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Tuesday, August 4, 2026
Ukraine Ambassador to the United States Removed From Duty
Olha Stefanishyna says she resigned. Volodymyr Zelenskyy says she was removed. Regardless of which storyline is accurate the Ukraine Ambassador to the United States is no longer in position. There is no replacement.
Stefanishyna is also under investigation for her connection with financial irregularities involving the Asset Recovery and Management Agency, although she has not been formally charged, yet.
The western narrative, which has continuously looked like an intelligence community shaping, says that U.S. relations with the government of Ukraine have never been stronger. The reality seems to be something else entirely.
Aug 3 (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy dismissed Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Olha Stefanishyna, in a decree published on Monday.
Stefanishyna had been in her job for nearly a year. Her departure had been expected for several weeks.
Her departure coincides with a shake-up in recent weeks of top officials, including the replacement of the prime minister and defence minister. A reshuffle of Ukraine’s diplomatic and ambassadorial appointments is also expected.
Stefanishyna, writing on Facebook, said the decision to leave her post was “my own decision, driven by personal circumstances … ” and said she had accomplished much during her time in the post. (read more)
I am not going to belabor the points because I’m told by most my review of the data is incorrect. However, once again I would simply point out the distinct difference between the preferred western narrative and the reality of events as they unfold.
From the June 11th London visit that preceded the G7 assembly in Paris, things have not made sense when you compare western narrative to the reality of events. The removal of Stefanishyna is simply just another datapoint.
Western media say Ukraine has turned the tide on the war against Russia. Reality, Russia has methodically gained ground in Eastern Ukraine.
Western media say Ukraine has exceptional drone building and technological capabilities to share with allies. To highlight this expertise Ukraine held a drone exposition in Kiev; Russia blew it up killing hundreds of contractors. Media went silent.
Ukraine drones attack Wildberries warehouses. Russia blows up drone manufacturing factories.
Western media say Ukraine drone capabilities are the most remarkable testimonial to their military effectiveness. Zelenskyy fires the Minister of Defense responsible for the drone capabilities.
Western media say Ukraine is effective in stopping the Russian advancements in the Donbas region. Zelenskyy fires the military general in command of the Ukraine military in the Donbas.
Western media say Ukraine long-range drones are striking deep into Russian oil refining capacitary. Zelenskyy says he needs to build a drone and missile factories in Great Britain.
If you want to evaluate the war, go back to the timing of events right after Zelenskyy last went to London and met with King Charles. It was a few days before the G7 summit in Paris…. Go back to that exact date and then read the headlines on Ukraine/Russia from that date to today.
If you can be emotionally disconnected from the spin and just focus on what the headlines would mean in every other timeframe, what you will notice is that Ukraine is panicking…. Every move is a panic move from that London visit to today.
Every Russian move exists silently, almost in isolation from Western media. Every Ukraine move exists loudly, coordinated and promoted for maximum media value. It looks like an intelligence influence operation.
Go look.
The recently organized U.S. Senate sanctions against Russia are mostly directed toward China and India, while framing censorship in the form of punishment against any action that might “undermine” the government of Ukraine. It’s the ‘be careful what you say’ sanctions.
Russia is methodically destroying Ukraine defenses, and the only response Zelenskyy has put together is flashy political promotion and media headlines to hide a reality that Russia is methodically destroying Ukraine defenses.
Western media says one narrative; the datapoints show something entirely different.
I give it four months, and it’s over.
Perhaps, that’s why President Trump: (A) pulled back from Patriot and Tomahawk missile sharing; and (B) has told his team to reengage both sides in peace negotiations now.
Nick Shirley Went to Ceuta, Spain
The young man who boosted the public perception surrounding welfare, HHS and Medicare fraud in Minnesota, has travelled to Ceuta, Spain, to see for himself what exactly is going on.
There are various claims about causation and accusations surrounding the horde of 60,000 young male migrants who have swamped the city and created chaos. However, Mr Shirley asks them directly why they came and in general they say they just want a better life with the opportunity to reach mainland Spain. It seems like the average age is 14 to 17-years old.
One of the interesting notes is with the Spanish man who helped to escort and guide Shirley. At 14:50 when asked why Spanish politicians allow the border crisis and mass illegal migration, the man answers, in essence, 3rd world dictators have more absolute power than 1st world democracies. As a consequence, far-left ideologues who rise as leaders in politics see a greater value in having a subservient population for them to rule. Leftists don’t succeed in true democracies, so they need to create the new version of democracy where they can devolve the social structures of the nation and gain power.
Chapters:
00:00 What happened to Ceuta Spain?
1:38 Current situation with Spain vigilante
3:22 Spain-Morocco Border
4:28 Moroccan migrants returning to Morocco
5:42 Was this a setup by Spain?
7:33 Moroccan Migrants inside the city, where are they going?
10:20 Spaniards feel unsafe… vigilante speaks out
12:15 Finding migrants hiding in the mountains
14:47 Why is Spain turning into the 3rd world?
17:19 Migrants showering on the graves of Spaniards
18:12 Spain begins to take action
19:03 Inside the PACKED migrant camp
23:35 Migrants thank Pedro Sanchez
24:00 Interview with Moroccan migrant in English
27:12 Chased with knife by Muslim man
John Kennedy Torched John Thune for Being a Coward on the SAVE America Act
As Cam wrote earlier today, we might have a deal to avert a government shutdown in September. That deadline loomed amid the 2026 midterms, when one would think Democrats were salivating over the prospect of creating maximum chaos in the final critical stages of this election cycle. Alas, there seems to be a bipartisan appetite to avoid that situation.
Unlike the fight over funding for the Department of Homeland Security, House and Senate Republicans seem to be on the same page. Still, one Republican senator isn’t thrilled with the deal, noting the absence of movement on the SAVE America Act.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) thinks that Sen. John Thune (R-SD) is making a serious blunder in not pushing this bill, sitting idle because he supposedly can’t get the votes. That’s all talk, no action nonsense. They voted on portions of it, which was another dog-and-pony show: Thune, people track this and know what’s going on. The Bush-era tactics won’t work this time. While not a deluge, there is a growing chorus of senators who want to nix the August recess to pass this crucial bill. He also made the point that no one cares about Trump nominees being confirmed.
Sen. Darlene Graham (R-SC) is even open to nuking the filibuster to get it done.
Yet, we’ve learned there are some 15-20 Republican senators who are panican scum, unable to see that this institutional deference won’t save them, won’t score them points, and will only lead to Democrats chopping them at the knees, as they’ve said they will get rid of the filibuster without hesitation.
Manufacturing Index Reflects Continued Strong Growth – Highest in 4 Years
What we can take away from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) index on manufacturing [Data Here]: overall, the U.S. manufacturing sector is continuing to expand significantly. The current index of 55.6 percent in July is 2.3 percentage points above the June figure and the highest reading since May 2022 (55.9 percent), when we were trying to recover from the COVID-19 shutdowns and supply chain problems.
PMI – The overall economy continued in expansion for the 21st month in a row. (A Manufacturing PMI® above 47.5 percent, over a period of time, generally indicates an expansion of the overall economy.) The New Orders Index expanded for the seventh consecutive month after four straight readings in contraction, registering 56.7 percent, up 0.7 percentage point compared to June’s figure of 56 percent.
The July reading of the Production Index (58.5 percent) is 6.3 percentage points higher than the 52.2 percent recorded in June and the highest figure since November 2021 (60.5 percent). The Prices Index remained in expansion (or ‘increasing’ territory), registering 71.1 percent, a 1.9-percentage point decrease from June’s reading of 73 percent. The Backlog of Orders Index registered 55 percent, up 4.5 percentage points compared to the 50.5 percent recorded in June.
The Employment Index reading of 52.8 percent is up 3.1 percentage points from June’s figure of 49.7 percent, putting the index in expansion territory for the first time in 33 months.” (source)
All that data and a couple of bucks will buy you a cup of coffee, but here’s what it means in common speak.
Overall, companies wanting to make products in the United States are expanding the manufacturing sector. However, they are running into a problem when trying to source the component goods and/or raw materials. The resource goods they need are constantly in a status of flux and the prices are unstable.
For large companies their supply chain management can deal with the short inventory issue through various sourcing networks using multiple suppliers. However, for smaller companies this is frustrating.
The manufacturing system is a network of complex suppliers who make component materials needed for the core product. In order to get really successful, the smaller manufacturing component goods need to start up inside the USA just like the larger companies who are producing a finished product.
This is why even during a manufacturing surge we end up importing a lot of goods on the front end of the transition. Absent a domestic supplier, industrial component products are heavily imported in order to manufacture the finished durable good.
It takes time, well, technically its never been tried – so, no one is sure, but it takes time for all of the component manufacturing to establish inside the USA in order to feed the component parts to the various manufacturers who depend on the sub-sourcing. This is the period we are in at the moment, and prices are fluctuating as people try to get their arms around costs here and abroad.
The 15 manufacturing industries reporting growth in July — listed in order — are: Printing & Related Support Activities; Apparel, Leather & Allied Products; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; Primary Metals; Nonmetallic Mineral Products; Transportation Equipment; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Textile Mills; Machinery; Computer & Electronic Products; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; Wood Products; Plastics & Rubber Products; Furniture & Related Products; and Fabricated Metal Products. The only industry in contraction was Chemical Products.
[…] Commodities Up in Price
Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS); Aluminum* (32); Copper (13); Corn; Corrugated Products (4); Electrical Components (2); Electronic Components (7); Freight (5); Fuel* (5); Integrated Circuits; Memory Components (5); Metal Products (4); Ocean Freight (3); Oil Based Products (4); Paper Products (4); Plastic Based Products (4); Plastics (5); Printed Circuit Boards; Resin Based Products; Resins (6); Semiconductors (2); Soybean Meal; Steel (9); Steel — Cold Rolled; Steel — Hot Rolled (7); Steel — Stainless (6); Steel Products (8); and Sulfur Products (4).
Commodities Down in Price
Aluminum*(2); Fuel* (2); and Polypropylene Resin (2).
Commodities in Short Supply
Aluminum; Copper; Electrical Components (13); Electronic Components (17); Integrated Circuits; Memory (7); Oil Based Products; Printed Circuit Boards; Rare Earth Components; Semiconductors (5); Steel; Steel — Hot Rolled (2); and Tungsten Products.
The blue-collar jobs are expanding significantly. There is massive upward pressure on wages for blue collar workers as the manufacturing sector continues to expand.