I did not know this until I saw it mentioned on X (formerly Twitter).  When a company hires J1 student temporary or season employees, they do not have to pay the 7.5% FICA or Social Security tax on the wages.

If a company hires a seasonal American student, they have to pay the 7.5%. If the company hires a foreign student, they don’t.  This creates a perverse incentive for private equity firms, companies or corporations to hire foreign seasonal workers.  This is true, I checked it out.

[SOURCE – and IRS SOURCE – and Alternate Source]

Apparently, this is now the common approach within the hospitality industry to save money and increase profit from payrolls. Unfortunately, this approach puts young Americans at a disadvantage when seeking summer or short-term seasonal employment.

For fiscal Year 2025: The U.S. State Department processed 506,142 applications and successfully issued 451,803 J-1 visas.

Now, obviously there may be some regions or areas where there are not enough young people to fill the jobs.  However, if you do the math that 7.5% employer contribution saved is a lot of incentive for the corporation to avoid hiring seasonal American workers.

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I’ll leave the latest information on the German airport drone until after the outline of today’s events.

A drone exploded in Bulgaria near the Kardam border-crossing with Romania, coming within 1,000 meters of the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline’s compressor station. [See Map]

Bulgaria’s defense ministry said the drone carried a ‘significant’ quantity of explosives and was of a type “widely used by the Ukrainian military.”  However, Ukraine has denied [::cough::] “intentionally” [::cough::] striking Bulgaria with one of their drones.

Yahoo: Ukraine on Saturday denied targeting Bulgaria after a drone exploded close to the strategic Trans-Balkan gas pipeline linking Turkey to Ukraine near the Romanian border.

Bulgaria’s defence ministry said the drone was of a type “widely used by the Ukrainian military”, and the foreign minister summoned the Ukrainian ambassador for a meeting on Monday in response, her office told AFP.

Kyiv said it was “in close contact with the Bulgarian side to clarify the circumstances” of the incident, the latest case of a drone straying into NATO airspace as Ukraine fights off Russia’s invasion.

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After a controversial leak investigation, which included New York DOJ subpoenas to collaborating journalists, it appears the Dept of War has identified the source of the Airforce One security compromise, former Secretary of the Airforce, Frank Kendall.

Disgraced former Biden appointee and staunch activist democrat Frank Kendall has now lost his security clearance, and his nongovernmental career as a contractor, consultant and lobbyist within the area of military procurement.  Kendall can no longer hold any sensitive position in the private sector that touches on Pentagon programs.

(Via Dept of War via X) – Effective immediately, the Department of War has REVOKED former Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall’s eligibility for access to classified information and his ability to hold any sensitive position.

This action follows his unauthorized disclosure of classified information regarding Air Force One’s capabilities to a media outlet.

Safeguarding classified information is a non-negotiable duty. Those who violate that trust forfeit the privilege of access and any role requiring it. (source)

This type of duplicitous scheming is one of the reasons why DC didn’t want Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth.  DC wanted someone they could count on to undermine President Trump.

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The article itself is weak sauce in the extreme, “according to new U.S. intelligence reports that posit possible scenarios” blah, blah, blah…  You know the routine.

However, that said, there is a general alignment of intent that tracks this narrative as expressed by the Wall Street Journal.

CTH doesn’t try to convince anyone. Convincing is an endless quest. However, if you just look at the datapoints that have surfaced since June 11th, there is a greater likelihood of some kind of western kinetic activity that can be carried out in order to stimulate more opposition to Russia.  Some form of false flag operation.

That approach would track with what we have witnessed in the past two months as Ukraine makes public claims in media that are expressly opposite of the action they are taking.  CTH has been pointing this out along the way.  It is prudent to notice things, particularly when those things can be consequential to the interests of EU-controllled intelligence.

WASHINGTON—Russian President Vladimir Putin could try to test NATO’s resolve with a limited assault on an allied country in the next few years, according to new U.S. intelligence reports that posit possible scenarios ranging from a cyberattack to a small-scale land incursion.

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If we cut to the chase, the greatest likelihood is the same intelligence unit responsible for the Nordstream pipeline bombing are the same intelligence unit responsible for the Leipzig Airport drones.  That would be Ukraine.

It appears the German government has learned its lesson from initially blaming Russia for Nordstream, as they now use the generic term “state actor” when describing the likely source.

BERLIN — German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has suggested a state actor was behind the explosive-laden drone that was found at Leipzig airport.

“We can’t rule out the possibility that foreign powers are behind this,” Dobrindt told public broadcaster ZDF Wednesday evening. “That will now be part of the investigation, but there are many indications pointing in that direction,” he said.

Dobrindt stopped short of naming Russia specifically in his statements but said that “a hybrid threat is evident” and that such threats do not originate from amateurs but are “often linked to foreign powers.”

[…] Leipzig Airport serves as a strategic hub for NATO, including for military transports to Ukraine. The airport is also international courier service DHL’s largest European air hub and serves as a temporary home for some Ukrainian Antonov aircraft, protecting them from Russian attacks. The armed drone was found just meters away from such a plane, said officials Wednesday. (read more)

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I don’t like doing this, but it needs to be done.  People keep sending me this video; it is nonsense.  Steve Bannon and John Solomon broadcast a conversation targeting John Thune, Tom Cotton and Todd Blanche for obstructing the release of transcripts held in the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI).

What Solomon reports in this interview is disconnected from the process that exists.  Solomon wants the transcripts of former CIA Director John Brennan released.  Fine, no problem. Except Solomon apparently doesn’t understand the process to gain declassification of an equity that is not within the executive branch.  The transcript is in the legislative branch.

There are separation of powers issues, equity issues and stakeholder issues that create a process that needs to be followed.  This is the same process that was used to gain the Michael Atkinson transcript from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI).   Solomon and Joe diGenova can follow the process and succeed, just like I did. Or Solomon and diGenova can gnash their teeth, create outrage and fail.  WATCH (prompted):

This nonsense is why trusting John Solomon is a fool’s errand, and the reason why I have suspected Solomon of performance theater for several years. His teaming up with Steve Bannon, well, it just tracks.

Tick-Tock… Nothing. I digress.

First, assuming they have security clearances, John Solomon and/or Joe diGenova can ask SSCI Chairman Tom Cotton to let them read the Brennan transcript in the SSCI secured compartmented intelligence facility (scif).  There is nothing stopping them, or anyone else with a clearance, from reading the transcript; assuming Cotton would permit it (he would). That’s the first point.

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An interesting story, that’s not too easy to find out about, indicates New Jersey has quietly taken down their state voter system for unknown reasons.

According to NJ 101.5 the various county election offices were caught off guard with a notice that simply said, “Please be advised that the NJ SVRS Production environment will be inaccessible through Tuesday,” KNOWiNK said.

“Please keep this in mind for scheduling purposes. You will be notified when the system becomes available. If there are changes to the timeline, a new update will be distributed.”

Last month the governor admitted 6,600 non-citizens were registered to vote in a single year from 2023 to 2024 {citation}.  No one is quite sure how many illegal aliens are registered in total, but the number is likely much higher. Perhaps the reason for taking down the system is related to this issue.

In a completely separate datapoint, the New Jersey Globe reported that 75,000 illegal aliens were summoned for jury duty.

About 75,000 noncitizens are summoned for jury duty in New Jersey each year, based on data from three state government agencies, including the Motor Vehicle Commission — a stunning figure that widens the scope of a growing controversy over government databases that may incorrectly identify noncitizens as eligible voters and jurors. {citation}

The 75,000 illegal aliens summoned were from a total of around 1 million sent jury duty notifications.  There are currently 6.6 million registered voters in New Jersey.  If the calculation is applied that means up to 495,000 registered voters are noncitizens or illegal aliens.

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Well, well, well.  There it is. Even if it is clouded in Reuters News doublespeak and coded language, the answer to the big question about why Zelenskyy fired the most effective military leader is right there.  The key words are, “military procurement system”; or in common language “military spending.”

It never made sense; the 35-year-old Defense Minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, was heralded as turning the tide of the war in favor of Ukraine through his adaption of technology, specifically drones, and his very close relationship to Alex Karp of Palantir, a military contractor.  Fedorov was young, smart, strategic and exceptionally capable.  Yet, Zelenskyy fired him.

Now the real motive for dispatching Mykhailo Fedorov surfaces in his interview with Reuters.  Fedorov had taken control of how the military funding was being spent, and as a result, all of those Ukraine government officials and military generals who were pocketing money, redirecting funds, giving indulgences to their families and stealing resources were blocked.

The corruption is so widespread, Zelenskyy had no choice except to eliminate the guy taking control of the payments, Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.

(July 29 – Reuters) – Former Ukrainian Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, in an interview published on Wednesday, said his efforts to overhaul the military’s procurement system were the main reason behind his dismissal this ​month in a military and political shake-up.

Fedorov, a technical expert seen by many ‌as an agent for change in the nearly 4-1/2-year-old war against Russia, told the media outlet Ukrainska Pravda that the proposed changes met resistance from officials inside and around the ministry.

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Watching carefully what Volodymyr Zelenskyy says, with an overlay of his contacts and travel itinerary, it appears the next phase in Ukraine weapon production will be to build missile and long-range drones outside Ukraine. That is to say outside the reach of proactive Russian attack.

Zelenskyy travelled to Portsmouth, U.K., today for a meeting with newly installed Prime Minister Andy Burnham.  Instead of meeting in London, the two met at a military base in Portsmouth, where 200 Ukrainian soldiers are currently completing maritime exercises.

In an interview with Sky News just before departing for the meeting, Zelenskyy noted the intention to use U.K. factories.

In mentioning a joint U.K-Ukraine “drone deal,” Zelenskyy noted [15:32 video] “I want to build a big factory in Britain, while offering new technologies and sharing with our partners.“

¹I don’t think Zelenskyy was supposed to say that out loud.

Zelenskyy noted the challenges for the U.K effort to support him essentially boils down to “money, intelligence and technology.”

With the EU providing Zelenskyy with funds from the seized Russian sovereign fund; essentially loans with no payback provisions as forfeiture of the fund is intended to be wrapped into any peace negotiation with Russia; Zelenskyy is positioning Ukraine to spend the EU (Russian) funds in the U.K to manufacture authorized Patriot Missiles, U.K Storm Shadow missiles and drones to expand the conflict with Russia.

One thing is abundantly clear from the action over the past few weeks, Ukraine and EU/NATO are fully intending to expand the conflict with Russia and, if possible, pull the Iran conflict into the European dynamic.  That’s why Ukraine attacked the Iranian vessels recently.

LISTEN/watch CAREFULLY

¹You may need to use a VPN to watch this interview as the content was suddenly limited after it was on YouTube for a few hours.  I suspect the note I made above is directly related to this content control.

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Apparently, Joe Biden revealed massive amounts of classified intelligence during a series of roughly three hours of recording done for his ghostwriter and biographer.  The recordings are dated from November 2016 to April 2017.

The Oversight Project filed a lawsuit to gain the audio files and has uploaded them to YouTube.  They are in reverse chronological order.  The gaps in the audio are redactions due to classified information. LISTEN:

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