May 22nd • 3h 11m
Shownotes
Every new episode of No Agenda is accompanied by a comprehensive list of shownotes curated by Adam while preparing for the show. Clips played by the hosts during the show can also be found here.
MANGA
JCD Shownotes on Africa
South Africa BOTG
Hi Adam,
Being a white (neo-nazi adjacent) South African, I thought I may be best placed to provide a boots on the ground of the current situation in South Africa.
The famous saying goes: The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other peoples money. This very much applies.
The ANC government is no longer the soviet-trained "Freedom Fighters" the world remembers them as. There is absolutely nothing they have not stolen or broken in their 30 years in power. They have now finally run out of other peoples money and they are now selling themselves and the country to the highest bidder.
The consensus (whilst not proven) is that in order to stay solvent they are accepting large sums of money from Iran in return for nuclear technology and political favors, such as taking Israel to the International Court of Justice. This, of course, makes them a direct enemy of the United States.
It is my opinion that the "Refugee" status offered to Afrikaaners is actually a political message to let the ANC government know the US are not fucking around. Should the Afrikaaners all leave, the economy will be completely destroyed. Not because they own all the land (complete disinformation), but rather because 30 years of terrible state education has left a large majority of the black population unemployable and completely unequipped to build an economy. Remember the Afrikaaners left Europe a long time ago, because they are incredibly self sufficient people who will not be walked over ;)
It is also largely consensus in the country that there is no "White Genocide" happening. We have one of the highest murder rates, as well as the one of the highest unemployment rates in the world. This has caused a massive violent crime problem, fueled by the resentment of massive inequality. The police force is completely unable to stop any crime due to large scale state corruption. As an example our Air force has only 3 working planes.
Due to the complete failures of the state, civil society organisations like Afri-forum, have had to step in and fill the gaps where the state cannot provide.
To round this off, Rascism is always the go to for both MSNBC and the ANC. It allows them to paint Afri-forum as the enemy, and to justify absolutely insane laws, which make it borderline illegal for me to have a job, under the banner of "Transformation" and "Equality".
What we are watching is the end of an incredibly racist, corrupt, useless and now bankrupt regime. Our president even hides his US Dollars in his couch ;)
All the best to you and John, let me know if you need me to elaborate.
JB
I felt it really important to add one more additional note after our very own Zelensky moment in the White House.
YES! Our government is exactly that stupid. They honestly thought they were going to talk about trade and had absolutely no idea that they were walking into such lovely humiliation.
The rest of us back home expected exactly this and are all very chuffed. We already owe a debt of gratitude to this administration.
Big Tech AI and the Socials
BTC USD Stablecoin
Transmaoism
Kids with a bleak world view BOTG
I believe the constant bombardment of an impending
climate disaster has caused many children, born after the year 2000, to
adopt a nihilistic, bleak, and distressed world view.
They
have been led to believe the world is going to end in their lifetime
and that it is a terrible time to be alive. They don't want to have
children because the world is going to end.
I
remind my children and their friends it is a great time to be alive.
Providing historical context, to how life was way worse in the past,
helps them put today's events in perspective.
Life around 1 AD was significantly more violent and oppressive.
Thanks for all your hard work!
ITM,
Kevin
Aviation
DOJ Proposes Dropping Criminal Case Against Boeing
DOJ is proposing to drop the 737 Max criminal case
against Boeing, and follow it up with a nonprosecution agreement.
Highlighted article attached.
I offer three quick thoughts:
· This is not the norm. Makes you wonder what behind-the-scenes shenanigans prompted it (I know you have thoughts).
· It
sounds like this new proposal would require Boeing to pay $444.5
million into a fund for the plaintiffs—that is, the family members of
the 346 souls who perished in the 737 Max crashes. After fees, that’s
roughly $770K per victim. You might expect the plaintiffs to welcome
this news, but their lawyers are outraged. My guess is that they think
they can do better by actually litigating their claims. And they almost
certainly would. The formerly proposed guilty plea would make their
claims 1,000% stronger because Boeing would be admitting in court to
intentional fraud that covered up the defects underlying the crashes.
· DOJ’s
proposal will raise the same kinds of issues that arose in the Mayor
Eric Adams case, which DOJ wanted to drop without prejudice. As you may
recall, Judge Ho ended up dismissing that case with prejudice after enlisting appellate badass Paul Clement to conduct an independent review. We’ll see what happens here.
· Bonus observation: There was a previous deal that the judge rejected because it imposed DEI requirements.
Spook Stuff
Big Beautiful Bill
Full List of Republicans Who Voted Against Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' - Newsweek
Representative Andy Harris of Maryland, the chair of the House Freedom Caucus, voted "present." Two Republicans, Representatives David Schweikert of Arizona and Andrew Garbarino of New York, did not vote
Trump's bill, called the "One Big, Beautiful Bill Act," includes a temporary boost in the standard tax deduction—a $1,000 increase for individuals, bringing it to $16,000 for individual filers, and a $2,000 boost for joint filers, bringing it to $32,000.
The measure also includes a $500 increase in the child tax credit, bringing it to $2,500 for the next three years. It will then revert to $2,000 and increase to account for inflation.
The bill cuts spending on the Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program by roughly $267 billion over 10 years and introduces new work requirements to qualify for the food benefits.
It also introduces additional work requirements for people seeking Medicaid, which Democrats say could result in millions of older Americans and those with disabilities losing health coverage.
Massie unleashed on his fellow Republican colleagues while negotiations were still underway, writing on X, formerly Twitter: "Major provisions of the big beautiful bill are still being negotiated and written, yet we are being told we will vote on it today. Shouldn't we take more than a few hours to read a bill this big and this consequential?"
Massie added in a follow-up post: "It's in our rules that we will have 72 [hours] to read every bill. Yet it's been circumvented this week by a 'manager's amendment' which substantially changes the bill but should only contain technical clarifications."
Replacement Migration
Venezuelans from Rob BOTG
Adam—Two things.
**First:** I thought you might enjoy the attached roundup of TdA cases from Law360 (highlighted as usual). All the conflicting rulings will come to a head at SCOTUS, probably through the Fifth Circuit’s now-expedited appeal. So it won’t be long—maybe a couple of months.
**Second,** and speaking of which: Last night, the Fifth Circuit entered an order expediting the aforementioned TdA case that SCOTUS just decided. It will be set for the next available oral-argument session. A rocket docket for sure.
But that’s not the interesting part. Judge Ho issued a short and punchy concurring opinion—unusual for an administrative order like this one. It’s entertaining. Highlighted order attached.
In it, Judge Ho laments how the President and the District Judge have been treated in this case, expressing his “worry that the disrespect they have been shown will not inspire continued respect for the judiciary, without which we cannot long function.” I’ve been grousing about this for the last year or so, and I’ve been disgusted with the high-and-mighty attitude taken by many of my colleagues.
Judge Ho is uncommonly smart, and he takes no guff. This opinion offers some gems, most of them aimed at the way the ACLU ramrodded this case up to SCOTUS and the way SCOTUS held the District Judge to an impossible standard:
· “We seem to have forgotten that this is a district court—not a Denny’s.”
· “This is the first time I’ve ever heard anyone suggest that district judges have a duty to check their dockets at all hours of the night, just in case a party decides to file a motion.”
· “If this is going to become the norm, then we should say so: District judges are hereby expected to be available 24 hours a day—and the [Judicial Branch] should secure from Congress the resources and staffing necessary to ensure 24-hour operations in every district court across the country.”
· “If this is not to become the norm, then we should admit that this is special treatment being afforded to certain favored litigants like members of Tren de Aragua—and we should stop pretending that Lady Justice is blindfolded.” (Ouch.)
He also takes jabs at former Presidents Obama and Clinton, suggesting that they showed a lack of respect for the judiciary yet were never denied the courtesy of being heard. Good stuff.
