately wrote to her BFF Jeffrey Epstein-- who sent her gifts like a $9,400 handbag -- immediately after receiving the secret honor.
Why? And why was it kept secret? People usually publicize their CIA awards. They show you're In the Club. We only know about this secret CIA award because Ruemmler bragged about it to Jeffrey Epstein, and his emails were just released. So why was the reward given? I'm quoting Mike Benz's thread, but he points out this wasn't awarded for work she did during the Obama Administration. This was awarded when she was in the private sector, specifically working for Democrat law firm Lantham and Watkins. A firm that was instrumental in perpetrating the Russiagate hoax on the country. So... is that why John Brennan gave the award to her? Because she assisted in his own disinformation campaign against the American taxpayer, which he perpetrated while being paid by the taxpayers?Wait, what? Remember, Ruemmler continues insisting that she was never a paid client of Epstein's and barely even knew him. Despite him giving her $9,400 handbags and other luxury gifts.
Mike Benz
@MikeBenzCyber 19h A couple interesting notes on the reveal that Obama's White House Counsel (top lawyer to the President) Kathy Ruemmler emailed Jeffrey Epstein she was awarded the CIA Agency Medal just hours after getting the award 🧵 2) When I saw this, I wondered why I'd never heard this before. Her CIA Agency Award in 2015 was not and still has never been reported by any press outlet whatsoever, not even a fringe one. It's not in her Wikipedia. It's not in her extensive current Goldman Sachs bio. 3) I've covered many times, for example, how BlackRock's Vice Chairman proudly lists his winning the CIA's Director's Award openly on his official BlackRock bio. 4) The award is a big deal and she was clearly so excited and proud of it she rushed to tell Jeffrey Epstein mere hours after CIA Director John Brennan awarded her, and then sought validation from Epstein over it. 5) Now, this is where it gets interesting. Ruemmler had already left government and returned to private practice at Latham & Watkins 8 months earlier. When she won the CIA Agency Medal, she was a private citizen. A civilian. 6) As it turns out, non-CIA civilians can receive the CIA Agency Medal -- privately with no public release -- if they have played a meaningful role in enabling CIA operations, providing critical access, or helping clear high-stakes legal or operational obstacles the CIA faced 7) The reason the CIA doesn't publicly disclose CIA Agency Medal winners who are non-CIA civilians is because those winners, as nominal civilians with no CIA overlap, may not want the public to know they covertly helped the CIA overcome sensitive legal or political obstacles.Of course, you can't rule out simple cronyism back-scratching. It was Ruemmler who fought to legally block CIA disclosures on Benghazi from Congress to save not-yet-CIA-Director John Brennan's Senate confirmation bid, 2 years before Brennan gave her the CIA Agency Award.
9) Worth noting Kathy Ruemmler, who fought to make John Brennan the CIA Director and then won the CIA Agency Award, was so close to Epstein she was the backup executor of Jeffrey Epstein's will.
10) But the pure cronyism explanation doesn't sit right with me. For one, anyone can get a CIA Agency Award at any time. It's not "once a year" doled out in one batch. Brennan became CIA chief in March 2013. He didn't give her the award until 2 years later, after she left gov't 11) Second, if Brennan had given Ruemmler the CIA Agency Medal earlier while she was still White House Counsel, she could forever-after confidently share the honor publicly without needing to hide it, since everyone would presume it related to her official White House legal role 12) Now, it's possible Brennan issued her the award while she was White House Counsel but then kept it in CIA custody until she left gov't, if political sensitivities or the covert operation the award related to were still ongoing. I found examples of that in declassified docs 13) But still, something doesn't sit right. Even if you never announce the CIA Agency Award to the public, there's still a real benefit to getting one: privileged inside access, weight & deference, plus more opportunities channeled to you in ongoing and future CIA relationships. 14) So wherever Ruemmler worked when she got the award, the CIA effectively had "their woman" in the room for all manner of "informal consultation" or info-sharing. Well, in 2015, when she got it, she was at Latham & Watkins: a central firm in the CIA-led 2016 Russiagate affairThe full thread, with screencaps of supporting documents, is here.
Posted by: Ace at 03:30 PM | Comments (235) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Peter Mandelson is a major fixer for Labour who is responsible for the rise of Tony Blair.
There are at least two occasions on which it is alleged Epstein handed large sums of money to Lord Mandelson or his husband.His husband.
I make no judgments about the policy nor whether it should have been opposed or not. But we once again see Epstein's hand behind political decisionmaking. It had been known for years that Mandelson was linked to Epstein. It has long been a matter of public record Mandelson stayed in the disgraced financier's flat in New York while the latter was serving his prison term. And a briefing delivered to the prime minister, Keir Starmer, on the reputational risk in appointing Mandelson as ambassador to the US mentioned official records showing he had facilitated a meeting between Epstein and Tony Blair in 2002. But a glimpse of the extent of the relationship between the former minister and Epstein would lead to Mandelson's withdrawal from Washington in September 2025. Documents released then showed Mandelson had referred to Epstein as his "best pal" in a letter included within an alleged birthday book that was released by US lawmakers. ... The prime minister, who had been facing questions about his judgment after standing by Mandelson, removed him from his post when it emerged he had emailed Epstein suggesting his 2008 conviction for soliciting a child for prostitution was wrongful and should be challenged. No 10 said it had not known about emails, in which Mandelson wrote: "I can still barely understand it. It just could not happen in Britain. You have to be incredibly resilient, fight for early release and be philosophical about it as much as you can." Meanwhile, released emails indicate that Jeffrey Epstein had a secret baby with an unknown woman.
Mandelson directly referenced one of the claims when announcing his resignation from the Labour party. Bank statements held among the Epstein files released by the US Department of Justice appear to show that in 2003 to 2004 the disgraced financier paid a total of $75,000 (£54,750) into bank accounts of which Mandelson -- then a Labour MP -- was believed to be a beneficiary. The former cabinet minister had already come under pressure over the second allegation that his husband, Reinaldo Avila da Silva, had received £10,000 from Epstein about two months after the registered sex offender was released from prison in 2009. ... The files also show evidence Mandelson advised Epstein on how the investment bank JP Morgan might lobby the government -- of which he was a part -- on plans for a tax on bankers' bonuses. Among the documents is a chain of emails between Epstein and Mandelson, in which the former asks if the new tax might only apply to the cash portion of bonuses. "Trying hard to amend," Mandelson wrote back on 15 December 2009. "Treasury digging in but I am on case." Mandelson, who was then business secretary in Gordon Brown's government, suggested two days later that the head of the investment bank call the then chancellor, Alistair Darling, and "mildly threaten" him.
This disclosure was made in emails from Sarah "Fergie" Ferguson, the wife of the former Prince Andrew, and herself a big pal of the convicted pedophile.
Convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein appears to have had a secret child 15 years ago, according to a bombshell email reportedly sent by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson. Ferguson congratulated him in the note sent on Sept. 21, 2011, after he was already convicted of sex with an underage girl, according to the latest drop of Epstein files. "Don't know if you're still on this bbm but have heard from The Duke that you have had a baby boy," Ferguson wrote, according to the released email.
"Even though you never kept in touch, I still am here with love, friendship, and congratualtions [sic] on your baby boy. Sarah xx." In another message, Ferguson claimed Epstein had disappeared and said she wasn't aware he was about to become a father. Epstein's last known girlfriend was Karyna Shuliak and he reportedly wanted to leave her his infamous private Island as well as $50 million and his Upper East Side townhouse. He signed his will on Aug 8, 2019 -- just two days before he was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell.
Posted by: Ace at 02:26 PM | Comments (285) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Jurors on Jan. 30 found a psychologist and surgeon liable for malpractice after they supported and performed breast removal surgery on a 16-year-old girl who at the time identified as transgender. Jurors awarded Fox Varian, now 22 and no longer identifying as transgender, $2 million in damages, with $1.6 million for past and future pain and suffering, and another $400,000 for future medical expenses. The jurors found that in many respects the surgeon and psychologist had skipped important steps when evaluating if she should go forward with the surgery and had not adequately communicated with each other. These missteps were a "departure from the standard of care," they decided. During closing arguments, Varian's attorney Adam Deutsch had asked the jury for $8 million in damages. To justify that sum, he quoted earlier testimony where Varian described her reaction to seeing her post-surgery chest. "I immediately had a thought that this was wrong, and it couldn't be true," Varian said. She also said that the surgery left her with nerve pain, which she described as "searing hot ... ripping sensations across my chest." "Shame. I felt shame," she added. "It's hard to face that you are disfigured for life."The RINOs will soon be passing legislation to block these lawsuits, arguing, disingenuously, that Conservative Principles dictate that they do all that they can to stop all lawsuits.
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The emcee, the failed DEI "comic" Trevor Noah, accused Trump WITHOUT EVIDENCE of having visited Epstein's island -- and Trump says he's suing.
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When I hear the MN corporate CEOs request the federal government stand down on enforcing immigration law that protects citizens, I also hear them saying it’s OK to no longer enforce federal laws that protect *their* businesses, such as Intellectual property & false advertising.
— Buck Throckmorton (@BuckThrockmort) January 28, 2026
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Les Nymphes
Luis Ricardo Falero
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First, Judge Gregory Carro in New York State argued that Luigi Mangione, the leftist terrorist, wasn’t a terrorist because he said he wasn’t. . . . More of the same now at the federal level where Judge Margaret Garnett, a recent Biden appointee, decided that Luigi Mangione stalking Brian Thompson in order to kill him wasn’t a “crime of violence”. . . The only thing tortured and strange here is that Democrats are trying not to pretend that they’re bailing out a leftist terrorist. Had Luigi Mangione worn a red cap and hunted down and killed a liberal judge, all of a sudden all of these rulings would be the opposite of what they are, and the ‘tortured and strange’ parts of them would be the sound of the law creaking to be bent backward the other way.You better believe that the ICE agents who took down Good and Pretti, should some Soros prosecutor get the ball rolling are going to get the Derek Chauvin treatment if not a cell on death row. Donald Trump and Kristi Noem as well. The DemoKKKrats are already making noises about impeachement should they win back Congress this coming November and beyond that, they are itching to see those two and others dangling from a hangman's noose. They've learned their lesson. Next time they will completely wipe out all opposition to them and seize absolute power. And anyone who objects will ironically and disgustingly be labeled as a terrorist and insurrectionist, and be subject to the harshest of penalties. Like J-6 the process will only be the beginning of the punishment.
It is clear that the Democrat Left has the ability and the willingness to mobilize an armed force of internal terrorists and insurrectionists who will do their bidding knowing they face no repercussions. At least no repercussions in the legal sense. Can you imagine if average law abiding and armed citizens had a similar system to communicate and rapidly mobilize to be on scene to counter the criminal terrorist insurrectionists and stand shoulder to shoulder with law enforcement, or to oppose any Don Lemon squad of goons bent on invading a church service? We are heading down that road. But considering our innate sense of morality (that has been completely burned out of the Left since childhood over the past 60 years or more) and concomitant abhorrence of violence, Perhaps it might never come to armed response. We as a nation are coming to a crossroads. The Left uses our Constitution as both a shield and a cudgel. And bearing all of the aforementioned in mind, there's this frightening development:
Democrats spent years pushing for gun restrictions. Now they’re rushing to buy firearms and invoking Second Amendment rights after federal agents killed a licensed gun owner in Minneapolis. The shift has drawn accusations of hypocrisy from conservative critics. Writing in The Hill, columnist Robby Soave noted that progressives “favor all sorts of restrictions on gun ownership” yet now champion constitutional gun rights following Alex Pretti’s death. The ACLU even backpedaled on whether it supports concealed carry rights for protesters, Soave wrote.
But, they will acquire and use firearms in an offensive manner and when the smoke clears claim self defense as a judge like the one who let Mangione off the hook and the one who railroaded Derek Chauvin will agree. When you have mayors and governors now openly going after and attempting to impede ICE and other federal agents from doing their duty, no doubt their armed Antifa goons and gang-bangers as in Long Beach CA will be deputized and given the full protection of a bastardized legal system.
Unfortunately or fortunately? We cannot deny anyone their second amendment right to bear arms based on their political beliefs. But considering a frighteningly large number of individuals not only want to destroy America as founded but as we have seen not just in Minneapolis but since the 1960s are willing and able to use violence to achieve their aims. Worse the Democrat Party in its eternal quest to seize absolute power is giving them political and legal cover to act as their street goons/enforcers. If by some chance their election rigging machine fails to deliver them control of Congress, what we're seeing in Minneapolis is just a foretaste of what is to come that will be orders of magnitude worse. The President will be forced to respond and in so doing potentially play into their hands despite being completely in the right to quash an armed violent leftist/Democrat insurrection.
Friend and friend of the blog Mark Pulliam lays it all out in his latest piece, on his blog which is worthy of bookmarking and following:
. . .What happens if the Republicans lose control of Congress in the mid-terms this November? We don’t have to wonder, because the Democrats have told us. Expect a 180-degree reversal of everything President Trump has done. We can expect as abrupt a change, on a national scale, as the radical onslaught incoming Governor Abigail Spanberger is imposing on the commonwealth of Virginia. Elections truly have consequences. And if the Democrats re-gain the White House in 2028, things will be even worse. President Trump’s historic victory in 2024, and the MAGA agenda in general, will be foiled by the Democrats’ radical policies . . The Constitution, as we know if, would be shredded.And for me it would essentially be the end of even the veneer of the illusion of regular order/business as usual that we barely are able to delude ourselves into believing. They will go all out to seize absolute power, crush any and all opposition and that will be that. A run of 250 years as they traipse around in the skin suit for another century or so demanding respect. Unless something radical changes the course of history back towards sanity. As we had hoped the election, three times!, of Donald Trump would do. Have a great day. And lastly, a quick shout-out and a huge thank you for your continued support in hitting our tip jar. It truly is appreciated more than you can know.
- ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY LINKS
- Just how do they “spontaneously” materialize en masse to scream profanities, blast whistles and block official vehicles? . . . When I deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, I saw similar spotter tactics employed by any number of guerilla groups who communicated via handheld radios to initiate IEDs on roadways traveled by American troops.
I’ve seen insurgencies up close — and anti-ICE actions look eerily familiar - In 1776, pamphleteer Thomas Paine, in a series of essays entitled “The American Crisis,” exhorted the besieged colonists during the Revolutionary War to stand strong in their struggle for freedom. His opening line was “These are the times that try men’s souls.” The same is true today. However bleak conditions may appear, we must remain committed to victory.
The New American Crisis
Posted by: J.J. Sefton at 07:20 AM | Comments (374) | Trackbacks (Suck)
Top News
- Notepad++, a text editor used by every programmer in the world, got hijacked and used to install malware. (Notepad++)
You're probably safe to click on that link. I think.
The server providing software updates for Notepad++ got hacked to selectively deliver malware, apparently by West Taiwan targeting specific users in Taiwan.
This went undetected for months because of the focused nature of the attack; if it had affected everyone who uses the software it would have been uncovered the next day. And would also have been a global catastrophe, because that would have given the attackers an indirect back door into basically everything.
So it could have been worse, but is more than a little worrying.
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February 01, 2026

Photo credit - Howard in Alberta
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Never mind that the Reform candidate is stating the obvious, that what he is saying is objectively true. The existential crisis that the UK finds itself in is almost entirely the result of catastrophically poor decisions made during the dissolution of the empire, when they welcomed their former subjects into England, assuming that they would continue on the path to 1st world civilized behavior, culture, and morals. Then, to make it even worse, they began to import cheap labor from the 3rd world because, frankly, they were too stupid to cultivate home-grown labor, and needed the endless expansion of the welfare state to continue.
Labour brand Reform's Matt Goodwin 'extreme' -- but admit he's beating them in polls“Goodwin has claimed non-white people cannot truly be English. He said if we'd listened to Tommy Robinson and the English Defence League, we would have ‘avoided some of the problems’ we face today. “He complained about our civilisation being ‘drained away’ by ‘people from inferior cultures’. He's even suggested women should be told when they should have children. “This isn't mainstream politics. It's extreme – and Reform chose Goodwin deliberately to drive a wedge between voters.”
The United Kingdom is unrecognizable, and it is trending toward 2nd world status. In London, White Britons are no longer the majority, and a trip on the Tube suggests that English is not the most popular language in the city! Vast swaths of the country have been taken over by immigrants from the UK's former colonies, and they brought the worst of their countries without embracing the best of British culture. Add in a healthy dose of illegal immigration, and the former jewel of the civilized world is a few generations from losing its position in Western culture, and entering the miasma of the developing world. But Labour, as it has always done, is fanatical about splitting away immigrants from any sense of patriotism or love of country that may develop, and continues to either demonize traditional Britons or push them farther into the vicious cycle of welfare dependence. How this shakes out in 2029 when Britain goes to the polls again is hard to predict, but if Britain does not arrest the multicultural catastrophe that is its current domestic politics, then it is lost. The current trend of an ascendant Reform party is full of risk for both the Conservative Party, which has plummeted to practically minor-party status, and for Labour, which may lose not only its absolute majority in Parliament today, but may become a minority party. But the election is three and a half years away, and that is an eternity in parliamentary politics. It is possible, but not likely, that the prime minister will call an election earlier, simply to protect as many seats as possible . He would lose his position, and it is distinctly possible that Reform would win. But to avoid a catastrophe in 2029, that may be the best choice. Of course the Labour party is busily trying to lock in its gains, and the destruction of free speech, the resistance to any controls over the border, and the expansion of the welfare state may well cement their gains of last year. That would be the end of "Great" Britain, but that is a cost they are happy to pay to retain power! Sound familiar?
Posted by: CBD at 12:00 PM | Comments (244) | Trackbacks (Suck)


Today’s opening topic is a two parter: 1. What was the first book you read? 2. What book (if any) changed your life?
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Top Story
- Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, has denied reports that his company is not going to invest $100 billion in OpenAI. (CNBC)
He explained that the real story is that Nvidia is not going to invest $100 billion in OpenAI:"Sam is closing the round (of investment) and we will absolutely be involved," Huang added. "We will invest a great deal of money, probably the largest investment we've ever made."
So there you have it. Nvidia will absolutely definitively be going ahead with investing some amount in some company at some point maybe.
Asked whether it would be over $100 billion, he said: "No, no, nothing like that."
Unless they don't.
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January 31, 2026

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Charles is off on holiday. He regretfully asked yours truly if I would present a reasonable facsimile of a music thread. Ha. Fat chance I thought to myself.
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Welcome hobbyists! Pull up a chair and sit a spell with the Horde in this little corner of the interweb. This is the mighty, mighty officially sanctioned Ace of Spades Hobby Thread. We gave the Ace of Spades Wheel of Hobbies (TM) a spin it landed on sea shells.
Best wishes to Morons in the midst of the current weather event. Feel free to check in with weather reports. [Top photo: Tasmania]Posted by: Open Blogger at 05:30 PM | Comments (175) | Trackbacks (Suck)

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First week this season I've seen them selling them here. Regards from Jerusalem, Biden's DogSo cheerful!
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