- "Free Speech Is Being Weaponized": Columbia Dean And New Yorker Writer Urges More Censorship
“Free Speech Is Being Weaponized”: Columbia Dean And New Yorker Writer Urges More Censorship
Tyler Durden
Thu, 12/10/2020 – 21:00We have been discussing how reporters, editors, commentators, and academics have embraced rising calls for censorship and speech controls, including President-elect Joe Biden and key advisers.
This includes academics rejecting the very concept of objectivity in journalism in favor of open advocacy. Now, Columbia Journalism Dean and New Yorker writer Steve Coll has denounced how the First Amendment right to freedom of speech was being “weaponized” to protect disinformation.
That’s right. A journalism dean and writer declaring that the problem is that free speech itself is allowing too much freedom on the Internet and other forums.
Coll’s comments came in a discussion on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” when he was asked by Kasie Hunt about the need for Big Tech to censor speech.
Rather than defend the right of people to express themselves freely, Coll lashed out at companies like Facebook as “motivated, as all companies are, to make money” though at the same time is “acting like a public square.” He decried the failure to have more expansive regulation of free speech and showed little concern or merit for arguments from free speech advocates. Like Harvard academics who recently declared “China was right” about censorship, Coll just assumed that it was self-evident that too much free speech is a bad thing and that these companies need to protect people from harmful or false ideas.
“And yes, Facebook has moved somewhat. They’ve had a better election in 2020 than they did in 2016. They’ve learned to put some brakes on, you know, here and there, but you can’t get away from the fact that their mission is to connect everybody in the world. That’s what motivates Mark Zuckerberg and it’s his passion and he profoundly believes in free speech.”
What is most maddening is that Coll spoke on behalf of journalists in calling for less freedom:
“Those of us in journalism have to come to terms with the fact that free speech, a principle that we hold sacred, is being weaponized against the principle of journalism and what do we do about that,. As reporters, we kind of march into this war with our facts nobly shouldered as if they were going to win the day and what we’re seeing that is because of the scale of this alternative reality that you’ve been talking about, our facts, our principles, our scientific method–it isn’t enough. So what do we do?”
That used to be an easy question. What you do is allow free speech to combat bad speech. What you do is support the right of citizens and journalists to publish without censorship. What you do is to embrace the freedom of expression while reinforcing the need to use that freedom to counter disinformation. Instead, Coll is joining the forces seeking to silence or curtail the speech of others. You do not support free speech by calling for its curtailment. For free speech advocates, it is as compelling as saying that we needed to “save” villages by destroying them in Vietnam. Worse yet, he is doing it in the names of “good journalism.”
- America Last: Melinda Gates 'Incredibly Disappointed' After Trump Gives Americans Vaxx First
America Last: Melinda Gates ‘Incredibly Disappointed’ After Trump Gives Americans Vaxx First
Tyler Durden
Thu, 12/10/2020 – 20:40Melinda Gates is ‘incredibly disappointed’ that Americans will be receiving COVID-19 vaccines, developed by American companies, before the rest of the world.
Putting aside overwhelming concerns over safety for a minute – including calls to halt trials until serious questions (including ‘indefinite infertility‘) are addressed – Gates told CNN‘s Poppy Harlow in a Thursday interview that she’s worried about ‘vaccine nationalism.’
“The president just signed an executive order to try to put Americans at the front of the line when it comes to vaccines,” said Harlow. “I wonder if that’s what you were worried about when you kept saying and warning against vaccine nationalism?”
“That’s exactly what we were worried about,” replied Gates, adding “I knew it was coming and I was just incredibly disappointed.“
“I’m much more optimistic about the president-elect and the COVID task force, this eminent task force that he has put together,” she continued. “I think we’re going to see a lot more sensible policy making in the United States, but that starts, you know, January 20 and we have still some dark months to live ahead until then.”
Melinda Gates said @realDonaldTrump‘s executive order putting Americans at the front of the line for the COVID-19 vaccine made her feel “incredibly disappointed.” pic.twitter.com/tWYAhEGxIZ
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) December 10, 2020
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More via the Daily Wire:
Melinda Gates later spoke about “disinformation,” which she said “can equal death.” Harlow asked her if social media companies have a “responsibility” to remove misinformation “off their platforms.”
“They absolutely have a responsibility,” Melinda Gates replied. Anybody who is spreading information in society has a responsibility to spread that information safely and equitably. “So, you know, I think a bit the internet and the rise of social media has happened so quickly that really the regulations and the good policy making hasn’t stayed out in front of it and, quite frankly, it needs to catch up.”
Melinda Gates also attacked Trump, claiming there “could have been less deaths” if he did things differently, including contact tracing, which some have criticized as being potentially unconstitutional
So here’s a question; Assuming Biden becomes President on January 20, and assuming he offshores millions of doses of vaccine which would otherwise go to US citizens, and assuming it’s ‘safe’ (for various values of safe), how many dead Americans will Biden (and Melinda Gates) be directly responsible for?
- The Oil Refinery Crisis Will Worsen This Winter
The Oil Refinery Crisis Will Worsen This Winter
Tyler Durden
Thu, 12/10/2020 – 20:20Authored by Julianne Geiger via OilPrice.com,
It was only to be expected that many of the world’s refiners would be pinched between low demand for finished products and rising inventories as the pandemic lockdowns continue to stifle activity.
But the warm December that is expected this year is also threatening finished products demand. And it’s possible that many of the older, small refiners won’t survive at all.
According to HIS Markit, eleven U.S. refiners are scheduled to close.
The largest refinery in the United States, Royal Dutch Shell’s Convent, Louisiana refinery has shut down after it was unable to find an interested buyer. But the Dutch oil major is closing six more refineries according to Reuters, because it cannot sell those refineries either.
Then, the largest U.S. refiner, Marathon Petroleum, is set to close several refineries, including its Gallup, New Mexico, refinery and its refinery in Martinez, California.
Japan’s Eneos Corp has shut its Osaka refinery, too, but the real pain is in Australia.
BP announced back at the end of October that it was shutting down its aging 65-year-old Kwinana refinery in Perth, because it was simply “no longer economically viable.” Instead, the refinery will be turned into an import terminal. After this closure, BP has only three refineries left in Australia.
PBF Energy shut 85,000 bpd of its Paulsboro, NJ, refinery down. Phillips 66 shut its Alliance refinery down in the runup to Hurricane Sally, but just left it shut while it waits for better days.
Other refineries that are not shutting down are simply extending maintenance or bringing maintenance forward.
Australia’s Caltex is a prime example of this, when in early April it brought forward—and extended—maintenance on its only refinery, Lytton. Caltex vaguely said that it would restart the refinery when conditions recover.
In all, Wood Mackenzie said that nearly 10 percent of Europe’s high-cost refineries, holding 1.4 million barrels per day of capacity, were in serious threat of closure over the next three years.
None of these developments bode well for oil refiners, which brought out the chicken littles of the oil industry warning of the permanent loss in demand.
While that might be going too far, more sober analysts are calling for China to surpass the United States as the world’s largest refiner. Why?
For starters, Asia’s demand for oil products hasn’t seen as much demand loss as its U.S. and European counterparts, which are still in the middle of substantial shutdowns that are stifling activity. This, combined with China’s cheap crude oil purchases, has some analysts anticipating a changing of the guard, so to speak, with China soon overtaking the United States as the world’s largest oil refiner.
And it doesn’t help that many of China’s refineries are large and new, compared to several older refineries, such as Shell’s Pulau Bukom oil refinery in Singapore, which the company said would see a capacity reduction by half, to just 250,000 bpd.
Shell’s total refinery capacity has been cut by well over a half a million barrels globally just in the last few months, ostensibly as it seeks to curb emissions. But the reality is, times are tough, and demand for gasoline and jet fuel are waning amid the pandemic.
According to the International Energy Agency, a total of more than 1.7 million barrels per day of refining capacity in the United States, Japan, Australia, and others has either retired or is set to be retired this year and next. Meanwhile, China, India, and the Middle East are planning refinery additions to the tune of 2.2 million barrels per day—shiny new refineries that are larger and far more efficient.
S&P Global Platts echoes the IEA’s estimates, stating that 1.69 million bpd of refining capacity is either offline now, or will be offline shortly due to depressed demand.
The shock to refinery capacities around the world has led some to be concerned with supply. According to S&P Platts, however, oil demand won’t return to 2019 levels until 2022. Whenever the recovery, it will unlikely be the shock that the demand loss was. This should give oil and gas companies time to match capacity with demand as the world calls for more refined products.
- California Versus Texas
California Versus Texas
Tyler Durden
Thu, 12/10/2020 – 20:00California has had a nearly identical case trajectory as Texas…
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In TX, schools are open. Businesses are open. People can go for a walk.
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In CA, not so much!
And then there’s this…
I don’t know if there’s a better indicator of how completely useless interventions are than the fact that Pennsylvania & Delaware have essentially followed the exact same curve since mid-October. Like, the same, almost to the exact number.
Wonder if the experts have noticed pic.twitter.com/PCods6ks08
— IM (@ianmSC) December 10, 2020
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It’s the “science” you see!
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- Grassley Blasts MSM Over Hunter Biden Hypocrisy
Grassley Blasts MSM Over Hunter Biden Hypocrisy
Tyler Durden
Thu, 12/10/2020 – 19:40Chuck Grassley is one pissed off Senator.
After the Iowa Republican and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) produced a long-awaited Senate report which concluded that Hunter Biden’s financial dealings with Ukrainian, Chinese and Russian businesses created “criminal financial, counterintelligence and extortion concerns” concerning everything from sex-trafficking to bribery – the MSM panned it as a partisan attack on a presidential candidate’s son.
Now that Hunter has admitted he’s under investigation for tax fraud (and, as Politico and CNN have added, money laundering and accepting bribes), Grassley is having the last laugh.
In Thursday remarks on the Senate Floor, Grassley blasted the media after months of covering for the Bidens.
“For over a year, Senator Johnson and I investigated the Biden financial family dealings,” said Grassley, adding “We found that they engaged in potential criminal financial deals across the globe, including China, which created counterintelligence concerns.”
Grassley then turned his attention to the MSM, saying “Those same liberal outlets that disparaged our investigation now report that Hunter Biden’s financial deals in China raise counterintelligence concerns.”
He went on to say that the media should have been covering concerns raised by Republicans instead of covering them up.
“So you can understand why I think it’s very outrageous that the fourth estate would choose to ignore facts when they are uncovered by Republicans,” Grassley continued. “It shouldn’t take subpoenas and confirmation from Hunter Biden himself to get the rest of the press to pay attention.”
Watch:
- Shipping Container Shortages In China Crimp Exports To West
Shipping Container Shortages In China Crimp Exports To West
Tyler Durden
Thu, 12/10/2020 – 19:20No one predicted that the shipping container industry would be absolutely on fire this year, considering China’s strong economic rebound following the virus-induced downturn. Now a shortage of shipping containers in Asia are sending container spot rates to multi-year highs, has already started to crimp China exports.
Just how high can Asia-U.S. East Coast spot rates go? Well, the cost of chartering a 40-foot container from China to the US East Coast soared to nearly $5k this week, up 85% since June 1, according to Freightos data in Refinitiv Eikon.
Source: Freightos data in Refinitiv Eikon A shortage of containers in China comes as exports in the country surged 21% in November from a year ago. Chinese factories are pumping out appliances, electronics, toys, clothes, and personal protective equipment to the world.
As explained by Reuters, a “severe shortage” of containers in the Asian country is starting to hit export flows:
But due to China’s lopsided trade balance – exporting three containers for every one imported recently – and delays in containers returning to China due to the pandemic overseas, a severe shortage is now starting to pinch export flows. Roughly 60% of global goods move by container, and according to United Nations trade data there are close to 180 million containers worldwide. -Reuters
Charles Xu, a mirror salesman, located in Yiwu’s export hub in Zhejiang province, which supplies major US retailers, told Reuters that “we ve so many orders but just cannot ship things. Boxes are piling up at our factory and we don’t have much space left. It’s just hard to book containers, and everyone is bidding for them with high price.”
China Container Industry Association said the average container turnaround has jumped to 100 days from 60 days because of virus-related capacity cuts in the US and Europe, which has greatly increased the shortage of containers in China. There have already been reports of some US importers not being able to receive shipments in November.
In September, we first noted that demand for ocean freight out of China was “leading to equipment shortages in Asia.”
“The surge in volumes is leading to equipment shortages in Asia. Some shippers are paying premiums on top of spiking rates to guarantee containers and space. The imbalance is also putting pressure on overwhelmed US ports and importers to process and return empty containers quickly.”
Spot container rates from China are soaring worldwide:
Source: Freightos data in Refinitiv Eikon Even with Chinese container manufacturers boosting capacity to keep up with demand – their efforts are still falling short. Mainly because distorted trader flows have resulted in record build-up in containers elsewhere.
For instance, the Port of Los Angeles, the nation’s top port, imported 3.5 containers for every one it exported in October. There are currently 326,000 empty containers sitting at the port, according to shipping organization BIMCO.
One Chinese vendor with clients in the US said, “right now waiting for container is two to four weeks. I still don’t know if I will have a container or not.”
Shortages could persist well into the first quarter of 2021 as container manufacturers in China are booked through Feburary.
And what could this mean for US consumers? Well, this is what we said back in October:
“Inventories are historically low. There is rising concern that companies will not be able to import and deliver enough goods to meet consumer demand during the holiday season.”
Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian Economics Research at HSBC, suspects this “unusually high demand for goods globally, which is likely to cool as we move into 2021 because of the (expected) service-led recovery, particularly in Western economies.”
- Biden Is Off To A Bad Start Under Progressive Pressure
Biden Is Off To A Bad Start Under Progressive Pressure
Tyler Durden
Thu, 12/10/2020 – 19:00Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk,
Under Progressive pressure, Biden ponders canceling $50,000 in student loans.
Rogue Executive Actions
Biden is already bending to the wishes of Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders to want to forgive student loans.
On Monday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Biden ‘Considering’ Forgiving $50,000 in Student Loan Debt via Executive Action.
Schumer held a press conference alongside Democratic Congressmen-elect Ritchie Torres, Mondaire Jones and Jamaal Bowman of New York, during which the group announced they have “come to the conclusion” that Biden can “forgive $50,000 of debt the first day he becomes president.”
“You don’t need Congress, all you need is the flick of a pen and President-elect Biden — then President Biden — can make this happen,” Schumer said.
Asked if Biden will have the executive authority to forgive the debt, the New York Senator said the president-elect is researching that and “I believe when he does his research, he will find that he does.”
Congress, Who Needs It?
I believe we have seen enough rogue executive actions of dubious legality.
Even if legal, this is a terrible idea. It mainly benefits middle-class whites and unfairly so.
We can’t give money to people at the bottom who have lost their jobs, possibly permanently, due to government decree. But hey, let’s forgive $50,000 in debt to the upwardly mobile.
Less Education for Your Buck
The above chart is from US College Tuition & Fees vs. Overall Inflation.
Please note the acceleration in 2005. What happened?
The cost of education escalated madly when Bush passed the bankruptcy reform act of 2005 making student debt not dischargeable in bankruptcy.
Flashback 2005
On April 15, 2005, I penned The Deflation Guarantee Act of 2005.
Today Congress passed the “The Deflation Guarantee Act of 2005” currently known as the “Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005”.
Twenty years from now economists are going to be studying legislation from this Congress and signed by this administration and be wondering: “What the * were they thinking?”.
Anytime this administration passes a law with the “protection” in it, assume it will do just the opposite.
This was a bill written by loan sharks, and bought via payoffs (otherwise known as campaign contributions) to those voting for this bill. It has NOTHING to do with “Consumer Protection”.
I believe this will backfire in many ways, and not all of them are fully understood yet.
Disease vs Symptoms
I graduated from the University of Illinois in 1976 with a degree in Civil Engineering. The cost of tuition was $250 a semester when I entered college in 1971.
Some blame states for not contributing to education. Indeed, states would would not raise taxes to cover escalating costs because of voter backlash.
But that is blaming the disease on the symptom. The disease was then and still is high administration costs, public unions, outrageous coaching contracts, unbelievable pensions, and serious lack of competition.
Five Student Loan Facts
Brookings has a set of Five Facts About Student Loans that everyone discussing forgiveness needs to be aware of.
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Six Percent of Borrowers owe a third of the outstanding debt.
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About one quarter of borrowers who have about half of the debt borrowed for graduate school.
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The individuals who owe the most money are not the individuals who default on debt
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Most bachelor’s degree recipients graduate with little to no debt
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Even if financial aid covers the whole tuition bill, many students borrow to cover living costs
Questions of the Day
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Given those facts, why should borrowers be bailed out at taxpayer expense?
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If they are, when will it stop?
Dead on Arrival
On November 29, I commented Biden’s Progressive Agenda is Dead on Arrival .
The obvious implication is “DOA in Congress” as opposed to seriously misguided and dubiously legal executive orders.
Compelling Case
HedgEye author Neil Howe makes a compelling case in Is A Student Debt Jubilee Coming?
Colleges possess such extraordinary pricing power in part because they bar or discourage new competitors and in part because lazy employers rely on a limited number of them to act as credential gate keepers. What federal policy ought to do is actively promote new types of educational institutions better fitted to employer needs and to promote measures by which families can fairly compare the value-added of different schools. Colleges and collegiate associations actively discourage all of the above.
In sum, it’s a mistake to enact a student debt jubilee without first rethinking and recasting the whole market for higher education. Otherwise, we’ll either end up right back where we started (with millions of new students crushed by huge debt loads) or somewhere we don’t want to go (with taxpayers committed to covering the cost of whatever colleges want to charge… a bit like they now do with healthcare providers).
Huge Moral Hazard
Debt discharge is a huge moral hazard that encourages more overpaying for useless degrees.
It will do nothing to address the cost of higher education.
We need more competition, more accredited schools, more alternatives, and less public union graft.
Forgiving debt fosters less competition and more graft.
Under Pressure
Biden is under pressure from Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren who believe Biden could not have won without them.
This claim is off by 180 degrees.
Election Message
The fact of the matter is rightful fear of Progressives could have cost Biden the election.
You can see this in the House and Senate races.
Trump lost but Biden had negative coattails. Why?
Fear of exactly this kind of liberal agenda.
Voters did not want Trump but they did not want liberal nonsense either.
Message Not Heard!
Trump did not get the message. Neither did Biden nor the Progressive wing of the Democratic party.
Biden is off to a bad start by listening to the Progressive wing that damn near cost him the election.
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- After Duke's 2-2 Start, Coach Krzyzewski Says Its Time To End The Season Due To COVID
After Duke’s 2-2 Start, Coach Krzyzewski Says Its Time To End The Season Due To COVID
Tyler Durden
Thu, 12/10/2020 – 18:40At a time when the country is literally days away from getting a vaccine and most sports – including the NBA, NHL, NFL and MLB have forged ahead with their seasons and/or have plans to forge ahead close to normal in 2021 – Duke university Coach Mike Krzyzewski appears to be throwing in the towel on his season.
And if one were a UNC fan, it could almost look like the Duke coach was blaming Covid for what appears to be a lackluster start for his Duke team.
But we digress and we’ll give Krzyzewski the benefit of the doubt. He said publicly this week it is time for the sport to “step back and asses the wisdom of playing games” after Duke dropped a game to Illinois, according to Bloomberg.
CBS noted it was Duke’s “worst start to a regular season since 1999-2000, when that Mike Krzyzewski-coached club shook the funk to finish 29-5 overall.” They also commented: “This team has a long ways to replicating that trajectory. Duke struggled mightily to knock down shots from the perimeter against the Illini, and again it struggled to create offense in the halfcourt.”
Krzyzewski, who is the winningest college basketball coach in history, said Tuesday: “I don’t think it feels right to anybody. I mean, everyone is concerned.” He says the decision to start the season before a vaccine wasn’t “well planned” and suggested the season be paused.
“You know, in our country today, you have 2,000 deaths a day. You know, you have 200,000 cases, a million and a half last week. To me, it’s already pretty bad,” he commented, apparently oblivious to the fact that healthy 20-something athletes have about the same, or less, chance of dying from Covid as they do from the flu.
Again, we’re sure Krzyzewski is suggesting this out of concern for the American public and not because he is unhappy with Duke’s start to the season. But come on Coach K, just admit that headlines like this aren’t helping…
- Tempering Exuberance: Market Signals Over Market Noise
Tempering Exuberance: Market Signals Over Market Noise
Tyler Durden
Thu, 12/10/2020 – 18:25Real Vision managing editor Ed Harrison joins Tommy Thornton, founder of Hedge Fund Telemetry, to discuss the market exuberance around this week’s IPOs, DeMark indicators, and his forward outlook. Thornton elaborates on why the speculative bubble surrounding the IPOs for DoorDash and Airbnb is worrisome and too volatile to either long or short at this point. He also dives into DeMark indicators, sharing what they are and how he analyzes markets and crafts investing strategies around their use. Thornton then talks about what his outlook in light of a true reopening is for oil, financials, cyclicals, and tech. Harrison and Thornton end on discussing the DXY and currency markets. In the intro, Real Vision’s Haley Draznin explores the jobless claims spike after the Thanksgiving week and the higher than expected valuations of Airbnb and Doordash going public. - Lessons Learned: One Man's Personal Story From The Collapse Of The Soviet Union
Lessons Learned: One Man’s Personal Story From The Collapse Of The Soviet Union
Tyler Durden
Thu, 12/10/2020 – 18:20Authored by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com,
[Editor’s note: Marat K, one of our team members who grew up during the collapse of the Soviet Union, tells the story of his own experiences during that period.]
When I was a kid growing up in the Soviet Union, it was essentially forbidden to make a better life for yourself.
You couldn’t just decide to go back to school, start a business, or switch careers to a thriving new industry.
And it didn’t matter how hard you worked– you were most likely NEVER going to be promoted. All the top jobs in the Soviet Union were reserved for party loyalists.
The government removed EVERY possible economic incentive to achieve more… which is why service was pitiful, technology was lagging, and the Soviet economy was consistently in the dumps.
Now, on occasion, the government would decide that they wanted to populate certain rural areas of Russia, such as remote parts of Siberia.
Quite often families were simply ordered to pick up and move, as was famously the case under Stalin.
But by the 1970s, the government would provide a small financial incentive for families– if you moved to Siberia, you could earn a slightly higher salary.
This became literally the ONLY way that anyone could (legally) make more money in the Soviet Union.
And that’s how my parents and I ended up moving to a cold, little town in western Siberia in 1985.
The plan was to stay there for a few years, save money, and then move back to a nicer, bigger city in Russia with a better climate.
The fact that our new Siberian town didn’t have a single restaurant, cinema, or even an ice-cream place, made the ‘saving money’ part really easy.
My parents followed through on their plan. And by the early 1990s they had saved enough money to buy a decent house, plus a car, and still have some savings left over.
But then, the unimaginable happened– the Soviet Union collapsed.
And the economy crashed.
Inflation, then hyperinflation, followed, as the government started printing money like crazy in an effort to continue making interest payments on its debt.
Prices skyrocketed.
At some point, stores stopped displaying price signs. Why bother, if they were doubling every other week or so?
Salaries and pensions did not keep up with inflation; almost everyone became more poor with each passing day.
Most people, including my parents, were caught completely unprepared.
The general level of financial literacy at the time was pitiful; most Russians didn’t know the first thing about money, finance, or economics, so no one knew how to react to the hyperinflation that was unfolding in front of our very eyes.
It was as if everyone was frozen in disbelief, including my parents.
By 1990, before the crisis, my parents had saved 50,000 rubles. At the time, that would have been enough to buy a house and a car.
After a few years of crisis, my parents still had the same 50,000 rubles. But by then, all they could afford to buy with it was a pair of winter boots for my mother.
Their entire nest egg has been completely inflated away in a few short years.
But not everyone has lost during that time.
Those who successfully navigated the financial Wild West of the 1990s in Russia turned this crisis into the opportunity of their lifetimes.
For example, I remember seeing ads in a newspaper offering to exchange a flat in Moscow for a poor-quality Soviet car.
It was an unbelievable trade when you think about it; the guy with the apartment was probably panicking and trying to leave the country, so he thought it would be a good idea to trade his apartment for a car.
But ten years later, the car was a worthless pile of scrap. Meanwhile the owner of the flat still held a valuable asset that had appreciated significantly in value and kept up with inflation.
And naturally the savviest people were able to buy extremely high quality assets on the cheap– like real estate and businesses, including shares of newly-privatized oil companies.
Investing in Gazprom in the early 1990s was like buying bitcoin in 2010.
Later these people became known as Russian oligarchs.
Now, I’m not writing this to suggest that the same financial catastrophe will take place in the US or Europe.
After all, the ruble didn’t enjoy the status of being the world’s reserve currency in the early 90s. And the economy of the late Soviet Union was already in terrible shape.
Still, this very recent history should serve as a reminder: idiotic economic policies almost always have consequences.
When a government goes out of its way to destroy economic incentives, through higher taxes or abusive regulations, bad things usually happen.
When a government accumulates a mountain of debt that is impossible to pay, bad things usually happen.
When a central bank conjures trillions of dollars out of thin air, bad things usually happen.
And I can tell you from personal experience that when a society actively embraces a Communist ideology, bad things usually happen.
And all of these issues in North America and Europe certainly could create consequences for the dollar and euro some day.
This isn’t a dire prediction, it’s just common sense… something that most politicians seem to be lacking these days.
It’s important to think about risks and consequences and prepare for them in advance; I watched my parents lose their entire nest egg and become victims of other people’s stupidity, because they were unprepared.
But today we have access to so much more information and education. We can learn about how gold and silver have maintained their value against inflation for thousands of years.
We can learn about other assets, whether productive land, cryptocurrency, or profitable business ventures, that can do well, even in times of crisis.
And we can make a Plan B… just in case the unthinkable happens. Because if 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that absolutely anything is possible.
* * *
On another note… We think gold could DOUBLE and silver could increase by up to 5 TIMES in the next few years. That’s why we published a new, 50-page long Ultimate Guide on Gold & Silver that you can download here.
- 'Imprisoned, Tortured, Harassed, Blackmailed And Stalked': AP Investigation Uncovers Rampant Sexual Misconduct Within FBI
‘Imprisoned, Tortured, Harassed, Blackmailed And Stalked’: AP Investigation Uncovers Rampant Sexual Misconduct Within FBI
Tyler Durden
Thu, 12/10/2020 – 18:00Nearly three years ago we reported that the FBI was a hotbed of sexual misconduct, after Inspector General Michael Horowitz uncovered sexual harassment, inappropriate romantic relationships between bosses and subordinates, and outright demands for sex in exchange for promotions.
It seems nothing has changed.
According to an investigation by the Associated Press, the FBI has been subject to at least six sexual misconduct allegations involving senior officials over the past five years, “including two new claims brought this week by women who say they were sexually assaulted by ranking agents.”
An assistant FBI director retired after he was accused of drunkenly groping a female subordinate in a stairwell. Another senior FBI official left after he was found to have sexually harassed eight employees. Yet another high-ranking FBI agent retired after he was accused of blackmailing a young employee into sexual encounters.
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The AP review of court records, Office of Inspector General reports and interviews with federal law enforcement officials identified at least six allegations against senior officials, including an assistant director and special agents in charge of entire field offices, that ranged from unwanted touching and sexual advances to coercion.
None appears to have been disciplined, but another sexual misconduct allegation identified in the AP review of a rank-and-file agent resulted in him losing his security clearance. –AP
“They’re sweeping it under the rug,” said one former FBI analyst with who is suing the agency after claiming that a supervisory special agent ‘licked her face and groped her‘ at a colleague’s 2017 farewell party, and has since been diagnosed with post-traumatic distress disorder. Meanwhile, others have accused FBI agents of far worse:
In one of the new lawsuits filed Wednesday, a former FBI employee identified only as “Jane Doe” alleged a special agent in charge in 2016 retired without discipline and opened a law firm even after he “imprisoned, tortured, harassed, blackmailed, stalked and manipulated” her into having several “non-consensual sexual encounters,” including one in which he forced himself on her in a car. The AP is withholding the name and location of the accused special agent to protect the woman’s identity.
“As the premier law enforcement organization that the FBI holds itself out to be, it’s very disheartening when they allow people they know are criminals to retire and pursue careers in law enforcement-related fields,” said the former employee, identified only as Becky.
AP notes that their investigation doesn’t include the ‘growing number of high-level FBI supervisors who have failed to report romantic relationships with subordinates in recent years.’
The last time an inspector general conducted an extensive probe of sexual misconduct within the FBI flagged 343 ‘offenses’ between 2009 – 2012, including three instances of “videotaping undressed women without consent.”
Meanwhile, a 17th woman has joined a federal lawsuit alleging systemic sexual harassment at the FBI’s Quantico, VA training academy – in which male FBI instructors are said to have made “sexually charged” comments about women who need to “take their birth control to control their moods.” Female trainees were also invited to their homes and openly disparaged, according to the filing.
Read the rest of the report here.
- Will COVID Cool Millennials' Crush On Socialism?
Will COVID Cool Millennials’ Crush On Socialism?
Tyler Durden
Thu, 12/10/2020 – 17:40Authored by Luka Ladan via RealClearPolitics.com,
As the 2020 election dust settles, one thing is clear: Republicans have a youth problem.
Sixty percent of voters under 30 supported President-elect Joe Biden, who will become the oldest U.S. president in history. However, Biden’s election is only the tip of an iceberg: In today’s America, 70% of people my age are open to voting for a socialist presidential candidate. According to a recent survey, more than one-third of Millennials (35%) support the gradual elimination of capitalism in favor of a more collectivist system.
Biden may not be a socialist (although his platform is the most liberal in presidential history), but the Republican pitch is clearly falling on deaf ears. Free-marketeers are losing the war of words.
In the 1940s, a plurality of Americans (34%) associated socialism with “government ownership or control.” By 2018, that percentage was halved. Today, the most common association with socialism is “equality.”
Democrats understand the importance of language. When Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York advocates for the Green New Deal, she is careful to position an objectively radical proposal as a “solution to climate change,” and not a $93 trillion expansion of federal oversight.
But socialism’s popularity cannot solely be attributed to the successes of Democratic messaging, or the biases of mainstream media coverage for that matter. In truth, Americans my age have become desensitized to the dangers of Big Government in practice. It has been more than 30 years since the Berlin Wall fell. It has been over a century since the Bolsheviks upended Russia’s political order—a precursor for communism’s spread to the likes of China, North Korea, and Vietnam.
I see it in my own life. My parents survived communism in former Yugoslavia and the civil war that followed, fleeing their homeland to live the American Dream. Along the way, they shared anecdotes about Josip Broz Tito’s communist regime—from Marxist teachings at school to the persecution of political dissenters on Goli Otok.
But those experiences are not my own. Even for a Millennial steadfastly opposed to collectivism, it is easier to comprehend the economic ramifications of a 50-cent-per-gallon gas tax than the risks of speaking out against Tito. I understand and even sympathize with Millennials who forget that individual liberty is never guaranteed.
We may encounter horror stories from Venezuela, but they seem inapplicable to the American experience. We may learn about the plight of Uighur Muslims in China, but what do they have to do with a “Green New Deal”?
In truth, very little. However, a greater openness to socialism should terrify the tens of millions of Americans who still support capitalism, including Republicans in the political trenches.
So what’s next? Perhaps there is light at the end of the tunnel—because of the coronavirus. American Millennials may never experience Soviet aggression or Venezuelan collectivism, but we are touched by the heavy hand of government in the COVID-19 era.
In Florida, Miami Mayor Dan Gelber has encouraged law enforcement to issue citations to people not wearing a face mask outside. In California, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has shut down indoor and outdoor dining, and New York City may soon follow. In Oregon, Gov. Kate Brown threatened state residents with $1,250 fines and 30 days imprisonment for hosting Thanksgiving gatherings of seven people or more.
This is not to say that the COVID-19 pandemic should go unaddressed, but American freedoms face unprecedented attack—not from a public health crisis, but from public officials going to extreme lengths in its name. Conceding undue power to government is a slippery slope to tyranny and oppression.
Personal experience remains the best antidote to socialism. Those who live through the perils of Big Government are more likely to reject its advances. There is a reason why 55% of Florida’s Cuban-Americans voted for President Trump, and not a Democratic Party that has expressed support for the Castro regime.
The political fallout of COVID-19 remains to be seen. Perhaps, Millennials will embrace governmental excess in response to a novel virus. Perhaps, we will begin to question that encroachment into our daily lives.
Only time will tell. But, if we are lucky, America will be less socialist upon leaving a pandemic than entering one.
- FDA Panel Recommends Approval Of Pfizer/BioNTech COVID Vaccine
FDA Panel Recommends Approval Of Pfizer/BioNTech COVID Vaccine
Tyler Durden
Thu, 12/10/2020 – 17:38After an unprecedentedly short period from inception to trial to results, Pfizer/BioNTech’s mRNA COVID vaccine has just been approved (after an all-day meeting) by the Food and Drug Administration Advisory panel for emergency use in the US.
This was the question to be voted on…
Notably there was a lot of argument about removing the 16 years or older segment of the question.
These were the voters:
And the final vote count was as follows: 17 Yes, 4 No, 1 Abstain
The FDA itself will now take this outside adviser group’s into account to decide on emergency use. Although the FDA does not have to follow the panel’s recommendation, it is widely expected to do so.
This follows approvals by UK and Canada, but several populations were excluded from the trials – meaning the vaccine isn’t known to be safe for all Americans just yet…
“There are currently insufficient data to make conclusions about the safety of the vaccine in subpopulations such as children less than 16 years of age, pregnant and lactating individuals, and immunocompromised individuals,” a recent FDA review concluded.
So what happens next is all Americans are propagandized (we’re all in this together, be a patriot) or coerced (no travel or work without a vaccine) into taking the vaccine.
As NIAID director Anthony Fauci tells Axios, “once 75%–80% of people get vaccinated against the coronavirus, there should be strong enough herd immunity that we can return to normal activities.”
Of course, politics is likely to rear its ugly head as decision are made, state by state, on the logistics and ‘equitable’ distribution of the vaccines beyond the simple cohorts of most-at-risk and healthcare workers. As Phillip Giraldi noted:
There is a strong consensus that the first recipients of the vaccine must be health care workers, a group that has suffered disproportionately from the disease and which constitutes the first line of defense against its spread.
After that, however, there is little clarity.
Suggestions that elderly people, particularly in nursing homes, should be inoculated, have been countered by those who believe that a limited supply of vaccine should go primarily to people who would be able to go back to work.
And then there are the politicians in each jurisdiction, who oddly believe that their work is vital. They and their families will be lining up.
In short, who gets vaccinated will likely depend on the deals and arrangements that have been worked out, often at the state and local level in the United States, and at national government level in most other places.
Logically, the vaccine should go first to those who are most at risk for contracting the disease and dying from it, but logic likely will not prevail.
Generally speaking, it is expected that after health care workers and perhaps the vulnerable elderly, front line police and emergency services should be next in line due to their frequent contact with the possibly infected public, followed by workers in places like slaughterhouses where work conditions have created infection hot spots.
Next in line would logically be workers in shops or businesses where there is regular contact with the public, but as such employees are generally low wage they will likely be pushed to the back of the bus.
Inevitably, the claims that there is a racial angle to the disease will certainly surface in places like the New York Times, leading to demands to vaccinate minorities first.
This will surely be resisted. Given the political realities of the pandemic and the socio-economic engineering that will no doubt take place, the real excitement will likely begin when the vaccine actually begins to become available, probably just before Christmas!
In the meantime, as Dr. Fauci pronounced, “you can’t give [masks and social distancing] up completely until you get such a level of herd immunity that the virus has no place to go.”
Don’t hold your breath, America.
- Citadel Makes Over $1 Billion Trading Commodities In 2020
Citadel Makes Over $1 Billion Trading Commodities In 2020
Tyler Durden
Thu, 12/10/2020 – 17:20It’s not just J PMorgan that made a $1 billion trading commodities, at roughly the same time that it paid a record $1 billion fee for manipulating the gold market: Ken Griffin’s Citadel, where Ben Bernanke is a senior advisor, also had a great year in the sector with Reuters reporting that Citadel’s investments in commodities returned more than $1 billion this year, helping to drive strong overall performance for one of the world’s largest funds.
This is a repeat performance for Citadel’s commodities business, which was also up by at least $1 billion in 2019, boosted by strong gains in European natural gas and power trading.
Citadel “benefited from gains across the commodities business in oil, power, natural gas and agriculture markets this year” Reuters’ sources said, with Citadel’s flagship multi-strat Wellington fund up by 21.2% this year through November, putting it on track to have its best year since 2012. Citadel has materially outperformed the HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index – which tracks the performance of the global hedge fund industry – and which gained 6.2% in November, the strongest monthly gain since December 1999, and is up 7.3% year-to-date.
Citadel, which had about $35 billion in assets under management as of Oct. 1, recently hired a former Glencore energy derivatives trader to head its first commodities trading team in Asia, and recruited former Morgan Stanley commodities trading chief Jay Rubenstein. The fund also hired Eike Schick, former head of the European natural gas desk at Freepoint Commodities, as a portfolio manager in London, and Mark Tawney, who ran Munich Re Trading, joined the company to lead a weather derivatives team earlier this year.
According to Bloomberg, Citadel’s Wellington fund returned 21% this year through November. All five of the fund’s core investment strategies contributed to the gain and have positive returns for the year.
- Setting Up A Siege? Antifa Has Armed Guards, Stockpiled Weapons At Portland Autonomous Zone
Setting Up A Siege? Antifa Has Armed Guards, Stockpiled Weapons At Portland Autonomous Zone
Tyler Durden
Thu, 12/10/2020 – 17:00Authored by Tyler O’Neil via PJ Media,
The antifa occupiers at the autonomous zone that sprung up in Portland this week appear to be preparing for a siege. As PJ Media’s Victoria Taft reported, antifa squatters took over a house in Portland and when the government rightly evicted them, they set up an autonomous zone.
On Wednesday, Portland’s police chief reported that antifa has fortified barricades, stockpiled weapons, set up armed guards, and threatened to kill police officers. Both the police chief and the mayor have urged the rebels to lay down their arms, but it appears they are refusing to do so.
“We want a peaceful & safe resolution to the occupation of public space on N Mississippi Ave. We are greatly concerned about the fortification of barricades, stockpiling of weapons, armed sentries, attacks on journalists & threats to kill officers in graffiti in this public space,” Chief Chuck Lovell tweeted on Wednesday. “I encourage those involved to reach out to our demonstration liaisons so we can discuss a peaceful outcome.”
“We are aware of the stockpile of weapons and the presence of firearms. We are aware of the threats to the community, to media, to police. We’ve seen the attacks. The Portland Police will enforce the law and use force is necessary to restore order to the neighborhood,” Lovell added in a brief speech about the autonomous zone.
I wanted to say a few words to each of you about activity along North Mississippi. pic.twitter.com/Icq4mpzTAL
— Chief Chuck Lovell (@ChiefCLovell) December 9, 2020
On Tuesday, Mayor Ted Wheeler (D-Portland) announced he was “authorizing the Portland Police to use all lawful means to end the illegal occupation on North Mississippi Avenue and to hold those violating our community’s laws accountable. There will be no autonomous zone in Portland.”
Wheeler went on to acknowledge the extremely radical claims of Marxist Critical Race Theory that inspire much of the antifa rioting.
“We all agree many of our nation’s systems and structures are fundamentally racist and require significant reform. There’s a housing crisis, a health care crisis, an education crisis, an employment crisis, a mental health crisis, and an addiction crisis,” he argued. “All of these crises are magnified in urban areas, including Portland. And, these crises disproportionately impact Black people.”
Yet Wheeler refused to follow the logic of the more radical Black Lives Matter and antifa crowd, who use those arguments to justify rioting, looting, and arson.
“It’s also true that illegal trespassing, ignoring lawful orders from police, blocking sidewalks and streets, and intimidating neighbors inflame these crises and make [these crises] more difficult to solve. That is what’s happening on North Mississippi Avenue right now,” the mayor argued.
The antifa occupation appears to have emerged after a judge ordered that people illegally occupying a home must be evicted. Activists appear to have seized on the eviction as racist, oppressive, or otherwise illegitimate. Wheeler defended the eviction, noting that “Multnomah County chose the time, place and manner of the eviction and Portland Police provided support.”
“It’s time for the encampment and occupation to end,” the mayor concluded. “There are many ways to protest and work toward needed reform. Illegally occupying private property, openly carrying weapons, threatening and intimidating people are not among them.”
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js<!–[if IE 9]><![endif]–>
Twitter screenshot of Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler’s thread on autonomous zone. Wheeler is right to defend the rule of law in this case, but his sympathy for Marxist Critical Race Theory undermines his case. If America’s “systems and structures” are “fundamentally racist,” as the mayor claimed, that inspires irrational anger and an aimless attempt to overthrow the existing order — by force, if necessary.
Wheeler himself repeatedly insisted that the violent antifa riots that racked Portland this summer were peaceful. He even attended one such riot, and he claimed that there was no justification for federal officers using tear gas — while rioters threw a Molotov cocktail near where Wheeler was standing!
Portland Police should restore order, break up the antifa autonomous zone, and defend the peace and safety of the city’s citizens around N. Mississippi Ave. This should be a no-brainer. Sadly, the very Marxist Critical Theory that inspires the riots has infiltrated the commanding heights of American culture, so much so that even the public official whose job it is to order the cops to restore order is echoing the very talking points that antifa militants use to justify their crimes.
The riots this summer, ostensibly focused on helping the black community, destroyed black lives, black livelihoods, and black monuments. At least 26 Americans have died in the riots, most of them black. The riots proved the most destructive in American history when it comes to insurance claims.
Police should break up the siege, and quickly. Wheeler should also consider the consequences of his radical rhetoric.
- Weedmaps To Go Public Through $1.5 Billion Merger
Weedmaps To Go Public Through $1.5 Billion Merger
Tyler Durden
Thu, 12/10/2020 – 16:40Weedmaps, a popular website where users can learn about different strains of marijuana and locate local dispensaries, has agreed to go public by merging with Silver Spike Acquisition Corp. in a deal which values the webstie at approximately $1.5 billion, according to Reuters – which adds that it’s a “rare example of a business focused on the cannabis sector listing on a U.S. stock exchange.”
Companies which involve direct selling of marijuana, or which are ‘plant touching’ are unable to list shares in the Untied States. Weedmaps does neither.
“When you look at what we’re offering (to investors), there’s really not too much else like it,” said Chris Beals, CEO of Weedmaps parent, WM Holding Company.
The Irvine, California-based website was founded in 2008 by Doug Francis and Justin Hartfield, and offers marijuana dispensaries the ability to list their inventory in real time, while the site also hosts a review and ratings platform.
Weedmaps expects to receive gross proceeds of up to $575 million from the deal, in part from proceeds Silver Spike had raised and also through $325 million in a private investment in public equity, or PIPE, transaction. Investors in the PIPE include funds from the Federated Hermes Kaufmann Funds, Senvest Management LLC and AFV Partners.
Silver Spike shares were indicated up 8.8% at $11.41 in premarket trading. Reuters first reported news of the deal on Wednesday. –Reuters
The company is expected to deliver $160 million in revenue and has been profitable for its entire 12-year history, according to Beals.
The deal comes less than a week after US lawmakers in the House of Representatives voted to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level, which is expected to remain a symbolic vote unless Democrats regain the Senate in a January runoff election in Georgia. It’s the first time either chamber of Congress has voted to end the federal ban on marijuana since 1970, when it was listed as a “controlled substance.”
Meanwhile, 15 US states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for recreational use, while 30 states allow some form of medicinal use.
Silver Spike, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) raised $250 million in an August, 2019 Nasdaq IPO with a focus on buying within the cannabis sector.
“There was no better opportunity and no more dynamic company and story for us to consider a transaction with than with WMH,” said Gordon in an interview.
- US Suffers Record 3K+ COVID Death; States Expand Stay-At-Home Orders: Live Updates
US Suffers Record 3K+ COVID Death; States Expand Stay-At-Home Orders: Live Updates
Tyler Durden
Thu, 12/10/2020 – 16:20Summary:
- NY nears new records
- Virginia imposes new restrictions
- Ohio at “extremely critical” juncture
- US deaths top 3K/day for first time
- Global cases near 70MM
- FDA panel meets on Pfizer vaccine
- Saudi approves Pfizer vaccine for import/export
- India’s largest chain of hospitals ready to administer 1MM vaccinations/day
- Malaysia reports new daily case record
- Denmark expands partial lockdow
* * *
Update (1600ET): Another day has passed, and New York is again poised to break a new record any day now. The state reported 10,600 new cases Wednesday, numbers that prompted Gov. Cuomo to discourage holiday travel.
Source: Bloomberg
Still, the pandemic looks much different now than it did 8 months back. The days of sirens echoing across the eerily empty streets of Manhattan are over.
However, the number of patients hospitalized statewide is about 25% of what it was in April when coronavirus overwhelmed the health-care system in the nN. Patients are spending less time in the hospital, and less often require intensive procedures like intubation. Thanks to more sophisticated treatment, the virus is killing less often.
Finally, an FDA panel is reviewing Pfizer’s COVID vaccine, just a day or two after more than 3K US deaths in a single day added to urgency that the country deploy its first vaccine. Virginia announced a limited nightly stay-at-home order after reporting a record daily cases this week. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said December is an “extremely critical” month as the state extended its curfew through Jan. 2.
A US pilots union asked for priority access to the vaccine.
In Europe, France, the country with the most confirmed cases on the Continent, backed off plans to reopen theaters, museums, cinemas and sports facilities next week as its outbreak remains one of the worst anyway,
* * *
The US reported more than 3K COVID-19 deaths during the 24 hours to Wednesday, topping the 3K figure for the first time, as hospitalizations in the US hit a new record.
Once again, new cases topped 200K/day, pushing the 7-day average to 204K, while, hospitalizations across the US climbed to 106.7K, a new high.
With the FDA expected to approve Pfizer’s COVID vaccine for emergency use, the UK reported a major stumbling block on Wednesday when it revealed that people with “severe” allergies shouldn’t take the COVID vaccine – at least, not right away. It’s just the latest indication that the rushed approval process has left many questions unanswered.
What’s more, Pfizer also revealed that a cyberattack had led to the potential leak of some documents handed over to a European regulator relating to its vaccine review.
The biggest number of the day is the death rate, as the daily number hit 3,054, while the 7-day average hit a new record high of 2,276.
Cases in the northeast and West are increasingly rapidly, with the 7-day average for cases per million residents up to 628 in the northeast and 644 in the West.
India’s largest hospital chain said it’s ready to administer one million coronavirus vaccine doses a day.
California’s average rate of positive tests over the last 14 days reached 8.8% as of yesterday, the highest level since the spring, as officials reported a new record daily number: 30K+ new cases.
After German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that new COVID restriction would be needed before Christmas, authorities in Germany are discussing tighter nationwide restrictions before Christmas, and some regions are already acting. Berlin is set to join Bavaria and Saxony in imposing new ‘lockdown light’ measures. Berlin, meanwhile, plans to close all non-essential shops and extend school breaks until Jan. 10, said Mayor Michael Mueller on Thursday.
“At the moment, it’s the worst of three worlds” said one official citing too many infections, high costs to support affected businesses, and public fatigue from weeks of pandemic curbs, Health Minister Jens Spahn said. “It will become noticeably worse before it gets better, but we need to have confidence that it will get better.”
Meanwhile global cases have reached 69,069,399, just on the cusp of 70MM, according to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, while the worldwide death toll has hit 1.57MM.
Here’s some more COVID news from Thursday morning and overnight:
President Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani says he left hospital feeling “better than ever” after being admitted to Georgetown University Medical Center with “serious symptoms” for Covid-19 a few days ago (Source: Bloomberg).
Malaysia logged the highest single-day jump in new cases, days after the country extended curbs on movement in some states to help stem the spread of infections but relaxed restrictions in other places (Source: Bloomberg).
The head of the European Union’s drug regulator says a recent cyberattack has not disrupted the agency’s review of COVID-19 vaccine candidates (Source: Nikkei).
Denmark will expand its partial lockdown to cover two-thirds of the country, according to broadcaster TV2. The Social Democrat government will discuss measures with other parties in parliament later on Thursday (Source: Bloomberg).
Japan confirms a nationwide record 2,820 daily coronavirus infections, after Tokyo’s count exceeded 600 for the first time. A Tokyo Metropolitan Government panel warns, “The medical system has started to become strained” (Source: Nikkei).
* * *
As we await the final word from the FDA, Saudi Arabia’s health authorities have registered the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for import and use, Reuters reports, citing a report in the Middle Eastern kingdom’s state news agency SPA. This clears the way for import and inoculation procedures involving the vaccine to begin. KSA has a total of about 359,000 infections with 6,000 deaths, though it has made progress in flattening its curve. Saudi is the second ME country to approve the Pfizer vaccine after Bahrain.
- Is The Globalist "Reset" Failing? The Elites May Have Overplayed Their Hand
Is The Globalist “Reset” Failing? The Elites May Have Overplayed Their Hand
Tyler Durden
Thu, 12/10/2020 – 16:20Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us,
One aspect of narcopaths (narcissistic sociopaths) that is important to remember is that they live in their own little world in which their desires and bizarre dysfunctions are normalized. They believe themselves superior to most people because they are predatory, and don’t suffer from annoying hang-ups like empathy and conscience. They generally tend to believe they have pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes the majority of the time. They think that you are a submissive idiot, and that when they bark an order, you will simply jump to attention because you “believe”.
Almost every aspect of the globalists and their behavior indicates they are a club or cult of narcopaths. Their obsessive need to control as well as to corrupt and destroy in order to get what they want is not an extension of mere greed, it is a deep-seated aspect of who they are as beings. It is a defining mechanism at the core of their character. They are real world monsters, like vampires attempting to blend into an unsuspecting population.
In their arrogance, then tend to expect they can drain the public dry at will without being resisted or exposed. The problem is, as soon as they start to feed and destroy they draw attention to themselves. Eventually, they will attract the suspicions of the public, along with some vampire hunters. Unless they find a way to hide a stake through the heart is inevitable.
I have been writing about the threats of globalism and the “reset” for many years now, and I have noted for some time two separate quandaries; one affecting the liberty movement and the other affecting the globalists:
1) First, criminals tend to brag about their crimes when they think that it’s too late for anyone to do anything about them. I predicted the globalists would be very open in revealing their agenda the moment they believed themselves “untouchable”. For the freedom loving public this suggests that in 2020 going into 2021 that the elites must think there is nothing that can be done to stop the machine; they are so blatant in their calls for the global “reset”, a cashless society, totalitarian lockdowns and a surveillance state that no one in their right mind can claim these notions are “conspiracy theory” anymore.
The fact is, the “conspiracy theorists” were RIGHT ALL ALONG, and now there is nothing anyone can say about it.
2) Second, I have also argued in the past that the globalist push for a “new world order” is a double edged sword that could very well end up annihilating them. As they attempt to initiate their reset agenda, they become more and more exposed; they can no longer lurk in the safety of the shadows and there is no going back once the process is started. Once the globalists become widely known, they must either swiftly take control through engineered chaos and collapse, or face retribution that could eliminate a cabal that took them centuries to build. Vampires must make the rest of the world a dark place before leaving the shadows, or they risk dying in the light of day.
There are two schools of thought in the liberty movement; one suggesting that the globalist agenda is fixed and unstoppable and that the best anyone can do is survive. The second suggests that the reset can be stopped and the globalists can be brought to justice. I stand in both camps.
There are aspects of the reset that are indeed fixed and that cannot be undone. For example, numerous national economies including the US are in the midst of a stagflationary collapse and there is nothing that can be done to reverse it. Perhaps a decade ago we could have changed course, but now it is too late. The pain can be reduced if people quickly end their dependency on the system and create localized trade networks of their own, but the economy as we know it right now is dead and it is not coming back anytime soon.
I do not see this, though, as a win for the elites. Crashing the economy is one thing, rebuilding it into the collectivist dystopia they desperately want is another. Everything depends on who rebuilds; maybe it will be them, maybe it will be us.
I am seeing some encouraging signs these days that the globalist reset is NOT a sure thing, and those that know my work know I have never been one for misplaced optimism. Specifically, the exploitation of the pandemic response as a means to ram through numerous draconian restrictions does not seem to be going exactly as the elites planned.
I have to look back at Event 201 to really gauge the state of the game, because what the elites planned and what has happened do not completely match up. For those not familiar, Event 201 was a type of “war game” held by globalists from the World Economic Forum and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The scenario? A pandemic outbreak of a coronavirus which would spread like wildfire and kill a predicted 65 million people. The simulation was held only a couple of months before the real thing happened at the start of 2020.
In the year since the outbreak, the globalists have attempted to enforce nearly every plan that was outlined during Event 201, including using social media to censor or restrict any news or information outside of the establishment approved narrative (Yes, narrative control was discussed at the event in great detail). Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum has consistently and excitedly applauded the pandemic crisis as a “perfect opportunity” to institute the “reset” that the globalists have been talking about for years.
Unfortunately for them, the virus has not been anywhere near as deadly as they appear to have hoped. With a death rate of well below 1% for anyone outside of a nursing home with preexisting conditions, the establishment has now been forced to pump up infection numbers as a means to terrorize the populace because the death numbers are not enough to convince people to willingly hand over their freedoms. The Infection Fatality Rate (IFR) for Covid 19 not counting nursing home deaths with preexisting conditions is only 0.26% of those infected.
There is a propaganda meme being passed around these days that tries to exaggerate the danger of death from Covid, and it goes a little something like this:
“Covid has killed more people that the Vietnam War and the Gulf Wars combined in a single year, therefore your freedoms are forfeit…”
This is an idiotic talking point but luckily no one is buying it.
Over 40% of Covid deaths are people that are already sick and on the verge of dying anyway (And no, refusing to wear masks is not the same as endorsing “death panels”, because a death panel is about socialists refusing treatment to people at risk because of their age. No one is suggesting that old people be refused treatment, and they always have the option of staying under quarantine if they fear they will become infected. They are already retired and receiving social security, perhaps if we are going to stimulate then the bailout money should go to those most at risk so that the rest of us can continue on with normal life?)
Hundreds of thousands of people die every year from diseases and illnesses including the flu, common colds and pneumonia, yet, the prospect of abandoning the Bill of Rights, submitting to economic shutdowns and wearing a muzzle on our faces wherever we go was never brought up before.
Why should we ask 99.7% of Americans or the world to accept medical tyranny just to make .26% of the population feel safe? People who question the mandates are called “selfish”, but even if I was one of the people susceptible to the virus, I would NEVER demand that 99% of the population bow to totalitarianism at the off chance that I might live a little while longer. Now THAT would be selfish.
As more and more studies and data are released, the mask mandates are also coming into question. Though Big Tech has sought to suppress or censor studies that run contrary to the mainstream narrative, this has only led more people to question the motivations of governments pushing the mandates. After all, the mainstream media keeps saying that we should “listen to the science”, but they ignore or censor the science. So, if the pandemic response is not based in science, then it must only be about control.
Many Americans are not as stupid as the elites think. They see the inconsistencies in the rhetoric and the data and they are increasingly prone to refuse to comply. This might be why the establishment is suddenly rushing out at least two Covid vaccines in the span of half a year; they have to get the vaccine phase of the Reset underway before too many people jump from the panic bandwagon.
The vaccine rush and the claims of effectiveness of 94% to 95% from Pfizer and Moderna are suspect. The average effectiveness of most vaccines is around 50% or less, and these are vaccines with hundreds of trials and years of usage. Somehow, Pfizer and Moderna were both able to produce a vaccine for a SARS type virus when multiple governments tried for over a decade to produce vaccines for SARS in China and were unsuccessful, and they were able to achieve 95% effectiveness?
Many people are not buying the vaccine story, and this is perhaps why the elites are jumping headlong into vaccination so fast. Consider this fact:
Numerous polls indicate that at least 1 in 3 Americans plan to refuse the Covid vaccine when it is released to the general public.
60% of Americans have stated in polls that they will not take the vaccine unless it is proven to be at least 75% effective.
Here I think we have our explanation for the vaccination bonanza. The elites know that a third of Americans (and probably Europeans) will not take the vaccine regardless of any propaganda they dish out. They also know that 60% of Americans are unlikely to take the vaccine unless they can show an effectiveness rate of at least 75%. Neither Moderna nor Pfizer have actually produced any evidence that their vaccines are capable of prevented severe illness or death from Covid, so, their effectiveness rate is based on “projections” of success according to their minimal trials. Meaning, the effectiveness rate of 95% is completely arbitrary.
Why did they go with such a high number instead of a more realistic 50% to 60%? Because the polls say they need an epic effectiveness rate in order to convince Americans to take the vaccine. I think it is really as simple as that.
Americans are skeptical of the vaccines for a number of reasons. The reality that they are minimally tested and rushed out in less than a year is one reason . The fact that the government and the media have been caught censoring or lying about Covid data is another reason. People just don’t trust the elites, and who can blame them? Who would trust a cabal of psychopaths to inject them with an unknown viral cocktail? Maybe their intentions are not so pure?
The public is right to be suspicious. A former Pfizer vice president, Dr. Michael Yeadon among other medical professionals have recently warned that the vaccines have not been adequately tested and that there is a risk of “indefinite infertility” for women who take the current Covid vaccine due to damaging autoimmune response. In other words, the vaccine could make many women barren and unable to have children.
Maybe this is what Bill Gates meant when he stated in his Ted Talk that “vaccines and reproductive services” could help contribute to a reduction of the Earth’s population of 10% to 15% as a means to “stop global warming.
Why would Bill Gates mention vaccines in the same breath as “reproductive services” in reference to population reduction? Aren’t vaccines supposed to help people live longer? Well, the Pfizer VP’s warning about the Covid vaccine is ringing bells for me. Maybe the Covid vaccine won’t make you sick, or kill you. Maybe you will live a long life free of coronavirus, but you’ll find out a few years after taking the vaccine that you won’t ever be able to have kids.
Watch the movie ‘Children Of Men’ to get a sense of what the future might be like if the globalists get their way.
In the meantime, the elites are trying with everything they have to convince the public that they must abandon notions of civil liberties in the name of survival and “the greater good”.
They are already talking about how things will never go back to normal, and the changes being made today will stay in place for many years to come.
Governments are in the media right now claiming the vaccines “will not be mandatory”. This is a lie. At the same time they are putting mandates in place to require you to prove you are vaccinated in order to go to public places and even to go to work. Basically, you take the vaccine or you die from poverty. This is not a choice.
But, I see millions of Americans standing in opposition to this agenda. I see sheriffs and police across the country refusing to enforce the agenda, even in hard-left states like California. I see protests in lockdown states like Michigan, California and New York. I see mass protests in Europe. I see the Reset scheme being exposed and the truth breaking into the mainstream.
I see something rising to the surface, and I smell that gunpowder scent of rebellion, and I like it.
I’m not pessimistic about the future. I know a crash is coming. I know a fight is coming. But right now what I see is a fight that can and will be won by those that respect the principles of freedom. The globalists may have overplayed their hand.
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- Bonds & Black Gold Bid As Negative Nabobs Battle New Issue Nirvanans
Bonds & Black Gold Bid As Negative Nabobs Battle New Issue Nirvanans
Tyler Durden
Thu, 12/10/2020 – 16:02Another day, another astoundingly exuberant bid for an IPO as AirBnB opened with one of the biggest pops ($146 vs $68 IPO) since 2008 seemingly confirming JPMorgan’s “market nirvana” argument. But, “on the other hand” – as CNBC might say – stimulus doubts and vaccine take-up uncertainty (as well as extremes in sentiment and positioning) leave the negative nattering naybobs askance.
ABNB ended below its opening print…
All of which provided yet another mixed picture with Small Cap stocks bid, big caps offered for sale, oil up strongly but bonds aggressively bid, gold up and bitcoin down, and Smart money not buying any of the excitement…
Source: Bloomberg
Just remember “you are not your Robinhood brokerage balance…”
Stocks were mixed after an early buying panic at the cash open, chopping around on various headlines of “hope” for stimulus and disappointing increases in curfews and lockdowns across the states…Small Caps outperformed and Dow lagged…
The Dow once again tested 30K and as hard as the algos tried, it tumbled to close below 30K…
Small Caps surge today took them to their highest relative to Nasdaq 100 since June…
Source: Bloomberg
FANG stocks were bid off the opening lows but faded after Europe closed…
Source: Bloomberg
TSLA had another epic day after collapsing in the pre-market, it was panic-bid all day – up 10% from the opening lows…
A lot of malarkey in Energy stocks today, ripped 4% higher at the open (3rd big opening squeeze in a row)…
Source: Bloomberg
Tail risk protection is bid…
Source: Bloomberg
And vol of vol (VVIX) is decoupling higher from VIX…
Source: Bloomberg
A super strong 30Y auction helped extend the gains in bond-land today, with 30Y now down around 10bps on the week…
Source: Bloomberg
30Y yields fell to their lowest in two weeks…
Source: Bloomberg
The dollar was choppy around the ECB statement, but ended lower as EURUSD strengthened in seeming disappointment at Lagarde’s QE increase…
Source: Bloomberg
Even as the dollar faded, so did Yuan…
Source: Bloomberg
Yuan trading volume has exploded (the second-highest in data going back to 2014) as Bloomberg suggests one factor could be the looming reduction of yuan market-making banks: players will be under pressure to ramp up trading volumes to improve their year-end assessments.
Source: Bloomberg
Bitcoin was modestly lower on the day, bouncing back again after trading below $18000…
Source: Bloomberg
Gold managed to hold on to very small gains, after pump’n’dump-ing around the US cash equity open…
Brent Crude traded above $50 today for the first time since March and WTI spiked above $47.50 (but slipped back below $47 after settlement)…
Copper joined crude in the party…
Lifting Bloomberg’s Commodity Spot Index to 6 year highs (as The ECB adds to its ‘highly successful’ QE bond purchase scheme)…
Source: Bloomberg
Finally, this whole charade has been one massive short-squeeze – the largest in history by far…
Source: Bloomberg
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