Dec 22

Today’s News 22nd December 2024

  • US Fighter Jet Shot Down Over Red Sea In Disastrous 'Friendly Fire' Incident
    US Fighter Jet Shot Down Over Red Sea In Disastrous ‘Friendly Fire’ Incident

    In the early morning hours of Sunday (local), two US Navy pilots were shot down over the Red Sea in an apparent friendly fire incident. This comes after more than a year of war against Yemeni Houthi rebels, who have targeted international transit in regional waters.

    The incident is highly unusual given that US and Western allied coalition ships have come under repeat drone and missile from from the Houthis, but have thus far suffered no disclosed losses. The Western coalition has reported no damage or casualties from this long-running battle, and yet it appears the first shootdown of an American fighter jet in the conflict has come by way of US aircraft carrier fire.

    Illustrative: US Navy Image

    The two pilots ejected after their F/A-18 fighter was hit and have been safely rescued in Red Sea waters, with one of the pilots suffering injuries.

    The Associated Press and ABC News are reporting the following details after official CENTCOM confirmation:

    Two U.S. Navy pilots ejected safely over the Red Sea after their F/A-18 fighter aircraft was mistakenly shot down early Sunday in what military officials are calling “an apparent case of friendly fire.”

    One of the pilots has minor injuries, according to a news release from U.S. Central Command.

    The guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg, which is part of the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, mistakenly fired on and hit the aircraft, that was flying off the USS Harry S. Truman, according to the news release.

    CENTCOM says it is investigating the incident. Again, it is clearly bizarre given the aircraft had just taken off from the same carrier strike group of which the USS Gettysburg is part.

    “The F/A-18 shot down had just flown off the deck of the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier,” Central Command indicated. 

    The US military was conducting an assault against militants in Yemen at the time of the incident. AP details further, “The U.S. military had conducted airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels at the time, though the U.S. military’s Central Command did not elaborate on what their mission was and did not immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press.”

    There appears to have been some ‘fog of war’ confusion given that just prior to the friendly fire shootdown the Houthis had launched drones and a cruise missile at the US battle group. The F-18 may have been mistakenly identified by the Gettysburg warship as an inbound Houthi UAV.

    USS Gettysburg, via US Navy

    “However, Central Command said that warships and aircraft earlier shot down multiple Houthi drones and an anti-ship cruise missile launched by the rebels. Incoming hostile fire from the Houthis has given sailors just seconds to make decisions in the past,” the AP notes.

    Needless to say this is highly embarrassing for the Pentagon, and will be celebrated as a major ‘win’ by the Iran-backed Houthis. The Houthis have clearly been able to put the US warships on the defensive, given the confusion of the battle zone and trigger-happy premature response evident in this fresh incident.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/21/2024 – 23:30

  • Post-Cold-War Geopolitics Worse For Global South
    Post-Cold-War Geopolitics Worse For Global South

    Authored by Jomo Kwame Sundaram via via Substack,

    The new geopolitics after the first Cold War undermines peace, sustainability, and human development. Hegemonic priorities continue to threaten humanity’s well-being and prospects for progress.

    End of first Cold War

    The end of the first Cold War has been interpreted in various ways, most commonly as a US triumph. Francis Fukuyama famously proclaimed the ‘end of history’ with the victory of capitalism and liberal democracy.

    With the collapse of the Soviet Union and allied regimes, the US seemed unchallenged and unchallengeable in the new ‘unipolar’ world. The influential US journal Foreign Affairs termed ensuing US foreign policy ‘sovereigntist’.

    But the new order also triggered fresh discontent. Caricaturing cultural differences, Samuel Huntington blamed a ‘clash of civilisations’. His contrived cultural categories serve a new ‘divide-and-rule’ strategy.

    Today’s geopolitics often associates geographic and cultural differences with supposed ideological, systemic and other political divides. Such purported fault lines have also fed ‘identity politics’.

    The new Cold War is hot and bloody in parts of the world, sometimes spreading quickly. As bellicosity is increasingly normalised, hostilities have grown dangerously.

    Economic liberalisation, including globalisation, has been unevenly reversed since the turn of the century. Meanwhile, financialization has undermined the real economy, especially industry.

    The G20 finance ministers, representing the world’s twenty largest economies, including several from the Global South, began meeting after the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

    The G20 began meeting at the heads of government level following the 2008 global financial crisis, which was seen as a G7 failure. However, the G20’s relevance has declined again as the North reasserted G7 centrality with the new Cold War.

    NATO rules

    The ostensible raison d’ĂȘtre of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has gone with the end of the first Cold War and the Soviet Union.

    The faces of Western powers have also changed. For example, the G5 grew to become the G7 in 1976. US infatuation with the post-Soviet Russia of Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin even brought it into the G8 for some years!

    Following the illegal US invasion of Iraq in 2003, the sovereigntist Wolfowitz doctrine of 2007 redefined its foreign policy priorities to strengthen NATO and start a new Cold War. NATO mobilisation of Europe – behind the US against Russia – now supports Israel targeting China, Iran and others.

    Violating the UN Charter, the 2022 Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine united and strengthened NATO and Europe behind the US. Despite earlier tensions across the north Atlantic, Europe rallied behind Biden against Russia despite its high costs.

    International law has also not stopped NATO expansion east to the Russian border. The US unilaterally defines new international norms, often ignoring others, even allies. But Trump’s re-election has raised ‘centrist’ European apprehensions.

    Developing countries were often forced to take sides in the first Cold War, ostensibly waged on political and ideological grounds. With mixed economies now ubiquitous, the new Cold War is certainly not over capitalism.

    Instead, rivalrous capitalist variants shape the new geoeconomics as state variations underlie geopolitics. Authoritarianism, communist parties and other liberal dirty words are often invoked for effect.

    New Europe

    Despite her controversial track record during her first term as the European Commission (EC) president, Ursula von der Leyen is now more powerful and belligerent in her second term.

    She quickly replaced Joseph Borrell, her previous EC Vice President and High Representative in charge of international relations. Borrell described Europe as a garden that the Global South, the surrounding jungle, wants to invade.

    For Borrell, Europe cannot wait for the jungle to invade. Instead, it must pre-emptively attack the jungle to contain the threat. Since the first Cold War, NATO has made more, mainly illegal military interventions, increasingly outside Europe!

    The US, UK, German, French and Australian navies are now in the South China Sea despite the 1973 ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) commitment to a ZOPFAN (zone of peace, freedom and neutrality) and no request from any government in the region.

    Cold War nostalgia

    The first Cold War also saw bloody wars involving alleged ‘proxies’ in southwestern Africa, Central America, and elsewhere. Yet, despite often severe Cold War hostilities, there were also rare instances of cooperation.

    In 1979, the Soviet Union challenged the US to eradicate smallpox within a decade. US President Jimmy Carter accepted the challenge. In less than ten years, smallpox was eradicated worldwide, underscoring the benefits of cooperation.

    Official development assistance (ODA) currently amounts to around 0.3% of rich countries’ national incomes. This is less than half the 0.7% promised by wealthy nations at the UN in 1970.

    The end of the first Cold War led to ODA cuts. Levels now are below those after Thatcher and Reagan were in power in the 1980s. Trump’s views and famed ‘transactional approach’ to international relations are expected to cut aid further.

    The economic case against the second Cold War is clear. Instead of devoting more to sustainable development, scarce resources go to military spending and related ‘strategic’ priorities.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/21/2024 – 23:20

  • Aide To California Politician Arrested, Accused Of Conspiring With Chinese Spy To Infiltrate US Politics
    Aide To California Politician Arrested, Accused Of Conspiring With Chinese Spy To Infiltrate US Politics

    Authored by Eva Fu via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    The FBI on Dec. 19 arrested a close associate of a local California politician, accusing him of scheming together with a recently sentenced Chinese spy to amplify China’s influence in the U.S. political circle.

    The Department of Justice (DOJ) in Washington on Aug. 12, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

    Sun Yaoning, also known as Mike Sun, was the campaign manager and close personal confidante to a Southern California city council member that the Chinese authorities supported, according to a newly unsealed complaint.

    The 64-year-old has worked closely with Chen Jun, or John Chen, who a New York judge sentenced to 20 months in November for bribing the IRS against Falun Gong, a faith group that the Chinese regime has spent 25 years trying to suppress in China and globally, the document shows.

    In conversations with Chinese officials following the politician’s election in November 2022, Chen referred to Sun and the California politician as part of a “basic team dedicated for us,” according to the filing.

    “Mr. Sun has been my helping hand in the Chinese community since 1997,” Chen was quoted as telling one Chinese official in January 2023.

    The politician, whose name authorities redacted from the complaint, was one of the local U.S. politicians Chen assessed Beijing could influence on issues such as Taiwan, according to the prosecutors.

    Sun and the council member co-run a media outlet called U.S. News Center, the complaint noted. In a report Sun allegedly drafted with Chen, they described the politician as a “new political star.”

    Campaign finance records suggest that in 2022, Sun was the campaign treasurer for Eileen Wang, a councilwoman for the Los Angeles-area city of Arcadia. The two also held leadership positions in the American Southwest Chamber of Commerce, a nonprofit headquartered in Los Angeles. Wang founded the nonprofit in 2018, according to Chinese language reports. A Chinese consulate official said at its founding ceremony that he hoped Wang could lead the group to promote U.S.–China communications and cross-strait reunification—a reference to Beijing’s ambition to annex democratically-ruled Taiwan.

    Wang didn’t respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times.

    Sun had previously served in the Chinese military, the FBI agent said in the complaint. Public records show that he is the vice director of the American Chinese Culture Association, one of several U.S.-based pro-Beijing groups where he holds titles. Sun is also the CEO of a U.S.-based media group called N&N Media Group, and has for years organized large-scale events to promote Beijing’s narratives and celebrate key Party anniversaries, according to Chinese media reports.

    U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Martin Estrada said Sun’s alleged conduct was “deeply concerning.”

    “We cannot permit hostile foreign powers to meddle in the governance of our country,” he said.

    Akil Davis, assistant director for the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, said the case highlights the breadth of the Chinese regime’s “relentless intelligence and malign influence activities targeting the United States.” He said that the FBI will “continue to use all the tools at its disposal” to identify the Chinese intelligence operations, disrupt Chinese information laundering networks, and “bring to justice those who seek to engage in criminal conspiracies to undermine the integrity of our elected officials.”

    Sun appeared at a downtown Los Angeles courthouse for a hearing on Friday. He faces up to 15 years in prison for the charges.

    Sun’s attorney declined to answer questions from The Epoch Times upon walking out of the courtroom.

    The Edward R. Roybal Federal Building in Los Angeles on June 1, 2023. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

    A ‘Basic Team Dedicated for Us’

    The pro-Beijing California politician Sun helped to reelect maintains a close relationship with Chen, conversations cited in the court suggest.

    On Nov. 9, 2022, the election day in California, the individual contacted Chen, writing: “Old Sun is contacting you. Please call him back. He is with me.”

    “Got it, congratulations,” Chen replied from China, adding that they would talk in person in six days.

    The two had held two phone calls for around half an hour and one hour each during the weeks following. In January 2023, the politician wrote a thank you letter to Chen, thanking him for attending her Chinese New Year event.

    “You are doing a good job, I hope you can continue the good work, make Chinese people proud,” Chen said in reply.

    Chen also tasked Sun to brief Chinese officials regarding the politician’s election outcome in late November 2022, saying “the related department is paying a lot of attention to it,” according to the court filing.

    A biography Sun allegedly wrote describing the politician stated she was born in the late 1970s in China’s Chengdu City, capital of the southwestern province of Sichuan.

    Three Chinese officials reacted positively to her election victory when separately alerted by Chen, sending a salute emoji, smiley faces, and thumbs up in response.

    Days after that, on Dec. 8, 2022, they formed the “U.S.-China Friendship Promotion Association,” with Sun as the vice president and the politician, who they described as a “Chinese elected official,” as a member, the filing shows.

    A Chinese official who heads a municipal government office in Tianjin, a northeastern Chinese megacity and Chen’s hometown, congratulated Chen for the work.

    “This is the basic team dedicated for us,” Chen wrote, to which the official wrote: “Understood, can’t wait.”

    ‘Struggles’ Against the Regime’s Targets

    In pre-trial detention, Chen, a U.S. citizen, reportedly told his cellmate that he was a Chinese spy working for the 610 Office, the Chinese extralegal agency established expressly to persecute Falun Gong, according to the complaint. The document said Chen described the agency as “a ‘spy agency’ that was 100 times better than the FBI.” Chen seemed astonished that he was caught, the FBI agent said, professing disbelief that the 610 Office “didn’t do a better job watching him.” He also allegedly said the 610 Office paid him $250,000 to move to the United States decades ago and has since paid him $52,000 per month.

    A major topic among Sun and Chen’s conversations cited in the court file was about how to promote Beijing’s agenda in the United States and then report their work to their handlers in China.

    Ahead of a planned trip to China in January 2023, Chen hurried Sun to write a report about the politician’s election win, saying he would present it to the “United Front,” the overseas Chinese influence network.

    Chen allegedly instructed Sun to highlight the “current strategy” with Falun Gong, their “past experience with struggles” against the regime’s targets, and of “you and me cultivating and assisting [the politician]’s success.”

    In a draft that Sun shared with Chen on Feb. 1, 2023, Sun took credit for leading U.S. dignitaries and cultural workers to China “on many occasions” to further promote U.S.–China ties, prosecutors alleged. Sun, according to the court filing, further cast himself as one who “persist[s] in resisting any hostile forces that undermine the friendship of U.S.-China relations, and Chinese secessionist forces.”

    Sun wrote “most proudly of all” of how he orchestrated a team to “win the election for city council member candidate,” the court document stated.

    Prosecutors alleged Chen asked Sun to add context about their “past struggle fighting Taiwanese independence forces” and Falun Gong in a California city. They also allegedly discussed how to protest a Congress member’s proposed visit to Taiwan.

    The two in February 2023 took issue with the presence of Taiwan flags and Falun Gong practitioners in major U.S. parades, according to the complaint. To counter it, they allegedly proposed to Chinese officials a project: they would mobilize the “Los Angeles organization’s professional core team” to organize a float with a 100-person drum band. The budget was $80,000, the complaint said.

    On April 4, 2023, weeks before Chen’s arrest over the IRS bribery scheme against Falun Gong, Chen asked Sun whether Falun Gong practitioners “have locations” in a California city and activities there, according to the file.

    “Can you create some obstacles for them? If you can eliminate one or several locations, or create some obstacles, there will be rewards.”

    He allegedly asked Sun about three weeks later to arrange a meeting with the Chinese consul general in Los Angeles, telling him “there is a major project to report.”

    “National level,” Chen added, sharing an article titled “How the U.S. Neighbors of Falungong See Them” that disparages the belief.

    “Actual operation is strictly classified,” he said, according to the court document. “You will get credit for it.”

    It’s unclear whether Chen was referring to the IRS bribery plot. According to the complaint, Chen intended to report to Chinese authorities by May 20. That would be six days after his meeting with a purported IRS official in order to open a probe against Shen Yun Performing Arts, a New York classical Chinese dance and music company founded by Falun Gong practitioners that showcases “China before communism,” as well as segments showing the abuses happening to the faith group in China. Authorities said the complaint he submitted was facially deficient; Chen had promised the IRS official to pay $50,000 in total for the IRS to open the case.

    Sun and the city council member later joined on a China trip and returned together in September 2023 from Shanghai to Los Angeles, the FBI agent said. According to the complaint, Chen took part in the trip planning, which initially involved six Chinese cities and a meeting with a Chinese leader likely part of the Chinese intelligence apparatus.

    Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, denied knowledge of the matter when asked about Sun’s arrest during a regular press conference on Dec. 20. He said that Beijing “never meddles in other countries’ internal affairs.”

    Alice Sun, a local Falun Gong group coordinator, commended the Justice Department for its diligence in countering the Chinese regime’s transnational repression against Falun Gong.

    “We are aware that the CCP is intensifying its efforts to target Falun Gong through its spies in the U.S., as well as through YouTubers and even U.S. media outlets. Our government must take stronger measures to curb the CCP’s reach and influence,” she told The Epoch Times.

    The Epoch Times recently reported on a 2022 secret meeting where Chinese communist leader Xi Jinping tasked officials to attack Falun Gong via disinformation on social media and media outlets, as well as by subverting legal systems in democratic societies.

    Leaked notes from several recent Chinese officials’ meetings indicate they have been following through, including by providing materials to social media influencers to frame Falun Gong—and Shen Yun—in a negative light. The last of the meetings took place after the election.

    U.S. authorities’ actions, Sun said, “send a powerful message to the CCP’s agents operating within the United States.” She urged elected officials in the United States to “take a firm stand and publicly condemn the CCP’s efforts to infiltrate and undermine our society.”

    Linda Jiang contributed to this report.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/21/2024 – 22:45

  • Elderberry: The Immunity Defender That Helps You Fight Cold And Flu
    Elderberry: The Immunity Defender That Helps You Fight Cold And Flu

    Authored by Sina McCullough via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Elderberry has been revered for centuries as a go-to remedy for respiratory infections, fever, and inflammation—both acute and chronic.

    The herb was detected in the charred remains of ancient settlements, leading some researchers to speculate that elder trees may have intentionally been cultivated thousands of years ago.

    Elderberry has been used in traditional medicine for centuries. Illustration by Fei Meng

    In traditional medicine, elderberry is used to treat diabetes, dry skin, diarrhea, headaches, constipation, conjunctivitis, rheumatism, and other ailments. Hippocrates, the “father of medicine,” called elderberry his “medicine chest” because of its wide range of healing properties.

    Ancient Egyptians used elderberry to treat burns and improve complexion. Native Americans used it to treat fever and cough, among other things. Elderberry was even featured in “The Family Physitian” (1696) as a remedy for scurvy, and it was a favorite plant among young boys for making popguns.

    Elderberry gained modern recognition during the 1995 Panama flu epidemic, where it was reportedly used to combat the illness. A clinical trial conducted during the epidemic reported that nearly 90 percent of patients treated with elderberry extract fully recovered within two to three days, compared to six days or more for the placebo group.

    Illustration by The Epoch Times, Shutterstock

    Fun Facts

    • Native Americans used elderberry for a variety of purposes, including making flutes, which is why the elder tree is sometimes called the “tree of music.”
    • The elder tree is often considered sacred in folklore, believed to protect homes from evil spirits.
    • Elderberries are used in jam, jelly, ice cream, wine, yogurt, pies, and herbal tea.
    • Elderflower cordial and elderberry wine were popular in medieval Europe and remain well-loved beverages today.
    • Some speculate that J.K. Rowling’s “Elder Wand” in the “Harry Potter” series may have been inspired by the sacred and mystical associations of the elder tree in folklore.

    Special Talents

    Elderberry belongs to the Sambucus genus, which includes 20 species, but the most popular and extensively studied for immune support is black elderberry (Sambucus nigra), native to Europe, northern Africa, the Americas, and western Asia.

    Due to its diverse blend of nutrients, elderberry can help combat acute illnesses like the common cold and possibly chronic diseases.

    Its medicinal properties are largely attributed to its anthocyanins, the compounds responsible for elderberry’s deep purple color. These antioxidants shield against inflammation and oxidative damage—two factors that can weaken the immune system.

    In many countries, anthocyanins are prescribed as medicine because of their potential to protect against chronic conditions such as atherosclerosis.

    Elderberries also contain vitamins A, B-complex, C, and E, essential minerals like zinc and magnesium, and antioxidants such as flavonols, carotenoids, phytosterols, and polyphenols, earning elderberry a reputation as a “superfruit.”

    1. Fights Colds and Flu

    Research suggests that elderberry may help reduce the duration and severity of flu symptoms across several strains of influenza. Elderberry reduced the flu’s duration by an average of four days in a clinical trial. When taken within 48 hours of symptom onset, elderberry significantly alleviated fever, headache, nasal congestion, and mucous discharge associated with the flu, according to a 2020 review. Symptoms in most adults improved by an average of 50 percent within two to four days. This effect may be due to elderberry’s ability to block viral proteins, preventing viruses from infecting cells.

    Elderberry also reduced cold symptoms in air travelers, according to a 2016 study.

    2. Slows Cognitive Decline

    A 2024 randomized controlled trial reported that patients with mild cognitive impairment who took elderberry for six months trended toward faster visuospatial problem-solving performance than controls. Several markers of inflammation were also reduced, which is significant because chronic inflammation is associated with cognitive decline. Elderberry juice shows promise in slowing Alzheimer’s-related cognitive decline, the researchers concluded.

    Similarly, a 2023 cell culture study highlighted elderberry’s potential neuroprotective effects by demonstrating its ability to prevent oxidative stress-induced death of neuron-like cells, a major predictor of age-related cognitive decline. The findings suggest elderberry may address oxidative damage in neurological conditions, such as cognitive decline.

    3. Combats Chronic Disease

    Emerging research, primarily in animal and cell culture studies, suggests elderberry’s potential in managing inflammatory and chronic conditions, although more studies are needed to confirm these effects in humans. Some of the most encouraging research is detailed below.

    Heart Disease

    In a placebo-controlled study, 34 healthy people consumed elderberry juice for two weeks. On average, participant cholesterol dropped from 199 to 190 milligrams per deciliter compared to the control group. The decrease was not statistically significant but did show a trend, leading the researchers to conclude that a higher dose may lead to a significant decrease. A second study reported that elderberry extract reduced aortic cholesterol levels in a widely used mouse model of atherosclerosis, indicating decreased progression of the condition.

    A 2024 cell culture study found that elderberry inhibited foam cell formation, a critical step in atherosclerosis and heart disease, without triggering liver fat production. This suggests elderberry may help prevent heart disease by targeting the early stages of arterial plaque development, though further research is needed to confirm these effects in humans.

    Diabetes

    Elderberry has a history of being used as a traditional remedy for diabetes. In a 2016 study, four weeks of elderberry extract supplementation decreased insulin resistance and fasting blood sugar in Type 2 diabetic rats. Another study found that 16 weeks of black elderberry supplementation reduced insulin resistance, triglycerides, and inflammation in obese mice.

    Huntington’s Disease

    Scientists are exploring the potential of elderberry as a therapy for Huntington’s disease. In a 2021 study, compared with controls, rats with an experimental model of Huntington’s disease demonstrated significant improvement in motor function and muscle coordination after treatment with elderberry.

    Depression

    Elderberry was also reported to be a natural antidepressant in a mouse model, according to a 2014 study. The researchers concluded that elderberry extracts “were safe and showed remarkable antidepressant activity.”

    Cancer

    Black elderberry is rich in bioactive compounds, including antioxidants, that may contribute to cancer prevention and support cancer treatment. One notable compound, kaempferol—a flavonoid present in black elderberries—triggered the death of pancreatic cancer cells in both tumor-bearing mice and cell cultures, according to a 2021 study. Additionally, anthocyanins from elderberries caused melanoma cells to halt their proliferation and die in a 2017 cell culture study.

    Read the rest here…

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/21/2024 – 22:10

  • Syria's Central Bank Gold Miraculously Still In The Vault, Reuters Claims
    Syria’s Central Bank Gold Miraculously Still In The Vault, Reuters Claims

    In an astonishing turn of events, amid the recent turmoil and shifts in power that have engulfed Syria over the past 3 weeks, one key component of the country’s wealth which has remained unscathed in the fog of war, at least according to Reuters reporter Timour Azhari, is the Syrian central bank’s gold reserves in Damascus – all 25.8 tonnes of gold worth over US $2.2 billion at current market prices.  

    According to the Reuters report, while the bank’s FX balances have fallen to just “US$ 200 million in cash”, the “vault of Syria’s central bank holds nearly 26 tons of gold, the same amount it had at the start of its bloody civil war in 2011.”

    This is despite the fall of Damascus, the escape of former leader Bashar al-Assad to Moscow, and the rise of Ahmed al-Sharaa, leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), as commander-in-chief of the new administration, with Mohammed al-Bashir as leader of a caretaker government.

    Reuters news agency, part of Thomson Reuters group (which is majority controlled by The Woodbridge Company Limited, a holding company of the Canadian Thomson family) first admits that…

    “Reuters could not access the central bank vaults.”

    So none of the 600 photo journalists employed by Reuters could get even one photo of some gold bars in the Damascus vault. What a pity.

    Reuters then also admits that “media representatives for Syria’s new ruling administration and for the Central Bank of Syria did not respond to Reuters requests.” This left Reuters to talk to the proverbial “four people familiar with the situation”.

    One of these four unidentified sources told Reuters that “The vault is bomb-proof and requires three keys, each held by a different person, and a combination code to be opened”.

    Two other sources told Reuters that “the vault was inspected by members of Syria’s new administration last week, days after the rebels took control of the Syrian capital Damascus.”

    One week ago on December 10, Reuters’ Timour Azhari also reported that looters had entered Syria’s central bank in recent days and “stolen some money from the central bank building but that the main vault had remained untouched”,

    Strangely however, that Reuters report from last week didn’t mention any gold, and was only based on comments from the “head of the Damascus Chambers of Commerce” who was relaying information from the “authorities”. A more direct source was not available because neither the Syrian central bank governor, Issam Hazima, nor his deputy, Maysaa Sabreen, has responded to Reuters requests for comment.

    Other recent coverage from Damascus did however report that “National Bank of Syria is looted by US backed rebels with dollars, euros and gold stolen.”

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    Back to the Reuters, which continues that “the sources familiar with the situation” said that “the gold was never liquidated in order to keep sufficient collateral for the Syrian pounds circulating in the market.”

    This is all the more surprising however, since the very same Reuters news agency was reporting 12 years ago that…

    “Syria is trying to sell gold reserves to raise revenue as Western and Arab sanctions targeting its central bank and oil exports begin to bite, diplomats and traders said.”

    In that article from April 2012, titled “Syria selling gold reserves as sanctions bite: sources” Reuters stated that:

    “Syria is selling its gold at rock bottom prices,” said a Western diplomatic source, declining to say where it was being sold.

    A second diplomatic source confirmed the information, adding that Damascus was looking to offload everything it could to raise cash, including currency reserves.

    Two gold traders in the United Arab Emirates said the Syrian government had been offering gold at a discount, with one saying it was making offers at about 15 percent below the market price.

    The trader said Damascus was selling small volumes of around 20-30 kilos which were easier to offload, with offers being made through private accounts set up with free email providers.

    Notably, the World Gold Council says that the last time Syria’s central bank reported gold reserves levels to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was in 2011, when it reported total gold holdings of 25.8 tonnes, just before the Syrian central bank’s rumored gold sales of 2012. So how could the Syrian central bank still have 25.8 tonnes of gold given the gold sales in 2012 when it was “selling its gold at rock bottom prices” in “volumes of around 20-30 kilos”?

    But according to Reuters, the Syrian central bank gold reserves are the luckiest gold reserves in the world. They have miraculously defied the odds and survived 12 years of sanctions as FX reserves dwindled, survived multiple attempts to sell the gold being all over the Middle East, survived 3 weeks of recent fighting and chaos, the flight of Assad to Moscow, the arrival of a previously designated terrorist organization (HTS) into power, and an assault by looters into the central bank building last week. It must be because the vault is “bomb proof” and “needs 3 keys to open it”.

    The claim by Reuters now that the Syrian central bank still holds 25.8 tonnes of gold is not credible, even based on its own reporting from 2012. This therefore undermines the entire Reuters story about the gold still being in the Syrian central bank vault.

    Maybe Reuters Fact Check, which claims to “address online misinformation with coverage that maintains accuracy, integrity and impartiality”, should check its own stories before publishing them.

    But why would Reuters report such a story, that’s merely based on four unidentified people that are “familiar with the situation”?

    Could it be because Reuters has received over $ 1.5 billion dollars in US Government contracts for its newswire, network intelligence, and data services over the last 17 years, from the Department of Defense, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Justice, the Department of State, and many other US Gov departments?

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    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/21/2024 – 21:35

  • Escobar: Putin's Q&A And Thee Forever Wars Riddle
    Escobar: Putin’s Q&A And Thee Forever Wars Riddle

    Authored by Pepe Escobar,

    He spoke for four and a half hours, virtually non-stop, reviewing the results of 2024, mastering all the facts.

    His Direct Line received over 2 million questions, from Russia and around the world. And he had to crown the performance with a flourish, in an “I did it, my way” vein:

    “I believe that not only did I simply save [Russia], we moved away from the edge of the abyss.”

    The record would confirm it, compared to the appalling state of the Russia he inherited when first elected president in March 2000.

    President Putin’s end of the year Q&A contains enough substance to be unpacked for weeks, if not months. Let’s focus here on our current geopolitical crossroads: the Forever Wars in West Asia and Ukraine, two vectors of the standard imperial drive, now united in an Omni-War.

    Putin stated that, “we have come to Syria in order to prevent a terrorists’ enclave (
) In general, our goal has been achieved.”

    Whether Syria remains “terrorist free” remains to be seen: the new, “inclusive”, rebranded as woke Emir of Damascus, al-Jolani, a Saudi national, is a certified Salafi-jihadi still with a $10 million American bounty on his head. The “enclave” now encompasses most of former Syrian sovereign territory, otherwise illegally occupied by jihadi gangs and Zionist lebensraum practitioners.

    It’s important to remember that Russia first intervened in Syria in 2015 not so much to keep access to the warm waters of the Eastern Mediterranean: but mostly to protect holy Christian Orthodox sites in Damascus. Christianity was born in Damascus (remember St. Paul) – not in Jerusalem. When Putin went to Damascus, he was on an Orthodox Christian pilgrimage: coming from the Third Rome (Moscow) to pay his respects to the precursor of the first Rome, the cradle of Christianity.

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    It all started with Timber Sycamore

    On the larger Levantine geopolitical picture, Putin is correct. The CIA invented Operation Timber Sycamore way back in 2012 to train and weaponize “moderate rebels” to overthrow Assad – spending over $1 billion a year: the most extensive CIA covert op since the jihad in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

    The UK, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan were Sycamore partners. Over the final years, the Pentagon jumped in to “prepare” Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the “soft” ISIS splinter group.

    Ultimately it was nearly 14 years of toxic US sanctions and relentless siege warfare that led to the final act, complete with Ukrainian drone instructors, mountains of Qatari cash and the Turk-assembled crypto-al Qaeda infantry (no more than 350 fighters, according to Putin himself).

    Now it’s a matter of adapting. Putin said that, “we have established relations with all those that control the situation on the ground (
) Most countries expect the Russian bases to remain (
) Our interests should coincide, a question that requires painstaking examination.”

    He also reminded everyone that politics is the art of compromise – and Russia’s strategic priority is to keep the bases in Tartus and Hmeimim.

    Putin brushed aside the notion that Russia has been weakened by Assad’s downfall in Syria, quoting Mark Twain: “Rumors about my death have been greatly exaggerated.”

    Instead, he practically proposed that the Russian bases could provide humanitarian aid: one can imagine the population of a deeply polarized, fragmented Syria arguing with the Salafi-jihadis to get their share. Were that to happen, Russia would be in direct aid competition with the collective West.

    The EU, via its new, deranged Estonian ultra-Russophobic foreign policy chief, has already ordered that there will be no sanctions relief if the Russian bases stay.

    Erdogan thinking like it’s 1919

    Turkiye is the ultimate thorny issue. Erdogan is relentlessly promoting the notion that “Turkiye is greater than Turkiye itself” – which some have interpreted as Ankara being ready to annex large swathes of Syria.

    And potentially more. A “Greater Turkiye” would historically have included Thessaloniki, Cyprus, Aleppo and even Mosul.

    Putin for his part was supremely diplomatic, focusing on Turkiye “trying to safeguard its safety on its southern frontiers, and to create conditions for the return of refugees back home from its territory to Syrian land. And those territories are now under more or less control of actually Turkiye.”

    He also acknowledged that Turkiye has had “problems with the Kurdish Workers Party for decades. I hope there will not be an aggravation”.

    Well, there will (italics mine) be aggravation.

    Turkish diplomatic sources are relentlessly spinning that everything that happened in Syria was decided by the “Astana process” troika of Russia, Iran and Turkiye. Moscow keeping its embassy in Damascus and – for the moment – the bases in Tartus and Hmeimim might point to a deal.

    Add to it Erdogan gleefully stating on the record that

    Putin and himself are the most experienced politicians on the planet.

    As it stands, all that may be classified as fog of war.

    Immediately after Assad’s fall, the Israelis started bombing every warehouse holding heavy military equipment across Syria, including classified weapons. It’s unclear who provided the exact locations.

    The Americans, predictably, were furious. No wonder: the lame duck White House and the Deep State were betting on transferring all that weaponry to Kiev.

    The exact tone of the secret deals struck between the Astana process troika and between two of them with Israel will remain predictably murky – and the way Putin talked about them suggests that the Long Game is just starting.

    Russia may not have been weakened by the loss of Syria, but quite uncomfortable questions remain. The sacredness of Syria’s national sovereignty has taken a hit. Same goes for the fight against terrorism.

    On the other hand, Putin increased the tone on Tel Aviv – an extremely touchy dossier in Russia. He named Israel as “the main beneficiary” in Syria; directly condemned Israeli invasion and annexation of sovereign Syrian territory; and confessed he does not know what “ultimate goals” Israel is pursuing in Gaza, but “this is only worthy of condemnation”.

    ‘Let’s have a 21st century tech duel’

    Putin all but admitted that Russia should have moved against Kiev earlier – and that the Russian Army was not fully prepared for the start of the SMO in February 2022. What’s implied is that over 10 years ago, a simple Russian police operation might have taken care of Maidan; Yanukovych could have been transported to Crimea; the coup would have fizzled; and there would have been no war.

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    Putin is adamant that Russia is always ready to negotiate with Kiev. The key takeaways: no preconditions; talks grounded in the 2022 Istanbul deal (aborted by the Americans) and the “current conditions on the battlefield”; Russia will talk to Zelensky only if he holds elections and gains legitimacy; and Russia will only sign peace deals with the legitimate leader of Ukraine.

    A lot to unpack here. In sum: Istanbul for all practical purposes does not apply anymore – considering the ever-changing “conditions on the battlefield.” Zelensky will not hold elections – so he will remain illegitimate. So who to talk to? Moreover, signing peace deals with a “legitimate” Ukrainian leader means nothing because the Ultimate Decider is always the “non-agreement capable” (copyright Lavrov) Hegemon.

    All that implies that the SMO may keep rumblin’ on for quite a while.

    The whole Forever Wars riddle directly links with BRICS, because this is a Hegemon war against BRICS (especially top three “existential threats” Russia, China and Iran), inscribed in the Big Picture of the Eurasia v. NATOstan war.

    Putin was adamant that “BRICS is not a tool for countering the West. Out work is not aimed against anyone (
) We adopt all decisions by consensus (
) this is a group based on common interests. And there is one common interest: development.”

    BRICS, added Putin, is driven to generate “more economic growth and transforming the structure of the economy in order for it to be in step with the global development agenda”, positioning BRICS “at the forefront of this progressive movement”. Expect the usual lot accusing Putin of being a Davos/Great Reset shill.

    Arguably the prime cliffhanger of the Q&A was Putin proposing to test the hypersonic Oreshnik against NATO’s Aegis Ashore: “Let’s have a 21st century tech duel”. NATOstan brings all their top defense systems to Kiev and let’s see if they can stop Oreshnik. Could be London instead of Kiev. Or for that matter, NATO’s HQ outside Brussels.

    Will that happen? Of course not. Already utterly humiliated in the black soil of Novorossiya, collective West cowards will flee from being totally humiliated all over again in front of the whole planet.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/21/2024 – 21:00

  • In Latest Threat To German Democracy, Dangerous Fascist Elon Musk Tweets Six Words About AfD
    In Latest Threat To German Democracy, Dangerous Fascist Elon Musk Tweets Six Words About AfD

    Authored by Eugyppius via eugyppius.com,

    German democracy, which has existed undeterred since 1949 but is somehow always shaken to its foundations whenever anybody sings the wrong song or holds a televised debate with the wrong person, is once again on life support.

    Christian Lindner, head of the market-liberal Free Democrats, did much to trigger the present catastrophe on December 1st, when he said that the Free Republic should “dare more Milei and more Musk”. Because there is little distinction between praising Milei and Musk and demanding the return of National Socialism, there ensued a brief period of establishment hyperventilation.

    Less than a week later, CDU chief and probable future German Chancellor Friedrich Merz did his part to denounce Lindner’s political wrongthink in a statement to Deutschlandfunk:

    So neither the Argentinian President nor, how shall I put it, the American entrepreneur Elon Musk – let’s put it plainly – are role models for German politics in my view. I don’t see where we can find similarities in German politics. What Christian Lindner meant will probably remain his secret.

    The next day, Merz repeated the same denunciations, only more harshly, explaining to one of our extremely adult and far-sighted pantsuit talkshow hosts that “To be honest, I was completely appalled that Christian Lindner made that comparison.” Milei, Merz said, is “really trampling on the people there”.

    Yesterday, all of this came to the notice of the (honestly rather tiresome) influencer Naomi Seibt, who posted a video statement to X rehearsing all of this old news to her largely American audience.

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    Elon Musk then brought down the hammer on the German democratic order, retweeting Seibt’s video and remarking that “Only the AfD can save Germany”.

    Today a lot of very important and influential people got out of bed and took to their keyboards to denounce Musk’s election interference. His statement might be illegal, at any rate it is very likely fascist and certainly it is beyond the pale for an American to voice an opinion about German politics. Germans absolutely never, ever, utter the slightest word about American politics and certainly would never advance negative opinions about the American President in the middle of an election campaign. Our Foreign Office would never try to fact-check an American presidential debate! Our journalists would never depict President Donald Trump dressed as a Ku Klux Klan member or offering the Hitler salute or decapitating the Statue of Liberty! That’s just not done!

    Like a great stream of green diarrhoea, the outrage is pouring forth. Matthias Gebauer, who writes for Der Spiegel, observes that “Elon Musk
 is openly promoting the AfD” and concludes that “Putin is not the only one who loves this party”. Erik Marquardt, head of the Green faction in the European Parliament, says that “The EU Commission and EU member states should no longer stand by and watch as billionaires misuse media and algorithms to influence elections and strengthen and normalise Right-wing extremists”. This “is an attack on democracy”, and “has nothing to do with freedom of expression”. Dennis Radtke, CDU representative in the European Parliament, concludes that “Musk
 is declaring war on democracy” and that “the man is a menace”. We are also under siege via “interference from Putin”; “the erosion of our democracy is being fuelled from both within and without”. Julian Röpcke, who writes for BILD, believes that “This is interference in the German election campaign by a tech billionaire who uses algorithms to decide what gets heard”. If Germany does not “respond with penalties, there will be no help for our eroding democracy”.

    Jonas Koch, at Die Zeit, complains that “the richest man in the world is now campaigning for Right-wing populists in Germany”.

    Tech billionaire Elon Musk has spoken out in favour of the Alternative for Germany party in the German Parliamentary election campaign. “Only the AfD can save Germany,” he wrote on his online service X.

    You can almost see Mr. Koch before you, clasping his pearls. He notes that the Government is doing its best to weather this unprecedented assault on the German republic. He quotes longsuffering Government spokesperson Christian Hoffmann saying that “It’s not the first time that Elon Musk has commented on German politics”. Olaf Scholz, he notes, “has been concerned about
 X since Musk assumed control of it”, but he has inexplicably not yet decided to delete Government X accounts.

    Nor is this Musk’s only sin against all that is right, free and good:

    Musk is not only increasingly involved in politics in the U.S., where he is advising U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and is to head a commission to reduce Government spending. He is also exerting influence in the U.K. He recently announced a donation of up to $100 million to the Right-wing populists around Brexit pioneer Nigel Farage.

    As early as the summer, Musk had praised the AfD after the European elections. The party was labelled as Right-wing extremist, “but the political positions of the AfD that I have read about do not sound extremist”, he wrote on X.

    Der Spiegel agrees that this is “Not the first time that this super-rich man has interfered in German politics”.

    Musk “repeatedly takes potshots at Germany”, he has “insulted” such national saints as “the former Chancellor Angela Merkel”, he has “criticised Chancellor Olaf Scholz”, and most ominously of all he has “even responded to tweets from the far-Right Thuringian AfD leader Björn Höcke”.

    He responded to Höcke! Imagine that! It is just the height of political depravity, all that responding.

    Now the billionaire and confidant of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has tweeted again


    Tweeted again! The absolute madman! Will he never stop?

    
and made a barely concealed election recommendation for the AfD. “Only the AfD can save Germany,” Musk claimed in a tweet. 


    Under Trump, Musk is set to become co-head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency. The goal of the institution: to reduce bureaucracy, eliminate regulations and cut spending. This could result in Musk weakening or even abolishing those rules that personally limit him.

    That’s right, Musk wants to make American Government more efficient so that he can suspend elections and establish himself as American dictator. It takes truly perceptive journalists, like whoever wrote this unsigned Spiegel screed, to see through his clever lies.

    Musk constantly uses X for political influence. He not only interferes in German politics from there, but also tries to exert pressure on U.S. Congressmen. 
 Since Wednesday, he has fired off various tweets to fuel the U.S. budget dispute. He also recently received representatives of the British far-Right [sic] party Reform U.K. at Trump’s private residence Mar-a-Lago in Florida.

    He is like a little antidemocratic Hitler, is Elon Musk, just tweeting whatever he wants, receiving guests, influencing
 things.

    But the gold medal for most outrageous reaction must go to Florian Harms, Editor-in-Chief of t-online. Harms writes for a slightly downmarket publication and so he has to enact more indignation than everybody else.

    “This sentence is an outrage,” Harms declares.

    There’s always a lot going on on the big-shot platform X. Since Ober-Big-Shot Elon Musk bought the social media company and reprogrammed its algorithms to inject poison, most posts there have devolved into unfounded claims, wild insults or outrageous nonsense. You can safely ignore it.

    Unfortunately, what the “Grökraz” himself posts on X cannot be ignored. This Friday, our “greatest Croesus of all time” felt compelled to intervene in the German federal election campaign with a one-liner: “Only the AfD can save Germany.” 
 That’s his prerogative; after all, anyone can now post nonsense on his platform.

    Harms is clearly highly opposed to platforms where anyone can just post anything. People should only be allowed to post things of which Harms approves. Particularly someone like Musk should not be allowed to just post whatever he wants, because Musk is “a global entrepreneur” and therefore “bears special responsibility”:

    His words carry weight because they influence international politics, stock markets and social moods. More than 208 million people follow Musk on X; he has configured the digital machines so that his posts are displayed more often than others. This gives his radical views a disproportionate amount of attention, which is how he makes politics – without democratic legitimisation.

    Vast swathes of the German corporate sector denounce the AfD all the time without the slightest “democratic legitimisation”, and as far as I know Harms has never complained about that even once. If Musk were attacking AfD, of course, Harms would be totally thrilled with it.

    The so-called Alternative for Germany is a crazy party
 [A] growing number of its officials are Right-wing radicals and enemies of democracy. This is well known and can be read in in the various reports by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

    German political discourse is so insane, I always feel slightly ashamed translating this stuff for you. It feels like dishing out embarrassing family secrets.

    Only someone who is either clueless or maliciously intent on spreading misinformation would think that this party alone could contribute something constructive for the good of Germany.

    Unfortunately, based on everything we’ve heard from Elon Musk in recent months, we have to assume the latter. This man wants to undermine constitutional and democratic institutions, abolish the welfare state and create a Darwinian world in which the law of the jungle applies. It’s bad enough that he is now gaining so much influence in the USA. This must not happen in Germany. 


    Democratic politicians should
 refute Musk’s claim. And
 they should take a particularly critical look at future investments by Musk’s companies in this country. Consumers also bear a responsibility: Anyone who is still considering buying a Tesla must accept the accusation of supporting a destroyer of democracy. [emphasis mine]

    This is all so boundlessly ridiculous, it’s like the entire country is suffering from borderline personality disorder.

    If any of these people sincerely believe that Musk’s tweet will have any influence on the German elections in February, they are clinically insane. The only thing here that might influence something is the unceasing hysteria of German establishment discourse, which seems intent on alienating powerful figures at the centre of empire, all for the indecent and passing thrill of a cheap moral orgasm. Any political order that is truly threatened by a six-word remark from anybody – even should it come from the wealthiest, most antidemocratic, fascistic and powerful man in the world – is not a political order worth having.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/21/2024 – 20:44

  • Winners And Losers From Last Night's Government Funding Package
    Winners And Losers From Last Night’s Government Funding Package

    After a week of predictable drama, President Joe Biden signed a government funding bill on Saturday, averting yet another government shutdown because of our government’s terminal addiction to spending money we don’t have.

    As we noted earlier, the package limps the government along to March 14, when this is Trump’s problem, and includes $100 billion in disaster aid and a one-year farm bill. It notably did not include a debt limit extension demanded by Trump.

    After passing through the house on the third try, the funding bill passed overnight in the Senate on Saturday by a vote of 85-11, while the House vote was 366-34.

    Here are the winners and losers:

    Elon Musk – whose viral posts on X helped spread the word that the original 1500+ page bill was total bullshit that was packed with pork.

    The billionaire businessman and close Trump ally came out against Johnson’s initial spending plan — which was bipartisan and bicameral — prompting a flood of Republicans to follow suit. The proposal never made it to the floor for a vote amid the widespread opposition.

    When Johnson’s grip on the gavel appeared to be losing its strength, some GOP lawmakers floated Musk as a potential Speaker — a longshot prospect but one that underscored their admiration for the SpaceX and Tesla CEO, and discontent with Johnson’s leadership. A House Speaker is not required to actually be a member of the House. -The Hill

    Rand Paul agrees…

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    Federal employees – Who aren’t getting coal this year from Uncle Sam. Of note, Congress hasn’t seen a shutdown in about six years. During the last one, thousands of federal workers were furloughed or had some type of disruption in pay.

    Farmers – who received $10 billion in economic assistance after some Republicans threatened to spike the stopgap without the aid. The bill also extends the 2018 farm bill by one year.

    Disaster aid – of which there’s roughly $100 billion. A large portion of this, $30 billion, will go towards FEMA’s disaster relief fund, which almost ran out of money during hurricane season.

    Washington DC – Which will receive control over RFK Stadium. Oh boy.

    Losers:

    Donald Trump – who now gets to deal with another round of this bullshit in March.

    Speaker Mike Johnson – who let this become Trump’s problem by refusing to stand his ground, or split the package into separate bills.

    Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) – whose insistence that any attempt to raise the borrowing limit be paired with spending cuts was ‘rewarded’ by a bitchslap from Trump, who took to Truth Social to call for a primary challenger to take on Roy.

    Americans – Who live in a country where spending is so out of control that the government keeps bumping up against its own debt limit like clockwork.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/21/2024 – 20:25

  • ​​​​​​​"Deportation Now!": Germans Outraged After Deadly Christmas Market Attack
    ​​​​​​​”Deportation Now!”: Germans Outraged After Deadly Christmas Market Attack

    Update (2000ET):

    Germans took to the streets on Saturday night in Magdeburg to protest a deadly Christmas Market attack carried out by a 50-year-old immigrant from Saudi Arabia. The car-ramming attack on Friday night claimed five lives and left 200 people injured.

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    “Huge protests in Germany, calling for mass deportations following the terrorist attack at a Christmas market,” one X user said. 

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    “It begins,” said another… 

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    And more. 

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    Have the German people finally had enough of disastrous open-border policies? 

    *    *    * 

    It’s a twist that is incredibly convenient for the current failing progressive government in Germany as they face a severe political backlash for their open-border immigration policies and a rising tide of populism.  The primary suspect in the Christmas Market terror attacks in Magdeburg, a doctor and refugee from Saudi Arabia, is allegedly also a supporter of the right-wing AfD party, Tommy Robinson, Elon Musk and Alex Jones according to authorities. 

    50-year-old Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, a specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy from the Saudi Arabian city of Hofuf, moved to Germany in 2006 and lives in Bernburg. He has been recognized as a refugee since 2016.  Taleb is a critic of Islamist governments and a pro-asylum activist for people seeking to escape oppressive Sharia law.  Reports claim the Saudi Government may have tried to extradite him multiple times, which Germany refused.  

    German authorities cite posts by the suspect on X showing support for the AfD and popular anti-mass immigration figures.   

    In June, he retweeted AfD party leader Alice Weidel: ‘The left are crazy. We need the AfD to protect the police from them.’

    He also retweeted AfD activist Naomi Seibt with the following quote: ‘Tyranny is based on the docility of cowards. I choose to be brave.’ 

    Posts cited as “pro-Tommy Robinson and pro-Elon Musk” are better represented as anti-censorship and an observation on the speech restrictions enforced by the German government.

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    At the same time, Taleb argued that Germany wasn’t doing enough to support asylum seekers from Saudi Arabia and that they were engaged in “crimes” against refugees:

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    Another tweet from 2006 after Taleb arrived in Germany suggests hostile intent against his new home:

    He was arrested following the market crash which took place at 7:04pm in the city of Magdeburg, according to unidentified government officials in the state of Saxony-Anhalt who spoke to the dpa news agency.

    It goes without saying, but the ideological standards are completely contradictory, bordering on the suspicious.  

    Why would an Arab refugee who wants to secure asylum for people trying to escape oppressive regimes in countries like Saudi Arabia also support a party like the AfD which is seeking to shut German borders and end the flood of migrants from Muslim countries?  

    And, if he is truly anti-Muslim, why would he drive a car through a Christmas Market where he is most likely to kill native Germans and non-Muslims?  Trying to determine a motive is a mind boggling prospect.

    Reports suggest that Taleb was critical of the German government’s antagonism towards anti-Islam activists, but this still does not explain his alleged actions.  His recent social media resume reads like a schizophrenic cartoon character; but the media descriptions of him are a perfect amalgam of all the political positions that the progressive German establishment would like to demonize. 

    Currently, the German government is debating a move to ban the AfD from participating in upcoming elections.  The AfD is currently the second most popular party in Germany and leftists are fearful that the movement could defeat them and disrupt their mass immigration agenda.  Leftist governments across Europe and the UK have been engaging in a subversive campaign to thwart democratic elections and prevent the public from voting for right wing candidates. 

    It would not be surprising to see more attacks like the Christmas Market in Germany, blamed on populist and right wing supporters.  After all, it makes perfect sense that conservatives who are winning would suddenly engage in a terror campaign that might ruin their political chances for years to come and hand victory over to the progressive establishment.       

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/21/2024 – 20:00

  • FDA Updates Recall On Blood Pressure Medication Due To Possible Carcinogen
    FDA Updates Recall On Blood Pressure Medication Due To Possible Carcinogen

    Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    A third blood pressure medication was recalled across the United States in the past several weeks, according to a notice updated on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) website on Dec. 16.

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in White Oak, Md., on June 5, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

    The notice said that New Jersey-based Aurobindo Pharma USA Inc. is recalling Nebivolol tablets in 2.5 milligram doses in 30-count bottles, which are only available by prescription. Nebivolol, a type of beta blocker, is used to treat high blood pressure.

    The reason for the recall is because of the “presence of nitrosamine drug substance related impurity,” adding that discovered N-nitroso nebivolol levels are above the “acceptable intake limit,” it said. N-nitroso nebivolol is a nitrosamine and is considered mutagenic.

    It was first initiated by Aurobindo earlier this month. The FDA classified the recall as Class II on Dec. 16, which occurs when there is a low chance of injury or death, and a possibility of “adverse events” that may have irreversible effects. They are issued if the product can cause medically reversible or temporary health problems—or if there is a small chance of serious health consequences.

    The lot numbers being recalled are: NB0224001A and NB0224001B. It has an expiration date of April 2027 and a National Drug Code, or NDC, of 59651-137-30, according to the FDA.

    Nitrosamines are compounds that can increase the risk of cancer in individuals if exposed to them above levels established by the FDA, or for long periods of time, the agency says on its website.

    “A person taking a drug that contains nitrosamines at-or-below the acceptable daily intake limits every day for 70 years is not expected to have an increased risk of cancer,” the FDA adds.

    People who are taking medications with possible “nitrosamine impurities should not stop taking their medications” and should instead speak with a health care professional.

    Nitrosamines can be found in small levels in the environment and foods, including “meat, vegetables, and dairy products,” the FDA says.

    Some scientists have issued warnings about what they described as widespread nitrosamine contamination in pharmaceutical drugs, noting they are classified as class 1 known mutagenic impurities under the International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use, a worldwide health body.

    In 2023, a Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis-published research paper found that the presence of the compounds “has raised global safety concerns due to their significant genotoxic and mutagenic effects” and that such “impurities, even in trace amounts, are highly toxic and mutagenic, capable of damaging DNA, and subsequently increase the risk of cancer incidence.”

    Other Recent Recalls

    In the past two months, two other drugs used to treat high blood pressure were recalled across the United States, according to FDA recall notices.

    New York-based Evaric Pharmaceuticals Inc. in November recalled about 200,600 bottles of its Lisinopril tablets in 10-milligram doses after a “pharmacist discovered a metal fragment embedded in a lisinopril 10 mg tablet.” The recall impacts Lisinopril tablets in 10-milligram strength in 90-count bottles.

    Weeks before that, Maryland-based Lupin Pharmaceuticals recalled another blood pressure medication, Ramipril, in October because the “active pharmaceutical ingredient was sourced from an unapproved vendor,” the FDA said.

    The recall impacts Ramipril capsules in 2.5-milligram strength in 90-count, 100-count, and 500-count bottles, the notice said. The drug, an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor used to treat high blood pressure, is only available via a prescription.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/21/2024 – 19:50

  • It's The Denominator, Stupid!
    It’s The Denominator, Stupid!

    Authored by Mark Jeftovic via BombThrower.com,

    Wrapping your head around Bitcoin’s inexorable rise.

    In every issue of The Bitcoin Capitalist there is a section called “This Month’s FUD”, where I look at the “Death of Bitcoin” narratives that emerged over the last few weeks and mercilessly debunked them. It’s not hard, because most, if not all Bitcoin FUD vectors are belaboured retreads of three or four themes – all of which have already been litigated. It’s rare to see anything new.

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    After the 2022 crypto-winter, Bitcoin has been rising steadily for two years. But for a few months recently, the “FUD” vectors had died down to a whimper. If it wasn’t for Peter Schiff and his incessant twitter meltdowns over Bitcoin, there would have been no FUD at all for awhile.

    Then, November 5th hits.

    Even though Trump had endorsed Bitcoin earlier in the year – giving a landmark keynote at Bitcoin2024 in Nashville, the FUD was relatively lacklustre and muted until the election put Bitcoin straight into the middle of the new zeitgeist.

    Many have likened the stunning election upset (in the sense that it was such an incontrovertible blowout), to a “shift in timelines”, as if our entire reality quantum-jumped into a parallel universe.

    Now the former incumbents are scrambling and in full blown panic. The old zeitgeist and it’s total domination by the far-left neo-Marxists is crumbling in real time. And while Bitcoin is decidedly apolitical beyond the antiquated “left-vs-right” paradigm, the fact is that Bitcoin continues to win, and Trump backed Bitcoin.

    (The real battle, as I have long said, is between the forces of centralization – control freaks, basically – and decentralization but because leftism and socialism requires authoritarianism, if not full blown dictatorships, the Venn diagrams for leftism / centralization largely overlap).

    So now the FUD-o-meter is on 11, all the time: Trump winning again, $100K Bitcoin and Microstrategy eating the stock market is triggering for many – it’s just all so crazy.

    (And while quantum computing may sound like a novel, new Bitcoin killer, it isn’t, and I recently wrote why quantum computing can’t kill Bitcoin)

    Why would this magic internet money become the basis of national strategic reserves? And why should Microstrategy be able to simply issue debt to buy up more of this stuff and be rewarded by the markets for doing so?

    Because, it’s the denominator, stupid.

    If you can’t wrap your brain around Bitcoin, it’s because you’re probably hardwired to look at finance and economic through the lens of everything is an asset (numerator) measured in some “fixed” currency, like a USD – the denominator.

    REAL ESTATE

    ———–

    $$$$$$$$$$$

    or maybe

    MSFT / GOOG / NVDA / META

    ————————–

    $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

    or anything else you want over the $$$$$$$.  But your problem, is you think it’s also

    Bitcoin

    ——-

    $$$$$$$

    That denominator? Those $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$?

    That’s supposed to be fixed. In order to provide a semblance of rationality to the numerator / denominator equation, at least when it comes to measuring value – the denominator isn’t supposed to be moving or if it is, it has to at least be constrained by some kind of economic trade-off.  In the old-timey days, on a gold standard, there was a 2% natural inflation rate that was mostly limited by the ability to discover new gold deposits and actually mine the stuff.

    It was a pretty good system and the world moved to it under its own incentives, not by the decree of a committee of experts.

    By 1900, approximately fifty countries were on a gold standard. including all industrialized nations. The interesting fact is that the modern gold standard was not planned at an international conference, nor was it invented by some genius. It came by itself, naturally and based on experience. The United Kingdom went on a gold standard against the intention of its government. Only much later did laws turn an operative gold standard into an officially sanctioned gold standard.

    – Ferdinand Lips, Gold Wars.

    The last vestiges of the gold standard were dispensed with in 1971, with the Nixon Shock – and since then, the dollar standard, the denominator for the global monetary system, has been on a slow roll into hyperinflation:

    Everybody has seen this chart. It makes your eyes glaze over. Nobody cares even though this is showing you the disintegration of the denominator we use to measure every economic transaction on earth.

    Should be a big deal.

    The only time it seems to matter, is during a hyperinflation, when you can see it clearly in the X-axis of a chart being viewed in logarithmic mode:

    I’ll give you one guess which monetary challenger is flashing the signal today


    But people are looking at the linear chart, and calling Bitcoin a bubble because they still think that Bitcoin is the numerator in an equation denominated by fiat dollars (a.k.a “cuck bucks”).

    I can guarantee you this: none of the billionaires who are allocating to Bitcoin think like that. Nobody building gigantic mining farms is thinking like that. Nor are the nation states and sovereign states who are about to launch strategic Bitcoin reserves. And Michael Saylor certainly isn’t thinking like that.

    All you have to do is press the “log” button on the chart and it all becomes clear


    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    So while we’re all stuck (for the moment) in this clown car economy where the numerators are denominated by infinite quantities of fiat literally backed by nothing, and the solution to everything is to print more of it


    Anybody who truly understands Bitcoin (everybody with the laser eyes), looks at it like this:

    
and is opting out of the clown ride by moving their wealth – as much as they can into THE NEW DENOMINATOR.

    And the new denominator, is Bitcoin.

    It’s still pretty early.

    When you realize that the current monetary base is scaffolded together on about $80 trillion USD in M2 money supply (all currencies) and about $300 trillion in bonds (debt, denominated in a rapidly devaluing currency, which is backed by 
nothing) and compare it to Bitcoin’s $2 trillion market cap, you realize how early we are in this story.

    In technological adoption curves, Bitcoin is still somewhere around 1998 to 2002 internet, we haven’t even hit 10% penetration yet, which is that famed “tipping point” for when a new innovation (in this case, decentralized, digital non-state money) takes hold and goes into rapid proliferation.

    While Bitcoin uptake is estimated to be somewhere around 4%-5% of the global population, my guess is with the events of 2024, we just have, or are in the process of “crossing the chasm” – another aspect of the technology adoption curve where it blows through the final wave of doubt, fear, skepticism and mal-investment before permanently breaking through to becoming the new paradigm.

    This happens all the time – just not very often with the monetary base layer – but it does happen there too.

    It’s happening now.

    *  *  *

     The Bitcoin Capitalist Letter, my premium newsletter that covers Bitcoin, crypto stocks and the digital asset space. You can catch a trial deal here »

    Sign up for the Bombthrower mailing list and get a free copy of the Crypto Capitalist Manifesto here »

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/21/2024 – 19:15

  • Death By A Thousand Talents: University Pays $700,000 To Settle With NASA Over Lead Researcher's Undisclosed China Ties
    Death By A Thousand Talents: University Pays $700,000 To Settle With NASA Over Lead Researcher’s Undisclosed China Ties

    Authored by Bill Pan via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    The University of Delaware on Dec. 16 settled with NASA after allegedly failing to disclose a professor’s ties to and support from the Chinese regime.

    In 2020, NASA awarded the university a grant to establish a research center focused on the use of satellites to collect weather, climate, and ocean data, to better understand how sea-level rise affects U.S. coastlines.

    According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware, the university certified that no funds from the NASA grant would be “used to participate, collaborate, or coordinate with the People’s Republic of China.” However, the university allegedly failed to disclose that the center’s lead researcher, Xiao-Hai Yan, had significant ties to Chinese institutions and funding while the grant was active.

    The settlement revealed that between June 2020 and August 2023, Yan was simultaneously a faculty member at Xiamen University, one of the 75 institutions directly controlled by China’s Ministry of Education. During this period, Yan also applied for and received funding from the National Science Foundation of China and China’s State Oceanic Administration.

    Additionally, Yan was a participant in China’s Thousand Talents Program, an initiative offering lucrative financial benefits and research advantages to recruit scientists from abroad to bolster China’s economic and military development. The program has raised national security and academic integrity concerns in the United States and has prompted scores of federal investigations and prosecutions over recent years.

    The university agreed to pay $715,580 to the U.S. government to resolve the allegations but did not admit to any wrongdoing.

    The university said it is “proud of its strong record of compliance” in overseeing sponsored research and remains committed to “promoting and safeguarding the responsible pursuit of scientific research.”

    “The university relies, in part, on the candor and complete disclosures of individuals involved in the grant process,” a spokesperson said in a statement to The Epoch Times. “As noted in the release, this settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing by the university, but rather a strategic decision to avoid costly and distracting litigation.”

    The settlement was a coordinated effort between the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Delaware and NASA’s Office of Inspector General, the space agency’s internal watchdog.

    “Federal law requires universities, institutions, and researchers to make disclosures, including certain foreign affiliations, when applying for grants so that the granting agencies can assess whether to fund their research and development,” David Weiss, U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware, said in a statement.

    The FBI has detailed how the Chinese government uses expert recruitment programs, such as the Thousand Talents Program, to attract individuals working or studying abroad who have access to high-priority research or proprietary technologies. The FBI estimates that China operates more than 200 similar initiatives, with some funded unwittingly by U.S. taxpayers.

    A 2019 Senate subcommittee report also highlighted numerous instances of misconduct by Thousand Talents participants. These include downloading sensitive research files before leaving for China, falsifying information on U.S. grant applications, and failing to disclose funding received from Beijing.

    One of the most high-profile cases in recent years involved Xiang Haitao, a former researcher at Monsanto. The Thousand Talents participant was arrested in November 2019 after returning to the United States from China, where he had worked on using a proprietary U.S. technology to boost farm output. In 2022, Xiang was sentenced to 29 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $150,000 fine for conspiring to commit economic espionage.

    Another widely reported case was that of Charles Lieber, former chair of Harvard University’s chemistry department. Lieber was arrested on campus in 2020 and charged with lying to federal investigators about his involvement in the Thousand Talents Program and his undisclosed ties to the Wuhan University of Technology. In April 2023, he was sentenced to two days in jail with two years of supervised release and received a $50,000 fine.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/21/2024 – 18:40

  • US Scraps $10M Bounty On AQ-linked Jolani After One Visit From State Dept Officials
    US Scraps $10M Bounty On AQ-linked Jolani After One Visit From State Dept Officials

    On Friday we featured a tongue-in-cheek headline, but which is sadly all too literal and true: Syrian Leader With $10M Bounty On His Head Meets With Delegation From Country That Put The $10M Bounty On His Head.

    US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf led the delegation along with Daniel Rubenstein, who is expected to stay in Damascus as America’s top diplomat there, as they met with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani in Damascus.

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    “The meeting took place and was positive, and positive results will emerge from it,” AFP cited a representative from HTS as saying.

    The meeting focused on a ‘vision’ for the new Syria and officials discussed sanctions, the thorny issue of the $10 million reward, and locating missing US citizens in Syria.

    It was only within a mere hours of the meeting that the US side decided to remove the $10 million bounty for the killing or capture of Jolani, who merely years ago was a full-fledged commander in ISIS, and subsequently a founder of al-Qaeda in Syria.

    …he likes kittens, long walks on the beach, and spooning his 10 wives at night. Also, he cried during The Notebook…

    “The US has scrapped a $10m (ÂŁ7.9m) reward for the arrest of Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, following meetings between senior diplomats and representatives from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS),” BBC wrote just on the heels of the talks.

    This is the same man who fought for al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), a group which targeted and killed American troops.

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    Nonetheless, the US delegation described that they are seeing signs of ‘moderate’ policies from the Al-Qaeda linked leader:

    “We’ve been hearing this for some time, some very pragmatic and moderate statements on various issues, from women’s rights to protection of, you know, equal rights for all communities, etc,” Leaf told reporters. “Again, it was a good first meeting. We will judge by deeds, not just by words. Deeds are the critical thing.”

    We have to ask: Would this fly in a US court of law?… 

    …”your honor, I swear even though I recently had an ISIS phase and later I was founder of al-Qaeda in Syria, I have reformed myself and I am ‘moderate’!…”

    “am definitely so over my al-Qaeda phase your honor… promise.”

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/21/2024 – 18:05

  • How The Left Will Defend Its Censorship Regime Against Trump
    How The Left Will Defend Its Censorship Regime Against Trump

    Authored by Bradley Smith via RealClearPolitics,

    The reelection of President Donald Trump could serve as a historic turning point for free speech in America. President Trump has said he will investigate censorship practices by the federal government, end the rampant disrespect for First Amendment rights on our college campuses, and take on Big Tech’s Orwellian policing of speech on the Internet. If successful, these efforts would make the First Amendment stronger than ever before.

    Yet President Trump’s opponents will not simply stand by and watch as he dismantles their carefully crafted censorship machine. Controlling who gets to speak and what can be said is essential to the left’s dominance over our institutions. They will not give up such an important source of their power without a fight.

    To ensure the success of Trump’s free speech agenda, the right must anticipate and prepare for the left’s inevitable attacks. Fortunately, their methods are not hard to predict. In fact, Democrats tipped their hand during the campaign.

    Back when the party’s out-of-touch leadership thought Kamala Harris would propel them to victory, they set about making plans to silence opposition to their agenda once in office. At the Democratic National Convention, Sen. Chuck Schumer promised sweeping changes to elections, voting, and campaign finance if Democrats won control of Congress and the White House. All of these efforts would slant the political playing field further in the left’s favor.

    Among the bills was legislation that would strip Americans of their privacy when supporting nonprofit groups that speak out on hot button issues like abortion, crime, the border, or extreme gender politics. The importance of this provision should not be underestimated.

    The left calls it “transparency” when they publicly expose a private citizen’s personal information, including their name and home address, but Americans know it better as doxxing. They also know the purpose is not good government, but power politics. Exposing donors allows the left to build enemies’ lists and harass anyone who backs the “wrong” cause.

    Harris, who co-sponsored the DISCLOSE Act in the Senate, has her own long record of attacking conservative donors and journalists. As California Attorney General, her demand that nonprofits expose their confidential donor lists to her office led to lawsuits and a rebuke from the U.S. Supreme Court. The First Amendment protects the right to give privately, as the justices reminded her.

    Now that the election is over, Democrats’ designs for regulating speech and exposing conservative donors may form the heart of their resistance strategy to splinter the Trump coalition. We have seen this movie before.

    After the fight over Obamacare sparked a massive conservative movement known as the Tea Party, the left painted targets on the backs of the organizations and donors at its heart. IRS bureaucrats began grilling conservative groups about their activities and intentionally slow-walked their applications for nonprofit status. The massive targeting campaign succeeded in suppressing grassroots conservative activism in the run-up to the 2012 elections, where Democrats made gains.

    Yet Democrats do not even need to control the White House to target conservative donors. Threats can arise from inside federal agencies like the IRS, or from state legislation or regulatory actions, or even from unscrupulous media aided by leaks and hacking of confidential donor data. President Trump himself saw his tax returns illegally leaked in a politically-motivated scheme.

    Organizations that are successful in promoting conservative policies have also seen coordinated campaigns to bully their donors into ending their support. These harassment campaigns are one of the tactics that allowed the left to seize control of corporate America. Today, many companies pay a heavy price for any public association with the right.

    America First organizations and citizens are more than familiar with this kind of discrimination. This time, however, they must not merely persist through it but fight back and defeat it. If not, the left’s control over our institutions will soon reemerge, strong as ever, despite our best efforts.

    The solution is simple: Ensure every American can freely, safely, and privately support the organizations that represent their values and beliefs. We must end the ability of bureaucrats and political operatives to spy on donors and nonprofits.

    If the Trump coalition can do this and protect its own, it can achieve its bold free speech agenda – and more.

    Bradley Smith is chairman of the Institute for Free Speech, a former chairman of the FEC, and a professor of law at Capital University.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/21/2024 – 17:30

  • US, UK Sanction Georgia's 'Kremlin Friendly' Government
    US, UK Sanction Georgia’s ‘Kremlin Friendly’ Government

    Starting weeks ago Washington had threatened the Republic of Georgia with “consequences” amid accusations of rigged elections, after the ‘Russia friendly’ Georgian Dream Party swept parliamentary elections.

    And this month, 53-year old Mikheil Kavelashvili of Georgian Dream party was named president after 224 out of 225 members of Georgia’s electoral college voted him in (which the main opposition groups boycotted). Large pro-EU protests have all the while a mainstay in the capital of Tbilisi. The United States and European Union are loudly backing the protesters also amid the usual claims of ‘Russian interference’ in favor of governing authorities.

    AFP/Getty Images

    More unrest and large protests are expected given Kavelashvili’s inauguration is set for December 29. Police have been deploying riot control methods against larger and larger crowds all this month.

    Western media describes Kavelashvili as “far right” abd as a critic of the West, as well as ‘conspiratorial’ given he has in the recent past claimed that Western interests are seeking to drive Georgia into conflict with Russia.

    Late this past week the US and UK have begun to make good on their promises of consequences for the new government, citing an ongoing crackdown of the pro-EU protests. Senior officials in the Georgian government are being targeted by sanctions unveiled by the US and UK on Thursday. 

    “The United States strongly condemns the Georgian authorities’ ongoing, brutal and unjustified violence against Georgian citizens, including peaceful protesters, media members, human rights activists and opposition figures,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller announced.

    The US Treasury described that top Georgian officials will have any assets or property held in the United States blocked, and most financial transactions involving these assets will be barred. 

    As for the UK, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy has claimed that there is “shocking violence” against protesters, despite little evidence beyond what’s typical for such street demonstrations and clashes with riot police.

    Things seem quite peaceful actually, with little in the way of a police crackdown, which has just been sporadic in past weeks…

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    Lammy called out the Georgian government and Dream Party for an ongoing “an egregious attack on democracy, and the Georgian people’s right to exercise their fundamental freedoms.”

    “Our action today shows that the UK stands with the people of Georgia and will consider all options to ensure those responsible are held to account,” he said, announcing the UK sanctions which were coordinated with Washington.

    The dividing lines for Georgia’s current crisis, which has seen the Dream Party solidify complete control of the government – but with unrest in the streets – is much like Ukraine’s political divide in 2014. But let’s hope the situation doesn’t turn to open conflict involving the US or Russia (akin to the disastrous war in Ukraine), which is something officials in Tbilisi have long been worried about.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/21/2024 – 16:55

  • Massachusetts Is The Most Expensive State To Raise A Kid In, Mississippi Cheapest
    Massachusetts Is The Most Expensive State To Raise A Kid In, Mississippi Cheapest

    Although costs vary from family to family, two working parents spend an average of around $23,000 per year raising one child in the United States.

    This graphic, via Visual Capitalist’s Bruno Venditti, illustrates the cost of raising a child by state, based on data compiled by SmartAsset as of February 2024.

    Methodology

    SmartAsset used the MIT Living Wage Calculator to compare the living costs of a household with two working adults and one child to those of a childless household with two working adults. Costs include expenses for food, housing, childcare, healthcare, transportation, and other necessities.

    Massachusetts Tops the List

    Massachusetts has the highest annual costs for raising a child, at $35,841 per year. Mississippi has the lowest annual costs, at $16,151 per year.

    Rank State Annual cost of raising a child
    1 Massachusetts $35,841
    2 Hawaii $35,049
    3 Connecticut $32,803
    4 Colorado $30,425
    5 New York $30,247
    6 California $29,468
    7 New Hampshire $27,849
    8 Washington $27,806
    9 Rhode Island $27,630
    10 Minnesota $27,406
    11 Vermont $27,170
    12 Nevada $26,914
    13 New Jersey $26,870
    14 Alaska $26,860
    15 Oregon $26,334
    16 Delaware $25,867
    17 Maine $24,917
    18 Maryland $24,830
    19 Pennsylvania $24,820
    20 Wisconsin $24,064
    21 Virginia $24,043
    22 Arizona $24,026
    23 Illinois $23,821
    24 Michigan $23,075
    25 Ohio $22,926
    26 Nebraska $22,773
    27 Iowa $22,714
    28 North Dakota $21,645
    29 Indiana $21,584
    30 North Carolina $21,510
    31 Florida $21,384
    32 Idaho $21,214
    33 Utah $20,955
    34 Montana $20,839
    35 Texas $20,724
    36 Wyoming $20,579
    37 Georgia $20,480
    38 South Carolina $20,293
    39 New Mexico $20,060
    40 Missouri $19,995
    41 West Virginia $19,558
    42 Oklahoma $19,535
    43 Tennessee $19,525
    44 Kansas $19,494
    45 South Dakota $19,008
    46 Alabama $18,653
    47 Kentucky $18,588
    48 Louisiana $17,918
    49 Arkansas $17,424
    50 Mississippi $16,151

    Regardless of the state, childcare is the highest expense, followed by additional housing and food costs.

    Housing costs include expenses for shelter (e.g., mortgage payments, property taxes, rent, and insurance), utilities (gas, electricity, fuel, cellphone, and water), and household furnishings and equipment. Childcare costs include education expenses, daycare tuition, babysitting, other childcare costs, and tuition for private schools.

    These expenses do not account for the cost of a college education, which can add significantly to the overall financial burden.

    If you enjoyed this post, be sure to check out this graphic, which ranks the income a family needs to live comfortably in every U.S. state.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/21/2024 – 15:45

  • Santa Claus Rally Or Did The Fed Steal Christmas?
    Santa Claus Rally Or Did The Fed Steal Christmas?

    Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,

    Powell & A Government Shutdown Hits Stocks

    Last week, we noted the ongoing market churn that could last into this week’s Fed meeting. To wit:

    “That certainly seemed the case this past week, with the market trading being fairly sloppy. Attempts to push the market higher were repeatedly met with sellers, and we saw a rotation from over-owned to under-owned assets. Notably, that selling pressure arrived as expected, and while such could persist until early next week, we should be getting close to the end of the distribution and rebalancing process. The good news is that the recent consolidation paves the way for ‘Santa Claus to visit Broad and Wall.”

    That process continued as expected this past week but became violent on Wednesday following the Federal Reserve meeting. While the Fed cut rates as expected, the market shock came from the lift in its outlook for interest rates in 2025 by a half percentage point. The market is assuming that the Fed is giving up on the idea that inflation will return to the 2% target next year, an idea that they had confidence in as recently as September. That more hawkish outlook undermined the view that elevated valuations were justified by easier monetary conditions, which now seems to be reversing. We suspect that this view is rather short-sighted, and given the economic dynamics both abroad and in the U.S., slower economic growth will lead to a “dovish” pivot by the Fed in the first half of 2025.

    The markets also struggled with concerns about a Government shutdown. As we discussed in October 2023, shutdowns are NOT a threat to the market in the long term. To wit:

    “What is critical to understand about Government shutdowns is that mandatory spending (social security, welfare, interest on the debt) continues as needed. Shutdowns are primarily about discretionary spending. Such is why it mainly involves Government employment and the shuttering of national parks and monuments. According to Goldman Sachs, the shutdown would have only impacted about 2% of Federal spending overall. Notice that the vast majority of Government spending is directly a function of the social welfare system and interest on the debt.”

    Please note that during a Government shutdown, all MANDATORY spending continues. In other words, the government WILL NOT default on its debt, and social security payments will continue, despite rhetoric to the contrary.

    Furthermore, market reactions to government shutdowns have become increasingly muted. The reason is that the markets have learned that funding typically arrives at the 11th hour via a ‘continuing resolution’ to provide temporary funding through the next political event, such as midterm elections, inauguration, etc. While these short-term spending bills eventually translate into longer-term spending bills, the real problem is that continuing resolutions (CRs) increase spending by 8% annually. Such is why debt has exploded since Congress stopped passing budgets in 2009 under President Obama and opted for CRs. The debt surge is the direct result of automatically compounding 8% annual spending increases plus additional spending.

    However, as shown, government shutdowns, if they occur, can temporarily impact markets, but the event tends to be mild and short-lived.

    Nonetheless, the market has triggered a short-term MACD sell signal, which warned investors that some “event” could exert downward pressure on stocks. As noted, the Fed and “Government Shutdown” drama sufficiently triggered sellers as portfolio rebalancing and distributions concluded. With relative strength oversold on Friday, the setup for a reflexive rally into year-end has become a much higher-probability event. However, the ongoing sell signal is deep enough to limit whatever reflexive rally does arrive. Such is particularly true as money flows have deteriorated over the last few weeks.

    While we still expect a rally into year-end, as we will discuss, there is a not-so-insignificant possibility of further turmoil. We suggest continuing to manage risk, and with significant gains already booked for this year, there is little need to stretch for further returns at this juncture.

    Will Santa Claus Visit Broad And Wall?

    Will “Santa still visit Broad and Wall?” That is the question on everyone’s mind. As we will discuss, there are certainly reasons to be concerned, but let’s start with the market statistics and reasons behind the fabled year-end rally.

    The actual Wall Street saying is, “If Santa Claus should fail to call, bears may come to Broad & Wall.” The Santa Claus Rally, also known as the December effect, is a term for more frequent than average stock market gains as the year winds down. However, as is always the case with data, average returns sometimes differ from reality.

    Stock Trader’s Almanac explored why end-of-year trading has a directional tendency. The Santa Claus indicator is pretty simple. It looks at market performance over a seven-day trading period – the last five trading days of the current trading year and the first two trading days of the New Year. The stats are compelling.

    “The stock market has risen 1.48% on average during the 7 trading days in question since both 1950 and 1969. Over the 7 trading days in question, stock prices have historically risen 76% of the time, which is far more than the average performance over a 7-day period.“

    The end of the year tends to be strong for a couple of reasons. First, professional managers tend to “window dress” portfolios for year-end reporting purposes. Secondly, given that many professional funds make year-end distributions, there tends to be a need to rebalance portfolios. The following graph in orange shows aggregate cumulative returns by day count for the December months we analyzed. In the graph, we plotted returns alongside daily aggregated average returns by day. Unsurprisingly, the recent sloppy trading and correction this past week all coincide with the historical norms of December.

    Visually, one notices the “sweet spot” in the two graphs between the 10th and 14th trading days. The 14th trading day, in most cases, falls within a few days of Christmas.

    However, there is always a risk.

    Did The Fed Steal Christmas?

    While there is a decently high probability that stock prices will climb heading into year-end, there is a not-so-insignificant 24% chance they won’t. With the substantial November advance and new highs into early December, the question is whether anyone is “left to buy?” As noted, not every December has a “Santa Claus Rally.” 2018, as shown, is a good reminder that once in a while, investors receive a lump of coal in their stockings. At that time, the Federal Reserve was on a rate hiking campaign and insisted that it was “nowhere near the neutral rate” on monetary policy. Furthermore, since the market had declined steeply since early September, sentiment and investor positioning were very negative.

    Interestingly, December 2024 has some of the same backdrops as September 2018.

    First, the S&P 500 rallied strongly this year, approaching our year-end target of 6000. That rally has led to a sharp increase in bullish sentiment between retail and professional investors. As shown, U.S. equity allocations are at record highs among professional investors.

    Furthermore, like in 2018, when retail equity allocations and valuations were elevated, investor allocations are at the highest on record, coinciding with the second-highest valuation levels.

    There is also an abundance of optimism about future stock prices, just like in 2018.

    What is important to remember about 2018 is that investor optimism was fine until the Fed said it “was nowhere near the neutral rate.” Of course, following a 20% decline and two months later, the Fed was magically at that neutral rate.

    Today, investor exuberance is tied to a further accommodative easing in 2025. However, like in 2018, the Fed suggested it isn’t near its “neutral rate,” as shown in its latest projections. While the “long-run” projections are still for economic growth of 1.8% (down from 2.0% and 1.9% previously) and inflation of 2%, the short-term outlooks for 2025 were adjusted modestly higher. That uptick disappointed investors even though the end goals remain the same, which will require Fed funds to adjust lower. (Side note: The Fed’s projections are almost always too optimistic, which suggests the recent bout of hawkishness will give way to a dovish reversal next year.)

    The adjustment to the Fed’s view was minimal from an investing perspective. However, the market reacted violently because the combination of exuberance and overbought factors created the perfect environment for a reversal.

    Technically Speaking

    First, while the market rallied into year-end on many optimistic assumptions, breadth has been deteriorating noticeably. From the NYSE Advance-Decline line to the percentage of stocks trading above their respective 50 and 200-DMA, overall participation has declined rapidly. While such does not mean a market crash is imminent, such previous deterioration has eventually coincided with short-term corrections and consolidations. Unsurprisingly, that is exactly what happened as the collision of the Fed and a looming shutdown gave sellers the push they needed.

    Secondly, the market was, and is, technically extended on many levels after the past two years of excess returns. The monthly market analysis shows the S&P 500 is significantly overbought on a relative strength basis, deviated from the long-term mean, and pushing well into the top of its bullish trend from the 2009 lows. While we discussed the same factors in the middle of 2021, it took several months before the market gave way and corrected the excesses in 2022. Given the market’s current momentum, we suspect the bullish run will likely last into the first half of next year but could be sooner if earnings expectations decline.

    What is crucial to understand is that these technical extremes are just the “kindling” for a correction. To “ignite” the correction, some event must provide the catalyst. In this case, it was the more hawkish pivot by the Fed and the threat of a shutdown. As is always the case, the event that causes a sharp unwinding of the market, like we saw on Wednesday, is always unexpected. The “surprise factor” causes the sudden shift in market expectations for earnings growth and outlooks. The risk going forward is “if” the Fed is correct in its outlook, the more optimistic outlook for earnings expectations will need to be reassessed. If that is the case, the market will decline to reduce valuations for a new reality.

    Given that current valuations are at the second-highest level on record, such an event would seem more likely. Notably, short-term valuations are solely a function of sentiment. Investors are paying well above the earnings growth that is occurring. Historically, earnings have disappointed those expectations.

    Does any of this mean that “Santa Won’t Visit Broad And Wall?” Of course not. However, I would not completely dismiss the risk of “getting a lump of coal” this year.

    Given the uncertainty, both into year-end and 2025, how should we approach it?

    Calculating The Madness

    Let me repeat something that seems apropos:

    Sir Isaac Newton once said:

    “I can calculate the motions of the heavenly bodies, but not the madness of the people..” 

    As we head into year-end, we will navigate the risk of overly extended and bullish markets against the seasonally strong end-of-year period. 

    We believe that capital preservation and risk management lead to better outcomes over the long term. However, managing risk can be frustrating in the short run as the “Fear Of Missing Out” overrides common sense and logic. 

    If you disagree, that is okay.

    When the opportunity presents itself and the “madness has subsided,” these are the questions we will ask ourselves before we add exposure to portfolios:

    1. What is the expected return from current valuation levels?  (___%)
    2. If I am wrong, what is my potential downside, given my current risk exposure?  (___%)
    3. What actions should I take now if #2 exceeds #1?  (#2 – #1 = ___%)

    How you answer those questions is entirely up to you.

    What you do with the answers is also up to you.

    We are all trying to answer the question, “How much of the ‘narrative’ already got priced into the market?”

    By looking at the data, it would be easy to assume the answer is “much.”

    While bullishness prevails, this is a great time to set aside the narratives and return our focus to the basic portfolio management rules.

    How We Are Trading It

    Since we have our “stockings hung by the chimney with care,” we can stuff them with a few essential investment guidelines to follow as we approach year-end.

    • Investing is not a competition. There are no prizes for winning but severe penalties for losing.
    • Emotions have no place in investing. You are generally better off doing the opposite of what you “feel” you should be doing.
    • The ONLY investments you can “buy and hold” provide an income stream with a return of principal function.
    • Market valuations (except at extremes) are very poor market timing devices.
    • Fundamentals and Economics drive long-term investment decisions – “Greed and Fear” drive short-term trading. Knowing what type of investor you are determines the basis of your strategy.
    • “Market timing” is impossible– managing risk exposure is logical and possible.
    • Investment is about discipline and patience. Lacking either one can be destructive to your investment goals.
    • There is no value in daily media commentary– turn off the television and save yourself the mental capital.
    • Investing is no different from gambling—both are “guesses” about future outcomes based on probabilities. The winner is the one who knows when to “fold” and when to go “all in.”
    • No investment strategy works all the time. The trick is knowing the difference between a bad investment strategy and one temporarily out of favor.

    While anxiously anticipating the arrival of the “Santa Claus Rally,” we must also remember the lesson of 2018.

    Nothing is guaranteed.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/21/2024 – 15:10

  • Ukrainian Drones Pummel Russian City Over 600 Miles From Front Line
    Ukrainian Drones Pummel Russian City Over 600 Miles From Front Line

    Ukraine’s drone and missile attacks deep inside Russia have already been a near daily occurrence, but now these projectiles are reaching further and further into Russia, often utilize Western-supplied weapon systems.

    “Ukraine brought the war into the heart of Russia Saturday morning with drone attacks that local authorities said damaged residential buildings in the city of Kazan in the Tatarstan region, over 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) from the front line,” The Associated Press reports Saturday.

    Aftermath of suicide drone attack by Ukraine in the Russian city of Kazan, via ABC.

    The regional governor said that eight drones attacked the city, with anti-air defenses only able to shoot down one. The others hit residential buildings and an industrial facility. 

    No casualties were indicated by emergency services, but the attacks halted flights at Kazan’s airport, and all public gatherings were canceled due to the threat of more possible inbound drones.

    The last several days have seen deadly attacks on Rostov and Kursk regions. The several waves of assaults involved US-provided ATACMS, UK-provided Storm Shadow missiles, as well as a HIMARS attack which occurred Friday.

    The Russian Defense Ministry said: “These actions by the Kiev regime supported by Western handlers won’t be left unanswered.”

    Dramatic video shows one drone smashing into the upper floors of high-rise building. The footage was verified by the AP:

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    President Putin has previously warned that “decision-making centers” in Kiev could be hit, but it appears that has yet to happen on any large-scale, even nearly three years into the war.

    There’s also the looming threat that Moscow could launch more Oreshnik hypersonic missiles armed with conventional warheads, which could do major damage. Clearly these ‘options’ have been largely held back thus far.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/21/2024 – 14:35

  • Dem Rep. Crockett: Hispanic Voters Have "Slave Mentality" And "Can Barely Vote"
    Dem Rep. Crockett: Hispanic Voters Have “Slave Mentality” And “Can Barely Vote”

    Authored by Jonathan Turley,

    One of the most consistent elements of the identity politics practiced by the left is its selectivity. Whether in politics or higher education, the outrage that comes from allegedly racist or insensitive comments is confined to targets on the right.

    A case in point is the deafening silence after a diatribe by Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, during which she accused Hispanic voters of having a “slave mentality” and said that they “can barely vote.”

    There was no vaporous segment on The View or condemnations on the floor from members.

    Crockett has been celebrated in left-wing publications such as Vanity Fair for schooling her colleagues, which she describes as “old as sh*t.”

    She offered Vanity Fair her “distilled summary of what happens within the Latino community.” Not surprisingly, it is identity politics with a race edge:

    “I’ve not run into that with the Asian community. I’ve not run into that with the African community. I’ve not run into that with the Caribbean community. I’ve only run into it with Hispanics. When they think of ‘illegals,’ they think of, you know, maybe people that came out of the cartels and that kind of, like, the criminal-type book or whatever. It’s insane.”

    “It almost reminds me of what people would talk about when they would talk about kind of like ‘slave mentality’ and the hate that some slaves would have for themselves. It’s almost like a slave mentality that they have. It is wild to me when I hear how anti-immigrant they are as immigrants, many of them. I’m talking about people that literally just got here and can barely vote that are having this kind of attitude.”

    The attack on Hispanic voters as including people who “literally just got here and can barely vote” did not even generate objections from many Democratic Hispanic groups. Imagine if Trump or a conservative commentator made this comment.

    Ironically, just before the election, I wrote how recent immigrants seemed to have a particularly strong connection to our defining and collective values. That does not appear a view shared by the congresswoman.

    Crockett was, if anything, inclusive in her attacks based on gender and race. She also attacked black men and women for voting for Trump. She just dismissed black men as hating women: “I’m going to chalk up to misogyny.”

    What is unimaginable is that any woman or person of color could vote on the merits against the Democrats.

    Notably, after her loss, Hillary Clinton offered the same attacks on women as voting against her only because they are weak and self-loathing.

    She claimed that Kamala, who notoriously avoided interviews and could not think of “a thing she would do differently” from Biden, “ran a flawless campaign.” The problem is again self-hating women and minorities, adding, “I don’t trust White women. I said, I’m just telling you, and I think you need to have conversations with your sisters, because they are the group that failed Hillary Clinton.”

    The claim that Hispanics “can barely vote” would not be tolerated from someone on the right. It is reminiscent of the controversy involving Democratic lawyer and former Clinton campaign general counsel Marc Elias over what some called inherently racist comments about Georgia voters. Elias argued that Georgia voters could not be expected to be able to read their driver’s licenses correctly — a statement that seemed to refer to minority voters who would be disproportionately impacted by such a requirement.

    What is striking about the Vanity Fair article is that Democrats continued to rely on identity politics despite every indication that it was not working. Now, after losing both houses and the White House, they are doubling down on identity politics.

    Outgoing Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Jaime Harrison used his farewell address to warn Democrats not to abandon identity politics as the touchstone of future campaigns.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/21/2024 – 14:00

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Dec 21

Today’s News 21st December 2024

  • Escobar: Anarchy In The Levant – Your Future Dream Is A Chaos Scheme
    Escobar: Anarchy In The Levant – Your Future Dream Is A Chaos Scheme

    Authored by Pepe Escobar,

    Tehran and Moscow harbor no illusions – and are preparing accordingly. The war on BRICS is just getting started.

    Syria as we knew it is being eviscerated in real time – in geographic, cultural, economic and military terms – by an appalling confluence of mercenary Rent-a-Jihadi mobs and psychopathological genocidals praying at the altar of Eretz Israel.

    All of that is fully supported by rabid NATOstan hyenas – masters of narrative control – and fully intertwined with the eradication of Palestine.

    Across the avowedly dejected Global Majority, there’s a feeling that the momentarily exhausted Axis of Resistance will need to go turbo-Sisyphus to rearrange, resupply and recalibrate the defense of Palestine.

    Predictably, there’s not a peep across the NATOstan sphere about Tel Aviv’s feral, indiscriminate bombing and snatching of sovereign Syrian territory. That represents a glaring illustration of the “rules-based international order” in action.

    Collective West Think Tankland is in rapture. Chatham House preaches a Syrian rebuilding in this “watershed moment” led by the U.S., EU, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, capable of “forging a consensus around Syria” that “could serve as the foundation for a new regional order.”

    The rabidly anti-BRICS Center for a New American Security (CNAS) demands “expelling Russia’s military presence” from Syria and “to close the country as an avenue for Iran’s power projection.”

    The Axis of Resistance is being mourned across the spectrum. Not so fast. The deeper meaning of the “ceasefire” between Israel and Hezbollah is that the psycho-pathologicals, for all practical purposes, were defeated, even if they wreaked horrendous havoc on southern Lebanon and Beirut’s suburbs.

    Changing the narrative – and the focus – to the Greater Idlibistan offensive allowed an avowedly massive tactical victory not only for Eretz Israel goons but for the assembled NATOstan/Turkiye combo. Yet the real nitty-gritty starts now, even as the partition of Syria is already in effect.

    The Rent-a-Jihadi mob, in theory under the control of the aspiring Caliph of Al-Sham, the Saudi al-Jolani, real name Ahmad Ibrahim al-Sha’a, sooner or later may turn against the Eretz Israel project, considering they entertain cozy relations with Hamas in Gaza.

    At least for the moment, everything is swell for the Oded Yinon and/or Bernard Lewis plan to subdue West Asia via time-tested Divide and Rule. This harks back not only to Sykes-Picot in 1917, but even earlier, to 1906, when British PM Henry Campbell-Bannerman asserted that,

    “There are people [Arabs] who control spacious territories teeming with manifest and hidden resources. They dominate the intersections of world routes. Their lands were the cradles of human civilizations and religions.”

    So if these “people” united, they would then “take the fate of the world into its hands and would separate Europe from the rest of the world.”

    Ergo, the necessity of “a foreign body” [later constituted as Israel] to be “planted in the heart of this nation to prevent the convergence of its wings in such a way that it could exhaust its powers in never-ending wars. It could also serve as a springboard for the West to gain its coveted objects.”

    Pirates of the Levant

    The Eretz Israel hallucination does not exactly mingle with Sultan Erdogan’s neo-Ottoman dream, even though they coincide in the broader urge to redraw the map of the Eastern Mediterranean and West Asia.

    As for the Exceptionalists, they can barely believe their luck. In a swoop, they just gobbled up the key strategic node of a now buried idea: Arabism, or anti-imperialism in the Levant.

    Ever since Barack Obama, in the early 2010s, declared war on Syria under orders from Tel Aviv, the Empire of Chaos had thrown everything and the kitchen sink at Damascus for at least 13 years: the longest and most expensive regime change campaign in U.S. history, complete with toxic, forced-starvation sanctions – until suddenly the big prize fell on their lap.

    The prize involves – in theory – smashing an ally of three top BRICS, Russia, Iran and China, with the added bonus of turning it into a geoeconomic black hole while doctoring the narrative to sell “the end of the dictator” to the Global Majority as the precondition for the rise of a new Dubai.

    We still don’t know how rump Syria will look like – and even for how long it will be governed by a bunch of neoliberal Salafi-jihadis with trimmed beards and cheap new off-the-rack suits.

    The fact is the Hegemon is already controlling at least a third of Syrian territory for at least a decade – and will continue to steal Syrian oil and wheat with absolute impunity: Pirates of the Levant in full regalia.

    Playing the role of sidekick, the UK’s MI6 will continue to excel in providing P.R. ops, across-the-board lobbying and gun-running opportunities for the gullible motley crew of mercenary Salafi-jihadis.

    When it comes to Tel Aviv, they are destroying Eretz Israel’s largest remaining Arab military opposition; stealing/annexing land non-stop; and dreaming of total domination, aerial and naval, in case Russia loses its bases in Tartus and Hmeimim (that’s a major “if”). Not to mention they somewhat indirectly control the new Caliph, who has meekly asked them to please, don’t conquer too much Syrian land.

    The partition will proceed along three other major vectors.

    1. Hegemon-controlled land and military bases – which might be used to attack Iraq. Forget about a fake sovereign Syria recovering their oil fields.

    2. Turkiye-annexed land which will inevitably lead to the full absorption of Aleppo (already proclaimed by the Sultan on the record).

    3. Damascus run by an ISIS offshoot directly manipulated by Turkish intel.

    All of the above might lead, already in the first quarter of 2025, to a sort of Salafi-Jihadi Zionization arrangement with just one objective: to ease sanctions from the U.S. and the EU.

    As for al-Jolani, real name Ahmad Ibrahim al-Sha’a, for all his woke rebranding, he was Al-Zarkawi’s lieutenant and Emir of Nineveh during the al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI, later reconverted as ISIS) rampage in Mesopotamia. There’s no way Baghdad will have political relations with a Salafi-jihadi who’s on Iraq’s most wanted list.

    An additional headache is the EU’s conditions for normalizing Syria, as spelled out by the unelected batshit crazy Estonian responsible for its foreign policy (and representing nearly 500 million European citizens): Brussels will only lift sanctions if there are no Russian bases and “Russian influence” left in the Caliphate of al-Sham.

    Meanwhile, the Empire of Chaos will continue its plunder – in conjunction with Israel. The Syrian oil stolen by the Americans is sold by the Kurds to Israel in Erbil with a huge discount. After all, this oil is “free” – as in stolen. At least 40% of Israel’s oil comes from the Erbil racket.

    And it gets worse.

    Israel has annexed the Al-Wahda dam in the basin of the Yarmouk river, close to the city of Al-Qusayr in the Dara’a governorate, and near the Jordanian border. This dam provides at least 30% of Syria’s water and 40% of Jordan’s water.

    Everything is so predictable: what the NATOstan/Israel combo really wants is an amputated, disaggregated, vulnerable Syria.

    Empire of Chaos goes Full Anarchy

    Yet the whole toxic equation is far from over. Aspiring Caliph Jolani may be tempted to allow Russia to keep its bases – and to transport their weapons systems out of the country intact. He is in close contact with Moscow, and HTS is de facto protecting Russian assets.

    In parallel, Hezbollah signaled it is willing to “cooperate” with HTS, which by the way is also protecting the Iranian embassy in Damascus. ​​

    There is no evidence whatsoever that the Greater Idlibistan invasion was a Trojan Horse agreed on the negotiating table by the – dead – “Astana process” even before the fateful Doha meeting on Saturday, January 7.

    What is certain is that the analysis in Moscow and Beijing privileges the Long Big Picture. The Chinese for now are extremely circumspect on the record about the whole Syrian drama, apart from declaring themselves “ready to play a constructive role”. Beijing and Moscow see Syria as a temporary setback on BRICS inflicted by an Empire on Desperation Row, along with its equally desperate Eretz Israel ally and a Sultan biting more than he can chew.

    The lame duck Biden combo is absolutely clueless on the emergence of a – possible – Israeli-Turkish hegemonic vector in a key node of West Asia. The only thing that matters for Straussian neo-cons and their Tel Aviv psycho-apocalyptic buddies, when it comes to the disintegration of Syria, is the window of opportunity ahead for Israel to attack Iran.

    The Times of Israel is in rapture: while previously the “IAF would not fly directly over Damascus when carrying out strikes on Iran-linked targets in the capital, it now can.”

    The key to unlock the whole riddle may lie, once again, with Jolani. Everything in West Asia is always in perpetual flux. Only a few days after the fall of Damascus, Sultan Erdogan as well as NATO have refused to help Jolani against the Israeli onslaught in Syria.

    Talk about the aspiring Caliphate’s “sovereignty”.

    So where Jolani could turn to in a quest for possible allies? And who can he rely on to impose some order in totally disaggregated Syria – including air power to fight ISIS pockets across the desert?

    Enter Tehran and Moscow. Ergo, the back channels on overdrive. They would not bat an eye when it comes to “cooperating” with the infant Caliphate – as long as their national interests are not threatened.

    The Empire of Chaos will remain unmatched in terms of narrative control, P.R. stunts, monopolizing social media spheres and non-stop psy war. All hybrid fronts. But that’s about it.

    The Empire was miserably defeated in both Afghanistan and Iraq. And continues to be humiliated by the Houthis in the Red Sea. Washington has less than zero advantage over Russia on the military sphere – except on electronic warfare (EW), at least on the West Asian theatre, and ISR (Russia is catching up), which instantly translates into inflicting more and more terror.

    As for Iran, it’s far from weaker now than before the fall of Damascus. That’s imperial narrative spin, inbuilt in the self-pleasing Exceptionalist mechanism. Ayatollah Khamenei, a fine strategist, does not waste his words. Tehran will eventually develop an alternative supply chain to Hezbollah and the West Bank.

    Besides, follow the money. The Iranian Foreign Ministry has already noted that “the new Syrian government will take on all of Syria’s financial obligations to Iran.” That’s a lot of money – that Jolani does not have.

    Michael Hudson is adamant: “Anarchy is what the U.S. plan is.” This being West Asia, where backstabbing is an art, there will be blowback. Tehran and Moscow harbor no illusions – and are preparing accordingly. The war on BRICS is just getting started.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/20/2024 – 23:25

  • Diddy, Deadpool, & The Donald: 2024 In Google Searches
    Diddy, Deadpool, & The Donald: 2024 In Google Searches

    2024 will be another year not forgotten any time soon. A look at the biggest trending Google searches can serve as a reminder for just some of the events and situations that have shaped our world over the last 12 months.

    The following chart, via Statista’s Anna Fleck, looks at the most-googled terms between January 1 and November 23.

    Infographic: 2024 in Google Searches | Statista

    You will find more infographics at Statista

    At the top of the trending news-related searches was the U.S. election.

    With 3.7 billion people having had the opportunity to go to the polls worldwide this year, 2024 has been dubbed a ‘super year’ for elections. In November, the victory of Republican nominee Donald Trump against the Democratic Party’s pick Kamala Harris will have major implications both domestically and abroad, in terms of trade and foreign policy. Other elections this year included BJP leader and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi winning a third term in office, despite losing a parliamentary majority, and the Labour Party’s Keir Starmer ousting the Conservative Party after 14 years in power.

    The second fastest growing news search term was “excessive heat”.

    As of November, 2024 was on track to be the warmest year on record. It was a year when more than 1,300 people died during the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia due to heat.

    In the world of music, Sean “Diddy” Combs was the most searched-for artist among the English-speaking world this year.

    Combs has been at the center of sexual assault, rape and sex trafficking lawsuits. The next most searched-for artists were Usher, Linkin Park, Sabrina Carpenter and Justin Timberlake.

    In terms of movies this year, the ones to garner the most search attention included Inside Out 2, an animated Pixar and Disney movie about different emotions personified as well as the Marvel superhero movie Deadpool & Wolverine and Saltburn, a thriller and social commentary on wealth.

    This year, Google also revealed the top earworms around the world. The eclectic mix of “Beautiful Things” by Benson Boone, “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” by Creepy Nuts and “Die With a Smile” by Lady Gaga were the three tunes that were looked up most frequently using the “hum to search” function.

    Finally, the most prolific people searched for this year included both Trump and Harris together with Princess Kate, who was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year and after treatment is now reported to be cancer free.

    Sadly, not all of the world’s well-known and popular people made it to the end of 2024. The most high-profile passing, at least in terms of Google Search queries, was that of One Direction singer Liam Payne.

    According to Google Trends’ methodology, the round up of searches in 2024 excludes data from China, Iran and North Korea.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/20/2024 – 23:00

  • Trump Could Tariff NATO Allies That Do Not Pay Up
    Trump Could Tariff NATO Allies That Do Not Pay Up

    Authored by Anders Corr via The Epoch Times,

    Russia launched almost 300 drones and missiles in a coordinated attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure on Dec. 13. The attack is an apparent attempt to further terrorize Ukrainians into surrender by destroying their heat and light in the middle of winter.

    The war has dragged on for almost three years now, and Ukrainians are getting tired. Their army is depleted of personnel and weapons. Gallup’s latest surveys indicate that 52 percent of Ukrainians want to end the war, even if that means giving away land to Russia. Only 38 percent now want to keep fighting until victory, down from 73 percent in 2022.

    President-elect Donald Trump is trying to both minimize the risk of escalation and shift more of the war’s burden to European allies that have not paid their fair share of defense expenditures for decades. Such a shift is eminently possible as the United States has so far committed about half of Europe’s $255 billion in aid to Ukraine. After the U.S. election, many European leaders have already doubled their commitments. But they must go much further to fully deter Russia.

    The U.S. national debt is growing at an unsustainable rate, and without new revenues, Washington can no longer afford to be the world’s policeman. Given this unfortunate reality, Trump has led calls for a cease-fire that would likely entail a risk: appeasing Russia with Ukrainian land, which would potentially incentivize Moscow and the regime in China to escalate aggression down the road. If Moscow wins in Ukraine, Beijing could try the same in Taiwan sooner, and the axis of evil wars, including those of Iran and arguably North Korea, might have no end in sight.

    There is a solution: force Europeans to increase their defense spending, including military aid to Ukraine, to at least 3 percent of GDP. Trump is heading in that direction.

    At a meeting in Paris on Dec. 7, Trump said he wants to see Ukraine emerge as a strong and well-armed country. He wants European soldiers, rather than Americans, to be present in Ukraine after a cease-fire as peacekeepers and to bear most of the expense of the continued deterrence of Russia. This will free the United States to better deter China’s communist regime.

    Trump wants Europe to help pressure China, including with tariffs, to, in turn, pressure Russia to come to the bargaining table. China has a more powerful economy and conventional military compared to Russia. After North Korea sent troops to fight Ukraine, some, like JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon, said that World War III had already started. Others say Russia wants to expand to at least the boundaries of the old Soviet Union. After conquering Ukraine, the Russian army could try to take the Baltic countries—Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania—all of which are now NATO members. Moscow has already stepped up its espionage in these regions and beyond, from Mexico to the Arctic. Some of it targets the United States.

    NATO chief Mark Rutte warned on Dec. 12 that the West is “not ready” for an increasing Russian threat over the next five years, which includes a long-term goal of conflict with the West.

    “It is time to shift to a wartime mindset, and turbocharge our defense production and defense spending,” he said.

    Rutte had praised Trump’s first term for getting NATO countries to increase their defense expenditures.

    Now, Trump is doing it again.

    He has reiterated his intention to withdraw the United States from NATO if other countries do not reach defense spending of at least 2 percent of their GDP.

    He could reasonably increase that demand to 3 percent and add another penalty: tariffs for those that fall below the agreed level.

    These tariffs could focus on luxuries and replaceables so as not to disrupt more important U.S. supply lines.

    European leaders are beginning to take action and will likely fund any U.S. shortfall to keep the Russian army further away from European capitals. Rutte has called for an increase in the defense spending goal among NATO members. Many NATO countries—namely Italy, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Croatia, and Canada—pay less than 2 percent of GDP, while several countries, including the United States, Poland, and the Baltics, spend more than 3 percent.

    The United States spent 41 percent of GDP on defense at the height of World War II and 10 percent during the Cold War. It was a lot of money, but our freedom was worth the expense. For those countries looking to get a free ride, Trump should apply his signature tariffs. He has threatened Canada with tariffs and could do so as a penalty for its low defense spending. That strategy could also be extended to other NATO countries that shirk their commitments.

    Our strong U.S. economy is in part because people around the world see the United States as not only victorious against our most dangerous enemies but also as a nation with a free-market democratic system as something that they trust, want to emulate, and in which they want to invest. After World War II, that impressive soft power made countries agree to choose New York and Washington as the headquarters of the world’s most important international institutions. But costly wars in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan have made most Americans rethink our role as the only “world’s policeman” who makes the world safe for democracy. At the very least, we also want our allies to shoulder their fair share.

    *  *  *

    Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/20/2024 – 22:35

  • Rocking Around The Plastic Tree
    Rocking Around The Plastic Tree

    For some families, the search for the right Christmas tree is an annual event.

    However, as Statista’s Felix Richter reports, for large shares of Americans and Brits though, this search may have ended a long time ago – the perfect tree already sitting safely in the attic or garage, ready for its glorious but fleeting return to the living room.

    As new survey data from Statista Consumer Insights shows, it’s a different story in Germany.

    Infographic: Rocking Around the Plastic Tree | Statista

    You will find more infographics at Statista

    There, at the home of the Christmas tree tradition, the practice is still very much alive – 42 percent of adults said they would be putting up a real tree this year, compared to 26 percent in the U.S. and just 20 percent in the United Kingdom.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/20/2024 – 22:10

  • Never Underestimate The Power Of Unfinished Business
    Never Underestimate The Power Of Unfinished Business

    Authored by Robert Malone via The Brownstone Institute,

    The Fathomless Bottom of the Deep State

    The Senior Executive Service (SES) class of federal employees was created under President Carter through the passage of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. The SES was established to “
ensure that the executive management of the Government of the United States is responsive to the needs, policies, and goals of the Nation and otherwise is of the highest quality.”

    Another Carter-created component of the State, as is the Department of Education. The SES employees were supposed to ensure top performances in all the various agencies. That was the theory, but the reality is something entirely different, as is so often the case with these initiatives such as the “Department of Homeland Security.”

    Members of the SES serve in the key positions just below the top Presidential appointees. SES employees are the major link between these appointees and the rest of the Federal workforce. They operate and oversee nearly every government activity in approximately 75 Federal agencies. They are referred to as members by the Office of Personnel Management and are considered above “employee” designation. They are members of the SES, and don’t you forget that! Today’s SES runs the country.

    The SES even has its own flag (which has been largely removed from the government web pages since I last wrote about the SES in June of 2022). and their own non-profit agency called the Senior Executive Association (SEA), whose stated goal is to protect the rights of SES members – which lists both lobbying Congress and instituting legal action to protect SES member status. This non-profit acts like a union.

    SES members operate and oversee nearly every government activity in approximately 75 Federal agencies and serve in key positions just below the top Presidential appointees. Thus positioned, the SES bosses enforce political orthodoxy and fidelity to the deep state. They can act in this manner because their employment is virtually guaranteed. An SES employee’s job is so secure that an Agency Head cannot terminate an SES employee unless the Commissioner issues a certificate stating that the termination is in the public interest. Even then, the termination is subject to litigation.

    Barack Obama believed that the SES program should be expanded and, through a 2015 executive order, “Strengthening the Senior Executive Service,” sought to expand and “facilitate career executive continuity between administrations.” But more than that, his executive order implemented:

    “a comprehensive, integrated, and strategic focus on diversity and inclusion as a key component of the recruitment, hiring, retention, and development of their SES cadre.”

    Yep – the federal government has been using DEI-based hiring and promotions for the SES instead of merit, well
ever since Obama’s presidency.

    By May 31, 2016, agencies with 20 or more SES positions were tasked with developing a plan “to increase the number of SES members who are rotating to improve talent development, mission delivery, and collaboration.” 

    Obama’s other objective, other than securing more DEI employees, was to secure more loyal troops for the administration of his chosen successor, Hillary Clinton. Luckily, she then lost to Donald Trump. However, the increased number of SES employees, strengthening their stranglehold on government power and over the presidency, remained. 

    As it turns out, the Justice Department includes those elite, highly paid bosses from the Senior Executive Service. So does the Department of Homeland Security, from which the SES also deploys personnel into the Secret Service. As does just about every agency in the US government. As of 2018, there were almost 8,000 SES employees.

    The other important point about the SES is that the president has no role in choosing them; he can’t reassign them or fire them. The SES comprises the non-transparent group of managers and elites who run the country from within. They are the employees who quietly block, slow-walk, and defer presidential orders. What President Trump and Kash Patel might call the “deep state.” 

    In effect, our democracy has been turned upside down while being captured by bureaucratic and corporate interests that endorse authoritarian policies – hence, we are now living under a system of “inverted totalitarianism.” The United States has been co-opted into a managed democracy, thanks to Carter and Obama. 

    President Trump was stymied in his efforts to reform the government due to the SES cadre, and then he finally hit upon a solution.

    That is an executive order known as “Schedule F,” which he signed in October 2020, just prior to leaving office. Biden canceled the Schedule F executive order on the first day of his presidency. 

    This new employee classification system would have included federal workers in “confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character,” which are “not normally subject to change as the result of a presidential transition.”

    The “Schedule F” executive order would have allowed agencies to reclassify policy jobs under a new employment schedule and had proposed to give senior managers greater flexibility in hiring candidates and firing employees. Hence, the SES employees would have functionally become “at-will” employees. At-will employment means that an employer can dismiss an employee for any reason, without having to establish “just cause” for termination, as long as the reason is not illegal. At-will employment is the law of the land in all states except Montana.

    President Trump stated that this executive order would be reinstated on day one. 

    But Not so Fast!

    On January 22, 2021, shortly after taking office, President Biden repealed the Schedule F executive order. This action prevented Schedule F from being implemented, as it had not yet taken effect when Trump left office.

    In September 2023, the Biden administration, through the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), began working on new regulations to make it difficult to reintroduce Schedule F policies.

    On April 4, 2024, OPM issued a final rule aimed at stopping potential future attempts to implement Schedule F or something similar. This rule ensured that the new civil service job protections couldn’t be removed by reimplementing Schedule F.

    However, all of these political machinations may come to naught.

    Remember the Chevron Deference?

    The Chevron deference was a key principle in U.S. administrative law for nearly 40 years, established by the Supreme Court in 1984 in Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. It directed courts to defer to a federal agency’s reasonable interpretation of an ambiguous statute that the agency administers.

    This doctrine significantly empowered federal agencies by giving them considerable leeway in interpreting and implementing ambiguous statutory provisions. It essentially allowed the administrative state to create laws without Congressional oversight.

    However, in June 2024, the US Supreme Court overturned the Chevron doctrine in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo. The Court ruled that the Administrative Procedure Act requires courts to exercise their independent judgment in deciding whether an agency has acted within its statutory authority, and courts may not defer to an agency’s interpretation of the law simply because a statute is ambiguous. 

    The end of Chevron Deference represents a major shift in administrative law, reducing the power of federal agencies and increasing judicial scrutiny of agency actions. One of the implications of the Chevron deference is the reduced power for federal agencies in interpreting laws. 

    How Does This Affect Schedule F?

    The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) may need to provide more robust justifications for its new policies regarding Schedule F, as it can no longer rely on the Chevron deference to support its interpretations of federal employment laws.

    The truth is that as soon as President Trump implements Schedule F, the Senior Executives Association may challenge it in court, and the OPM will use its new rules to fight it tooth and nail.

    Due to the Chevron deference, this legal fight may be aborted or short-circuited. Time will tell.

    On the Legislative Side

    In 2023, the House adopted an amendment to the annual defense authorization bill for 2023 that would prevent future administrations from reviving Schedule F or similar measures. However, during the reconciliation process between the House and Senate versions of the bill, the Schedule F ban was omitted from the final compromise version. The final version of the 2023 NDAA that was signed into law did not include the language banning future attempts at creating Schedule F, but Congress may pull those clauses out of the Democrat party’s bag of tricks at any time.

    The easiest way out of this quandary in the long term is for Congress to amend the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 to clarify the role of the SES employee and other employees within the federal government. This would be a permanent solution instead of a temporary bandaid.

    Republished from the author’s Substack

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/20/2024 – 21:45

  • Trump-Era Official Blasts Canada Over Fentanyl Super Labs & Transnational Crime Gangs 
    Trump-Era Official Blasts Canada Over Fentanyl Super Labs & Transnational Crime Gangs 

    President-elect Donald Trump’s threat to impose a sweeping 25% tariff on all goods and services from Canada, aimed at pressuring the neighbors to the north to curb cross-border fentanyl and human smuggling, has thrown Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government into a state of turmoil. 

    Trade between Canada and the US is the largest of any two nations, with cross-border trade totaling $926 billion in 2023—roughly $2.5 billion daily. This dark tariff reality for Trudeau of not responding adequately to Trump’s border security demand risks pushing Canada into an economic crisis. 

    In response, the Canadian government unveiled a new border security plan on Wednseday, costing about a billion dollars to strengthen border security with the US. 

    “President Trump is securing the border and he hasn’t even taken office yet,” Trump’s transition team wrote in a news release, adding, “Facing an uproar among his own citizens … embattled Prime Minister Justin Trudeau just announced a billion-dollar plan for major border security improvements and increased border patrols.” 

    The new border proposal outlines the deployment of drones, helicopters, and other advanced technologies along the 5,525-mile northern border.

    Despite Wednesday’s announcement, calls for Trudeau’s resignation continue to mount, while his approval ratings implode. The longer far-left Trudeau remains in power, the more his popularity will erode, with citizens frustrated by his years of incompetence.  

    David Asher, who previously led a Trump-era task force on fentanyl, commented on the border proposal. He appeared on CBC News Network earlier this week to share his insights.

    Asher told the CBC News host that the new border proposal “looks rather unimpressive” and is a “drop in the bucket compared to what we actually need.” 

    Asher then segued the conversation, stating that his “concerns go well beyond the border,” highlighting the expansion of fentanyl superlab production across Canada—much of which is destined for the US.

    “US law enforcement has a lot of sources telling us – that not only the Mexican cartels are setting up operations in Canada – but also Chinese organized crime – and even Iranian organized crime…” 

    He stated that all three organizations were tied into a massive bust in Vancouver of drugs and chemicals equal to more than 95 million pills. 

    Asher said whoever was running that superlab in Vancouver had their eyes on the US market. 

    “This has gotten to a point, with superlabs and super laundering networks and lack of super cooperation with the US, that these issues have irritated President Trump and others,” Asher concluded. 

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    The question now is, will Canada’s new border proposal be enough to satisfy Trump?

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/20/2024 – 21:20

  • Parents' Rights Group Reveals Dept Of Ed Spent $1 Billion On DEI Since 2021
    Parents’ Rights Group Reveals Dept Of Ed Spent $1 Billion On DEI Since 2021

    Authored by Elad Vaida via Campus Reform,

    A parental rights group published a report showing that the Department of Education has spent enormous sums to promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

    Parents Defending Education works to “reclaim our schools from activists imposing harmful agendas.”

    It published its report on Dec. 12 demonstrating that, since 2021, the Department of Education has spent $1,002,522,304.81 to promote DEI at “universities, school districts, and nonprofits.”

    That sum includes $489,883,797.81 for “DEI Hiring,” $343,337,286 for “DEI Programming,” and $169,301,221 for “Based Mental health/Social Emotional Learning.” 

    Some of the report’s “key findings” include a $1,261,718 to the University of Iowa to “train 40 elementary teachers to ‘enact equity-centered education’ in partner K-12 districts.’”

    The report also highlights a $4 million grant to the Regents of the University of California, U.C. San Diego for a program to “directly engage high school youth from low-income, racial minoritized groups.”

    The federal government routinely pours great sums into promoting DEI in higher education. 

    In October, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) revealed it would hand out more than $7 million to six different universities to “grow initiatives in engineering-related disciplines and fields for learners who have historically been underrepresented and underserved in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields.”

    NASA’s senior advisor for engagement and equity Shahra Lambert said the grants would help pave “the way for greater diversity in engineering and STEM.”

    The National Institutes of Health also granted more than $19 million to The City University of New York to found a new “Center for Minority Health, Equity and Social Justice.”

    Campus Reform reached out to Parents Defending Education for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/20/2024 – 20:55

  • Check Your WiFi Router Brand… US Mulls Ban On Chinese-Made TP-Link
    Check Your WiFi Router Brand… US Mulls Ban On Chinese-Made TP-Link

    Chinese TP-Link routers, the best-selling ones on Jeff Bezos’ Amazon, have been intensely scrutinized by US investigators due to links to multiple Chinese cyberattacks. This has prompted US officials to consider a potential ban on these routers, citing national security concerns. 

    Sources familiar with investigations at the Commerce, Defense, and Justice departments told the Wall Street Journal that a nationwide ban on TP-Link routers could come as soon as next year. 

    WSJ noted that the Shenzhen-based router manufacturer accounts for an alarming 65% of the US router market in homes and small businesses, adding, “It is also the top choice on Amazon.com, and powers internet communications for the Defense Department and other federal government agencies.”

    Sources told WSJ that some TP-Link routers shipped to the US have security flaws, and the company has resisted cooperating with security researchers to address the identified issues. 

    In October, Microsoft published a report that revealed a Chinese hacking group had access to thousands of compromised TP-Link routers. 

    “CovertNetwork-1658 specifically refers to a collection of egress IPs that may be used by one or more Chinese threat actors and is wholly comprised of compromised devices. Microsoft assesses that a threat actor located in China established and maintains this network. The threat actor exploits a vulnerability in the routers to gain remote code execution capability,” the report explained.

    When Microsoft published the report, TP-Link was already under scrutiny. In August, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party called for an investigation into TP-Link routers. 

    In the letter to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, the lawmakers wrote, “TP-Link’s unusual degree of vulnerabilities and required compliance with PRC law are in and of themselves disconcerting. When combined with the PRC government’s common use of SOHO [small office/home office] routers like TP-Link to perpetrate extensive cyberattacks in the United States, it becomes significantly alarming.” 

    WSJ reported that Biden-Harris officials are exploring potential action against TP-Link in response to recent cyberattacks connected with China. The likely action could come during Trump’s second term. 

    The potential ban on TP-Link routers could mark the largest removal of Chinese tech from the US market since the Trump admin removed Huawei tech from America’s infrastructure.

    It might be a good time to check what type of router or mesh network you have before Trump takes office next month.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/20/2024 – 20:30

  • 'Hawk Tuah' Influencer Breaks Silence After Memecoin Rig-Pull Allegations
    ‘Hawk Tuah’ Influencer Breaks Silence After Memecoin Rig-Pull Allegations

    Authored by Turner Wright via CoinTelegraph.com,

    Hailey Welch, the influencer behind the viral ‘Hawk Tuah’ TikTok video, has released a statement after a memecoin bearing her handle pumped and dumped quickly after its December launch.

    In a Dec. 20 X post, Welch said she was “fully cooperating” with lawyers who represented investors in the Hawk Tuah (HAWK) token.

    The crypto users filed a lawsuit against the project’s creators and partners – Welch herself was not named as a defendant in the suit – alleging they engaged in the promotion and sale of an unregistered securities offering.

    A statement posted to X on Dec. 20. Source: Hailey Welch

    On Dec. 4, the HAWK token launched, rising to a market capitalization of roughly $500 million before quickly dropping by 90%, prompting many users to speculate there had been a rug pull.

    Welch called on anyone affected to contact lawyers, adding she took the situation “extremely seriously.”  

    From TikTok stardom to memecoin promoter?

    Welch, who rose to internet fame after a June clip of her describing a sexual act went viral on TikTok, has parlayed the incident into her Hawk Tuah nickname and brand.

    Her likeness was used on the HAWK token, and she promoted the memecoin on social media.

    According to blockchain data, one wallet sniped HAWK tokens shortly after the project launched, purchasing roughly 18% of the memecoin supply and then selling it for more than $1 million in profit.

    Many of the memecoin’s investors, however, reported massive losses after the price pumped and dumped.

    It’s unclear whether Welch or the project’s founders could face criminal or regulatory lawsuits in the United States as a result of the memecoin launch.

    Under Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler, the regulator has treated the majority of tokens as securities under its purview. However, the SEC is set to change hands to Republican control beginning in January.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/20/2024 – 20:05

  • Eggflation: Dozen-Pack At Supermarket Hit Record Highs As Bird Flu Ravages Farms
    Eggflation: Dozen-Pack At Supermarket Hit Record Highs As Bird Flu Ravages Farms

    New retail price data shows supermarket prices of a dozen eggs have soared to record highs. The surge comes amid an ever-expanding bird flu outbreak that has led to the culling of millions of birds, denting the size of the nation’s egg-laying hen population. 

    Bloomberg cited Expana data showing that a dozen eggs in the Midwest cost about $5.67 this week, exceeding the record high of $5.46 set in December 2022. 

    Source: Bloomberg

    Expana’s managing editor for eggs in the Americas, Karyn Rispoli, explained that a “potent combination of avian flu-related production losses and heightened retail demand throughout the holiday baking season” catapulted prices to record highs. 

    She said 17 million egg-laying hens and younger birds known as pullets had been culled since mid-October amid a surge in bird flu cases, adding that was one of the worst stretches in the current bird-flu outbreak since the virus first emerged in the nation’s flock in February 2022. 

    “The virus also jumped to other species including dairy cattle, while a person was hospitalized with a severe case of H5N1 bird flu in Louisiana this week,” Bloomberg noted. 

    Wholesale egg prices via the Urner Barry Egg Index are nearing record highs (again) …. 

    Last month, we noted. 

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    And pointed out in the November CPI print: “A quarter of the November rise in prices for final demand goods is attributable to a 54.6-percent jump in the index for chicken eggs.” 

    This comes as global food inflation has entered a dangerous phase of re-acceleration.

    The best way cash-strapped households can hedge over the elevated food inflation storm is to produce their own food. Whether it’s setting up a chicken coop, planting a garden, installing honeybee hives, or creating pastures for a few cows, now is the time to hedge against rising prices. It’s not just about prices – it’s also about health and security. Become ungovernable by taking back the food supply chain from the corrupt food industrial complex that heavily influences federal policy-making.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/20/2024 – 19:40

  • Yes, Abolish Daylight Saving Time
    Yes, Abolish Daylight Saving Time

    Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Epoch Times,

    For all our lives, we’ve been subjected to forced seasonal time change. Spring forward, fall back. That’s how we learn from childhood how to remember this.

    We are also told the reason early on. We are extending daylight hours. But only a moment’s thought reveals this to be untrue. The light you gain from a one-hour change is borrowed from later in the day.

    Government cannot magically make the day longer.

    It’s like the old joke, supposedly from an “old Indian” who points out that you cannot make a blanket longer by cutting off one end and sewing it on the other.

    I’ve never met anyone who approves of this massive disruption in our sense of time. Some people prefer Standard Time, while others prefer Daylight Saving Time, depending on their area within a given zone. But regardless, it seems as if everyone agrees that we should stick to one version of time and not change it so brutally in the middle of a year.

    To be sure, all this became mechanically easier once time became digital. We don’t have to have friends, family, neighbors, and the TV yelling at us to turn back the clock or bump it forward. But it seems as if there are always a few clocks around that do not automatically change, such as the kitchen clock with the battery or the oven clock. Then we have to figure out how the stupid thing works and fuss with it, twice per year.

    Every study shows that this disruption is terrible for health, as it disrupts sleep patterns and contributes to mental fatigue and even depression. It is associated with increased hospital admissions and even car crashes. This should not shock us. Our bodies are regulated by patterns of the sun, more so than we know.

    Then there are the missed appointments.

    If everyone hates it so much, why does it persist? It keeps happening simply because it keeps happening. No one knows how to get rid of it. While there is widespread public hatred of the practice, there is no real lobbying force to do anything about it.

    Forced seasonal time disruptions are the paradigmatic case of a system that just keeps going on because no one really knows how to stop it, even though no one really likes it.

    Fortunately, President-elect Donald Trump has an uncanny sense of the public mood. He is the first political figure in my lifetime who has openly blasted Daylight Saving Time and sworn to end it on the federal level. If states want to keep it, fine. My prediction is that it will go away completely. That’s a good thing.

    Oddly, I find myself thrilled by this! It thoroughly confuses children, dogs, and adults, too. The whole crazy business began during World War I as a way to conserve energy and cause the daylight to arrive earlier in the day for purposes of munitions manufacturing. Others say there were some agricultural reasons, too.

    The reason that this all began had plenty to do with a fashionable scientism of the time. Elites had come to enjoy toying with all things under the general belief that mechanized schemes could override nature itself. This affected so much along with the rise of indoor lighting, flight, steel bridges, internal combustion, telegraphic communications, the telephone, and recorded sound. It seemed as if there was nothing that could not be engineered to perfection, even the rotations of the sun.

    Remember that a few decades earlier, there was already a huge controversy over time in the United States. When the railroads came along and gained political power, they pushed hard for unified schedules in zones so that people would not arrive at an earlier time at their destination than when they left.

    It was common before about 1885 that every town kept its own version of local time. How was that determined? Very simply: When the sun is overhead, that is noon. Surrounding areas generally deferred to the time on the city and town clocks. This also fits with the sundial. There were no time zones, but rather just normal time. Everyone knew what it was.

    Once the railroads came along, they lobbied mayors to adopt a more unified system. As a result, many acquiesced, much to the annoyance of many people who simply could not understand how it was that an industrial power could presume the right to define time in its own profitability interests.

    For some years, clocks in the United States commonly displayed the actual time (or local time) plus what they called railroad time.

    The railroads eventually prevailed. The United States was divided into four time zones, regardless of local time. For the first time in the history of the planet, the sundial no longer made any sense. What we called time was completely severed from any measurement of time drawn from natural patterns. We came to be managed by industry rather than reality.

    If you think about the sheer intellectual arrogance of that, it is rather shocking. I like to think that I would have been among the resistors to this ridiculous trick from 150 years ago.

    If you are curious about this, you can look up your actual time in your area right now. You can go to mysolartime.com and see exactly what time it really is right now, no matter what your smartphone says. From where I am typing right now, the actual time is nine minutes later than the clock says.

    I urge you to do this, and think about what this means. If you are really feeling rebellious, you can start adhering to your local time just for the fun of it.

    Up with local time and down with railroad time!

    In any case, there is something wonderful about how everyone seems to be rethinking everything in our times. It seems like we are getting rid of the fluoride in the water after more than half a century of awful medicalization via public water supplies.

    The effort to get rid of Daylight Saving Time is very similar, taking on an annoyance that should have ended long ago, finally through an authoritative voice who can do something about it.

    Yay! I’m thrilled. But if it were up to me, I would go further and directly target the time zones themselves. They are the real source of the problem and the reason why some people favor Daylight Saving Time and others favor Standard Time, depending on which side of the zone you live.

    The truth is that neither is correct. They are both fake versions of actual time. The actual time from the ancient world until relatively recently is a simple matter of the sun. When it is directly overhead, it is the noon hour or high noon. That’s it and nothing more. The rest follows from that.

    Again, we have tools now that can tell you with great precision what time it actually is.

    How to schedule meetings across long distances? The easy way is to use Coordinated Universal Time. It would take a day or two to get used to, but life would become so much easier. Just one time for the world for scheduling all things, and then we have local time, which is the time standard by which we live in the course of our lives. It’s what we should have done to begin with.

    Nonetheless, scrapping time changes is an obvious beginning. The 150-year history of government/industry intervention in time is the classic case of bad policy imposed to fix previous bad policy. It was never a good idea to replace real time with constructed/imposed time. Repealing Daylight Saving is a good start.

    Maybe if all goes well, we won’t be springing forward after all. How merciful that would be!

    *  *  *

    Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/20/2024 – 19:15

  • Stoking Fears Of Rape By Coyotes, Texas To Use Mexican Billboards To Scare Migrants Off
    Stoking Fears Of Rape By Coyotes, Texas To Use Mexican Billboards To Scare Migrants Off

    Texas has launched a billboard campaign in four Central American countries that uses pointed language — some of it brutally frank — to scare away would-be illegal immigrants from trying to make the dangerous journey into the United States. 

    “[The billboards] give potential illegal immigrants thinking of leaving their home country — and those already on the way — a realistic picture of what will happen to them on their journey or if they illegally cross into Texas,” Gov. Greg Abbott said at a Thursday press conference. “These billboards tell the horror stories of human trafficking. They implore those people in Central America to consider the violent, horrific realities of what will happen to the women and children they bring with them.”

    “Your wife and daughter will pay for the trip with their bodies. Coyotes lie. Don’t put your family at risk.”

    Budgeted for approximately $100,000, the campaign has already placed 40 billboards in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico, along with some along the Mexican frontier. Consistent with Mexico’s role as a conduit that funnels immigrants from all over the world, many of the billboards use languages other than Spanish, including Arabic, Russian and Chinese.   

    With harsh messaging reminiscent of what some countries mandate for cigarette packaging, some of the 14 billboards unveiled on Thursday are viscerally brunt. They stoke fears not only imprisonment or kidnapping, but of wives and daughters being impregnated by rapists. Here’s a sampling:

    • “How much did you pay to have your daughter raped? Many girls are raped by the coyotes you hire.”

    • “Your wife and daughter will pay for the trip with their bodies. Coyotes lie. Don’t put your family at risk.”

    • “This fourteen-year-old girl was raped by more than 20 men on her way to the border. Protect your family. Change their fate.”

    • “Danger Ahead. If you cross into Texas illegally, you will regret it forever.”

    • “If you thought the journey to the border was harsh, just wait until you see what life in jail is like.”

    “This fourteen-year-old girl was raped by more than 20 men on her way to the border. Protect your family. Change their fate.”

    “There is a largely unspoken sexual assault crisis impacting women and children migrating to the Texas border,” said Rose Luna, CEO of the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault. “There have been several rape trees and lots of women who have been found beaten and raped in front of our house and left to die.”

    Rape trees are said to be places where coyotes sexually assault migrants, and then adorn the branches with the underwear of their victims. Thursday’s press conference was held next to what was described as a burned-down rape tree at Wall Ranch in Eagle Pass. Some knowledgeable people have expressed skepticism that the rape tree phenomenon is real, including South Texas sheriffs and the US Border Patrol — which is not to say migrants aren’t at high risk of sexual assault. 

    “How much did you pay to have your daughter raped? Many girls are raped by the coyotes you hire.”

    Abbott has set out to distinguish himself as an aggressive defender of the Texas border. He’s made headlines by shipping illegal immigrants to northern, Democratic cities. Earlier this year, Abbott announced the construction of a military base along the Rio Grand at the border city of Eagle Pass.  Forward Operating Base. Spanning 80-acres, “Forward Operating Base Eagle” will eventually house upwards of 1,800 Texas National Guard soldiers supporting Operation Lone Star — Texas’ border enforcement crackdown campaign — and will be expandable to house 2,300.  

    Texas National Guard soldiers stand in the backdrop of a February press conference announcing the construction of Forward Operating Base Eagle (KXAN News)

    Abbott’s groundbreaking Texas billboard campaign comes as Donald Trump is poised to return to the presidency, bringing with him a promised border and illegal-immigrant campaign even more aggressive than he pursued in his first term — to include mass deportations and an end to birthright citizenship.  

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/20/2024 – 18:50

  • Interpreting Putin's Remarks On Syria, Israel, And Turkiye
    Interpreting Putin’s Remarks On Syria, Israel, And Turkiye

    Authored by Andrew Korybko via substack,

    Putin commented on Syria’s regime change during his annual Q&A session on Thursday. According to him, Russia’s military intervention succeeded in its goal of preventing the creation of an Afghan-like terrorist enclave. The groups that just seized power there, including terrorist-designated and -affiliated ones, have apparently changed their views over the years. That’s why the West wants to establish relations with them. The regime change therefore can’t be seen as a defeat for Russia.

    Putin then defended his armed forces’ conduct during recent events by claiming that Russia no longer had any ground troops in Syria. Moreover, the estimated 30,000 Syrian and “pro-Iranian units” that were defending Aleppo surrendered the city to just 350 militants, after which they gave up the rest of the country to them too with few exceptions. He also revealed that Russia evacuated 4,000 Iranian fighters to Tehran while other allied units fled to Lebanon (a reference to Hezbollah) and Iraq without a fight.

    As for the future of Russian influence in Syria, Putin claimed that “The overwhelming majority of [the groups that control the situation there] tell us that they would be interested in our military bases remaining”. He then proposed that they could be used to deliver humanitarian aid. The main beneficiary of the latest events is Israel, in his opinion, since they’ve practically demilitarized Syria and expanded their occupation zone in the country. He condemned those moves and hoped that they’d leave someday.

    Putin also took the opportunity to condemn Israel’s illegal settlements in Palestine as well as its ongoing military operation in Gaza. These are all consistent Russian positions and nothing new. Observers might have been surprised though that he didn’t also condemn Turkiye. Instead, he explained that “Turkey is doing everything to ensure its security on its southern borders as the situation in Syria develops”, which he said is aimed at returning refugees and “push[ing] back Kurdish formations on the border.”

    In connection with that second imperative, Putin expressed hope that there won’t be an aggravation of the situation like some have reported that Turkiye is planning. He also said that “we need to solve the Kurdish problem. Within the framework of Syria under President Assad, this had to be solved, now we need to solve it with the authorities that control the territory of Syria, and Turkey needs to somehow ensure its security. We understand all this.” This basically amounts to giving Turkiye a free pass in Syria.

    Putin’s apparent double standard towards the similar issues of Turkish and Israeli military involvement in post-Assad Syria can be explained by Russia’s complex interdependence with the former. They’re closely tied together through nuclear energy cooperation, air defense systems (S-400s), natural gas, trade, and Istanbul’s prior role in mediating between Moscow and Kiev. By contrast, although Israel hasn’t armed Ukraine nor sanctioned Russia, there’s much less trade and no military-technical cooperation.

    There are also optics to consider as well. Although Syria is still politically divided and Turkiye does indeed back the UN-designated Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) terrorist group, there’s no denying that many Syrians support Ankara as do many other Muslims in the region. The same can’t be said for Israel, which is universally reviled in Syria, except among some of the Druze that welcomed the self-professed Jewish State’s forces, and fiercely hated by most Muslims in the region.

    It’s therefore better for Russia’s soft power interests to criticize Israel for occupying part of Syria while remaining silent about Turkiye doing the same thing. Likewise, considering the domestic and regional mood, it also makes sense for Putin to remind everyone about the pro-Iranian units’ cowardice in giving up cities without a fight and then fleeing abroad. After all, “Russia Dodged A Bullet By Wisely Choosing Not To Ally With The Now-Defeated Resistance Axis”, so it has no reason to sugarcoat what they did.

    Altogether, Putin’s remarks on Syria, Israel, and Turkiye show that Russia eschews responsibility for what just happened in Syria, condemns Israel for its ongoing invasion there, and downplays Turkiye’s own. This is a coldly realist and ultra-pragmatic approach to the latest developments that fully aligns with Russia’s national interests as Putin sincerely understands them to be. It also contradicts the expectations that many members of the diverse non-Mainstream Media community had of him condemning Turkiye.

    As can be seen, Putin doesn’t really care that Turkiye is a NATO member nor that it patronizes terrorist-designated HTS since he’s always insisted that the most important factor in their contemporary ties is the excellent working relationship that he has with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Russian leader sang his praises in October 2022 while speaking at the Valdai Club’s annual meeting when he was asked about whether his views on him had changed over the past two years. Here’s what he said:

    “He is a competent and strong leader who is guided above all, and possibly exclusively, by the interests of Turkiye, its people and its economy
President Erdogan never lets anyone get a free ride or acts in the interests of third countries
But there is a desire on both sides to reach agreements, and we usually do it. In this sense, President Erdogan is a consistent and reliable partner. This is probably his most important trait, that he is a reliable partner.”

    Putin wasn’t playing “5D chess to psyche out Turkiye” like some members of the diverse non-Maisntream Media community imagined at the time but was candidly sharing his views about Erdogan. Those who took his words seriously therefore knew better than to expect him to condemn Turkiye for its actions in Syria. Putin’s responsibility is to ensure Russia’s national interests, not conform to his online supporters’ fantasies about him spewing this or that talking point, which requires maximum flexibility.

    “Non-Russian Pro-Russians” and even some Russians might be disappointed with his position towards recent events in Syria, but they should at least understand the reasons behind it. Russia couldn’t stop what just happened, which was the result of the Syrian Arab Army’s and pro-Iranian units’ cowardice in the face of the foreign-backed terrorist-driven blitz, and it won’t go to war with Turkiye over this either. By adapting to this new reality, Putin now has the best possible chance of advancing Russian interests.

    It doesn’t mean that he’ll succeed, but there’s no guarantee of failure as would have been the case had he criticized Turkiye after being unable to stop it and unwilling to go to war with it afterwards. Even if things don’t work out like he envisages, Russia’s mutually beneficial bilateral ties with Turkiye won’t be jeopardized, nor will his country’s soft power be damaged since it’s not opposed to the outcome that the domestic and regional majority support. Putin’s pragmatic hedging therefore preserves Russian interests.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/20/2024 – 18:25

  • CNN Reveals "Troubling" Poll: American Trust In Vaccines Is Plummeting
    CNN Reveals “Troubling” Poll: American Trust In Vaccines Is Plummeting

    American trust in medical institutions and vaccine technology has been plunging the past several years, and though the media treats this as a “troubling” and dangerous development for our society the shift might represent a positive change.  The activities of Big Pharma have gone largely unchecked and unchallenged for many decades.  The FDA has a revolving door policy, allowing pharmaceutical executives to exit their companies and work at the agency with impunity, then leave again and return to their former jobs.  It’s not hard to understand how this creates a serious conflict of interest at the FDA.

    This problem of corruption was never more clear than it was during the covid pandemic.  Since that event, the US population has been losing faith in the ability of the government to scrutinize pharmaceutical products and protect people from potentially disastrous experimental medications and vaccines.  When the love affair between government and Big Pharma was put on blatant display, the American people rightly began to question everything.

    Recently, CNN unveiled a poll which proves that US faith in vaccines is in steep decline.  

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    The reality is that the vaccines were largely unnecessary.  Infections and fatalities were dropping rapidly well before the first vaccines were introduced to the public, likely because of natural immunity.  Later spikes only prove that the vaccines had minimal effect on the spread of the virus.  

    At the height of the pandemic frenzy, the average Infection Fatality Rate of the Covid virus was a tiny 0.23%.  Meaning, 99.8% of the public was under no threat from the illness.  Furthermore those that did become dangerously sick were often elderly people with preexisting conditions.   

    This fact was reinforced by data showing that the vast majority of deaths from covid were among people with at least one comorbidity.  If a person died after years of diabetes or cardiovascular disease, but they also had covid, the default of the medical establishment was to list the death as covid related.  That is to say, deaths from covid and deaths from preexisting conditions were mixed together without regard for how this might affect public statistics.

    It should also be noted that the IFR of covid did not change from pre-vaccination conditions to post-vaccination conditions.  The death rate was the same regardless of vaccination status, though CDC, WHO and Big Pharma analysis often failed to use unvaccinated people as a control group.  This was likely done deliberately to hide the bigger picture from the public.

    Instead, the establishment would use stats like CFR (Case Fatality Rate) or “Mortality Odds”, which discount asymptomatic cases and greatly overestimate the true rate of death.  Few establishment media outlets ever mentioned the real Infection Fatality Rate through the entirety of the pandemic.  

    The goal was to pump up the covid death count as high as possible in order to frighten the public into accepting experimental mRNA vaccinations that were rushed into production under FDA emergency approval.  The average vaccine is tested for many years (sometimes a decade or more) in order to meet safety standards.  Covid vaccines were slapped together and shipped out in less than 12 months.  The action was hailed as a “medical miracle”, but the truth is that it was a massive gamble at best, and a draconian con at worst.

    Governments around the world exploited pandemic fears and used unprecedented leverage to force the public into taking the jab.  Keep in mind that the Biden Administration almost gained the power to penalize companies employing workers without proof of vaccination (vaccine passports).  That is to say, the government under Biden tried to erase constitutional protections and take people’s jobs away unless they submitted to regular vaccines. It was an epic authoritarian sprint.   

    They were only thwarted because of the Supreme Court and the courage of conservative red states defying the agenda. The covid event has created a culture of distrust when it comes to vaccine science.  Now, the public wants independent investigations and assurances on vaccines to prove safety rather than simply taking the FDA and Big Pharma at their word.  It’s not so much a movement against vaccines – It’s a movement to demand transparency, something which Americans should have had to begin with.              

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/20/2024 – 18:00

  • Florida Officials Say Federal Government Has "Stonewalled" State Investigation Into Would-Be Trump Assassin
    Florida Officials Say Federal Government Has “Stonewalled” State Investigation Into Would-Be Trump Assassin

    Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times,

    Florida’s governor and attorney general on Dec. 18 accused the federal government of blocking a state investigation into Ryan Wesley Routh, the man accused of attempting to assassinate then-former President Donald Trump at his Florida golf course.

    Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody alleged that the Department of Justice informed the state that it had to suspend its investigation into Routh, citing a federal law about prosecuting crimes against significant public figures.

    “It was made known that they intended to shut down our investigation and invoke federal jurisdiction in doing so,” Moody said Dec. 18 at a press conference.

    “We didn’t believe it should be interpreted in the way that they suggested.”

    At the same time, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wrote that the federal government has “stonewalled Florida’s investigation of the Trump assassination attempt at every turn” and that he supports Moody’s attempts to move forward in their case against Routh.

    “The tide will turn on January 20th and we fully expect that the federal roadblocks will be removed,” he wrote on social media, referring to the date that Trump will take office.

    “The would-be assassin needs to face the full force of justice and the people deserve the truth about the defendant’s history, motivations and plan.”

    The Department of Justice did not respond to an Epoch Times request for comment on Dec. 19.

    At the same time, Moody’s office obtained a warrant for Routh’s arrest in mid-September, hours after he was allegedly discovered lying in wait for Trump armed with a rifle in Palm Beach County, Florida. After reportedly being shot at by a Secret Service agent, he fled and was arrested on Interstate 95 in Martin County.

    After his arrest, a car crash occurred that injured a 6-year-old girl traveling with her family, Moody said during a press conference. The crash occurred in connection with the pursuit of Routh along the interstate, according to officials.

    “As a result of that [accident], we felt compelled to seek justice on her behalf and her family that will never be the same as they cope with her injuries,” she said at a press briefing on Dec. 18.

    Moody said the crash occurred after officials shut down traffic on I-95 as they tried to apprehend the suspect. A spokesperson for Moody said prosecutors will file the new charge when Routh is in state custody.

    The multi-vehicle crash happened about 30 minutes after Routh’s arrest on I-95, according to the state’s investigation, but Moody alleged it was a result of his actions as he was attempting to evade capture. The girl suffered serious injuries, Moody’s office stated.

    According to an arrest warrant affidavit for Routh, the accident occurred while authorities were apprehending him, about three or four miles south of where they stopped his vehicle.

    Northbound traffic along the major interstate was halted because of the risk of the traffic stop and because it was not clear whether any weapons or explosives were inside Routh’s car, according to the affidavit. Southbound traffic was also halted as officials attempted to investigate his vehicle.

    On Sept. 15, the Secret Service stated that one of its agents allegedly discovered Routh with his gun barrel sticking through Trump’s course perimeter fence as the then-former president was playing a round of golf. The agent opened fire on Routh, prompting him to flee in his vehicle before sheriff’s officials and other law enforcement arrested him along I-95 later that day.

    Federal prosecutors said that Routh, whose residence is listed in Hawaii, allegedly waited for the president for about 12 hours and that cellphone data revealed he was in the area around Trump’s golf course and Mar-a-Lago for a month before the alleged assassination attempt.

    Later, prosecutors said they discovered Routh had written a note that was left with an acquaintance. The note admitted he wanted to assassinate Trump because of the decision by the first Trump administration to withdraw the United States from the Iran nuclear deal that was signed by the Obama administration. Social media accounts associated with Routh also showed he was an avid supporter of Ukraine during the Russia–Ukraine conflict and had attempted to recruit people to fight.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/20/2024 – 17:40

  • US Reveals It Has More Than Twice As Many Troops In Syria Than Previously Disclosed
    US Reveals It Has More Than Twice As Many Troops In Syria Than Previously Disclosed

    Only now after the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad does Washington come clean about the actual number of American troops it has in Syria.

    On Thursday, the Pentagon revealed it has roughly 2,000 troops occupying northeast Syria, home to the country’s vital supply of oil and gas, which is over twice the number it has been officially disclosing for years.

    The US has occupied Syria’s oil and gas regions for years.

    US military spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said this has been the figure for a “while”—apparently long before the dramatic events of this month. Ryder claimed the he had just “learned” the true troop number.

    “As you know, we have been briefing you regularly that there are approximately 900 US troops deployed to Syria. In light of the situation in Syria and the significant interest, we recently learned that those numbers were higher, and so asked to look into it. I learned today that in fact there are approximately 2,000 US troops in Syria,” he said.

    He then tried to pass off the discrepancy as merely a distinction between the 900 long term deployments and those forces rotating in on a more temporary basis.

    Map source: @MeesEnergy

    “As I understand it and as it was explained to me, these additional forces are considered temporary rotational forces that deploy to meet shifting mission requirements, whereas the core 900 deployers are on longer-term deployments,” Ryder said.

    The Pentagon and CENTCOM have also recently been reviving talk of the ‘counter-ISIS’ mission as justification for keeping the US occupation ongoing. This even as NATO member Turkey has been seeking to drive out the Kurdish-led SDF from northern Syria, which the US backs.

    The Biden administration has also this week said it is in direct contact with designated terror organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which holds Damascus and major cities. 

    Obviously this is some absurd gaslighting of the American public by the Pentagon. The question remains: why reveal it now?

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    The US is likely to use its possession of the oil and gas fields in Deir Ezzor, which was previously vital to meeting the Syrian population’s domestic consumption needs, as leverage to get HTS leadership to fall in line with Washington’s agenda for the region.

    The US had long occupied the energy fields in the first place in order to tighten the economic blockade noose around Assad’s neck, but ultimately it is the common people who suffer most.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/20/2024 – 17:20

  • Judge Rejects Federal Government Request, Allows Derek Chauvin To Examine George Floyd's Heart
    Judge Rejects Federal Government Request, Allows Derek Chauvin To Examine George Floyd’s Heart

    Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

    A federal judge has turned down the federal government’s bid to stop Derek Chauvin from examining George Floyd’s heart tissue.

    “The Court is not persuaded by the Government’s arguments, which provide no compelling reason that the Court should change its previous determination,” U.S. District Judge Paul A. Magnuson said in a two-page order filed on Dec. 19.

    The order granting Chauvin’s motion to examine Floyd’s heart tissue will stand, he said.

    Magnuson on Dec. 16 ruled that Chauvin can test substances preserved from Floyd’s autopsy, including his blood and heart tissue. Chauvin is attempting to prove the theory that Floyd’s death was not related to the restraint that Chauvin applied to Floyd in Minnesota in May 2020.

    Chauvin, a police officer in Minneapolis at the time, was later charged and convicted of murdering Floyd.

    The present development involves Chauvin’s argument that his former attorney did not adequately represent him.

    An expert named Dr. William Schaetzel had contacted the attorney and offered his opinion that Floyd’s death stemmed from factors other than the restraint, but the attorney did not pass along the opinion, according to Chauvin.

    Schaetzel said the death was caused by a heart attack. Chauvin said the testing could support the opinion.

    “Given the significant nature of the criminal case that Mr. Chauvin was convicted of, and given that the discovery that Mr. Chauvin seeks could support Dr. Schaetzel’s opinion of how Mr. Floyd died, the Court finds that there is good cause to allow Mr. Chauvin to take the discovery that he seeks,” Magnuson said in his Dec. 16 order.

    The U.S. Department of Justice then filed a motion asking the judge to reconsider. Government lawyers said that Chauvin could not show ineffective counsel, in part because another expert had already offered a similar opinion during Chauvin’s trial.

    The lawyers also said that if the judge turned down the Justice Department’s motion, he should enter an amended order granting discovery to the government as well as to Chauvin.

    “The government specifically requests access to expert disclosures for any expert Defendant intends to call at a hearing (including each expert’s qualifications and a full explanation of any opinions and the bases therefore), as well as all lab reports and test results generated by any lab to which Defendant submits requests,” they wrote.

    Magnuson denied that request, although he said he expects the government will be able to access the test results.

    “The Court expects the parties to cooperate in the discovery process, allowing the Government reasonable access to any lab reports, test results, and expert disclosures,” he said. “The Court will not issue a separate order to that end.”

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/20/2024 – 17:00

  • Et Tu Jagmeet? Trudeau Game Over Looms As Key Ally Vows To Topple Him
    Et Tu Jagmeet? Trudeau Game Over Looms As Key Ally Vows To Topple Him

    In what could be the final act of a political drama swirling around Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh has thundered in with a no-confidence motion that could topple the government, Reuters reports.

    “We will put forward a clear motion of non-confidence in the next sitting of the House of Commons,” said Singh.

    The motion, set to unfold as the House of Commons returns from winter recess on January 27, has sent shockwaves through Ottawa’s political corridors already rattled by internal Liberal strife and a high-profile cabinet resignation.

    Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre wants to ‘urgently’ reconvene parliament so that lawmakers can hold a no-confidence vote ahead of schedule.

    The undercurrents of discontent have been bubbling for months, but the situation came to a head when Chrystia Freeland, Trudeau’s stalwart Finance Minister, abruptly vacated her post amid a cloud of controversy. Sources close to the matter cite irreconcilable differences over policy directions and leadership style, with Freeland’s departure exposing cracks in the Liberal foundation.

    [W]hen Trudeau informed Freeland five days later that she would soon be out as finance minister, she was deeply upset. Mark Carney, the former Bank of Canada governor and a darling of global markets, was taking over, Trudeau told her. But he had another important job in mind for her: a cabinet role managing Canada’s suddenly fraught relations with the US and President-elect Donald Trump. It did not, however, come with running a government department.

    …

    Freeland was having none of it. To her, this was a major demotion — one delivered over a Zoom call, no less. She spent the weekend agonizing over how to respond, according to people familiar with the course of events — stewing with the same frustration she had experienced in the summer, when reports emerged that Trudeau was courting Carney as her possible replacement. –Bloomberg

    Meanwhile, Trudeau reshuffled his cabinet on Friday, days after Freeland’s departure. Ontario MP David McGuinty was named Canada’s minister of public safety, while Nathaniel Erskine-Smith has been named the new housing minister.

    Amid this backdrop, Singh’s declaration couldn’t be more dramatically timed to twist the knife. In a scathing open letter, he lambasted Trudeau’s leadership, painting the Liberal government as too entangled in internal conflicts and corporate interests to effectively govern. Sing’s letter sets the stage for a potential early election if the no-confidence vote gathers steam across opposition benches​.

    As Singh points out, the cost of living and housing crises are hitting Canadians hard, and with Trump-era tariffs looming, economic pressures could intensify, making the political stakes even higher.

    Political pundits suggest voter fatigue with the Liberals is palpable. A slew of recent polls underscores a grim forecast for Trudeau’s party, which could face a drubbing at the polls if an election were called today. The political landscape in Canada is crackling with anticipation of a shake-up as the NDP appears to pivot away from its previous support of the minority government, a move that could redraw the lines of allegiance within the House of Commons​.

    As January 27 looms, all eyes will be on Ottawa.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/20/2024 – 16:40

  • "He Has Good Days & Bad Days": WSJ Exposes Concerted Effort To Conceal Biden's Mental Decline
    “He Has Good Days & Bad Days”: WSJ Exposes Concerted Effort To Conceal Biden’s Mental Decline

    Authored by Jonathan Turley,

    In an explosive exposé, the Wall Street Journal has revealed how the mental decline of President Joe Biden was pronounced from the start of his term. However, cabinet members and other Democrats lied to the public about his declining levels of acuity and engagement. That effort succeeded largely with the help of an alliance with the media, which showed little interest in whether the President was actually running the government.

    After President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance, the solid wall of media and staff shielding his declining mental state collapsed. Even after Special Counsel Robert Hur declined criminal charges against Biden due to his diminished state, Democratic pundits and the press covered for him, claiming that he was sharp and effective. With the debate, the public was able to see what many in the media and the White House had been hiding for years.

    After interviewing roughly 50 insiders, the Journal found evidence of a knowing effort to hide Biden’s mental state. For many, Biden’s refusal to leave his home for much of the 2020 campaign was evidence of the insecurity of staff about his ability to engage with reporters. It only got worse during the term as staff virtually tackled anyone trying to ask him a question. Biden was routinely shuffled off stage after reading briefly from a teleprompter.

    Behind the scenes, cabinet members reportedly stopped asking for meetings with Biden after staff conveyed that such requests were not welcomed. He held far fewer cabinet meetings and was often considered “down” for any discussions. That included a period during the calamity of the Afghan withdrawal.

    One official is quoted as admitting on one occasion in 2021 that Biden “has good days and bad days, and today was a bad day so we’re going to address this tomorrow.” That was just after he was elected.

    Yet, Biden was kept within the protective cocoon of media that did not press the issue and was infamous for ignoring scandals while asking Biden about his choice of ice cream on a given day.

    Now, some media outlets are re-positioning on the issue as they prepare to resume hard questioning and investigations in the new Trump Administration . . . after a four-year hiatus.

    Suddenly, everyone is shocked to learn that Biden was mentally diminished and blaming nameless staff for misleading them.

    One exception this week was Chris Cillizza, who served as CNN’s editor-at-large before leaving the network in 2022.

    On YouTube, Cillizza stated, “As a reporter, I have a confession to make” and admitted “I should have pushed harder earlier for more information about Joe Biden’s mental and physical well-being and any signs of decline.”

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    Now, everyone likes a redemptive sinner and I give Cillizza credit for admitting his own failure to pursue the story despite many critics objecting for years over the lack of such inquiries.

    However, Cillizza only confessed to failing to pursue the story due to a fear of being accused of “age shaming” Biden. The suggestion is that identity politics chilled journalism, not the overwhelming media support for the President and countervailing opposition to Trump.

    The “age shaming” excuse is difficult to square with the failure to pursue an array of other scandals during the term from influence peddling to policy debacles.

    Nevertheless, Cillizza was remarkably frank that he was only able to push on the story after leaving CNN:

    “I didn’t really push on it, if I’m being honest. Now, once I left CNN and once it became a little bit more clear to me about Biden’s age, I think I did write pretty regularly and talk pretty regularly about how I wasn’t sure that this guy was up to it. And then obviously, after the June 27 debate, everybody, including me, was writing and talking about it.”

    Putting Cillizza’s statement aside, there is a notable effort by some in the media to retroactively resume journalism after years of docile coverage on issues such as Biden’s incapacity.

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    The belated interest in the story reflects not only the limits of modern journalism but the limits of the 25th Amendment. From the outset, there was concern over Biden’s acuity and stamina within the White House. It was hidden from the public. His cabinet members like DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, and others quashed claims of any diminishment with first-hand testimonials about how sharp and impressive the President was in meetings. Vice President Kamala Harris echoed those claims.

    The Vice President and the cabinet are essential to the removal process under the 25th Amendment. Section 4 allows the removal of a president. One option is what I have called the “mutiny option.” It requires a vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to declare that the president is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,” and notify Congress that the vice president intends to take over. If Vice President Kamala Harris could get eight Cabinet officers to go along with a letter to Congress, her status as the “Acting President” would likely be short-lived. Joe Biden would only have to declare to Congress that “no inability exists.” Biden would then resume his powers. That would then trigger a congressional fight.

    In reality, the Biden term shows how they can often be part of the cover-up.

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    The 25th Amendment also does not define incapacity and having “good days and bad days” is unlikely to suffice. As I previously discussed, the issue of “disability” of a president was briefly raised in the Constitutional Convention in 1787.  It was a delegate from Biden’s home state of Delaware who asked how they would respond to a disability, “and who is to be the judge of it?” John Dickinson’s question was left unanswered in the final version of the Constitution.

    What followed were persistent controversies over succession. This issue came to a head after President Dwight D. Eisenhower suffered a stroke. After the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Congress finally addressed the issue in the 25th Amendment. The amendment addresses the orderly succession of power as well as temporary disabilities when presidents must undergo medical treatment or surgeries.

    This process is even more unlikely to occur when the media has formed a protective line around a president.

    The problem was never “age shaming,” it was a shameless effort to shield this president from tough questions and public exposure.

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    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/20/2024 – 16:20

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Dec 20

Today’s News 20th December 2024

  • Would A Trump-Putin Agreement Bring Peace To Ukraine Or Just Set The Stage For More War?
    Would A Trump-Putin Agreement Bring Peace To Ukraine Or Just Set The Stage For More War?

    Authored by Jim Jatras via The Ron Paul Institute

    “I have not become the King’s First Minister in order to preside over the liquidation of the British Empire.” – Winston Churchill, 1942

    Many Americans, even a lot who never much cared for Donald Trump, voted for him in part because they believed – or at least hoped – that he would be, relatively speaking, a peace candidate compared to the hideous Biden-Harris record. To his credit, Trump’s first term was the only US presidency since Jimmy Carter’s not to get us embroiled in a new conflict, though he failed to extricate us from Afghanistan or Syria.

    Such hopes need to be balanced against other aspects of Trump’s earlier tenure in office. Notably, on Ukraine, he oversaw provision of lethal aid to Kiev that had been denied by Barack Obama. Put another way, it was under Trump that Ukraine built up a NATO army in all but name, setting the stage for the February 2022 escalation of the conflict that had been brewing since the 2014 coup midwifed by Victoria Nuland.

    Trump has said he would end the Ukraine conflict in 24 hours, indeed, even before he takes office. While never unveiling anything resembling an actual plan, he has indicated that his “art of the deal” trademark bluster and threats would be applied to both Ukraine (terminate all aid if Kiev refuses to negotiate!) and Russia (vastly increase aid to Ukraine if Moscow refuses to negotiate!). The supposedly “transactional” President-elect is seemingly unflustered by little details like how, if both Russia and Ukraine balk at talks, he could simultaneously increase and cut off US assistance. Five-dimensional chess indeed!

    While the thought of Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence is balm for every peace-loving soul, the rest of Trump’s announced second-term team is anything but reassuring: Marco Rubio as Secretary of State and Michael Waltz as National Security Adviser, with supporting roles at the NSC by Sebastian Gorka and special envoy for Ukraine-Russia Keith Kellogg, all of whom have a record of the standard bellicose chest-thumping with respect to evil, evil Russia and our cuddly “democratic” “ally” Ukraine.

    As Trump prepares to take office next month, one thing should always be kept in mind: like Winston Churchill with respect to the British Empire, Donald Trump has not returned to the Oval Office in order to preside over the liquidation of the Global American Empire (the GAE). Rather, all indications are that he seeks to disengage the US from the Ukraine conflict in a way that avoids total, humiliating defeat for NATO (and, probably, that organization’s long-overdue dissolution) in order to “pivot” to the Middle East and a looming war with Iran following a return to his “maximum pressure” policy. The encore will be the Really, Really Big Showdown with China. Hence Trump’s call for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine.

    What of the other side? Russian President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and other top Kremlin and Duma figures have made it clear that Moscow has had enough with “non-agreement capable” Washington after repeated Western deceptions: on NATO expansion (“not one inch eastward”), the status of Kosovo (UN Security Council Resolution 1244 providing for its autonomy within Serbia, trashed by the US-sponsored unilateral declaration of independence in 2008), the February 2014 power-sharing agreement in Ukraine between then-President Viktor Yanukovich and his opposition (a dead letter before even one night had passed), the February 2015 Minsk 2 agreement on the status of the Donbass that was unanimously endorsed by the UN Security Council (but later admitted by Angela Merkel and other western leaders to have been a ruse to allow time to build up Kiev’s forces for a Blitzkrieg), and the failed April 2022 Ukraine-Russia agreement initialed at Istanbul (torpedoed by Boris Johnson with US backing).

    Accordingly, the Russians have made it clear that they will accept no temporary truces, no ceasefires, no more promises made to be broken like piecrusts, no pauses as cynical tricks to get the Russians to forgo their current and growing military advantage. (Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president and the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, even suggested recently that new regions could soon be added to Russia. Putin recently re-floated the concept of Novorossiya, “New Russia,” a region of Imperial Russia that included Odessa.) No, they insist, there must be either a genuine, definitive, binding settlement that ensures a lasting peace based on mutual security, or Russian forces will press on until their objectives – notably “demilitarization and denazification” of Ukraine – are achieved militarily. Such an outcome would mean at least replacement of the current regime in Kiev and, more likely, the end of Ukraine’s statehood.

    For the West, this would constitute a total debacle of Afghanistan-like proportions effectively signaling the end of US hegemony in Europe, the GAE’s crown jewel. What can Trump offer the Russians to avoid that?

    Moscow’s latest peace proposal was voiced by Putin in June 2024, in which he specified that he’s willing to negotiate at any time but will not halt military operations until Kiev withdraws its forces from the four oblasts that, in addition to Crimea, Moscow claims to be part of Russia: Lugansk, Donetsk, Zaporozhye, and Kherson, Notably, this would include the cities of Zaporozhye and Kherson, under Kiev’s control as of this writing. (In fact, contrary to propaganda from the usual suspects, Putin has never rejected talks, unlike Ukrainian former-president-but-still-playing-the-role Vladimir Zelensky, who in October 2022 issued a decree forbidding talks with Russia as long as Putin is in office.)

    Putin’s June proposal was dismissed out of hand by Kiev and its western backers. Given Moscow’s rejection of a ceasefire at the conflict’s line of control, things are at a seeming impasse.

    But are they?

    With the rapid and accelerating advance of Russian forces, the physical distinction between the military line of confrontation (a freeze line rejected by Moscow) and the constitutional limits of the four oblasts (evacuation of which Moscow demands) becomes less every day. That is, the territorial question – which Russia has never stated to be paramount in its goals for launching its “Special Military Operation” (SMO) in the first place – becomes less of an issue.

    Rather, the real question for the Trump Administration becomes a political one of how much wiggle room there is in the Russians’ stated determination not to rely on more promises of the sort that have been repeatedly broken in the past. Put another way: if Trump-Lucy wants to avoid utter defeat in the European theater of the worldwide confrontation between the GAE and BRICS-Eurasia, so he can get on to mixing it up with Iran and China, can he dupe Putin-Charlie Brown into taking another run at the football?

    I think he at least has a good shot at it. Keep in mind that, despite the ubiquitous narrative, Putin is neither a dictator nor a hardliner toward the West. Regarding the former, he’s a balancer in a system that still retains many (too damn many, in my opinion) western liberals dying to see the day they can again send their snotty kids back to elite western universities and their fat wives and svelte mistresses shopping at Harrods, while saluting a rainbow flag raised over Lenin’s Mausoleum. As to the latter, as lately demonstrated by his restrained response to ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles launched into pre-1991 Russia by NATO personnel from Ukrainian territory, Putin has shown a dogged determination to come to an understanding with his Western “partners” long after it became clear to everyone (except him, evidently) that they have no intention of ever getting along with him or Russia but are hell-bent on destroying both. (“Hello, Volodya? It’s me, Bashar. I’m out front of Resurrection Gate, near Zhukov’s statue 
)

    Far from the “shock and awe” demonstrated by the United States in Serbia, Iraq, Libya, etc., or Netanyahu’s in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria, Putin’s light military footprint in Ukraine – the limited size of the incursion force, declining to destroy the Dnepr bridges, limited (but now increasing) attacks on infrastructure, the pullback of Russian forces from Kiev as a good will gesture before the 2022 Istanbul talks, not eliminating Kiev regime leaders who’d kill him if they could – all point to a strategy based on accepting a reasonable deal if one might be presented, not on settling things by force of arms, 1945-style. (It’s largely forgotten now that at the outset of the conflict foreign embassies decamped from Kiev and moved to Lvov in the far west, and consideration was even given for the Zelensky regime to abandon Ukraine entirely and establish a government in exile, in the expectation that Russia would quickly overrun the whole country – then face an Afghan-type insurgency that would bleed Russia white, leading to regime-change in Moscow.) Unexpectedly, the Russians didn’t behave as the West had anticipated. Instead, it’s clear their approach was “pedagogical” from the start: show the West they mean business so they’ll come to the table. It is also suggested that a deal, not a military resolution, would be preferable to Putin’s BRICS partners, whose opinion he can’t afford to ignore.

    The frustration this approach has caused in the Russian military and in large sectors of the public is well known. That said, as observed by Moscow-based John Helmer, Putin may deem that his high levels of public support allow him to accept a settlement that falls short of, or at least redefines, his SMO goals as originally stated. It’s an open question whether that support could be sustained when (inevitably, in my opinion) the West contemptuously disregards its obligations under whatever is agreed-to.   

    Some say Putin has finally learned his lesson about the West. Others say not, that he would jump at any remotely reasonable transaction proffered by Trump & Co., Inc. We will soon see.

    Looking at the longstanding pattern of Putin’s Kremlin and the smoke signals from Washington, mediated by the good offices of Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the contours of a kind of Minsk 3 or Istanbul-double-plus-good “deal” are already discernable:

    1. A ceasefire in early 2025: Ukrainian forces would evacuate whatever shrinking part, if any, of the four oblasts they might still hold, plus of Russia’s Kursk region if any Ukrainians are still there. A Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) would be established. (Some ad hoc arrangement might have to be reached on the cities of Zaporozhye and Kherson, if the Russians hadn’t taken them yet. Perhaps they would remain under Ukrainian administration inside the DMZ, “claimed by Russia.”)

    2. Moscow would continue to regard the areas it holds as sovereign Russian territory. The rest of the world would still deem them Ukrainian under temporary Russian occupation, similar to how the US regarded the Baltic Republics of the USSR. Both sides would tolerate a rough balance between Zaporozhye and Kherson cities (claimed by Russia but under Ukrainian administration) and the rest of the oblasts and Crimea (claimed by Ukraine but under Russian administration).

    3. As Trump has suggested, supposedly non-NATO European Union peacekeepers would be deployed on the Ukrainian side of the DMZ (with Moscow’s agreement, contrary to astute observers’ insistence that the Russians would never allow it), subject to strict limits on numbers, weaponry, etc. These limits, of course, would not be honored (see Lucy and Charlie Brown, above).

    4. NATO membership for Ukraine world be deferred indefinitely. This is an obvious Lucy lie that Moscow would pretend means permanent neutrality. In fact, rump Ukraine would be treated as a NATO state in all but name but not receive formal membership.

    5. Security guarantees: the US, NATO, Russia would sign an updated version of the 1994 Budapest Memorandum (possibly in the form of a treaty, which the original Budapest Memorandum wasn’t) enshrined in a Security Council Resolution, guaranteeing Ukraine’s territorial integrity (taking into account “provisional arrangements”), its neutral status, and a bar of foreign troops on Ukraine’s territory (except those permitted in this agreement); parallel provisions would be put into the Ukrainian constitution. It goes without saying that these Lucy assurances would not be honored by the West any more than were past formal commitments on Kosovo, the Donbass, and other topics.

    6. Demilitarization “guarantees”: Strict limits would be placed on the size and composition of Ukraine’s military and placement of foreign forces and weapons on its territory. More Lucy lies.

    7. Denazification “guarantees”: Parties and movements with specified “extremist” ideologies would be legally banned. More Lucy lies. Elections would be held in rump Ukraine. All sides would pretend the resulting regime is democratic, legitimate, and “moderate.” Banderist neo-Nazi groups, formally illegal, would retain their guns and wield a permanent veto over any Kiev regime.

    8. Kiev would commit to protections for the Russian language and Russian culture, the canonical Orthodox Church, etc. More Lucy lies.

    9. The West would promise a phased lifting of sanctions and the return of frozen/confiscated Russian assets. “You can trust me this time, Charlie Brown!” Consider how long it took Russia to be removed from 1974 Jackson-Vanik sanctions only to then be immediately slapped with new Magnitsky Act sanctions.

    The bottom line is that Moscow would pretend to have substantially if not entirely achieved its SMO goals, giving up its immediate military lead in exchange for false promises: dĂ©jĂ  vu all over again. Pretenses aside, it would accept a “quarter of a loaf” truce that preserves NATO to fight another day and sustains an anti-Russia Ukrainian rump state as a de facto NATO platform, as opposed to a clear military victory – which at the very least would have to include annexation of Odessa and Kharkov, and probably Kiev, plus either liquidation of the Ukrainian state entirely or, at worst, creation of a minimal rump Ukraine that’s effectively a Russian satellite and a member of the Union State with Russia and Belarus.

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    The latter outcome would shatter NATO and probably NATO’s concubine, the European Union. That’s precisely what the Washington Swamp can’t afford, Trump or no Trump. Thus, even if Trump were entirely sincere in promises to Moscow made on behalf of the United States (a very big “if” in my opinion), his ability to deliver on them would be at best highly questionable in light of an Executive Branch packed with neocons (what’s new?) and the implacable bipartisan hostility toward Russia in Congress. Then, even if, by some unbelievable miracle, Trump were able to ensure US and NATO performance on their commitments for the balance of his tenure, there would be no binding effect once he left office.

    Granted, the above is just one possible scenario but one I submit is all too conceivable based on past performance of those concerned. If things go this way, not only does the GAE get a new lease on life and NATO live to fight another day, it would usher in heightened danger of war in the Middle East and the Western Pacific and, in due course, set the stage for renewed and possibly uncontrollable conflict in Europe in the not-too-distant future. Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov recently warned that his country needs to be ready to fight a war with NATO within the next decade, and he’s almost certainly right – especially if he and his boss allow that organization to slip out of its well-deserved fade into oblivion, almost ensuring that war will come a lot sooner than in ten years.

    In laying out this possible near-term scenario, I would dearly love to be proven wrong by events. However, I have vanishingly small hope that the foregoing could resonate with any reader with agency on the American side. Perhaps chances are slightly better on the Russian side. As for the Ukrainians and the Europeans – what they think doesn’t matter to anyone, not even to themselves. 

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/19/2024 – 23:25

  • It Never Ends: MTA Hiking Fares Yet Again, Despite Being Days From New Congestion Tolls
    It Never Ends: MTA Hiking Fares Yet Again, Despite Being Days From New Congestion Tolls

    Everybody’s favorite financial black hole in New York City – the MTA – is said to plan another fare hike just days before it institutes its congestion toll, according to a new report from the New York Post.

    Spurring the hikes, the MTA approved a $1.27 billion order for 435 new subway cars, including 80 open-gangway models, and outlined plans to raise subway and bus fares to $3 per ride. Chairman Janno Lieber noted the fare increase, expected by late 2025, requires formal board approval next year.

    Lieber said this week: “This is a good deal. We are way cheaper than other major world cities.” 

    Well, there you have it…

    But the Post writes that critics slammed the fare hikes and new $9 Manhattan congestion toll starting Jan. 5, pointing to high spending. The MTA’s plan includes 4% fare increases in 2025 and 2027, potentially raising fares to $3.14, with congestion tolls rising to $15 over time.

    City Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli fired back: “Chicago Transit bought 400 cars for $632 million pre-pandemic.”

    He added: “So given the MTA’s incompetence factor, multiplied by their waste, abuse and mismanagement, paying only double a few years later seems par for the course. Congestion pricing was supposed to solve all these capital shortfalls, but apparently now it won’t.”

    City Council Member Robert Holden added: “The Miserable Transit Authority strikes again, raiding the pockets of hardworking New Yorkers with their congestion tax scam and endless fare and toll hikes.” 

    He continued: “Instead of rooting out waste and abuse within their bloated system, they keep the grift alive at our expense. This is pathetic, unacceptable, and New Yorkers deserve better.”

    Insiders doubt fare hikes and new tolls will affect upcoming elections for Gov. Hochul or others. Democratic strategist Jake Dilemani said commuters will feel the pinch, but political fallout is unlikely, according to the Post. 

    The $1.27 billion plan includes 355 R211 subway cars and 80 open-gangway models debuting in 2027 to replace older trains on several lines. Some G-line riders will see open-gangway cars by early 2025.

    MTA officials praised the R211 trains for reliability, wider doors, better signage, video cameras, and smoother service, calling it a key step in modernizing the subway.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/19/2024 – 23:00

  • A Very Different Transition
    A Very Different Transition

    Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Epoch Times,

    The transition from Barack Obama to Donald Trump in 2016 went like every other presidential transition in modern history. The old administration had extended meetings with the new, and old agency heads and their staff trained the new ones. It was managed by Chris Christie and then-Vice President-elect Mike Pence.

    It was funded by the General Services Administration and the incoming team received emergency drills, confidential documents, security briefings, and training sessions on emergency protocols. The FBI was brought on board to vet all new hires.

    That’s because the incoming administration believed that the system worked. It had won and therefore would be in charge. That’s how it is supposed to work in the United States.

    The idea of this process is to ensure continuity in government from one administration to the other.

    In normal times, all of this would be a good idea. The Founders set up a structural system of government with minimal functions, stable law, checks and balances, and established elections for president every four years to ensure that the chief executive served with the people’s consent. Most functions of government were handled by the states, in any case.

    There was never supposed to be a need for a fundamental regime change. We merely changed administrators and members of Congress. The rest was supposed to take care of itself, which is why it would seem to make sense that the old administration trains the new one, and a permanent staff of experts and civil service employees helps the new kids learn the ropes from those with experience.

    And yet here we are. The Trump administration’s mandate from voters is not just for a change in personnel. The mandate is in fact for fundamental regime change within the framework of democracy. The administrative state, which is nowhere found in the Constitution, has over time developed far more power than elected leaders.

    That absolutely must change, as voters made clear in November 2024. It was yet another case, just like in 2016, of the candidate winning whom nearly the whole of mainstream media believed would not win, and of the whole of what anyone would call the establishment disfavoring the result. The victory was so overwhelming as to amount to a primal scream against government as usual.

    In this case, it makes no sense for the machinery that the incoming administration wants to overthrow to be in charge of the transition.

    Remember that this is not Team Trump’s first rodeo. Last time, it went along with all the protocols, funding, systems, and sessions. The White House staff members went through day after day of lectures from government experts on how Washington works. They sat through intelligence briefings. They were schooled in protocols for the management of nuclear war, biological warfare, natural disasters, and pandemics.

    They put up with all the PowerPoint presentations, exhortations, manuals, lists, and introductions to people who really run the government. They assumed that once the president was sworn in, he would in fact be the president and those whom he appointed would be in charge.

    Almost immediately, however, it became clear that the permanent government was waging some kind of an information war against the elected one. The media worked closely with deeply embedded staff in intelligence and agencies to put out the word that Trump was illegitimately elected due to supposed Russian interference. This began immediately with a bang and put those in the new administration in a tight spot, forever defending themselves against absurd charges that they all knew to be untrue.

    When that finally ended, new forms of trolling began, each more severe than the last. The Trump administration always had a loose hold on power due to all of this, but it was finally and fatally upended with the onset of respiratory pandemic. The proposed solution to this, according to all the experts deeply embedded in government, was to wreck the whole of the Trump economy while waiting for a shot to inoculate the public.

    Along with that came record unemployment, new permissions and mandates for mail-in ballots, school and business closures, and wild uses of power that the new Trump administration never authorized. The bureaucracies were ruling the country on their own and following the edicts of interests and powers behind the World Health Organization (WHO). Most of the Trump administration’s last year in office was spent trying to claw back power from the WHO.

    Finally, in July of 2020, the Trump administration announced that it was pulling itself out of the WHO completely. But that made no difference at all. YouTube had already announced in April that it would delete any content that contradicted the WHO, and it continued to enforce that policy for years. So far as I know, it still does.

    After leaving office in January 2021, the Trump team went to work trying to figure out what the heck had happened in the first term to cause everything to go so wrong, or, more specifically, what enabled the administration’s authority to be so thoroughly subverted from within.

    It concluded that the real problem began with the transition itself. That was when the permanent bureaucracy first asserted its power over the incoming administration. That’s when the deep state got its hooks in.

    This time, the team has a very different plan. It is being managed by trusted members of Trump’s inner circle. They have not allowed the General Services Administration to manage any aspect of the transition. They have done this by refusing to accept any money from any government source. Instead, the transition has been entirely privately funded, with methods deployed to make sure that the funding sources are not tainted by deep state contacts. The explicit purpose has been to avoid subversion.

    It’s been the same with FBI vetting. The incoming Trump administration simply does not trust the process and for good reason. It was the FBI that had spied on the campaign and even raided Trump’s own home. Furthermore, it worked with other agencies to deploy myriad forms of lawfare for years.

    This transition is without precedent. The permanent staff of government itself only became the U.S. norm starting in 1883, and it has grown every decade since. At some point in the past, the elected leaders became more like decorations than real rulers of government. The Trump administration cannot achieve its objectives with this status quo.

    This is the reason for this very different transition. It is a good sign and symbol of what might be coming. We might in fact experience a much-needed change of regime in Washington through exactly the system and process that the Founding Fathers set up. The second term of Trump seems determined to avoid repeating the obvious errors of the last time around.

    *  *  *

    Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/19/2024 – 22:35

  • Three Dozen Luxury Condos In South Florida Are Sinking, New Study Finds
    Three Dozen Luxury Condos In South Florida Are Sinking, New Study Finds

    They don’t call it the swamp for nothing…

    Now a study recently published in Earth and Space Science confirms that about “three dozen” luxury high rise buildings in South Florida are “sinking”, according to a new report from Fox News.

    The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Miami, Florida Atlantic University, University of Houston, University of Hanover, GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, and Caltech.

    It found that 35 luxury condos and hotels in Florida’s Sunny Isles Beach, Surfside, Miami Beach, and Bal Harbour have experienced subsidence in recent years.

    The study analyzed Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar data and found affected high-rises sank 2-8 centimeters from 2016 to 2023. The University of Miami noted such settlement is common during and after construction. Most impacted buildings were constructed after 2014.

    “We found that subsidence in most high-rises slows down over time, but in some cases, it continues at a steady rate. This suggests that subsidence could persist for an extended period,” the study says. 

    The Fox News report says that study authors attributed the sinking to sand grains settling more densely in limestone layers, possibly influenced by construction vibrations, groundwater flow, tidal movements, or stormwater injection.

    “The discovery of the extent of subsidence hotspots along the South Florida coastline was unexpected. The study underscores the need for ongoing monitoring and a deeper understanding of the long-term implications for these structures,” one study author commented.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/19/2024 – 22:10

  • After Hunter, How About Pardoning The Gun Owners Biden Criminalized?
    After Hunter, How About Pardoning The Gun Owners Biden Criminalized?

    Authored by Bronson Winslow via American Greatness,

    President Joe Biden oversaw the most anti-Second Amendment administration in the history of the United States – effectively creating a police state that left every American open to prosecution. But when his son Hunter Biden ran into legal trouble and was convicted of three firearm felonies, Biden seemingly forgot about his own beliefs and granted clemency for all of Hunter’s crimes spanning the last ten years. To make matters worse, Biden continually assured the American people that he would not intervene.

    Now, millions of gun owners remain in legal jeopardy under Biden’s policies, while Hunter walks free with his criminal record wiped clean. This blatant double standard is a slap in the face to the American people and a betrayal of whatever trust they may have still had in his leadership.

    Unsurprisingly, Biden attempted to rationalize his decision by pointing fingers at the prosecution, saying it was “unfair and selective.” Regardless of his reasons, every American now facing legal prosecution due to unconstitutional firearm policies deserves the same treatment as Hunter.

    Biden’s willingness to lie to the American people about his intentions highlights the ever-hypocritical left but also begs the question: If Biden is so eager to break his promises, why not break away from his leftist handlers and help American gun owners?

    After all, Biden did not focus heavily on gun control as a U.S. senator and only became a radical gun-grabber after running for president in 2020. Biden’s only course of action is to apply a blanket pardon to all gun owners who have suffered under his administration’s abuse of power.

    A History of Anti-Second Amendment Policies

    The Biden-Harris administration has pursued the most aggressively anti-Second Amendment agenda in U.S. history. While they stopped short of outright gun confiscation, it wasn’t for lack of trying.

    Biden’s weaponization of federal agencies, particularly the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), led to a series of sweeping regulatory actions that turned millions of lawful gun owners into felons overnight.

    Biden also advanced and implemented numerous policies that violated the Second Amendment by restricting every American’s right to bear arms. His administration sought “assault weapon” bans, red flag laws, magazine capacity limits, and universal background checks—all while limiting the places where law-abiding citizens may exercise their unlimited right to carry firearms.

    These measures have not only undermined the Second Amendment but also emboldened federal agencies to act with impunity. In March, the consequences of this overreach turned deadly when Brian Malinowski was fatally shot during a botched ATF raid.

    The ATF justified the raid by accusing Malinowski of illegally selling firearms at gun shows—a claim rooted in a controversial 2023 rule approved by the agency without congressional oversight. This rule redefined what qualifies as a “gun dealer,” allowing the ATF to target law-abiding citizens under a broader, unchecked mandate.

    Malinowski, who was never proven guilty of the alleged crimes, was denied his day in court and lost his life over accusations far less severe than those against Hunter Biden.

    Last-Minute Redemption

    Biden will never outlive the detrimental policies his administration has implemented and will always be remembered as a hypocrite for pardoning his own son, but he could salvage some of his reputation if he applied his reasoning to all gun owners in America.

    A blanket pardon for law-abiding gun owners—those now labeled as felons under ATF’s arbitrary and unconstitutional mandates—would be a step toward restoring trust and fairness.

    If Biden is willing to protect his son, he should have no qualms about protecting ordinary Americans from his own unjust laws and regulations.

    By breaking from the radical left’s playbook, Biden has an opportunity to show that clemency applies to all—not just to his family. The millions of gun owners affected by these policies deserve more than an apology.

    They deserve action.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/19/2024 – 21:45

  • Republicans Should Use Article 5 To Protect Our Institutions
    Republicans Should Use Article 5 To Protect Our Institutions

    Authored by Ryan Silverstein via RealClearPolitics,

    In November, President Trump and Republicans won a broad mandate to govern. Consequently, Democrats are now seeking refuge in traditions and institutions they once sought to destroy – the Senate filibuster and courts of law. President Trump and Republicans should seize this opportunity to use Article 5 of the U.S. Constitution to protect these institutions for generations to come.

    Article 5 provides a two-step process for amending our Constitution. First, an amendment must be proposed. Under Article 5, there are two ways for proposing an amendment to the Constitution: (1) an amendment passes by two-thirds of each chamber of Congress, or (2) two-thirds of state legislatures call for a constitutional convention and two-thirds of the delegates support an amendment. Once an amendment is proposed, three-fourths of states must ratify it for it to become law. Since there are fifty states, that means to change our constitution, 38 states must ratify an amendment.

    In the 2024 election, President Trump carried 31 states. Moreover, Republicans control the state legislatures in 26 states, including some states Trump lost, like New Hampshire. Moreover, they flipped one chamber of state legislatures in Minnesota, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. They also made inroads in deep blue states like Maine and ended the Democratic supermajority in Vermont. From the top of the ticket to the bottom of the ballot, the country shifted right. President-elect Trump and Republicans should seize this opportunity to push for constitutional amendments that protect key norms and institutions from future attacks.

    First, Republicans should support an amendment constitutionalizing the Senate filibuster for all legislation, excluding spending bills from the House. The filibuster – a Senate procedural mechanism that requires 60 votes for legislation to be passed – plays a key role in requiring bipartisan cooperation in the Senate. It has been used by both parties to prevent radical legislation from becoming law.

    While Democrats recently found support for the filibuster, there is a movement on the left calling to abolish it. For example, in 2022, Democrats tried to kill the filibuster. This effort only failed because independent Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema voted against the filibuster-killing plan. In August, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer expressed a desire to change the filibuster again so Democrats could have an easier time passing legislation. Democrats clearly only value the filibuster when they’re in the minority – but have no issue destroying it when they control the Senate. Adding the filibuster to the Constitution would preserve bipartisan cooperation and debate in the Senate, ensuring it remains the “greatest deliberative body in the world.”

    Second, Republicans should back an amendment that sets the size of the Supreme Court at nine justices. Currently, the Constitution does not set the size of the Supreme Court. Democrats have spent years undermining the Court’s integrity to justify expanding it. Other Democrats like President Joe Biden claim the historically low public approval of the Supreme Court shows there is a need to reform our highest court. Yet, the Supreme Court still has higher approval ratings than Congress and President Biden. Moreover, the Supreme Court still has higher public confidence than Congress or the presidency.

    The court’s size has not been changed since 1869 when Congress set the size at nine. The court’s size remaining at nine has played a key part in allowing the court to maintain the public’s support and its independence. When President Franklin Delano Roosevelt tried to expand the court in 1937, he failed because the public viewed his attempt at expanding the Court as an attack on a sacrosanct institution. There is a long institutional and democratic tradition of nine justices, which has allowed our highest court to remain isolated from the political fray. Alexander Hamilton famously defended an independent judiciary insulated from politics in Federalist Paper No. 78, where he argued liberty would be extinguished if the judicial power were co-opted by the executive or legislative branches. Hamilton’s fear may become reality as Democrats may push for more justices when they retain power – especially if President Trump gets to appoint more justices.

    Adding more seats would destroy the public’s trust in any decision rendered by changing the public’s perception of justices to politicians in robes instead of neutral arbiters of law. Enshrining the number of Supreme Court justices in the Constitution would preserve the high court’s independence from political pressures and ensure the public’s trust in our independent judiciary isn’t destroyed.

    President Trump and Republicans should utilize their momentum and get Congress to propose an amendment or pressure state legislatures to call a convention of states. Doing so will preserve core American institutions for years to come.

    Ryan Silverstein is a J.D. candidate at Villanova University and a fellow with Villanova’s McCullen Center for Law, Religion and Public Policy. His work has previously appeared in the New York Daily News, Post & Courier, and the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/19/2024 – 20:55

  • Virginia Will Be Home To The World's First Nuclear Fusion Power Plant
    Virginia Will Be Home To The World’s First Nuclear Fusion Power Plant

    Nuclear adoption continues accelerating, and now Virginia sure thinks it has found the way to “clean energy, billions in investment, and a solution to surging power demand”. The state is going to host the world’s first fusion power plant, according to the Virginia Mercury.

    Gov. Glenn Youngkin said this week: “Commonwealth Fusion Systems plans on building the world’s first grid scale commercial fusion power plant in the world, full stop, and it’s going to be right here in the commonwealth of Virginia.”

    Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), founded in 2018 in Cambridge, Mass., plans to build a fusion power plant in Chesterfield County’s James River Industrial Park. The facility, set to produce 400 megawatts of electricity to power 150,000 homes, could be operational by the early 2030s.

    Fusion power, replicating the sun’s energy production, offers a cleaner alternative to traditional fission. The 25-acre project highlights Virginia’s role in advancing energy solutions amid surging demand from energy-intensive data centers supporting big tech.

    A JLARC report projects Virginia’s data center energy demand could triple to 30,000 megawatts by 2040 if infrastructure supports it. To meet rising needs, Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power are exploring modular nuclear reactors, wind, solar, and natural gas, the Virginia Mercury reported.

    Fusion power offers a clean alternative, avoiding emissions tied to climate change. It combines hydrogen isotopes under extreme heat and pressure, using magnets to generate electricity via steam turbines, with helium as the only byproduct.

    Dominion Energy Virginia President Edward H. Baine said: “Our customers’ growing needs for reliable, carbon-free power benefits from as diverse a menu of power generation options as possible, and in that spirit, we are delighted to assist CFS in their efforts.” 

    The report says that CFS chose Chesterfield after a global search and will lease the site from Dominion Energy. Virginia secured the project with $2 million in state and county funding, a tax exemption for equipment, and federal DOE support. Gov. Youngkin estimates it will bring “billions” in development and “hundreds” of jobs.

    CFS is building its SPARC demo plant in Massachusetts to pave the way for ARC technology in Chesterfield. Unlike laser-based fusion by California’s Lawrence Livermore Lab, CFS uses a tokamak, a donut-shaped device, to confine and fuse molecules.

    Alex Creely, CFS director of tokamak operations, concluded: “One of the big advantages of fusion is that it doesn’t produce any long lived waste material, and there’s no risk of some kind of meltdown even. It’s a very safe energy source — something that you can live right next to and feel very comfortable with.”

    Recall earlier this week we wrote that nuclear startup Oklo joined the long list of names signing deals with data centers for power heading into the next decade. 

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/19/2024 – 20:30

  • Pandemic Coverup Intensifies: Scripps Institute's Kristian Andersen Cannot Tell The Truth
    Pandemic Coverup Intensifies: Scripps Institute’s Kristian Andersen Cannot Tell The Truth

    Authored by former lead Senate investigator Paul D. Thacker via The Disinformation Chronicle,

    The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic released their final report earlier this month, concluding that the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Tony Fauci funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where a lab accident likely started the initial outbreak.

    Multiple U.S. agencies aided by virologist sought to cover-up this evidence, the Select Subcommittee charged, and several people broke the law by misleading congressional staff including Peter Daszak of EcoHealth, who funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab; NIH employee David Morens who served as Tony Fauci’s advisor; and former New York Governor Cuomo who lied about nursing home fatalities in his state.

    The Select Subcommittee’s report will likely serve as roadmap for incoming Trump officials seeking to clean up federal research. However, Scripps researcher Kristian Andersen sought to invert the report’s findings, posting a series of false allegations about the report’s conclusions on Bluesky a social media app popular with Democrats fleeing X. Andersen was previously caught misleading Congress by myself and Ryan Grim at The Intercept, and his latest actions pile on the evidence that the Scripps scientist cannot tell the truth and lacks even a mob lawyer’s fleeting interest in candor.

    Follow the Documents

    Andersen, a virologist at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, emerged as a controversial researcher early in the pandemic, and has been one of the most outspoken cheerleaders for the theory that pandemic started with a natural spillover from an animal to humans outside of a lab. But emails released a year after the pandemic’s beginning showed that Andersen initially thought the virus had been genetically engineered. However, after a phone call with Fauci and another major virology funder, Jeremy Farrar, then with the Wellcome Trust, Andersen reversed course.

    Along with other virologists funded by Fauci and Farrar, Andersen then published a March 2020 Nature Medicine paper called “Proximal Origins” which concluded a Wuhan lab accident was not “plausible.” The Nature Medicine paper thus diverted any blame from Fauci for possibly starting the pandemic, as he was funding that same lab in Wuhan. Emails later showed that Fauci and Farrar helped guide the Nature Medicine piece to publication, a fact which Andersen continues to deny.

    Emails and other private messages released in the summer of 2023 by Congress also indicated that Andersen’s co-authors on the Nature Medicine paper may have put politics before science.

    “[G]iven the shit show that would happen if anyone serious accused the Chinese of even accidental release, my feeling is we should say that given there is no evidence of a specifically engineered virus, we cannot possibly distinguish between natural evolution and escape so we are content with ascribing it to [a] natural process,” Andersen’s colleague, Dr. Andrew Rambaut, wrote to a group of virologists over Slack in February 2020.

    “Yup, I totally agree that that’s a very reasonable conclusion. Although I hate when politics is injected into science – but it’s impossible not to, especially given the circumstances,” Andersen replied.

    Andersen did not return a request to explain his false statements, nor provide an explanation for who paid his lawyer when he appeared before the Committee.

    Follow My Lies on BlueSky

    Continuing his political campaign to deny a possible lab accident, Andersen posted excerpts of the House final report on Bluesky. In particular, Andersen posted a screenshot of a memo found on page 20 of the Select Subcommittee report. “This memo proves that Dr. Fauci can’t possibly have orchestrated a cover-up,” Andersen wrote. Andersen then repeated the dishonest claim that the memo is proof that Fauci had no involvement in directing the Nature Medicine paper, despite emails to the contrary.

    In a later Bluesky post, Andersen charges that these emails are “a conspiracy theory, to be clear.” But Andersen’s Bluesky posts omit one small detail about this memo found on page 20—the report’s next page, page 21.

    On the following page of the report, investigators note that Andersen testified that Fauci had suggested that he write a peer-reviewed paper (this is the Nature Medicine, Proximal Origins paper) on the possibility of a lab accident at Wuhan. Page 21 also reveals that Andersen emailed to Nature that Fauci and others “prompted” the paper:

    When Dr. Andersen presented a draft of Proximal Origin to Nature, he stated it was “prompted” by Dr. Fauci and later stated the goal of Proximal Origin was to “disprove the lab leak theory.”

    Here’s the report’s page 21 that Andersen failed to post on Bluesky.

    And here’s the email Andersen wrote to Nature Medicine, where he explained that the Nature Medicine Proximal Origins paper was “prompted by Jeremy Farrar, Tony Fauci, and Francis Collins.”

    To be clear, nothing is stopping Andersen from lying to his followers on Bluesky. He can continue posting truncated portions of the report to falsely assert Fauci had no involvement in his Nature Medicine paper. Lying liars lie.

    But Andersen also got caught lying to Congress, and that’s where he can run into legal peril. Unlike lying on Bluesky, lying liars can be prosecuted when they lie to Congress.

    Will DOJ Prosecute Lying Liars?

    To mediate the Select Subcommittee’s demand for answers and to protect him during a deposition and public hearing, Andersen hired criminal defense lawyer, John P. Rowley, a former federal prosecutor who defended Trump before the Department of Justice.

    In testimony Andersen submitted for a July 2023 House hearing, he sought to dismiss the emails showing that NIH officials Anthony Fauci and Francis Collins helped to orchestrate his Nature Medicine Proximal Origins paper.

    But after Nature Medicine accepted the paper in March 2020, Andersen sent Fauci and Collins the paper’s draft and a draft of the press release. Andersen then thanked them for “advice and leadership” on the matter. “Please let me know if you have any comments, suggestions, or questions about the paper or the press release,” Andersen wrote the two NIH officials who funded his research.

    “Nice job on the paper,” Fauci replied.

    But in his July 2023 testimony, Andersen alleged that Fauci had not provided “advice and leadership” on the paper. Instead, Andersend proclaimed some monumental difference between asking someone to comment or offer suggestions about a paper instead of on a paper.

    “Note, that I say ‘about the paper’, not e.g., ‘on the paper,’” Andersen testified.

    Andersen sought to clarify later in his testimony, “Sending a copy of a paper that has been accepted and is in ‘proof’ (i.e., at a stage where only changes directly requested by the journal can be introduced) is simply a professional courtesy.”

    Emails impeach this portion of Andersen’s testimony, as Fauci was provided multiple drafts of the paper. A month before Andersen emailed Fauci and Collins the “proof” of the paper in March 2020, Jeremy Farrar forwarded Fauci a “rough first draft” from Andersen’s co-author Edward “Eddie” Holmes.

    “Please treat in confidence—a very rough first draft from Eddie and team—they will send on the edited, cleaner version later,” Farrar emailed Fauci and Collins. The following day, Farrar emailed Fauci and Collins, “Tony and Francis, The revised draft from Eddie, copied here.”

    Much of the structure and footnotes are the same of this “rough first draft” and some phrases appear verbatim in the article Nature Medicine later published. Here are a few passages for comparison.

    If this is not enough, one more bit to chew on. Andersen stated in his July 2023 testimony that Fauci had received the final “proof” of the article as “simply a professional courtesy.” But we know this is not true. Some months after Andersen’s congressional testimony Fauci testified that he had been sent multiple drafts.

    Here’s Fauci discussing Andersen’s Nature Medicine paper starting on day 2, page 71 of his sworn deposition:

    Q As the minority said, we’ve talked to all the U.S.-based authors or those who are acknowledged on that paper, so I won’t go through all of the science in it, except for I want — you were sent drafts periodically?

    A Right.

    Q A couple. I think it was less than 10, more than 5, drafts —

    A Right.

    Fauci’s January 2024 deposition impeaches Andersen’s July 2023 statement before Congress.

    But it doesn’t end there. After Andersen was caught lying in his July 2023 congressional testimony, The Intercept published an expose a few days after, noting Andersen had also lied to Congress about his NIH funding from Fauci.

    During the 2023 hearing, The Intercept discovered, Andersen sought to distract Members of Congress about a serious conflict of interest. While writing the Nature Medicine paper, whose conclusions diverted any blame from Fauci for funding research in the Wuhan lab, Andersen was awaiting Fauci’s approval for a major grant.

    Here’s The Intercept:

    Kristian Andersen of Scripps Research, who testified at the hearing along with Bob Garry of Tulane University, preempted the charge in his opening statement, telling the committee he had no live fundraising requests before Fauci’s agency at the time of the call. “There is no connection between the grant and the conclusions we reached about the origins of the pandemic. We applied for this grant in June 2019, and it was scored and reviewed by independent experts in November 2019,” Andersen testified. “Based on the actual timeline of this grant, it is not possible that the merit-based federal grant awarding process was influenced by a call in February, 2020.”

    But Andersen’s testimony was false, The Intercept reported. While Andersen’s grant had been reviewed, it was still waiting for Fauci’s final approval and signature.

    The grant wasn’t finalized until May 21, 2020. In other words, it was on Fauci’s desk at the time of the conference call. Andersen’s lab announced the funding in a press release in August 2020, nine months after he claimed it was already finalized. The press release describes it as a “new $8.9 million grant.”

    In case you’re still not certain if Andersen is a liar, The Intercept posted a screenshot of Andersen’s grant, showing that Fauci had given final approval on May 21, 2020.

    Congress is far from finished with addressing all the problems that happened during the pandemic. Just last week, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs (HSGAC) sent letters to a dozen federal agencies, demanding they preserve documents pertaining to Covid’s origins.

    More to come


    Subscribe to The Disinformation Chronicle here…

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/19/2024 – 20:05

  • Blinken Admits Past 20 Years Of US Regime Change Efforts Abroad Basically A Failure
    Blinken Admits Past 20 Years Of US Regime Change Efforts Abroad Basically A Failure

    Now with just weeks to go before the Trump administration takes over the White House, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has issued some interesting and surprising admissions. He told an audience of the Council on Foreign Relations on Wednesday that Biden’s policy on Iran hasn’t been more muscular because Washington’s regime change efforts in the region over the past two decades have basically been failures. 

    It’s rare for a top official who is still in office to so bluntly describe that regime change efforts have been doomed. Blinken had been asked specifically of the US supporting Iranian opposition groups to overthrow the government in Tehran.

    Via AFP

    “I think if we look at the last 20 years, our experiments in regime change have not exactly been resounding successes,” he responded. “So, I think we have to have an appropriate degree of humility in focusing in that way on a problem.”

    He also said at one point, “There’s no doubt this has not been a good year for Iran, and we’re seeing that play out every single day.” 

    He laid out that Iranian leaders now have to make “fundamental” choices:

    “One choice it could make and should make is to focus on itself and focus on trying to build a better, more successful country that delivers for its people 
 and to stop getting involved in these adventures or misadventures throughout the region.”

    Foreign media seized on the comments, particularly state media in Russia and China. For example, Russia’s RT ran a headline which somewhat stretched Blinken’s words to say “US admits attempts at regime-change in Iran.”

    “US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has publicly admitted that over the past two decades Washington has conducted experiments seeking regime change in Iran,” the RT report said. “Efforts to topple the Islamic Republic’s leadership, however, have failed, he admitted.”

    And China’s Xinhua had this headline: “Blinken admits failure of decades-long U.S. effort seeking regime change in Iran.”

    The Chinese state media report also reads a lot into Blinken’s words, claiming that he “publicly admitted Wednesday that his country’s efforts spanning the last 20 years to seek regime change in Iran did not yield much success.”

    While it’s clear that countries from Afghanistan to Iraq to Libya to Syria were all targeted for regime change in the last twenty years, it’s uncertain whether Washington ever made a decision to focus efforts on overthrowing the leadership of the Islamic Republic. Certainly, however, there have been efforts to weaken and degrade the country, including Trump’s 2020 assassination by drone strike of IRGC Quds Force General Qasem Soleimani.

    Blinken also had some interesting words on Iran’s nuclear program, saying that it is “not inevitable” that Iran will purse and achieve a bomb. “This is something that may be more a question now because they’ve lost different tools. They’ve lost different lines of defense,” he said.

    “Sure, you’re going to see more thinking about that, but the costs and consequences for them for pursuing that route, I think, would be severe,” he added.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/19/2024 – 19:40

  • A Year Of Chaos: Does A Shocking Magazine Cover Reveal What The Global Elite Have Planned For 2025
    A Year Of Chaos: Does A Shocking Magazine Cover Reveal What The Global Elite Have Planned For 2025

    Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

    Are we heading into a year that will be characterized by great turmoil?  Every year, a magazine known as “the Economist” publishes an issue that is dedicated to what is coming in the year ahead.  In the past, many of these issues have turned out to be eerily accurate.  For example, the cover of last year’s issue featured images of Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin with very large missiles standing next to each of them.  Of course this ended up being one of the biggest news stories of 2024.  Ukraine started firing long-range missiles provided by NATO deep into Russian territory, and the Russians responded with long-range missiles of their own.  Unfortunately, it appears that the cover for this year’s issue could be previewing some very alarming events that are coming in 2025.

    The Economist has been one of the most important mouthpieces for the western elite for decades.  It has offices all over the globe, but it is based in the city of London


    Based in London, the newspaper is owned by the Economist Group, with its core editorial offices in the United States, as well as across major cities in continental Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

    The ownership list of the magazine includes prominent families such as Rothschild, Cadbury, Agnelli, Schroder and Layton


    Aside from the Agnelli family, smaller shareholders in the company include Cadbury, Rothschild (21%), Schroder, Layton and other family interests as well as a number of staff and former staff shareholders.

    Ordinary people don’t read the magazine much.

    It is truly a magazine by the elite and for the elite, and so it provides a tremendous amount of insight into what the elite are thinking.  Below, you can see what the cover for their 2025 preview issue looks like


    The first thing that stands out is how dark and ominous this cover is.

    Are they expecting 2025 to be a dark and ominous year?

    A black and white image of Donald Trump outlined in red is right in the center of the cover.

    Obviously they expect him to be the center of attention.

    Interestingly, a raised red fist that is outlined in red can be seen near the bottom of the cover.  Needless to say, a raised fist is often used as a symbol of “resistance” to Trump.

    There are several other world leaders on the cover as well.  Just like in 2024, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin are featured, and this year Chinese President Xi Jinping also appears.

    It is already clear that the conflict in Ukraine will continue to be a major theme in 2025.  Are the elite expecting war with China to break out too?

    Right next to Trump, you can see a very tall white missile, and right beneath Trump there is something that looks like a mushroom cloud.

    In addition, there are a couple of other symbols on the cover that are related to nuclear war.

    This sort of imagery should deeply alarm all of us.

    Are they trying to warn us that we are getting dangerously close to nuclear war?

    Or could it be possible that they are suggesting that nuclear weapons could actually be used in combat at some point in 2025?

    2024 was certainly a year of war, and I fully expect things to go to an entirely new level in 2025.

    But let us hope that nuclear weapons are not used any time soon.

    Switching gears, directly next to the very tall white missile is an image of a syringe that is more than half-filled with red liquid.

    That can’t be related to the previous pandemic, because the previous pandemic has been behind us for quite some time.

    So what are they trying to communicate with this image?

    Are they suggesting that the world could soon be facing another major pestilence?

    Red is a color that is often associated with death.

    So the fact that the liquid inside the syringe is red is more than just a little bit creepy.

    As I have detailed in previous articles, at this moment global health authorities are dealing with an outbreak of a mystery illness that is being referred to as “Disease X” in Africa, a new strain of the monkeypox that has started to pop up all over the world, an eruption of the Marburg virus in Rwanda, and a bird flu crisis that never seems to end and that has now jumped into humans.

    I am convinced that pestilence will be a major theme in 2025, and apparently the Economist does too.

    On the cover of the magazine, we also see a dollar sign appear twice, and there are numerous arrows that are pointing both up and down.

    Are they anticipating that there will be economic and financial turmoil during the year ahead?

    Of course economic problems have already begun in the U.S., in Europe, and in China.  The global economy is rapidly heading in the wrong direction, and many are warning that 2025 is going to be a very hard year.

    That is really bad news for those that are on the bottom levels of the economic food chain.  Here in the United States, demand at food banks is already at all-time record highs.  So what will things look like if a full-blown global economic crisis suddenly erupts in 2025?

    There are other images on this cover that also seem rather odd.  There is an image of Saturn, there is an image of an all-seeing eye, and there is an image of an hourglass.

    An hourglass is often used to depict the fact that time is running out.

    And I certainly agree with that.

    The truth is that we have been living on borrowed time for quite a while.

    The elite love to create order out of chaos, and based on this magazine cover they certainly seem to believe that 2025 will be a year of chaos.

    Perhaps the elite hope that the chaos that is approaching will represent an opportunity for them to regain some of the control that they have lost in recent years.

    I think that they are starting to understand that the system that they have worked so carefully to construct is beginning to crumble, and now they are desperate to regain the upper hand any way that they can.

    *  *  *

    Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/19/2024 – 19:15

  • NOPE: Trump-Backed Funding Bill Fails House Vote As 38 Republicans Say 'No'
    NOPE: Trump-Backed Funding Bill Fails House Vote As 38 Republicans Say ‘No’

    Update (1752ET): The first vote to kick the can down the road until 2027 has failed the House, by a vote of 174-235-1, with 38 Republicans voting ‘no’.

    The bill required 2/3 of the vote under a fast-track method, yet didn’t even clear a simple majority.

    Polymarket odds of a shutdown have spiked to 76% as of this writing

    *  *  *

    Update (1752ET): In what comes as a surprise to nobody, Democrats want their pork – and have said “Hell no” to the massively reduced spending package that Mike Johnson rolled out after conferring with the Trump team.

    “The Musk-Johnson proposal is not serious. It’s laughable. Extreme MAGA Republicans are driving us to a government shutdown,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters as he walked into a closed-door caucus meeting Thursday afternoon.

    In short, it’s doomed.

    “I’m not simply a no. I’m a hell no,” Jeffries then said at the closed-door meeting, Politico reports, citing three people familiar with the meeting.

    More via Politico:

    Other Democratic lawmakers also expressed doubts about the legislation, which Republican leaders were teeing up for a vote Thursday evening. It would suspend the debt ceiling through early 2027, fund the government through March, and include billions in disaster relief funds, a top Democratic priority.

    The vote on the bill is scheduled to come up via a process called suspension, which means it needs to meet a two-thirds vote threshold to pass. If Democrats are roundly against it, it will fail on the floor — leaving Congress without an obvious solution to avoid a shutdown.

    “This was done on short notice,” said Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.), the top Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, who said he was opposed. “We reached an agreement on a bipartisan basis between the respective leadership and the membership of both parties, only to have an interruption take place and then a veto occurs after the agreement has been rendered and reached.”

    President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk worked to spike the original deal on Wednesday, sending the House careening down an alternate path with a deadline looming.

    “Elon Musk is not my constituent. My constituents are hard-working people who work very hard every day for every dime they have, and I’m sure as hell not bailing out on them in the final week,” said Rep. Ann McLane Kuster (D-N.H.), chair of the centrist New Democrat Coalition.

    Top Democrats weren’t involved in the drafting of the legislation, and the unveiling caught senior lawmakers by surprise.

    “All I know is it was just reported by the press. We have not been involved in anything that they have done,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the top Appropriations Committee Democrat.

    Republicans argue the burden is now on Democrats to justify any opposition to a continuing resolution — “CR” for short — that averts a government shutdown and also prevents the U.S. from defaulting on its more than $36 trillion in debt next year.

    *  *  *

    Update (1350ET): Republican lawmakers have reportedly struck a new spending deal to keep the lights on in Washington until at least Jan. 30, 2027, according to Politico, citing two GOP lawmakers meeting in Speaker Mike Johnson’s office Thursday afternoon.

    “There is an agreement,” said Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-OK). “The plan is to put a bill on the floor that we think is a reasonable step forward.”

    The new package is just 116 pages, down from 1,547 in the original draft.

    Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), who was also in Johnson’s office, didn’t say whether congressional Democrats or the White House had agreed to it, however Bloomberg reports that it has Trump’s blessing.

    Late Wednesday afternoon, President-elect Trump demanded Johnson abandon the previous revision he’d worked out with Democratic congressional leaders.

    Meanwhile, Trump is now gunning for… Chip Roy?

    *  *  *

    ‘With Friday’s government shutdown looming – and odds spiking after everyone figured out that the 1,547-page Continuing Resolution (CR) was full of Orwellian bullshit and other malarkey, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has gone to Donald Trumps team with hat in hand.

    The new plan will be a federal funding stopgap plan that includes disaster aid, pushing off the debt limit fight for two years, and a one-year farm bill extension, Politico reports, citing Republicans familiar with the discussions.

    No word on how close this comes to a “clean” bill, or how much of the aforementioned bullshit is gone – such as funding the Global Engagement Center, shielding the Jan. 6 committee from subpoenas, and funding new biolabs, but we guess we’ll find out.

    Also unknown is whether Democrats will support the plan.

    But Trump had made an 11th hour public demand that any stopgap bill should deal with the debt limit. Trump’s team is pushing for at least a commitment to lift the debt limit before Jan. 20.

    The level of disaster aid and whether it’s completely paid for is still unclear. The package would also likely include some additional economic aid for farmers, amid threats from rural Republicans to oppose any stopgap that doesn’t include the funding. -Politico

    In a closed door meeting on Thursday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) told Democratic lawmakers: “Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate,” citing JFK.

    Polymarkets odds of a government shutdown went from 15% yesterday to 49% this morning.

    According to Punchbowl News, here’s what happened, and what’s next;

    At some point today, House Republicans and Democrats will likely have separate party meetings to chart their path forward. Democrats have announced their meeting for 9 a.m. We’ll talk more about them below.

    But make no mistake — this is Johnson and Trump’s mess to solve. And we’re inching toward a shutdown as government funding runs out at midnight Friday.

    Johnson was mostly MIA Wednesday, holed up in his Capitol office for hours without showing his face. Even the House GOP leadership team felt like they were being kept in the dark about what was happening.

    Late in the evening, Johnson met with Vance, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), Appropriations Committee Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) and Rules Committee Chair Michael Burgess (R-Texas). Jordan and Roy are conservative hardliners. Diaz-Balart is a senior appropriator.

    As Scalise left around 10 p.m., he told reporters “We’re not there yet” when asked whether the debt-limit boost would be part of any new government-funding plan. “A lot of things have come up,” Scalise added.

    A somewhat obvious play may be a funding bill with a two-year debt-limit extension. Why? Because Trump supports increasing the debt limit now. Given how volatile Trump was during his first term, there’s no guarantee he’ll do this again. (For what it’s worth, Biden administration officials estimate the debt limit won’t be reached until sometime next summer. GOP leaders were planning to handle it in a reconciliation bill).

    Trump is giving Johnson cover for the time being. It’s limited, however. Because Trump, once again, has put his party in a bind. There are probably dozens of Republicans who have never voted for raising the debt ceiling. Now Trump is forcing them to do so.

    Check back for updates.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/19/2024 – 19:01

  • More ATACMS, Storm Shadow Missiles Launched At Russia As Putin Threatens 'Missile Duel' With US
    More ATACMS, Storm Shadow Missiles Launched At Russia As Putin Threatens ‘Missile Duel’ With US

    The Kremlin on Thursday revealed that the day prior Ukraine’s military launched six US-made long-range ATACMs missiles and four British-made Storm Shadow missiles against Russian territory.

    The projectiles targeted the southern Rostov region, with Russia’s military saying its anti-air defense systems were able to intercept all four ATACMS missiles and three of the four Storm Shadows.

    Launch of an ATACMS, via Sky News

    The statement further vowed a harsh response to the attacks, given this is at least third of fourth major wave of long-range attacks. Western missiles have been used perhaps half a dozen times or more against Russian territory at this point, only a month after Washington initially gave Kiev permission.

    The ATACMS and Storm Shadow assault on Wednesday was accompanied by other conventional weapons as well. In the overall attack some targets, including an oil refinery, were struck:

    Ukraine struck Russian territory with at least 13 missiles and 84 drones, triggering a fire at an oil refinery in the southern Rostov region that burned for hours, Russian officials said on Thursday.

    As Russia advances at the fastest pace since the start of the war in 2022, Ukraine has repeatedly tried to strike Russia’s oil infrastructure – which funds a significant chunk of the Russian war economy.

    “The actions of the Kyiv regime, supported by its Western curators, will not go unanswered,” the Russian defense ministry said in follow-up.

    This retaliation could involve more hypersonic ballistic missile attacks on Ukraine, a threat which has been sounded more frequently of late, specifically more debilitating attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid headed into the cold winter months.

    On Thursday, during President Putin’s year-end Q&A session with journalists, Putin warned that more Oreshnik missiles could be used, emphasizing that there is no defense against them.

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    “There is no chance of shooting down these Oreshnik missiles. Well, if those Western experts you mentioned think they can be shot down, we propose they – and those in the West and the United States who pay them for their analysis – conduct some kind of technological experiment, a high-tech duel of the 21st century,” Putin explained to the press.

    “Let them name some object, let’s say, in Kyiv, concentrate all their air defence and missile defence forces there, and we will hit it with Oreshnik and see what happens. We are ready for such an experiment. Is the other side ready?” he posed.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/19/2024 – 18:50

  • At Least 100,000 Detention Beds Needed For Mass Deportation Plan; Trump's Border Czar Says
    At Least 100,000 Detention Beds Needed For Mass Deportation Plan; Trump’s Border Czar Says

    Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

    Incoming border czar Tom Homan estimates that at least 100,000 beds for illegal immigrants in detention will be needed for the Trump administration to carry out its deportation plans.

    President-elect Donald Trump has promised mass deportations, and he tapped Homan, the former acting head of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to lead the operation.

    ICE is currently holding about 38,700 illegal immigrants, according to agency data. An additional nearly 185,000 are being monitored by cellphone or ankle bracelet at a cost of $232,800 per day, ICE data show.

    Homan told CNN on Dec. 18 that the operation will involve building new detention facilities and that officials will be seeking to hire more ICE agents.

    “It all depends on the funding I get from the Hill,” Homan said, referring to lawmakers in Congress.

    Both congressional chambers will be controlled by Republicans come January 2025. Republicans currently control the House of Representatives, but not the Senate.

    Homan also said that he will request assistance from the military.

    “They’re not going to be out arresting people, but they can be a force multiplier in doing things we need to do that doesn’t require a badge and a gun,” he said.

    The first wave of arrests, at least, will target illegal immigrants with a criminal history and those deemed national security threats. But when officials in so-called sanctuary cities decline to allow ICE to take custody of criminals from jails and courts, ICE agents will go into neighborhoods to track them down. That will result in collateral arrests, Homan said this week.

    Homan said on CNN that “immigration officers aren’t going to be told to walk away from somebody here illegally.” He also said that illegal immigrants whose children were born in the United States and thus have citizenship, will not be shielded from enforcement operations.

    “They put themselves in this position. We didn’t,” he said.

    He said that the children can go live with the other parent or a relative.

    Some lawmakers and groups have praised Trump’s mass deportation plans.

    “Deportations are a critical step in delivering on that promise, restoring the rule of law, and protecting American communities across the country,” the Federation for American Immigration Reform said in a recent article.

    Others say that deportations will cause harm.

    “Trump’s plans for mass deportation will tear families apart, raid homes, and harm our communities,” Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) wrote on Wednesday on the social media platform X.

    “We need to resist his hateful agenda and fight back to protect our immigrant neighbors because immigrants make our communities stronger.”

    The first Trump administration carried out about 1.2 million deportations over four years. During President Joe Biden’s first two years in office, deportations plunged to about 65,000 a year, though they jumped to 253,488 in fiscal year 2024, which ended in September.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/19/2024 – 18:25

  • Does California's Bird Flu Emergency Portend The Next Trump-Era Outbreak?
    Does California’s Bird Flu Emergency Portend The Next Trump-Era Outbreak?

    This week California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) declared a state of emergency over avian influenza, aka Bird Flu.

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a news conference in Los Angeles on Sept. 25, 2024. Eric Thayer/AP Photo

    And while Newsom says the order was simply a precaution after one person in Louisiana was hospitalized with the first severe illness caused by the bird flu in the United States, one has to wonder – WTF…

    “This proclamation is a targeted action to ensure government agencies have the resources and flexibility they need to respond quickly to this outbreak,” Newsom said in a Wednesday statement.

    According to the governor’s office, Bird flu has been found in dairy cows in Southern California – therefore, the emergency is needed to “contain and mitigate the spread of the virus” despite the fact that there have been no reported cases of person-to-person transmission in the state.

    What makes this extra-interesting is a tidbit at the end of the new documentary, Thank You Dr. Fauci – notably an infamous op-ed penned by Fauci and his former ‘boss’, NIH head Dr. Francis Collins, in which they suggested that their dangerous research was a “risk worth taking.”

    Click into the tweets to read the rest of the thread…

    Which brings us back to California – where the new emergency declaration will empower state and local agencies with additional funding and flexibility in dealing with the virus, that nobody in the state has caught… yet.

    As the Epoch Times notes further, While not linked to human bird flu cases, a raw milk dairy based in California issued a voluntary recall several weeks ago after avian influenza was found in a lot.

    All of the illnesses in the United States, except for the Louisiana case, have been mild, and the vast majority have been among farmworkers exposed to sick poultry or dairy cows. This year, more than 60 bird flu infections have been reported, with more than half of them in California, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

    In the Louisiana case, the infected person is older than 65, has underlying medical problems, and has also been in contact with sick and dead birds in a backyard flock, according to the CDC.

    Last month, Canadian officials reported that a teen in British Columbia was hospitalized with a severe case of bird flu. CDC officials did not answer a question about whether the new U.S. case and the case in Canada had any similarities or differences, directing reporters to ask Louisiana officials.

    Health officials say bird flu is still mainly an animal health issue and that the risk to the general public remains low. There has been no documented spread of the virus from person to person in the United States or elsewhere.

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

     

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/19/2024 – 18:00

  • The Establishment's "Principles" Are Fake
    The Establishment’s “Principles” Are Fake

    Authored by Connor O’Keefe via The Mises Institute,

    In the years leading up to the 2024 presidential election, the Democrats and establishment Republicans who wanted to see Joe Biden, and later Kamala Harris, remain in office went all in on one overarching narrative above all: that Donald Trump represented an existential threat to American democracy.

    Biden’s team and their allies in politics and media repeated this claim day after day, essentially trying to convince millions of Americans that elections would literally stop happening in this country if Trump won.

    Taking a step back, Trump was framed as the domestic enemy in a broader international fight that saw “autocratic” leaders like Russian President Vladimir Putin, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and others facing down a coalition of “democratic” governments.

    Democracy versus autocracy was meant to be the defining dynamic of the day. Meaning everything from the war in Ukraine to the fight over climate change was framed as one big battle where the “good guys” were defined purely by their commitment to the democratic process.

    And, in that global fight, no effort was more important—we were told—than keeping Trump out of the White House.

    But then he won.

    Despite the establishment’s efforts, a majority of American voters were not swayed by the “democracy-versus-autocracy” narrative. Or, at least, they demonstrated that they preferred the candidate who promised to close the border, wind down the war in Ukraine, cut down the extremely bloated federal bureaucracy, investigate the weaponization of the DOJ in recent years, and roll back federal climate policies while celebrating and vowing to continue the appointment of conservative judges and justices—among other campaign promises.

    Now, President Biden – and, really, all the people around him who are actually running things – are in their so-called lame-duck period. And what are they doing as they wait to hand power over to the next administration? They’re doing whatever they can to make it harder for Trump’s team to implement the very policies voters just sent them to the White House to carry out.

    Last week, we learned that the Biden administration is moving unassembled border wall material away from the southern border and selling it at an auction. Groups allied with the president are also calling on him to close immigration and customs enforcement detention facilities before leaving office to hamper Trump’s plans to deport illegal immigrants.

    After losing the election last month, the Biden administration escalated the war in Ukraine by helping Ukrainian forces shoot long-range American missiles further into Russia. Now, the president’s team is rushing to send another $725 million to Ukraine before Trump is sworn in on January 20.

    Earlier this year, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a ruling that makes it much harder for Trump’s team to overhaul the federal workforce. While Trump could still carry out this campaign promise, he now cannot do so through executive order. He is required to propose a new rule, which will likely bring years of legal battles.

    Biden pardoned his son Hunter after he was facing prison sentences for federal felony gun and tax convictions. Now, the president is reportedly considering “preemptive pardons” for numerous allies that his team expects to be investigated by Trump’s DOJ.

    Members of the president’s cabinet are rushing to spend as much money as possible in the various departments they oversee, EPA officials are hurrying to implement as many new environmental and climate policies as they can, and the president and Senate Democrats are racing to fill as many federal judicial positions as they’re able to before losing the White House and Senate.

    Depending on where you stand on Trump’s agenda, you could see these efforts as heroic or disgraceful. But because the president and political establishment are ramming through policies that a majority of Americans just voted against, it’s impossible to seriously label these actions as anything other than explicitly undemocratic.

    As someone who does not believe democracy is an ethical system or the best way to organize society, this alone does not bother me. But the hypocrisy is still important to call out.

    Because, with their actions, the political class has again revealed that they do not actually care about democracy. They only use the fact that much of the public does care about democracy to try and serve their own ends.

    The same goes for human rights abuses and crackdowns on dissent carried out by foreign governments that Washington wants to overthrow. When true, these are totally legitimate criticisms to level at these state leaders. But our government officials have demonstrated a complete willingness to ignore, support, and even partake in the same abuses when it’s useful to them. So, again, they are only using the fact that decent people care about these issues to serve their own agenda.

    It is important to have principles. But it’s also important to recognize when people who do not share your principles are using your commitment to those principles to manipulate you. The political establishment in recent weeks has shown, yet again, that they do this. It’s time we stop falling for it.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/19/2024 – 17:40

  • TruGO: Liberal Canadian Lawmakers Revolt, Demand Regime Change In Ottawa
    TruGO: Liberal Canadian Lawmakers Revolt, Demand Regime Change In Ottawa

    Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is facing a mounting political crisis within his own Liberal Party, with an increasing number of party members voicing their desire for his resignation ahead of the scheduled 2025 election. This internal discontent has gained momentum after the shock resignation of Chrystia Freeland, Trudeau’s finance minister and a key ally.

    Jenica Atwin, a Liberal parliamentary secretary from New Brunswick, openly stated that Trudeau should step down, and says she won’t run for reelection if Trudeau remains in leadership. Atwin’s call was echoed by Chad Collins, a Liberal MP from Ontario, who revealed that around 50 Liberal MPs are part of a faction pushing for Trudeau’s resignation. This represents about one-third of the Liberal representatives in the House of Commons.

    “I don’t know who’s giving him advice. I can guess. It’s not good advice,” Collins said. “But the buck stops with him with the decisions he makes, and we’re now seeing the fallout that’s come with what many would consider a very poor decision.”

    Monday’s resignation of Chrystia Freeland, Trudeau’s powerful finance minister and his longtime deputy, was a massive shock that has irreparably damaged the prime minister, Collins said in an interview.

    Freeland said she quit after being told she would be moved to a different role in the cabinet. Trudeau delivered that news on Friday, she said — just three days before she was due for a major speech that would update the country on its fiscal and economic situation. -Bloomberg

    “In terms of who the successor is, I don’t know at this point whether or not we could do much worse,” Collins continued.

    Meanwhile, Trudeau has canceled his customary year-end media appearances, only making limited public comments at Liberal Party events. And at a recent press conference, Justice Minister Arif Virani avoided direct questions about Trudeau’s leadership, instead focusing on his role and expressing confidence in the prime minister.

    “Decisions will be taken by the parties that are involved,” said Virani, trying to bring the discussion back to an announcement about wrongful convictions. “I have absolute confidence in the prime minister in terms of what he has asked me to do. That is serve as a minister of justice who defends people’s rights.”

    According to polling data, Canada’s Conservative Party, under the leadership of Pierre Poilievre, is likely to secure a majority in the next general election. Wayne Long, another Liberal MP from New Brunswick, stressed the urgency of the situation in an open letter, suggesting that the party must act to prevent a historic electoral defeat.

    Collins warned that continued support for Trudeau might lead to a significant exodus of experienced politicians from the party, potentially leaving it with a “skeleton crew” of seasoned representatives.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/19/2024 – 17:20

  • The Twelve Days Of Schadenfreude
    The Twelve Days Of Schadenfreude

    Authored by Daniel Oliver via American Greatness,

    Democrats are stumbling all over each other to blame Biden for staying in the presidential race too long. Ha!

    Axios reported that “Vice President Harris’ loss raised a feeling among Democrats that Biden’s refusal to leave the race until July cost the party dearly—even as they got caught up in a global anti-incumbency wave.”

    Rep. JesĂșs “Chuy” GarcĂ­a (D-IL) blamed Biden: “I think there’s a widespread sense that he took too long to get out and that it made it very difficult for Vice President Harris to run the most impactful campaign.”

    Sen. “Hindsight” Chris Murphy (D-CT) said, “Well . . . in hindsight, knowing that he ultimately made the decision to stand down, yes, of course, it would have been better for President Biden to have made that decision earlier. I think there’s no question about it.”

    Yup. No question at all. 

    Now.

    But what about then?

    On the first day of Schadenfreude, all Democrats agreed . . . with Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) who said: “I want him to run . . . I see no reason for him not to run . . . . We all age differently. They said the same thing about . . . Ronald Reagan. How many people said Ronald Reagan was too old? Do you remember in his debate with Walter Mondale, the classic line?”

    On the second day of Schadenfreude, all Democrats agreed . . . with Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) who said: “Everything I read is they’re trying to get him to cut back his hours because he’s got too much energy.”

    On the third day of Schadenfreude, all Democrats agreed . . . with Kamala Harris who said that in the days following the October 7 attack by Hamas she had spent countless hours with Biden and other officials and that he was “on top of it all.”

    On the fourth day of Schadenfreude, all Democrats agreed . . . with Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) who said that “[Biden is] sharper than anyone I’ve spoken to.”

    On the fifth day of Schadenfreude, all Democrats agreed . . . with Gov. J. B. Pritzker (D-IL) who said: “I’ve been with the president of the United States many times. He is on the ball. The man knows more than most of us have forgotten.”

    On the sixth day of Schadenfreude, all Democrats agreed . . . with Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas who said: “The most difficult part about a meeting with President Biden is preparing for it because he is sharp, intensely probing, and detail-oriented, and focused.”

    On the seventh day of Schadenfreude, all Democrats agreed . . . with Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) who said: “So Joe Biden has vision, he has knowledge, he has strategic thinking. This is a very sharp president in terms of his public presentation. If he makes a slip of the tongue here or there, what’s the deal?” And then, “Anyone who would think that they’re at some advantage because of his age thinks that at their peril, because he’s very sharp.”

    On the eighth day of Schadenfreude, all Democrats agreed . . . with Mitch Landrieu (Biden campaign co-chair) who said: “When you go in to brief the president, you better have your big boy pants on. And this kind of sense that he’s not ready for this job, it’s just a bucket of BS that’s so deep, your boots will get stuck.”

    On the ninth day of Schadenfreude, all Democrats agreed . . . with Chuck Todd (NBC Host) who said: “There’s an easy way to basically make this report [of Biden’s memory issues] pointless. The easiest way to get rid of this storyline is to get him out there.”

    On the tenth day of Schadenfreude, all Democrats agreed . . . with Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) who said: “I’ve spent time with both of those guys privately. Spent time with Biden and Trump privately. I’ve spent time with every House Speaker over the past thirty years. And Joe Biden, I’m not just—it’s just not close. If you want to talk about international affairs, if you want to talk about how to get bipartisan legislation, Joe Biden is light-years ahead of all of them.”

    On the eleventh day of Schadenfreude, all Democrats agreed . . . with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) who said: “[Biden is] incredibly strong, forceful and decisive.”

    On the twelfth day of Schadenfreude, all Democrats agreed . . . with Kamala Harris who, when asked by Axios whether she could “fully assure” voters that there is nothing to be concerned about Biden’s “hour-by-hour performance,” quickly responded, “Of course.”

    Things are so bad for the Democrats now they may not even celebrate Kwanza this year.

    For the rest of us, however, we can give thanks to an Almighty and Provident God, and say, remembering Ronald Reagan, that America’s best days are yet to come.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/19/2024 – 17:00

  • Putin Says 'Ready' To Meet Or Talk To Trump At Any Time
    Putin Says ‘Ready’ To Meet Or Talk To Trump At Any Time

    Russian President Vladimir Putin in fresh Thursday remarks has emphasized that he is ready for a direct conversation with US President-elect Donald Trump at any time and agrees to meet with him when the US side is ready.

    “I am ready for this [conversation], of course, at any time. And I will also be ready for a meeting, if he wants it,” Putin said at Russia’s annual year-end Q&A press conference with the president. He gave this response to an American journalist when asked about a potential future meeting with Trump.

    “First of all, I don’t know when we will meet with him. Because he doesn’t say anything about it. I haven’t talked to him at all for more than four years,” Putin followed with, acknowledging the unpredictability of the US side’s intentions.

    Via Associated Press

    The Kremlin has still taken a pessimistic view on the possibility of achieving peace in Ukraine anytime soon, given especially that Western long-range missiles are being used against Russian territory.

    According to more of the latest context via TASS:

    Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Moscow is ready for contacts with Washington to resolve the Ukrainian crisis, but has not yet received any serious proposals from Trump’s team. According to the diplomat, the Russian Foreign Ministry has recently regularly received many questions about whether Russia is ready to contact Trump and his team.

    Trump’s pick for national security advisor, Mike Waltz, explained to CBS News at the start of this week, “What does success look like in line with our interests? How do we end the war? Who’s at the table? How do we drive, you know, all sides to the table, and what’s the framework for an agreement? Those are things that we’re thinking through with his fantastic team that he’s (Trump) assembling.”

    He also said that the current Biden administration policy of escalation with no end in sight is a recipe for disaster which could turn the conflict into another “forever war”. He said that a “blank check… just isn’t a strategy.”

    And yet it could be President Zelensky himself who stands in the way:

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected the prospect of freezing the conflict started by Moscow to facilitate negotiations to end hostilities, telling French daily Le Parisien that Donald Trump “knows about my desire not to rush things at the expense of Ukraine.”

    Below is the key section of this latest Zelensky interview: 

    Zelensky told Le Parisien resolving the war was “not easy” and that Trump wanted a peace deal “quickly” but the Ukrainian leader said the Trump team did not yet have access to all the information from diplomatic and intelligence channels.

    Zelensky said regardless of what world leaders want, “we are not just going to give in and give up our independence.”

    “The danger would be to say—we freeze the war and we will come to an agreement with the Russians,” he added, noting that Putin “has killed many Ukrainians.”

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    Freezing the front lines is a central component of what has thus far been reported as ‘Trump’s peace plan’. Moscow hasn’t appeared too keen on it either, and it has less incentive to agree to this, given by all metrics it is winning on the ground in the Donbas.

    Still, Trump has pushed forward with his promise to find a swift close to the war which has been raging for about three years. He’s vowing to push the warring sides to the negotiating table from his very first day in office.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/19/2024 – 16:40

  • Fani Flushed: Court Rules Fulton DA Disqualified From Trump 'Election Interference' Case
    Fani Flushed: Court Rules Fulton DA Disqualified From Trump ‘Election Interference’ Case

    Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has been disqualified from prosecuting President-elect Trump in his election interference case by a Georgia court of appeals.

    While the court didn’t throw out Trump’s indictment, Willis and the assistant DAs working in her office were found to have “no authority to proceed” with the case.

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    The new ruling means that Georgia’s Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council will need to find another prosecutor to take over the case and decide whether to continue pursuing it – though if Willis decides to appeal to the state Supreme Court, that could be delayed.

    Needless to say, CNN is crestfallen.

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    Developing…

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/19/2024 – 16:37

Digest powered by RSS Digest

Dec 19

Today’s News 19th December 2024

  • Dr. Jay Bhattacharya Will Rebuild Trust In Public Health
    Dr. Jay Bhattacharya Will Rebuild Trust In Public Health

    Authored by Wilk Wilkinson via RealClearPolicy,

    Just weeks before President-elect Trump announced that Dr. Jay Bhattacharya would be his nominee to lead the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Dr. Bhattacharya and I were together at Stanford University for a bold, first-of-its-kind symposium on public health decision making during the COVID-19 crisis. 

    NIH (Wikimedia commons)

    The idea behind the symposium was to shatter the public health echo chamber and bring diverse perspectives together in respectful dialogue. Dr. Bhattacharya and I are close friends, but our backgrounds are quite different. He is firmly at home at Stanford, having gone there as an undergraduate, and then going on to get a medical degree and a Ph.D. there before joining the faculty as a Professor of Health Policy. I, on the other hand, am a blue-collar Midwesterner who enlisted the in U.S. Navy after high school. I carry no titles of academic distinction and was likely the only participant at the symposium without a medical degree or PhD.

    Yet, I was invited by Stanford to moderate the symposium’s opening panel with seven leading public health authorities from top institutions across the world. What brought me into this unusual position was my expanding work to rebuild truth and trust in public health—a collaboration that began with former NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins and the Braver Angels organization, which is nation’s largest movement working to bridge the partisan divide.

    My work with the Truth & Trust Project began in early 2022 when Dr. Collins was the outgoing Director of NIH. He approached Braver Angels – of which I am an active member, ambassador and volunteer – with a unique request: he wanted to better understand his own “blind spots” and find ways to rebuild public trust in the U.S. health system after America’s bitter experience with it throughout the COVID-19 crisis. Braver Angels saw an opportunity to pair Dr. Collins with someone outside the the typical public health echo chamber, but who cares deeply about the subject. That unlikely someone was me.

    Dr. Collins and I began having regular conversations, including public ones on my podcast, DerateTheHate. Our work together was eye-opening for both of us. Dr. Collins brought deep expertise and years of leadership in public health, while I offered a fresh perspective, shaped by my experiences in blue-collar Middle America. Through our collaboration, Dr. Collins and I kept returning to the critical question of how to rebuild trust in institutions that have grown disconnected from the people they serve.

    Since our collaboration in this project began, I have had the opportunity to interview, engage, and develop personal relationships with many leading public health officials from across the nation, including Dr. Bhattacharya. The public health experts I have engaged do not always see eye-to-eye with each other on public health policy—in fact they often deeply disagree—but all are deeply troubled by the sharp declines in public health trust, and all have perspectives worth hearing. If we do not broaden our aperture and listen to dissenting voices from across America about where we went wrong in the last pandemic, we will not be prepared to manage the next one. It could arrive without warning at any time.

    The Stanford conference felt like the start of something significant. The symposium brought together leading public health experts with different viewpoints on the pandemic response and it demonstrated how intellectual pluralism and dialogue only sharpen our thinking. The conference reinforced the idea that meaningful change can only come when we move beyond echo chambers and engage with those who see the world differently. 

    What lessons did the COVID-19 crisis teach us?

    COVID-19 exposed glaring weaknesses in our public health response, which in my view were largely driven by an overreliance on centralized decision-making. Federal agencies issued sweeping directives that often ignored the diverse needs and realities of local communities. Schools were closed, businesses were shuttered, and lives were upended by policies that felt disconnected and, at times, arbitrary.

    We failed to recognize that local health departments, educators, and community leaders understand local needs, culture, geography and resources better than anyone at the federal level. We failed to empower them in the public health decision making process. By sidelining them in favor of centralized mandates, we not only eroded trust but also missed opportunities for effective and responsive solutions that could be supported and promoted by trusted local leaders.

    Had public health institutions prioritized the concept of localized decision making – the principle of subsidiarity– trust might not have been so deeply eroded. Rather than a faceless bureaucracy issuing mandates, imagine a system where local doctors, school principals, and community leaders were the primary messengers of public health guidance. These are the people families trust, the voices they are more likely to listen to and follow.

    The concept of subsidiarity is much more than a political or philosophical principle—it’s a deeply human and American idea that centers relationships, empowerment, and shared responsibility. Subsidiarity recognizes that the best solutions often come from those closest to the problem, and the principle fundamentally respects the knowledge, context, and capacity for self-governance of the American people.

    What Can We Expect from Dr. Bhattacharya’s Leadership of NIH?

    As I look to the future of public health under Dr. Bhattacharya, I am hopeful about what we can achieve. Dr. Bhattacharya demonstrated great professional courage and clarity during and after the pandemic, and he is a forceful advocate for a more localized and balanced response to the pandemic crisis. In The Great Barrington Declaration, which he co-authored, Dr. Bhattacharya underscored the importance of protecting the most vulnerable while minimizing societal disruptions like children’s learning loss, which the nation feels acutely as a result of pandemic school closures. Dr. Bhattacharya has argued that the federal government must focus on better equipping local health systems with tools and data rather than imposing rigid, top-down mandates. His vision is a public health system that is responsive, equitable, and grounded in trust – I could imagine no one better positioned to lead the NIH than him.

    As President Trump’s nominee, Dr. Bhattacharya will bring the principle of subsidiarity to life on a national scale. His advocacy for empowering local communities to manage public health challenges will not only lead to a better pandemic response next time; it will repair the trust we lost in our handling of the last one. In our highly polarized environment, the principle of decentralized decision making is more vital than ever because trust is built from the ground up—through relationships, transparency, and mutual respect. 

    Subsidiarity is about more than governance; it is about relationships, empowerment, and shared responsibility, too. Whether in public health, education, or any other area of American life, the principle reminds us that the solutions we seek are often closer to us than we realize. I know Dr. Bhattacharya well. I am confident that he will not only help us restore trust in public health as director of NIH but will demonstrate how the principle of subsidiarity can be help America rebuild trust in other areas of our democracy where it is deficient today. 

    Wilk Wilkinson is a devoted husband, a loving father, a steadfast Christian conservative, and the insightful host of the “Derate The Hate” podcast.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 12/18/2024 – 23:20

  • Smarter, Faster, & Focused
    Smarter, Faster, & Focused

    Authored by JP Errico via RealClearHealth,

    In March of 2016, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) initiated a program to see whether it was possible to literally enhance cognitive function, i.e., become inherently smarter, through technological intervention.  The quest for greater intelligence may sound like the stuff of ancient mythology or dystopian science fiction, complete with tragic moral teachings about hubris.  This tale, however, is less Greek tragedy and more Gene Roddenberry!

    DARPA’s mission was launched after a decade or so of provocative case reports and small uncontrolled studies that revealed improved mental capacities among various neuromodulation patients.  These seemingly enhanced abilities included memory, verbal facility, spatial relations, and combined accuracy and speed on specialized learning tests.

    The TNT, or Targeted Neuroplasticity Training program was established to test a series of different technologies to see if any could accelerate learning by enhancing the brain’s curious ability to continuously evolve based on experiences.  Neuroplasticity is a fancy term that simply means changing neural connections to improve performance, and it encompasses learning, recall, and applying acquired knowledge.

    After a series of tests conducted by multiple research groups across a dozen different technologies, one stood head and shoulders above the rest.  Before telling you what it is, however, I need to explain a little about how human brains form and how they evolve through life.

    The human brain starts forming just a few weeks after conception when the embryo is made up of only a few layers of cells. At this stage, a structure called the yolk sac exists inside the placenta, adjacent to the embryo. At a well-choreographed moment in the development, a group of cells, called macrophage progenitors, migrate en masse, from the yolk sac and invade the embryo. These cells settle into areas where major organs like the brain, heart, and liver will form, and they begin creating special immune cells called tissue resident macrophages (TRMs).

    The TRMs that settle in the neural tube (the future site of the brain) are called microglia. These cells stay inside the developing brain region, behind a protective layer called the blood-brain barrier, that they construct. Within that space, they help build the brain by guiding the growth, placement, and connections of neurons and all the other supporting tissue and structures. Rather critically, neurons need to communicate with each other across the brain, and microglia ensure this network gets set up correctly.

    More specifically, microglia initially encourage the brain to form as many connections as possible. But as the brain grows, their role shifts as they begin to refine and organize these connections, removing ones that aren’t useful. This process, called synaptic pruning, is guided by sensory inputs and other circumstances and helps the brain become more efficient and specialized based on individual experiences. It’s like trimming excess branches from a tree to help it grow stronger.

    Some brain regions stop developing after a certain point, but others—like the hippocampus, which helps with memory and learning—continue to grow and change throughout life. (An interesting observation that demonstrates this is how London cab drivers, who have to learn the entirety of the Gordian knot that is the city’s roadways in order to be licensed, have substantially larger hippocampi than “normal”.)

    Microglia are essential for brain development, but because they’re also immune cells, they can be affected by inflammation. When inflammation distracts microglia from their tasks, brain development can be disrupted, potentially leading to conditions like autism or schizophrenia. Even mild inflammation can impact brain development and can impact memory and learning functions in adults.

    It stands to reason, therefore, that any intervention that prevents microglia from being diverted by inflammation or helps inflamed microglia return quickly and effectively to their constructive state can enhance learning. DARPA’s TNT program identified exactly that, and it’s called brain development or more specifically, non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation (nVNS).

    VNS using implanted devices, was already a proven medical treatment to treat drug-resistant epilepsy, refractory depression, and had even been found effective in treating obesity.  In fact, many of the provocative reports mentioned above had come from VNS patients.  Surgical implantation of a medical device to try to make soldiers smarter, however, sounded too much like The Terminator for even the military.  What they wanted was a hand-held device that was marketed as a wellness product.  Fortunately, such a device was being developed, to treat stress and enhance sleep quality, and thus, broader real-world studies began.

    Just a few months ago, the latest results on the benefits of this technology were reported in Nature’s Scientific Reports.  In this study, the therapy was tested at the Defense Language Institute – where high-performing military personnel learn new languages prior to deployments.  This study found that using the nVNS for just 2 minutes, twice per day, reduced mental fatigue by >30%, enhanced focus by >40%, and improved actual recall by >50%.  The military version of the product is called TAC STIM, but the same therapy is also available to the general public as a device called Truvaga.

    As amazing as all of this may seem (and it is), it pales in comparison to the final parts of this story, which are ones in which I am proud to be playing an active role.

    Remember when I mentioned that inflammation can distract microglia, impacting neurodevelopment, and how that can lead to autism or schizophrenia?  Well, this same nVNS therapy is now being tested to see if it can be used during pregnancy and in early childhood to help prevent the neurodevelopmental harm that inflammation can cause, and alter the skyrocketing rates of autism and the epidemic of mental health challenges.

    As remarkable as it may seem, at the other end of the developmental spectrum, nVNS is also being studied to see if it can modify neurodevelopment, not simply to protect against damage and disability, or temporarily enhance learning, but to optimize brain development permanently, e.g., deliver enhanced IQ!  Given the importance of intelligence in the modern world, the degree to which every measure of success depends on intelligence, and the fact that medical and sociological research continues to reveal the damaging impact of economically and socially disadvantaged environments on childhood cognitive growth, nVNS may provide an immediate leveling of the cognitive playing field for the next generation of American children.  That is a future worth imagining!

    And until you opt for an implant… boost neuroplasticity and reduce brain inflammation with IQ Biologix’s Peak Focus and Brain Rescue. We’ve been on it for months…

    Shameless plug? Yes. But give it a try with a 30-day satisfaction guarantee.

    JP Errico is a highly accomplished scientist with a diverse range of expertise as an executive, entrepreneur, and inventor. He is an expert on the Autonomic Nervous System. He is the Founder of ElectroCore, where he pioneered a non-invasive Vagus Nerve stimulator. JP has been credited as an inventor on over 250 issued US patents. He went to MIT for undergrad and holds graduate degrees in both law and mechanical/materials engineering from Duke University.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 12/18/2024 – 22:55

  • California's Regulations Causing Truck Shortages, Rising Costs, Industry Says
    California’s Regulations Causing Truck Shortages, Rising Costs, Industry Says

    Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    California’s zero emission regulations are causing truck shortages and rising costs, according to the trucking and heavy-duty vehicle industry.

    State officials plan to end traditional combustion truck sales by 2036.

    A tow truck removes destroyed cars from an Amazon Fulfillment Center in Edwardsville, IL on Dec. 11, 2021, after it was hit by a tornado. Tim Vizer/AFP via Getty Images

    California’s Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) regulation requires manufacturing companies to gradually increase the percentage of zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) they sell on the market—such as electric or hydrogen—and reduce the number of gas and diesel trucks.

    Anthony Bento, chief legal officer for the California New Car Dealers Association, said dealers in the state have seen dramatic decreases in available trucks for the 2024 model year as a result of the new rules.

    “These rules are decreasing product availability, and when there’s less product available, there’s increasing costs,” Bento told The Epoch Times. “The on-the-ground reality is that California consumers and businesses are going to be paying more, because there’s not an adequate supply of new product available that meets customers’ demands.”

    California’s goals include reducing tailpipe emissions and requiring the progress and adoption of advanced clean trucks. By the end of the 2024 model year, 5 to 9 percent of sales in California must be ZEVs.

    The ACT regulation was adopted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in 2020 and approved by the state Office of Administrative Law in March 2021.

    Industry representatives say the rules are forcing businesses to drive out of state to purchase trucks and parts that are non-compliant, leave the state of California, or close up shop altogether. They also say truck business owners are delaying upgrading their fleet so as to not deal with the requirements.

    Mark Baatz, owner of Tow Industries in Los Angeles, which supplies trucks to emergency roadside services, told host Siyamak Khorrami on EpochTV’s “California Insider” in an interview published on Dec. 15, that the towing industry doesn’t yet have any available ZEV options.

    “In our industry, regardless of cost, there isn’t an electric truck that works for us at this time,” he said. “That next technology hasn’t arrived for us yet.”

    As a result, the number of diesel trucks available has been reduced dramatically, he said. Last year, his company sold around 600 trucks, and next year, only around 30 to 50 trucks are expected to be available. He said this will heavily impact the emergency towing industry.

    Meanwhile, CARB representatives have said the state’s ACT regulations may not be the problem, citing a nationwide downturn in the market, supply chain issues carrying over from previous years, and manufacturers not being sufficiently prepared to comply with other emissions regulations.

    “Inconsistencies in communication have led dealers and fleets to believe that the ACT regulation’s requirements are leading to the product shortages in the medium- and heavy-duty space which, upon discussions with all affected parties, is not backed by the data available,” Steven Cliff, executive officer for CARB, wrote in a memo on Sept. 25.

    “Additionally, some vehicle upfitters producing specialty vehicles, including tow trucks, have reached maximum production capacity thresholds nationwide and cannot increase production levels, which affects the manufacturers’ ability to accept new orders.”

    Cliff also said California zero-emission trucks have increased in price by an average of $86,512 since 2021–22, while such European trucks have decreased in price by an average of $12,641 during that same time period.

    “There appear to be no clear reasons for this disparity between regions,” he wrote.

    On Dec. 6, the board published a “Myth vs. Fact” fact sheet to address concerns raised about the ACT rules, stating for example, “The ACT regulation does not have any provisions prohibiting or restricting the types of diesel-powered vehicles that can be registered or operated in California.”

    CARB did not reply to The Epoch Times’ request for comment by publication time.

    A separate major regulation facing the California trucking industry is the Heavy-Duty Low NOx rule, which went into effect in 2021 and requires a 90 percent reduction in certain emissions for new heavy-duty vehicles compared to traditional diesel engines by 2031.

    ZEV Compliant Trucks

    At a CARB board meeting on Oct. 24, Bento said data suggests that the magnitude of declines in available trucks are significant—over 80 percent for Class 8 heavy-duty trucks weighing more than 33,000 pounds—and the scale of these declines is unique to California. Therefore, he said they cannot be attributed to national or economic factors.

    If the supply of new combustion trucks does not increase, businesses that rely on these vehicles will be left with a couple of choices, Bento said.

    “Continue to operate their older, more polluting vehicles for longer or purchase vehicles from out of state that do not comply with CARB requirements,” he said. “Both options undermine our state’s environmental goals and will harm air quality.”

    Brian Banks, owner of Action Towing and Road Service in the San Francisco Bay Area, said that while he supports clean energy and wants his children to live in a world with clean air, he also wants to support his 200 workers and their families.

    “Unfortunately at this point, there is no application that will work in our industry. I ask the board to please reconsider the regulations and continue to make amendments to allow us to run our businesses until there is a solution,” he said.

    Other commenters suggested emergency tow trucks be exempt from the ACT regulation or postpone the regulation altogether until the technology catches up.

    Ashley Porter, sales manager for Oakland-based Tec Equipment, said she has seen many of their large truck customers leave California or pass the costs of updating their fleet onto customers.

    She said it has been heart-wrenching to walk her clients through the ACT and other regulations and noted that certain businesses don’t have the resources to meet the requirements.

    “The impact of these regulations as it is written today will impact the California economy negatively for years to come,” Porter said.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 12/18/2024 – 22:30

  • FTC Bans Hidden 'Junk' Fees For Hotels, Concerts, Sports… But Spares Other Industries
    FTC Bans Hidden ‘Junk’ Fees For Hotels, Concerts, Sports… But Spares Other Industries

    The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Tuesday unveiled a new set of rules outlawing the practice of hiding so-called “junk fees” from consumers until the end of the purchase process. However, the long-awaited rules have a relatively narrow scope: They only encompass live event tickets, hotels and vacation rentals — sparing airlines, auto dealers and many other prominent generators of consumer grievances.  

    “Consumers searching for hotels or vacation rentals or seats at a show or sporting event will no longer be surprised by a pile of ‘resort,’ ‘convenience,’ or ‘service’ fees inflating the advertised price,” said the FTC in a statement accompanying the publishing of a 313-page explanation of the rules and the process used to draft them. The FTC claims the rule will save consumers upwards of 53 million hours annually in “wasted time spent searching for the total price,” putting a price tag of $11 billion on the time savings. Advocates for the rule also hope that clearer all-in pricing will also nudge prices downward.  

    Sellers of event tickets and lodging will have to prominently display the total cost early in the sales process (Photo: Andrea Piacquadio) 

    Rather than banning “junk fees,” the rule demands that they be disclosed earlier, and requires businesses to display the total price more prominently than than most other pricing information. “This means that the most prominent price in an ad needs to be the all-in total price,” said the FTC. Sellers must “clearly and conspicuously disclose the true total price inclusive of all mandatory fees whenever they offer, display, or advertise any price of live-event tickets or short-term lodging.” 

    The rule is far narrower than what the unconstitutional FTC first had in mind: A 2023 proposal would have sweepingly applied the rules across the entire US economy. Meanwhile, other attempts by the Biden administration to limit fees have hit legal headwinds. For example, a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau-declared $8 cap on credit card late fees has been blocked by a federal judge in Fort Worth. 

    The new rule is slated to take effect in April — if the Trump administration doesn’t kill it first (Photo: Andrea Piacquadio) 

    “I urge enforcers to continue cracking down on these unlawful fees and encourage state and federal policymakers to build on this success with legislation that bans unfair and deceptive junk fees across the economy,” said lame-duck FTC chair Lina Khan. 

    The FTC adopted the rule in a 4-1 vote. The sole dissenter was Republican Andrew Ferguson, Trump’s pick to chair the commission in his upcoming administration. In a dissenting statement, Ferguson said his “no” vote wasn’t a statement on the merits of the rule. “I dissent only on the ground that the time for rulemaking by the Biden-Harris FTC is over,” he said in a statement. “It is particularly inappropriate for the Biden-Harris FTC to adopt a major new rule that it will never enforce,” given the rule won’t take effect until April.

    Under Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency” is promising to hack away at the sprawling thicket of federal regulations, it’s unclear if the new rules will be shredded by the new administration and its accompanying Republican-controlled House and Senate. Given the popular appeal, that seems doubtful.  

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 12/18/2024 – 22:05

  • Resident Of China Sentenced For Stealing Trade Secrets From Tesla
    Resident Of China Sentenced For Stealing Trade Secrets From Tesla

    Authored by Catherine Yang via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Klaus Pflugbeil, a Canadian man currently residing in China, was sentenced on Dec. 16 to 24 months in prison for selling trade secrets stolen from an American company.

    The Department of Justice (DOJ) in Washington on Aug. 12, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

    Pflugbeil was charged in March and pleaded guilty in a New York federal court in June.

    He and co-conspirator Yilong Shao, who remains at large, had worked for a Canadian manufacturer that sold precision equipment to battery companies. That company was acquired in 2019 by a leading U.S.-based manufacturer of battery-powered electric vehicles and battery energy systems, which Pflugbeil and Shao stole from.

    The American company has been identified as Tesla. Pflugbeil had worked at Canadian manufacturer Hibar System Ltd. in Canada and China from 1995 to 2009, and Hibar was later purchased by Tesla.

    According to communications between Pflugbeil and Shao referenced in court documents, Pflugbeil detailed the original documents and drawings of proprietary technology he had stolen from Tesla. In or around July 2020, Pflugbeil joined Shao’s company, which made and sold the same equipment that their original employer made and sold.

    “The defendant built a business in China to sell sensitive technology that belongs to a U.S. company,“ said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York. ”His actions were bold—he even advertised that he was selling the victim’s products—because he thought, incorrectly, that he was outside the reach of U.S. prosecutors.”

    Pflugbeil had advertised these products on YouTube, through LinkedIn, and via Google, where the ads were shown tens of thousands of times per week. In direct advertising messages, Pflugbeil falsely stated his products did not infringe on patents, copyrights, or other intellectual property. According to the Justice Department (DOJ), Pflugbeil made more than $1.3 million on the stolen trade secrets.

    DOJ officials said the case implicated national security, referencing the Chinese communist regime’s practice of pricing out competitors in strategically important industries.

    The department stated that this had the potential to aid “Chinese automakers to swamp the U.S. and global market.” That market dominance also “presents a potential national security risk.”

    In September, the Biden administration had proposed a ban on Chinese vehicle software and hardware based on national security concerns, noting that all new cars are “connected” vehicles, which possess the capability to capture and transmit great amounts of sensitive data.

    “In stealing trade secrets from an American electric vehicle manufacturer to use in his own China-based company, Pflugbeil’s actions stood to benefit the PRC in a critical industry with national security implications,” stated Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew G. Olsen.

    “The Justice Department will mobilize every available resource to prevent our adversaries from advancing their global ambitions at the expense of U.S. national security.”

    Pflugbeil’s arrest occurred after undercover agents made contact with Shao in September 2023 at a trade show and were later connected with Pflugbeil via email. Pflugbeil had emailed the agents a 66-page document with technical details containing the stolen trade secrets.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 12/18/2024 – 21:40

  • Kratos Conducts First Test Of Mysterious Stealth Drone 
    Kratos Conducts First Test Of Mysterious Stealth Drone 

    Aviation Week revealed that US-based Kratos Defense successfully tested its Thanatos stealth Uncrewed Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) prototype within the last few months.

    Steve Fendley, president of Kratos’ Unmanned Systems Division, told the aviation news website that the company’s Thanatos stealth UCAV was successfully tested in recent months. However, he declined to provide specifics about the test or its location.

    “Kratos unveiled the Thanatos design in November 2023 when company CEO Eric Demarco said in an earnings report that the company hoped to have a contract within a year. The design shows what appears to be a single-engine UCAV with two inlets and a single exhaust,” Aviation Week said, adding, “The aircraft does not have a vertical tail and horizontal stabilizers, showing the company’s stealth approach.” 

    On Dec. 7, during an interview at the Reagan National Defense Forum at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, Fendley said: “The air vehicle for Thanatos is now effectively proven. We’re not trying to figure out does the airplane fly, we’re now trying to figure out does the integrated system tick the mission box.”

    Kratos has indicated that it seeks a contract with an undisclosed customer for Thanatos. While the company has not confirmed its client, the USAF has been a potential customer because of its Collaborative Combat Aircraft program.

    As ‘dronegate‘ continues to escalate for the federal government amid mysterious drone sightings across New Jersey and New York, the latest test flights of super secretive UCAV by Kratos imply that ‘Tic Tac’-shaped unidentified flying objects reported by fighter pilots over the years may not be aliens, but instead top-secret stealth drones. 

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 12/18/2024 – 21:15

  • NASA Delays Return Of Stranded Astronauts Until March
    NASA Delays Return Of Stranded Astronauts Until March

    Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Two astronauts who have been stranded in space for months won’t be able to return to earth until March, NASA said on Dec. 17 as it announced the latest in a string of delays sparked by problems with their Boeing-designed Starliner spacecraft.

    Boeing Crew Flight Test Astronauts Butch Wilmore (L) and Suni Williams pose for a portrait inside the vestibule between the forward port on the International Space Station’s Harmony module and Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on June 13, 2024. NASA via AP

    NASA said it needed more time to complete the processing of SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, which is scheduled to arrive at the space agency’s processing facility in Florida in early January.

    Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were initially expected to return within a week after traveling to the International Space Station (ISS) on NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test mission in June.

    Their mission was later extended after NASA decided to return the spacecraft empty in September after the pilots identified helium leaks and issues with the Starliner’s reaction control thrusters on June 6.

    NASA initially planned to launch the Crew-10 mission in February 2025, with Wilmore and Williams returning home by the end of that month alongside two other astronauts who arrived at the ISS on Sept. 29 aboard the SpaceX Dragon capsule.

    The pair now face another delay, as NASA announced on Tuesday that Crew-10 will not launch until March 2025. By the time they return next year, they will have spent more than nine months in space.

    “Fabrication, assembly, testing, and final integration of a new spacecraft is a painstaking endeavor that requires great attention to detail,” Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said in a statement. “We appreciate the hard work by the SpaceX team to expand the Dragon fleet in support of our missions and the flexibility of the station program and expedition crews as we work together to complete the new capsule’s readiness for flight.”

    NASA stated that it had considered using another SpaceX spacecraft but ultimately decided to wait until the Dragon spacecraft was ready and launch the Crew-10 mission in late March.

    On Sept. 30, NASA launched the SpaceX Crew-9 Dragon capsule carrying NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov to join the Expedition 72 crew at the ISS to do research, technology demonstrations, and maintenance activities. Another two seats on the capsule were saved for Wilmore and Williams.

    NASA stated Tuesday that Crew-9 will return to Earth only after Crew-10 arrives at the orbital laboratory for a handover period.

    According to the space agency, Crew-9 will “share any lessons learned with the newly arrived crew and support a better transition for ongoing science and maintenance at the complex” during the handover period. NASA did not specify the duration of the handover process.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 12/18/2024 – 20:50

  • Deputy Mayor In Washington Has Car Stolen While In The Middle Of City Council Meeting
    Deputy Mayor In Washington Has Car Stolen While In The Middle Of City Council Meeting

    How bad has crime gotten in the U.S.?

    Here’s one for you. In Auburn, Washington, last week a group of kids stole the city’s deputy mayor’s car while she was in the middle of a City Council Meeting, where they were voting her into a new role. 

    On Tuesday, the City Council elected Cheryl Rakes as deputy mayor. Meanwhile, police reported four kids stealing her Kia Soul outside city hall, according to Fox 13 Seattle.

    “She went into the meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday and came out an hour later and the car was gone,” 770 KTTH reported. 

    “I went out to my car about 6:30 to grab a couple of things and noticed my car was gone,” Rakes said on 770 this week. “No, I don’t feel like I was targeted. I think it was because it was the Kia.”

    The suspects fled, abandoning the car at Madison at River’s Edge Apartments, a site of a 2022 double shooting. The vehicle’s ignition was damaged, and items were stolen, police said.

    Rakes commented: “I’m incredibly grateful to the Auburn Police Department and its officers for their work in recovering the vehicle quickly and safely.”

    The Fox report says that investigators used Flock license-reading cameras to track the stolen car from Kent back to Auburn. Police have no suspect images and believe four children were involved, but no arrests have been made.

    Just another day in Joe Biden’s America…

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 12/18/2024 – 20:25

  • Nancy Pelosi Profited As Luxury Napa Resort Won COVID-19 Bailout
    Nancy Pelosi Profited As Luxury Napa Resort Won COVID-19 Bailout

    Authored by Leighton Woodhouse via RealClearInvestigations,

    The Auberge du Soleil, a five-star hillside hotel and spa with a panoramic view overlooking the vineyards of Napa Valley, appears to be first-rate in all ways but one. While the glamorous resort, an hour’s drive from San Francisco, fills rooms that routinely go for $2,000 a night with A-list celebrities and tech titans, financial records suggest it did not provide much of a return to at least two of its investors – Rep. Nancy Pelosi and her husband, Paul. That changed when it received millions in congressionally authorized COVID-19 relief in 2020 and 2021.

    The Auberge du Soleil investment, held for decades by Paul Pelosi, has rarely turned a significant profit, according to Nancy’s financial disclosure forms. In some years, he has recorded a loss or a profit of between $50,000 to $100,000. But the year of the bailout money stands apart. In 2021, Pelosi’s ethics forms show that her family’s income from the resort surged to a range of $1 million to $5 million. 

    The French Riviera-themed resort may not be most people’s idea of a struggling business in need of a government bailout, yet the Auberge du Soleil – which shuttered briefly at the outset of the pandemic before swiftly rebounding – received about $9 million from a series of special taxpayer-funded emergency relief programs.

    The previously unreported windfall is among several COVID bailouts that flowed to Pelosi-backed restaurants, hotels, and properties, including several Courtyard Marriott hotels.

    A RealClearInvestigations analysis found that Pelosi’s profits spiked from a variety of holdings that won significant government rescue funds – which amounted to $28 million, a total more than previously known. For their family’s stake in the Auberge du Soleil, the Pelosis received more income in 2021, when bailout funds channeled to the resort, than any other time over the last 10 years.

    Pelosi is hardly alone among lawmakers whose businesses reaped awards from pandemic-era financial programs designed for small businesses. Rep. Greg Pence, the brother of the former vice president, received $79,441. Rep. Dean Phillips, who briefly campaigned in the Democratic presidential primary, is an investor in a small event production company, Geniecast, that received two forgivable loans that totaled $373,185. Other members with investments in car dealerships and restaurant companies also received scrutiny over COVID rescue funds.

    Yet Pelosi’s personal stake in the unprecedented taxpayer gusher has never been fully explored. Pelosi, during her previous stint as leader of the House of Representatives, shepherded all federal COVID stimulus measures, which totaled about $5.5 trillion – one of the largest domestic spending efforts in U.S. history outside of wartime. “These Republicans seem to have an endless tolerance for other people’s sadness,” said Pelosi at a press conference in December 2020, admonishing her opposition for delays in passing additional pandemic spending programs. The programs were touted as disaster measures designed to save the economy and help needy businesses and families.

    The exact amount of Pelosi’s profits from the Auberge Du Soleil is unclear. The hotel is a privately held company, and the lawmakers file ethics reports that show a range of income and assets rather than a precise amount. Her office did not respond to a request for comment.

    The former House Speaker has gained notoriety over her husband’s well-timed stock trades. Her husband, Paul Pelosi, 84, is an investor who has long dabbled in real estate. Fortune magazine, among other outlets, has reported on his unusually high gains from trading call options for technology-related stocks.

    The Pelosi household earned over 65% on trades last year, according to an analysis from Unusual Whales, one of several sites that track congressional trading activity. That record outshines even the most successful hedge fund managers. 

    Pelosi’s wealth has surged over her time in office. Disclosures show her net worth went from approximately $18 million in 1991 to nearly $250 million last year. “The Speaker has no prior knowledge or subsequent involvement in any transaction,” Pelosi’s spokesperson has told outlets in the past over questions about the trades. Her office did not respond to RCI’s request for comment.

    The COVID-related relief lavished on the Pelosi family’s private investment holdings has gone largely unnoticed. 

    Early in the pandemic, there were scattered reports about lawmakers from both parties who stood to gain financially from the initial Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The small business rescue fund, reporters at Roll Call noted in July 2020, awarded forgivable loans to Piatti, an Italian chain, and a firm tied to the El Dorado, a small hotel in Sonoma County, both owned in part by Pelosi. The Pelosi-linked PPP loans disclosed by the media totaled around $2.4 million.

    That figure scratches the surface. Newly discovered government disclosures show that Pelosi’s private holdings, such as the Auberge du Soleil resort, received upwards of $28 million in pandemic-related taxpayer funds, including the PPP, the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan, and a special grant program for restaurants.

    Much of the additional funding came from the second and third wave of pandemic stimulus legislation, passed in December 2020 and March 2021, that authorized an additional $2 trillion in cash and forgivable loans for needy individuals, businesses, and local governments. The additional rounds of spending effectively doubled the initial $2.1 trillion of CARES Act funds that began in March 2020. The new legislation authorized a second wave of PPP loans, along with billions of dollars in grants to theaters, restaurants, and travel companies impacted by the crisis.

    After the initial outcry over lawmakers reaping financial awards from the bailout programs they had authorized, Congress tightened the eligibility standards. These rules included a prohibition on PPP loans extended to companies in which lawmakers or their spouses owned a “controlling interest,” which the Small Business Administration has defined as an ownership stake of at least 20%.

    It is not clear if Pelosi violated any of the ethics rules. None of her family’s holdings in businesses that received PPP loans is mentioned in her ethics disclosures – suggesting the family’s stakes fell below the reporting threshold.

    Nevertheless, the Pelosis profited handsomely from the bailout funds she advocated for as speaker of the House. The Restaurant Revitalization Fund, one of the additional programs launched by the new round of pandemic spending, provided $5 million to the Auberge du Soleil in June 2021. The funds were not restricted by congressional ownership of the underlying business entities. The resort also won a second PPP loan that totaled about $2 million in 2021. The first PPP loan, awarded the previous year, provided $2.9 million – helping the Pelosis earn millions on an investment that has rarely turned a significant profit, according to Nancy’s ethics disclosures. 

    This was also the case for the Piatti Restaurant Company, the California-based pizza and Italian restaurant chain owned in part by Pelosi, which ended up receiving about $15 million in a mix of PPP and RRF grants and forgiven loans. The Pelosi household, in turn, received up to $1 million in partnership income distributions from their investment in the restaurant in 2021, the year that the company received the bulk of the government assistance.

    The investment return that year from Piatti was also the highest in over a decade for the Pelosis. In previous years, they typically earned less than $50,000 from their stake in the pizza chain.

    The taxpayer assistance to the Pelosi-backed resorts and restaurants may have come at the expense of other struggling businesses. In total, the Auberge du Soleil and Piatti won over $14.2 million in Restaurant Revitalization Fund grants, money that was shepherded through Congress by Pelosi and authorized by President Biden’s signature American Rescue Plan legislation. Most applicants were not as fortunate. Less than a third of the eateries, pubs and diners that sought funding from the program were approved, and the fund was quickly depleted after it opened.

    The billions of dollars in COVID money was cast as a targeted measure to save the economy. More recent analysis has found the rushed programs were poorly designed and were a significant factor in the high levels of inflation experienced over the last four years.

    Estimates of how much government money was misspent widely vary. The Associated Press reported that fraudsters potentially stole more than $280 billion from the assorted pandemic relief programs. A Senate report noted that wasted and abused pandemic funding ended up in the form of “Lamborghinis, luxury vacations, extravagant jewelry, and even an alpaca farm.”

    “The sheer amount of taxpayer losses due to pandemic relief fraud and abuse,” noted Craig Eyermann, a fellow at the Independent Institute, was on the “order of hundreds of billions of dollars.”

    There is no indication that the Pelosis did anything illegal. But Eyermann and other ethics experts argue the funds posed conflict of interest issues. He’s not surprised that wealthy lawmakers tapped COVID-related largesse. “To even pursue it,” he added, “they put themselves ahead of those who truly needed it.”

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 12/18/2024 – 20:00

  • George Soros Funneled $50 Million Into Shadowy Iran-Sympathizing Nonprofit
    George Soros Funneled $50 Million Into Shadowy Iran-Sympathizing Nonprofit

    Among the many nonprofits funded by far-left billionaire George Soros and his even more radical son, Alex, are progressive super PACs, as well as, according to reporting by The New York Post, tens of millions of dollars funneled into a network of groups sympathetic to Iran whose members held top positions within the Biden-Harris administration. 

    NYPost reviewed records from Soros’ Open Society Foundations, revealing that the progressive billionaire has funneled $46.7 million since 2016 into the International Crisis Group, a far-left think tank allegedly connected to an Iranian plot to influence US lawmakers and policies. 

    Robert Malley, the former US special envoy to Iran, has been under FBI investigation for allegedly transferring classified information onto his personal email, where it could’ve slipped into the hands of a foreign actor. Malley was ICG’s president until he joined the Biden team in 2021. 

    Gabriel Noronha of the Polaris National Security think tank told NYPost: “Soros has continually funded organizations that act as apologists for the Iranian regime – downplaying their severe human rights abuses while working to advance Iranian propaganda.” 

    In 1994, Soros funded ICG’s formation and served as its trustee for years before handing the baton to Alex in 2018. 

    Jay Solomon penned a note in Semafor in 2023 about three of Malley’s aides who were part of the Iran Experts Initiative, a mysterious network of Iranian-American elites established by Iran’s Foreign Ministry in 2014. NYPost noted IEI members were able to rise in the ranks of Washington’s foreign policy circles while advocating easing sanctions on Tehran. 

    “If you were a regime running a game plan of how to subvert the United States’ political system from within, this would be it to a tee,” Noronha said.

    Meanwhile, radicals within the Biden-Harris administration are leaving the Middle East in flames as Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House next month, where he is expected to reimpose “maximum pressure” sanctions on Iran. 

    Noronha pointed out, “I don’t know what either Soros’s vision is regarding Iran … But the things they routinely fund are things that weaken America, both internally and externally.”

    The Soros family must understand that the American people have given Trump a mandate to usher in the ‘America First’ era. The days of funding non-profits to undermine America are over.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 12/18/2024 – 19:35

  • Al-Qaeda Linked Julani Meets With British Diplomats, Discusses Removal From Terror List
    Al-Qaeda Linked Julani Meets With British Diplomats, Discusses Removal From Terror List

    Authored by Kyle Anzalone via The Libertarian Institute, 

    The leader of the al-Qaeda-linked Syria rebel group that removed President Bashar al-Assad from power met with British officials to request the removal of sanctions and the terror designation on his group. 

    Abu Mohammed al-Julani met with Stephen Hickey, director of the Middle East department at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and Ann Snow, the UK’s envoy to Syria in Damascus on Monday. 

    According to statements given to Middle East Eye, officials from Julani’s Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) said the talks discussed the “latest developments” in Syria. The UK’s Foreign Ministry stated the British officials discussed London’s role in Damascus’ transition of power from Assad. 

    Julani also gave an interview with the British outlet, The Times, to press for sanctions relief. “Countries must now lift this designation. Syria is very important geostrategically. They should lift all restrictions, which were imposed on the flogger and the victim — the flogger is gone now. This issue is not up for negotiation,” he said. 

    Julani, who fought for Al-Qaeda in Iraq against American soldiers, added that HTS’s designation as a foreign terror organization is inappropriate. HTS has been labeled a terror organization by Washington and London since 2017, when Julani created the group.

    At the time, both governments recognized that HTS was merely a rebranding of al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, al-Nusra.  Following Julani’s triumph, the White House and 10 Downing Street are now considering removing HTS and Julani from the terror lists. 

    In recent years, Julani has attempted to soften his image by sitting down with Western journalists for interviews, often appearing in a suit and with a trimmed beard in an attempt to obscure his jihadist ideology. 

    A lot of interesting “diplomacy” happening in Damascus these days…

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    Julani’s meetings with the British government and media come on the heels of London using the Terrorism Act 2000 to target and frame supporters of Palestinian rights as aiding Hamas. London said last week that engagement with HTS would not violate the law.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 12/18/2024 – 19:10

  • Tanker Ships Are Now Being Fitted With Sails To Cut Carbon Footprints
    Tanker Ships Are Now Being Fitted With Sails To Cut Carbon Footprints

    Ever seen a massive tanker ship…with wind sails? You might soon.

    That’s because the Sohar Max, a 400,000-deadweight-ton vessel, was just retrofitted with five 35-meter rotor sails at China’s COSCO Zhoushan shipyard, according to Bloomberg. The purpose is to reduce fuel use by 6% and cut annual carbon emissions by 3,000 tons. 

    Bloomberg reported that the shipping industry already faces regulatory pressure to reduce emissions. Rotor sails remain uncommon, and the adoption of wind technologies hinges on cost savings. Their appeal may grow as shippers transition from oil to pricier, cleaner marine fuels, the report says.

    Nick Contopoulos, chief production and partnerships officer at Anemoi Marine Technologies, said: “There’s definitely an uptick in the adoption of wind propulsion and not just rotor sails, but other technologies too.”

    California, for example, just expanded its emissions regulations at its port, DNV wrote last month. Starting January 1, 2025, California will expand its emissions regulations for vessels at ports.

    Initially introduced in 2007 for container, passenger, and refrigerated-cargo ships, the rules now include Ro-Ro and tanker vessels. Ships must control emissions of NOx, PM 2.5, and reactive organic gases by connecting to onshore power, using approved exhaust capture systems, paying into a remediation fund, or adopting alternative fuels.

    Tanker vessels face phased compliance, starting with the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in 2025 and all California terminals by 2027.

    Most other emissions standards are “primarily governed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO)” and “require ships operating in designated Emission Control Areas (ECAs) to meet stricter sulfur fuel limits and engine emission standards”. 

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 12/18/2024 – 18:45

  • Mystery Drones Have Stalked US For Years
    Mystery Drones Have Stalked US For Years

    Authored by Andrew Thornebrooke via The Epoch Times,

    A sudden spike in unidentified drone sightings in the northeastern United States is unnerving residents and lawmakers alike. Similar incidents have occurred for years, however, with little apparent action from the government.

    Drone sighting reports in California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Virginia over the past month have raised questions about the possibility that drones are being used to surveil or attack U.S. infrastructure.

    The sightings follow several high-profile incidents in recent months, including at U.S. military facilities throughout the country and in the UK and Germany.

    The White House has downplayed the incidents and denied that there is any evidence of a sustained threat to public safety.

    “We have not identified anything anomalous or any national security or public safety risk over the civilian airspace in New Jersey or other states in the Northeast,” White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Dec. 16.

    Kirby did acknowledge that drones had penetrated restricted airspace, however, including that of the Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, and Picatinny Arsenal military research facility in New Jersey.

    Although such sightings are currently receiving a lot of media attention, there have been several high-profile drone incidents in the past half-decade for which the federal government has yet to formally account.

    Five years ago, for example, groups of large drones began appearing off the coast of California. They stalked and surveilled several Navy and Coast Guard ships, including the technologically advanced guided-missile destroyer USS Zumwalt.

    The incident caused alarm throughout the military and incurred a joint investigation by elements of the U.S. Navy, Coast Guard, and FBI. Members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the commander of the Pacific Fleet were kept apprised of the situation.

    No administration nor the Department of Defense has publicly stated what the drones were seeking to accomplish or who was operating them.

    Two investigative reports published by The War Zone in 2021 and 2022, however, revealed that ship logs from one of the Navy vessels involved had identified the source of the drones as the MV Bass Strait, a Hong Kong-flagged bulk carrier.

    In 2020, a new swarm of large drones began appearing in the skies over rural Colorado and Nebraska, where some of the nation’s Minuteman III nuclear missiles are stored.

    Local officials eventually said no laws were being broken and that drone pilots were not required to file flight plans unless in controlled airspace, such as near an airport.

    Similarly, the FBI, the Federal Aviation Administration, and local authorities never publicly identified who was operating the drones and suggested most of the sightings were attributable to hobby drones and people misidentifying planets and stars as aircraft.

    Likewise, Kirby told reporters that many of the 5,000 reports of drone sightings over the past week were attributable to hobbyists, commercial drones, and people misidentifying stars as aircraft.

    Similar incidents have continued, apparently unabated.

    This year alone, drones have approached and entered the restricted airspace over U.S. military installations throughout the country and overseas.

    Drones were tracked around three separate military bases in the UK last month, including Royal Air Force Lakenheath, which serves as the U.S. Air Forces in Europe’s only fighter wing of the fifth-generation F-35 aircraft.

    Shortly thereafter, federal agents arrested a Chinese national for flying an unregistered drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base in California and taking photos of the SpaceX rocket pads on a day on which the contractor launched a sensitive national reconnaissance payload.

    Kirby attempted to assuage fears of a potential unidentified drone threat, saying that there were more than a million lawfully registered drones in the United States, with thousands of hobbyists and law enforcement offices using the technology.

    Still, the lack of a federal response to the growing number of drone-related incidents in recent years has left both lawmakers and the public in a state of uncertainty about what is to be done.

    Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testified earlier this week that the federal government simply doesn’t have enough legal authority to engage drones that are not within restricted airspace and instead said that local law enforcement should take the lead “under federal supervision.”

    In a post on social media platform X, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul urged Congress to “pass a law that will give us the power to deal directly with the drones.”

    On Dec. 16, Hochul also announced that the federal government will send the state “a state-of-the-art drone detection system” after a drone incursion forced the closure of a local airport.

    “I am grateful for the support, but we need more,” she said on X.

    The drone incursions of recent years have repeatedly come within striking distance of commercial airports and even within close range of the president’s aircraft. Federal officials have not identified the drone operators in most of those cases but maintain that there is no immediate or foreign-backed threat.

    President-elect Donald Trump suggested this week that the Biden administration had intelligence on the source of the drones but was not revealing it to the public.

    Kirby rejected the idea.

    “There’s absolutely no effort to be anything other than as up-front as we can be,” Kirby said.

    “If we had information, intelligence or otherwise, that told us that there was a national security threat posed by this drone activity, I would say that.”

    Kirby said the administration has engaged personnel from the departments of Defense and Homeland Security to help identify and respond to the northeastern U.S. drone sightings.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 12/18/2024 – 18:20

  • Philly Tow Company Owner Sentenced For $8.2 Million Catalytic Converter Theft Ring
    Philly Tow Company Owner Sentenced For $8.2 Million Catalytic Converter Theft Ring

    A family at the center of a catalytic converter theft ring has been sentenced for “operating a multi-million-dollar catalytic converter theft ring throughout the Philadelphia region”, according to authorities and a new report from Patch.

    A Philadelphia towing company owner was exposed as the ringleader of a catalytic converter theft ring, busted in June 2023 after a yearlong investigation, according to Bucks County prosecutors.

    Six family members, including some from Montgomery County, were sentenced Monday. Authorities revealed TDI Towing was “likely involved in the buying and reselling of over 25,000 likely stolen catalytic converters,” according to NBC. 

    The Patch report says that “TDI employees were paid an average of $300 per catalytic converter, for a total of nearly $8.2 million during the three years.”

     A joint investigation by Bucks County detectives and over 30 local, state, and federal agencies uncovered the ring. Michael Williams, owner of TDI Towing in Philadelphia, along with his wife, three sons-in-law, and her sister, were sentenced Monday. In June, five pleaded guilty, while one entered a no-contest plea.

    Michael Williams received 2.5 to 5 years in state prison and probation, while his accomplices, including Bruce, Schwartz, Hopkins, and Lisa Davalos, were sentenced to county jail terms ranging from 90 days to 23 months, and Deborah Davalos received two years of probation.

    “I think we got to see on the videos who [Williams] was when he didn’t know he was being recorded,” said Prosecutor Edward Furman. “Our position was that he was preying on people that were in the throes of addiction. He knew that they were looking for cheap, easy money and he was their source of it.”

    Coley Reynolds, Williams’s defense attorney, commented to NBC: “Michael was a person who was raised a certain way, wanted to take care of his friends, wanted to take care of his community. I’m not saying that led to these offenses, but certainly we thought it should have been more of a consideration to the court.”

    Williams will have to pay more than $100,000 in restitution.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 12/18/2024 – 17:55

  • Michelob Ultra Surpasses Bud Light As Top Draft Beer, Data Shows
    Michelob Ultra Surpasses Bud Light As Top Draft Beer, Data Shows

    Authored by Rudy Blalock via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Bud Light, once the reigning champion of American draft beers, continues to experience a decline in its market position.

    According to a statement from Anheuser-Busch InBev, Bud Light has been surpassed by Michelob Ultra, also owned by the company, as the top draft beer in the United States. Anheuser-Busch also owns Corona, Budweiser, and Stella Artois, among other popular beer brands.

    Six packs of Michelob Ultra and Bud Light are displayed at a grocery store in San Anselmo, Calif., on Dec. 16, 2024. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

    “We’re proud to have the top two beers on draft in the U.S. in Michelob Ultra and Bud Light, and by our data, Bud Light is more than 30% bigger than the next closest competitor,” the spokesperson told NTD News in an emailed statement, citing public Circana data.

    They said beyond just draft beers, Michelob Ultra is leading the industry as the number one overall fastest-growing beer in the United States and also the second overall beer brand in the country, behind Bud Light in that category.

    This shift in rankings followed a difficult year for Bud Light, which faced a widespread boycott.

    In July, Bud Light fell to third place in overall sales at grocery and convenience stores during the critical period between Memorial Day and July 4th. Michelob Ultra claimed the second spot, while Modelo Especial, manufactured by rival Constellation Brands, secured the top position.

    The boycott, which began in response to Bud Light’s partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, has had far-reaching impacts for Anheuser-Busch InBev.

    In May, the company reported its first-quarter earnings results for 2024, which showed a 9.1 percent decrease in revenues in the United States, primarily attributed to a drop in Bud Light volume. During the same period, Anheuser-Busch reported global revenues increased by 2.6 percent, largely due to strong sales of Corona beer outside of Mexico. Overall revenue rose to $14.5 billion, surpassing Wall Street’s forecast of $14.3 billion, according to analysts polled by FactSet.

    At the time, Anheuser-Busch CEO Michel Doukeris said he was optimistic about the company’s performance.

    “The strength of the beer category, our diversified global footprint and the continued momentum of our megabrands delivered another quarter of broad-based top-and bottom-line growth,” Doukeris said.

    “We are encouraged by our results to start the year, and the consistent execution by our teams and partners reinforces our confidence in delivering on our 2024 growth ambitions.”

    In an effort to rebuild its image, Anheuser-Busch has undertaken several strategic partnerships.

    The company became the “official beer partner” of the UFC, a mixed martial arts league, and secured sponsorship deals with the U.S. Olympic team for its Michelob Ultra brand. Additionally, Corona Cero, AB InBev’s zero-alcohol beer, will be the global beer sponsor of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

    From NTD News

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 12/18/2024 – 17:30

  • High Altitude Unmanned Balloon Passes Near DC, New Jersey
    High Altitude Unmanned Balloon Passes Near DC, New Jersey

    A high-altitude unmanned balloon once operated by Loon, formerly an Alphabet subsidiary and now registered to Raven Aerostar as “N254TH,” traveled just north of the Baltimore-Washington, DC, airspace at 64,500 feet, moving east at 34 mph towards New Jersey. 

    Data from FlightAware indicates that N254TH launched from Dangel Airport in South Dakota on Monday and has since traversed the eastern half of the US, now making its way into Delaware and soon New Jersey

    Zooming in…

    Balloon website Stratocat provided more details about the balloon under Loon’s prior ownership: 

    Project Loon was an initiative to establish a network of high altitude unmanned balloons to provide Internet connectivity in underserved parts of the world or during disaster recovery efforts. The project started in 2011 and became public in 2013 as part of Google’s research and development of new technologies carried out through X Development LLC.

    Loon, formerly an Alphabet subsidiary, was shuttered in 2021—the project aimed to provide high-speed internet to remote parts of the world. However, Elon Musk’s Starlink has largely taken over that role with its low Earth orbit satellites. 

    Meanwhile, on X…

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    In addition to drones, residents of New Jersey will now have a giant balloon to speculate about.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 12/18/2024 – 17:05

  • Russia Airlifting Air Defense Systems From Syria To Libya
    Russia Airlifting Air Defense Systems From Syria To Libya

    Recent satellite imaging has shown that for the past several days Russia is rapidly packing up heavy equipment at its Khmeimim airbase in Latakia and evacuating it in the wake of the collapse of the Assad government on December 8. This is happening even as Moscow is in contact with new governing HTS rulers in Damascus concerning the future fate of the bases, which also includes the strategic naval base at Tartous.

    Concerning the packed up equipment, including anti-air missile systems, the only question is what’s the next destination? Western officials are now saying Libya. Moscow is putting pressure on Libyan warlord and rival to the Tripoli government, Khalifa Haftar, to secure a larger Russian military presence at a port in Benghazi.

    Maxar satellite image of the Russian naval base at Tartous, via Reuters.

    CNN has cited two unnamed US officials who say intelligence has observed the transfer of naval and other assets from Syria to Libya. Flight tracking has also confirmed the same.

    “Flight data show at least three Russian military cargo planes have flown from Belarus to Libya since Dec 8, the day the Russian-allied Assad regime in Syria was toppled by Islamist-led rebels,” The Telegraph writes. More have reportedly followed this week.

    The report continues, “Experts believe that Russia is moving defense materials stockpiled in Belarus, its closest ally, to Libya, where it is rapidly increasing its military presence in response to the rebel seizure of Damascus.”

    The Wall Street Journal in a fresh Wednesday report also observers:

    Russian cargo planes have flown air-defense equipment, including radars for S-400 and S-300 interceptor systems, from Syria to bases in eastern Libya controlled by Moscow-backed Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar, the officials said.

    Russia has also flown troops, military aircraft and weaponry out of Syria in a significant drawdown of its presence there. For years, Moscow has operated important naval bases and air bases in exchange for the support it provided to prop up Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian dictator who fled to Moscow last week. 

    Libya’s Haftar, interestingly enough, maintains positive relations with both Moscow and Washington, but is generally seen as more in alignment with Russia. He has long requested that his part of eastern Libya under his control come under the protection of Russian air defenses.

    Given events in Syria, he may actually get his wish. The WSJ notes, “But Haftar will likely face pressure from the West to not allow Russia to expand its presence in Libya. The U.S., including during a visit by CIA director William Burns last year, has repeatedly warned Haftar to expel Russian forces—to no avail.”

    Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar of the Libyan National Army (right), via Russian Defense Ministry

    Since the 2011 overthrow of the Gaddafi government via US-NATO military intervention, Libya has remained in a state of chaos with three and at times four competing governments and swathes of the country controlled by warlords and Islamist factions. But the mainstream media has by and large moved on, unconcerned with the chaos left in the wake of the Obama-Hillary Iraq-style regime change operation.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 12/18/2024 – 16:45

  • Trump's Attorneys Allege Juror Misconduct In New York Case
    Trump’s Attorneys Allege Juror Misconduct In New York Case

    Authored by Sam Dorman via The Epoch Times,

    President-Elect Donald Trump’s attorneys have alleged evidence of “grave juror misconduct” in his falsified business records case that has been playing out in New York.

    A heavily redacted letter from Dec. 3 and published by the court on Dec. 17 showed Trump’s attorneys stating that the misconduct “violated President Trump’s rights under the federal Constitution and New York law.”

    The specific allegations are unclear, and recently released correspondence showed Trump’s attorneys disagreeing with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office over how much information to release.

    The correspondence was published by the court after the judge, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, issued an order and letter rejecting multiple arguments the president-elect had made about immunity.

    In a Dec. 16 letter, Merchan said that the court made additional redactions following redactions made by the different parties. He noted, however, that the allegations were unsworn and that unless a claim of juror misconduct was properly filed under New York law, “this Court cannot allow the public filing of unsworn, and admittedly contested statements.”

    “To do so,” Merchan said, “would threaten the safety of the jurors. … Should a properly filed claim be submitted, these redactions will be revisited.”

    He also indicated a hearing was needed to evaluate the claims but said that the defense opposed having a hearing. “Allegations of juror misconduct should be thoroughly investigated,” Merchan said. “However, this Court is prohibited from deciding such claims on the basis of mere hearsay and conjecture.”

    Trump’s attorneys argued in their Dec. 3 letter that their client couldn’t pursue appropriate remedies until the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit had ruled on Trump’s request to remove the case to federal court.

    In a letter to Merchan on Dec. 5, Bragg’s office requested that the Dec. 3 letter and related correspondence be kept under seal.

    His office seemed to suggest that Trump’s attorneys had misrepresented the alleged misconduct.

    “[T]he excerpts of the communications that counsel did share included a communication from [redacted] in which [redacted] plainly stated that counsel’s recitation of the purported juror misconduct—the same misconduct chronicled in the Dec. 3 letter—‘contains inaccuracies and does not contain additional information that I never shared,’” the letter stated.

    It added that “[a]ccording to counsel’s own recitation of events, [redacted] rejected several attempts to get [redacted] to endorse the factual allegations that serve as the basis of the Dec. 3 letter.”

    The letter went on to accuse Trump of failing to provide an adequate record.

    “Had defendant provided the sworn allegations required to make a proper motion … a hearing at which [redacted] allegations could be fully explored in a public forum might indeed be warranted,” it read.

    “What he seeks instead is to inject his unsworn, untested, and at least partially inaccurate allegations into the public domain while simultaneously opposing any endeavor to properly evaluate them.”

    A series of successive letters from the defense and prosecution followed with Trump’s attorneys accusing Bragg’s office of trying to keep important information secret. While his attorneys favored certain redactions, they indicated they thought the prosecution’s requests went too far and said that the public had a right of access to criminal proceedings.

    “These rights of public access to criminal proceedings serve important interests in advancing the fair administration of justice, promoting public confidence in the judiciary, permitting public scrutiny of matters of great public interest, and defending the fundamental rights of the accused,” his attorneys said in a Dec. 9 letter to Merchan.

    Merchan’s Dec. 16 letter stated that the court “must balance the competing interests of the public’s right to transparency of these proceedings against the very real need to protect the privacy and safety of the jurors.”

    Bragg’s office also accused Trump on Dec. 9 of trying to undermine public confidence in the verdict. In May, a jury found Trump guilty on 34 felony counts. Trump has denied wrongdoing.

    In a post to TruthSocial on Dec. 17, Trump criticized Merchan’s decisions on the immunity arguments. Merchan had “completely disrespected the United States Supreme Court, and its Historic Decision on Immunity,” he said.

    The president-elect said the case itself is illegitimate, and the opinion written by Merchan “goes against our Constitution, and, if allowed to stand, would be the end of the Presidency as we know it.”

    Merchan said that Trump waited too long or failed to preserve objections to evidence and that information related to both preserved and unpreserved arguments did not receive protection under the doctrine of presidential immunity.

    The controversy came as the Supreme Court declined on Dec. 16 a podcaster’s request to lift gag orders Trump faced in New York. Podcaster Joseph Nieman argued that his rights as a member of the media were violated by the orders.

    On TruthSocial, Trump said that “Merchan has so little respect for the Constitution that he is keeping in place an illegal gag order on me.”

    Earlier this year, the New York Supreme Court’s First Appellate Division upheld a gag order on Trump while stating that Merchan “properly determined that petitioner’s public statements posed a significant threat to the integrity of the testimony of witnesses and potential witnesses in this case as well.”

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 12/18/2024 – 16:20

  • Russia Detains Suspect In Assassination Of Chemical Weapons Top Military Chief
    Russia Detains Suspect In Assassination Of Chemical Weapons Top Military Chief

    Russia on Wednesday has detained a suspect in the killing of a senior Russian general and his assistant in Moscow, which happened when a scooter bomb detonated outside the general’s apartment on Tuesday.

    Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, who headed Russia’s radiological, biological and chemical protection forces, is the highest ranking Russian official to have been assassinated since the Ukraine war began. A man from Uzbekistan has been arrested and is being questioned, the Russia’s Investigative Committee has announced.

    via Bloomberg

    Authorities further allege the 29-year-old Uzbek suspect was acting at the direction of Ukrainian intelligence, the SBU. Russian sources further say the man was offered $100,000 cash and the chance of resettlement in Europe.

    “The detainee received a homemade explosive device and placed it on an electric scooter which he parked at the entrance to the residential building where Igor Kirillov lived,” the Russian Investigative Committee said.

    The statement described that the assassin had rented a car and parked it nearby, so that a fitted surveillance camera would monitor and record the bombing for Ukrainian intelligence handlers. The bomb was then detonated remotely when Gen. Kirillov and his assistant exited the residential building.

    The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has been openly boasting to being behind the killing and Ukrainian sources have acknowledged this to American media.

    “Kirillov was a war criminal and an entirely legitimate target, as he issued orders to use prohibited chemical weapons against Ukrainian troops,” an SBU source told ABC. “Such an inglorious end awaits all those who kill Ukrainians. Retribution for war crimes is inevitable.”

    “By order of Kirillov, more than 4,800 cases of the enemy’s use of chemical munitions have been recorded since the beginning of the full-scale war,” the SBU added, but only cited that grenades equipped with substances like CS and other riot control type irritants have been used.

    Scene of the blast, via TASS

    Below is the full statement from Russian authorities:

    “The terrorist confessed to being recruited by Ukrainian intelligence. He was sent to Moscow on their orders, where he received a powerful improvised explosive device and placed it on an electric scooter, which he parked near the entrance to Kirillov’s residence. To monitor the address, he rented a car-sharing vehicle and installed a Wi-Fi video camera, which broadcasted live to organizers in Dnepr (formerly Dnepropetrovsk),” the FSB explained.

    After receiving a video feed showing the officers leaving the building, the explosive device was remotely detonated.

    “The Ukrainian intelligence services promised the Uzbek citizen $100,000 and a trip to a European Union country for the assassination of the Russian defense official,” the press office added.

    Moscow is vowing that Ukraine will pay dearly, with Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman and former president Dmitry Medvedev having warning on Tuesday, “Attempts to intimidate our nation, stop the Russian offensive or sow fear are doomed. Certain punishment awaits Banderite Nazis, including the top military and political leaders of a crumbling country.”

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 12/18/2024 – 15:45

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Dec 18

Today’s News 18th December 2024

  • The Indian Model Of Financial Multipolarity Is The Most Relevant For The Global South
    The Indian Model Of Financial Multipolarity Is The Most Relevant For The Global South

    Authored by Andrew Korybko via substack,

    Few can afford to be massively tariffed by the US, let alone sanctioned, and most aren’t willing to burn their bridges with the US for ideological reasons at the expense of their immediate economic interests…

    Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar clarified earlier this month that “India has never been for de-dollarization. Right now there is no proposal to have a BRICS currency. BRICS do discuss financial transactions, [but] the United States is our largest trade partner and we have no interest in weakening the dollar at all.” This was in response to Trump threatening to impose 100% tariffs on any country that de-dollarizes.

    Here are three background briefings for those who haven’t followed this:

    * 6 September 2024: “BRICS Membership Or Lack Thereof Isn’t Actually That Big Of A Deal”

    * 1 November 2024: “Did The Latest BRICS Summit Achieve Anything Of Tangible Significance At All?”

    * 2 December 2024: “Trump’s Threats Against BRICS Are Based On False Premises”

    As the first explained, “BRICS can be compared to a Zoom conference: members actively participate in talks on financial multipolarity, partners observe their discussions in real time, and everyone else with an interest in them hears about the outcome afterwards.” The second one confirmed the veracity of this assessment after the last BRICS Summit had no tangible outcome other than a joint statement. And finally, the last reaffirms the preceding two’s insight, which corrects false perceptions about BRICS.

    India is on pace to become the world’s third largest economy by 2030, which requires continued flows of American investment and maintaining access to its enormous market. At the same time, however, it also wants to internationalize the rupee. That last-mentioned policy isn’t de-dollarization per se, but pragmatic and a form of hedging, so Trump shouldn’t be too perturbed. He’s also expected to have the most Indophilic administration in history that’ll be reluctant to sanction India anyhow.

    The Indian way represents the model for other Global South countries to follow. Few can afford to be massively tariffed by the US, let alone sanctioned, and most aren’t willing to burn their bridges with the US for ideological reasons at the expense of their immediate economic interests. Furthermore, those that take this chance are making themselves dependent on someone else, namely China. Therefore, this policy comes at the expense of sovereignty, though it’s ironically supposed to strengthen such.

    The middle ground between remaining trapped in the dollar system and experiencing its wrath after trying to liberate oneself is to gradually increase the use of one’s national currencies. In parallel with this, having access to alternative non-Western platforms like Chinese ones and whatever BRICS may or may not unveil can help, but they mustn’t become replacements. The goal is to diversify currencies and platforms, not replace one dependency with another, and it’ll take time implement.

    Barring a black swan that completely revolutionizes the global financial system, the dollar will likely remain the world’s reserve currency, and Trump will take drastic action against China if it dares to unveil the so-called “petroyuan”. Those suppliers and clients who also decide to use it will face his fury as well. The “petroyuan” might therefore only remain a euphemism for China’s potential use of this currency in some of its bilateral energy deals while probably falling fall short of expectations in the medium-term.

    The long term is too far out to forecast, but if the US keeps de-dollarization trends in check under Trump and institutionalizes the means that he’s expected to employ, then that’ll naturally have an adverse effect on internationalizing the yuan. At most, it might begin to be used more in bilateral trade deals too, but the US’ grand strategic goal is for the dollar to remain the currency of choice in energy deals. Internationalizing the ruble like Russia has done with its energy deals isn’t a threat to the dollar at all.

    The only reason it even happened was because the US prohibited the use of dollars by others when purchasing Russian energy products, but curtailing and eventually even lifting these sanctions (as well as the associated one banning Russia’s use of SWIFT) could likely reverse this trend to a large degree. After all, it’s much more convenient for everyone to go back to the old order of business, though the US’ weaponization of the financial system since 2022 left an impression that’ll lead to continued hedging.

    As “politically incorrect” as it may sound, China already complies with some of these same Western sanctions against Russia despite still officially criticizing them as hegemonic. This is proven by the Chinese-based BRICS New Development Bank and the SCO Bank suspending projects in Russia and not allowing the transfer of Russia’s dues respectively as proven here and here. RT also drew attention to Russia’s payment problems with China in early September, which were analyzed at length here.

    It might therefore be unwise for any country to make itself dependent on China by promulgating radical de-dollarization policies since there’s no guarantee that the People’s Republic will have its back. The fact of the matter is that China’s complex interdependencies with the West are too deep, and this places major limits on its financial policymaking capabilities, thus explaining why it hasn’t fully supported Russia. This observation could lead to self-imposed restraints among aspiring de-dollarizing states.

    No responsible country like India would feel comfortable fully returning to the former system so the increased use of national currencies and utilization of alternative platforms will persist into the future. So long as these trends remain manageable, and Trump is expected to do his utmost to this end, then no radical changes are expected anytime soon. Everything will continue moving more or less in the same direction, but at a gradual pace, and that’s best for the West and the Global South at this point in time.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/17/2024 – 23:25

  • BDNF May Be A Key Compound For Healthy Brain Aging, Neuroplasticity
    BDNF May Be A Key Compound For Healthy Brain Aging, Neuroplasticity

    Authored by Theresa Sam Houghton via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Cognitive health depends on impulses that constantly pass between the 100 million brain cells (neurons) in your brain. One particular protein, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), is instrumental in maintaining the connections that make the symphony of brain communication possible.

    Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock

    BDNF is just one player among many, but its role is essential for lifelong cognitive health. Optimizing BDNF with diet and lifestyle changes could help support brain volume, function, and adaptation, especially as you age.

    Fertilizer for Brain Health

    BDNF is a neurotrophin, a type of protein called a growth factor that supports the survival of the neurons in your brain’s communication network. As the most abundant neurotrophin in the brain, BDNF is found in high concentrations in the hippocampus, amygdala, cerebellum, and cerebral cortex. These areas are responsible for memory, emotions, spatial recognition, language processing, and movement.

    For your brain to work properly, the functions of each region must remain separate from each other. According to J. Carson Smith, professor of kinesiology at the University of Maryland at College Park, the distinctions between regions start to break down as you age, causing interference that can distract you when you’re trying to pay attention to or remember something.

    “As we lose function in our brains, all of our brain regions tend to become activated all at once because we’re trying to compensate for this loss of neural function that we have as we get older,” Smith told The Epoch Times in an interview. 

    BDNF is key in maintaining this neural function, and its role begins during development as it helps brain cells mature and survive. The protein continues to be active in brain cell growth, maturation, and maintenance throughout life. BDNF is also essential for plasticity, the adaptive process that allows your brain to form fresh connections in response to new information and challenges.

    However, Smith said that, rather than helping the brain create new connections, BDNF’s primary function may be related more to maintaining structures called dendrites, projections at the ends of neurons that enable information to pass between cells in your brain’s network.

    “BDNF is like a fertilizer,” he said. “So it’s going to help stimulate connectivity and make sure that dendritic branching is intact instead of deteriorating and falling away and losing connections in the brain.”

    Effects of BDNF Decline

    BDNF levels decrease with age, leaving less “fertilizer” to support brain cells and the connections between them. Research suggests a correlation between lower BDNF levels and age-related changes in the brain, including lower cognitive test scores, a reduction in hippocampal volume, and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). In this condition, difficulties with memory, judgment, and decision-making are more significantly pronounced but don’t reach the level of dementia or Alzheimer’s. Other changes like decreased neurogenesis and the beta-amyloid buildup seen in Alzheimer’s disease may also be related to BDNF decline.

    However, the picture is more complex, and there may not be clear associations between BDNF levels and cognitive decline. A 2023 study published in Biomolecules showed that BDNF levels are higher in people with Alzheimer’s than those with MCI but cited other research showing that Alzheimer’s and MCI patients have lower BDNF levels than healthy people.

    According to the study’s authors, “It has been suggested that BDNF levels vary with disease severity, with higher levels associated with MCI and early stages of AD and lower levels reported in patients with severe AD symptoms.” While the reasons for this are unknown, researchers hypothesize that the body may produce more BDNF in the early stages of cognitive decline in an attempt to repair brain cells or protect against disease progression.

    How BDNF is measured can influence study results. Smith told The Epoch Times that measuring BDNF in human brains can be difficult and invasive, so researchers often rely on levels of circulating BDNF. These levels may not accurately reflect the amount of BDNF in the brain because the protein is also present in other tissues like muscle.

    Factors That Affect BDNF

    Despite these complexities, patterns across studies point to modifiable factors that may promote or interfere with BDNF. According to Gina Nick, a leading naturopathic physician and formulator of glutathione-based health products, including Best Daily Ever Pixie Sticks, inflammation is one of the most important.

    She told The Epoch Times in an interview that exposure to potential toxins in food and the environment can cause inflammation to increase with age. These exposures create unstable molecules called reactive oxygen species (ROS). As a type of free radical, ROS stabilize themselves by taking electrons from molecules in healthy tissues, which sets off chain reactions that produce more free radicals.

    The resulting tissue damage, known as oxidative stress, appears to promote inflammation throughout the body, including in the brain. As oxidative stress increases, Nick said, BDNF levels go down. The effects may be more pronounced in the brains of older people due to a decrease in the body’s ability to repair damage to cells and DNA.

    The Diet-BDNF Connection

    Inflammation may be driven by dietary factors like salt, fat, and additives in ultra-processed foods. Nick said that such foods can deplete glutathione, the body’s most abundant protective antioxidant, and start a cycle that promotes chronic neuroinflammation.

    “Glutathione, when it’s manufactured in the body, it’s naturally occurring in the body, it eats up a lot of other antioxidants when it’s making it,” she told The Epoch Times. “And when you’re exposed to a bunch of toxins in the environment, that triggers neuroinflammation—it reduces the amount of glutathione in your brain.”

    She said it’s important to replace the stores of antioxidants you need to make glutathione so your body can continue to protect brain cells from damage.

    Research suggests that other antioxidants may also increase or maintain BDNF levels. In a 2021 study published in Nutritional Neuroscience, researchers found that foods and supplements containing plant-based nutrients called polyphenols were associated with increased BDNF. There may also be a potential connection between higher BDNF levels and anti-inflammatory compounds like flavonoids and the omega-3 fatty acid DHA.

    Exercise for Cognitive Health

    Staying active may provide additional benefits for BDNF and overall brain health. According to a 2023 review, BDNF appears to be one of the major factors responsible for the cognitive benefits observed in many exercise trials. The researchers concluded that exercise, particularly aerobic activity commonly known as cardio, is associated with better cognition in cases of MCI and dementia.

    The review linked several effects of exercise to better cognitive outcomes, including the release of lactate and proteins from muscle and the stimulation of osteocalcin. This protein promotes bone growth and helps muscles adapt to exercise. These molecules promote the production of BDNF and appear to be the factor that connects these processes to improvements in mood, cognition, learning, and memory.

    As with diet, the process is complex. Factors like intensity and duration may influence the extent to which exercise affects BDNF and brain health, and long-term exercise may decrease blood levels of BDNF without causing changes in cognitive function or memory.

    Support BDNF for Healthy Brain Aging

    Following diet and lifestyle patterns consistently shown to promote cognitive well-being may support BDNF production and help keep the symphony of interactions in the brain playing in harmony.

    The popular Mediterranean diet, for example, focuses on whole and minimally processed plant foods, lean proteins, and unsaturated fats. This combination increases antioxidant intake while reducing or eliminating pro-inflammatory factors like saturated fats and refined carbohydrates, which may increase the risk of oxidative stress.

    Nick recommends incorporating foods that contain glutathione or promote its production, including cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, fruits like peaches, cherries, and strawberries, and unprocessed grass-fed red meat. She’s also a fan of walnuts for their omega-3 content.

    “A handful of walnuts a day will provide you with sufficient omega 3 fatty acids for helping to maintain BDNF levels,” she told The Epoch Times.

    As for exercise, research shows that single sessions and consistent habits may boost BDNF levels. To build a habit for healthy brain function, Smith recommends that people do whatever type of exercise is most accessible and enjoyable for them.

    Even simple activities like climbing stairs or gardening can improve BDNF, so be on the lookout for opportunities to skip the elevator or take a quick walk after dinner. If weather or safety is an issue, try free online resources like indoor walking videos or follow-along bodyweight workouts.

    Making these changes with help from family and friends may provide additional cognitive support.

    As Nick said, “There are always things that you can do to impact BDNF.”

    Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.

    That said…

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/17/2024 – 22:35

  • Watch: China Shows Off Mach 7 Hypersonic Drone, Launched From Near-Space Balloon
    Watch: China Shows Off Mach 7 Hypersonic Drone, Launched From Near-Space Balloon

    China has released a military propaganda video boasting its hypersonic weapon capabilities as the military arms race between global superpowers kicks into high gear and the world splits into a dangerous multi-polar state, prompting some global observers to ask the daunting question: “Is World War III already here?“

    According to the Shanghai Morning Post, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) released a new video this week showcasing how China continues pushing the boundaries of hypersonic technology.

    The full video, released by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), showcases the trials of the MD series and the drone developers behind the aircraft. The team from the Institute of Mechanics (IMECH) at CAS, known as the “Qian Xuesen Young Scientist Task Force,” were the same specialists who achieved the first horizontal landing of a hypersonic drone in 2020.

    …

    The MD-22 – the latest known model in the series – was first unveiled at the 2022 Zhuhai air show. The aircraft boasts a maximum range of 8,000km (4,971 miles) and can carry payloads of up to 600kg (1,323 pounds), delivering substantial strategic capabilities.

    A video of the test shows the unmanned Chinese MD series drone launched from a high-altitude balloon, reaching speeds of as much as Mach 7 before landing safely. 

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    “From a tactical perspective, the MD-19 could serve as a stepping stone to operational hypersonic platforms. Its current role as a technology demonstrator likely focuses on testing high-speed flight dynamics, thermal management, and recovery procedures,” news website BulgarianMilitary wrote in a note. 

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    The new website continued, “China is making it clear it has no intention of falling behind in the race for hypersonic supremacy. The MD-19 is further proof that the country isn’t just testing technologies but integrating innovations with real-world battlefield potential.” 

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    Meanwhile, hypersonic missiles, kamikaze drones, and stealth fighters have become cornerstones for militaries around the world as the modern battlefields in Eastern Europe and the Middle East show no limited signs of peace in the near term.

    The Free Press’ Jay Solomon recently asked: “Is World War III Already Here?”  

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/17/2024 – 22:10

  • The US Is Left Out In The Cold As China And Russia Develop Arctic
    The US Is Left Out In The Cold As China And Russia Develop Arctic

    Authored by Conor Gallagher via Naked Capitalism,

    The RAND Corporation, one of the more influential US think tanks that help craft US foreign policy, is out with a new paper arguing that it’s time the US use a divide and rule strategy with Beijing and Moscow in the Arctic. Years of sanctions, threats, and general belligerence from Washington helped organize the wedding of China and Russia’s complementary economies, and that’s increasingly evident in the Arctic where the two are cooperating on development, trade routes, and oil and gas projects. Here’s RAND now sounding the alarm:

    What might be done to limit China-Russia cooperation in this geopolitically important region? RAND researchers consider this question in a new paper, concluding that Western policies focusing on the differences between Beijing and Moscow may be effective. To put such a strategy into action, the United States and its northern NATO allies could develop separate approaches for dealing with China and Russia when it comes to Arctic affairs.

    The authors (Dr. Abbie Tingstad ,a visiting professor of Arctic research at the Center for Arctic Study and Policy, U.S. Coast Guard Academy; Stephanie Pezard, an associate research department director, Defense and Political Sciences, and a senior political scientist at RAND; and Yuliya Shokh, a U.S. Air Force intelligence analyst and technical analyst at RAND.) also note the following:

    
there may be no need to drive a wedge between Russia and China in the region. That’s because one may already exist: The two countries have very different Arctic interests, influence, and postures—not to mention a difficult history together.

    My first thought was that these people are crazy — or are paid to be so. You could maybe convince yourself it would be feasible if the US wasn’t doing its best to bring Moscow and Beijing together with all its sanctioning, bombing, and arming as it’s unlikely that Communist differences from decades ago are going to be a bigger factor than the immediate threat posed by an unhinged and violent US.

    Yet in the aftermath of the Syria shock, maybe it’s not a bad time to doublecheck RAND’s details of the Russia-China relationship. Not only is the Moscow-Beijing “no limits” partnership one of the biggest geopolitical developments of recent years, but it is also one that the US continues to help bring about. And it looks set to continue to do so whether following a path set forth by RAND or one of even more doubling down as laid out in a December special report from the Council on Foreign Relations.

    Let’s look at what RAND highlights as signs of present and potential friction between Russia and China over the Arctic and Russia’s Far East.

    Is the relationship headed toward benign neglect or even divorce because China increasingly sees Russia as a destabilizing influence that counters its Arctic aspirations? A potential breakdown in Sino-Russian relations has been foretold by the still low or nonexistent numbers of Chinese vessels transiting the [Northern Sea Route], Beijing’s apparent growing apathy to Russia’s Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline proposal, and the 2020 arrest of Russian lecturer Valery Mitko on spying charges.

    Let’s look at each one of these points:

    Despite the holdup on Power of Siberia 2, Russian pipeline gas exports to China are at new records. As of December 1, Gazprom increased supplies to the equivalent of 38 billion cubic meters per year. That’s roughly nine percent of China’s consumption this year.

    Mitko, a researcher of the Arctic region and one of Russia’s leading hydroacoustics experts, was accused of revealing sensitive data during a 2018 academic trip to China. He denied the charges but was under house arrest from 2020 until his death in 2022. The issue never posed any serious threat to expanding ties between the two countries, although it’s feasible that continued future similar cases could cause headaches.

    How about the lack of Chinese vessels on the Northern Sea Route (NSR)?

    While the authors are correct that traffic remains low on the shortest route between the western part of Eurasia and the Asia-Pacific region, that doesn’t mean it will remain that way, and they also omit recent milestones. Here’s one from late 2023 courtesy of Maritime Executive:

    In another demonstration of the efforts to expand shipping along Russia’s Northern Sea Route, the Chinese-owned containership Newnew Polar Bear (15,950 dwt) became the first to reach the Russian port in Kaliningrad after a six-week passage. The governor of the Kaliningrad region Anton Alikhanov hailed the achievement on his Telegram account.

    The vessel was acquired earlier this year by a new Chinese shipping company, Hainan Yangpu Newnew Shipping Co., and ushered in the route sailing from St. Petersburg at the beginning of July. She started the return trip from China in late August, reaching Kaliningrad on Tuesday and spending three days on dock. The ship registered in Hong Kong is 554 feet long with a capacity of 1,600 TEU.

    She is part of the effort to expand trade between China and Russia and grow traffic along the Northern Sea Route. President Vladimir Putin has ordered the authorities overseeing the route to boost annual shipments to 80 million metric tons in 2024.

    “Transport companies plan to make this logistics product permanent. It turns out cheaper and faster than through the Suez Canal,” writes Alikhanov touting the party line on his Telegram account.

    Additionally in June Russian state nuclear agency Rosatom signed an agreement with Chinese line Hainan Yangpu New Shipping to potentially operate a year-round route. The deal also involves collaboration in the design and construction of new ice-class container ships. In a historic first, two Chinese container ships crossed paths on the route on September 11. It might not be the last time — although much work remains to be done building up infrastructure along the NSR. Yet the US is providing both Moscow and Beijing with incentives to pursue just that with its isolation efforts. While the NSR might not become a primary route for China, it does provide another option, and it also shortens shipping times with Europe by up to 50 percent compared to the Suez route, and Russia will rake in profits from transit fees.

    The RAND authors continue:

    Russia has been wary of the presence of non-Arctic countries in this region, especially regarding military activity. Despite the declaration of a limitless friendship with China, Russia has not provided Beijing with opportunities to conduct overt military operations directly in and around the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation (AZRF). Compared with the growing frequency and scale of U.S. cooperation with Norway on Arctic military training and exercises, sailing a few destroyers well below the Arctic Circle pales in comparison.

    I’m unsure how much a contest over military exercises tells us. Nonetheless, what’s indisputable is that China’s footprint continues to grow even if it’s not to the level of US training and exercises in Norway.

    In October, for example, China’s Coast Guard entered Arctic Ocean waters for the first time as part of a joint patrol with Russia. Four vessels from the Russian Border Guard and Chinese Coast Guard were spotted by the US in the Bering Sea – the northernmost location it said it had ever observed the Chinese ships. And in July US and Canadian forces intercepted Russian and Chinese bombers flying together near Alaska for the first time.

    Part of the reason for such moves is to send a message to Washington whose military activities in the South and East China Seas and arming of Taiwan are not well-received in Beijing.

    Energy and the Far East

    Here’s RAND on the proposed Power of Siberia 2 pipeline:

    Similarly, China has not written a blank check for Russia to develop its Siberian energy reserves. To the contrary, Moscow has been unable to convince Beijing, as of the time of this publication, to fund the larger capacity Power of Siberia 2 pipeline, despite numerous meetings between these countries’ leadership. There are several potential reasons for this lack of funding: One is that China is waiting for an even better deal on energy resources; another is that Beijing could be wary of being overly dependent on Russia for energy


    Power of Siberia 2 (PS2) is a proposed pipeline that would have the capacity to carry 50 billion cubic meters per year from Russia to China, but the two sides are struggling to come to an agreement on price.

    PS2 is often overblown in the Western media. While Russia has both economic and geopolitical reasons for wanting to get a deal done, it doesn’t want to give the gas away.

    And China currently has other options, including pipeline gas from Central Asia and LNG suppliers such as Qatar. Its demands are currently met by existing contracts and might not need the gas from PS2 prior to the mid-2030s. It could be attractive, however, due to US efforts to control China’s rise and its energy supply and Beijing’s reluctance to rely too heavily on LNG from the likes of Australia and the US.

    Less mentioned is that Russia also has options. It continues to increase LNG exports — largely to China — and has a goal to triple overall exports by 2030. China would play a huge real in achieving that goal, but that would make PS2 unlikely. Either way the gas is getting to China, and Russia is doing just fine with its energy exports:

    The problem for the US is that further tightening sanctions on Russia makes Moscow more dependent on China, which benefits Beijing.

    Any attempt to isolate China (say by cutting LNG from Australia and Middle East or pipelines from Central Asia) makes China more dependent on Russia.

    Even without PS2 China is already getting 38 bcm through the original Power of Siberia. Starting in 2027, gas will also go to China via the Far Eastern route, which is set to have a capacity of some 10 Bcm/year. That’s 48 bcm per year is already a massive amount. A useful map from S&P Global:

    With the heavy focus on PS2, RAND (and others) also miss all the other developments in Russia’s Far East. Let’s take a quick look.

    Over the past ten years, Russia has laid more than 2,000 kilometers of railway tracks and renovated more than 5,000 kilometers on the Trans-Siberian Railway and the Baikal-Amur Mainline.

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    By the end of this year, the carrying capacity of these networks is expected to reach 180 million tonnes — an increase of 36 million since 2021. More than 3,100 kilometers of tracks are planned for the next eight years, as well, which will help Moscow meet international demand for resources from its East.

    China and Russia are also working together to increase the capacity of resources heading to the former. In 2022, they opened the lone vehicle bridge crossing the Amur River, which forms more than 1,600 of their roughly 4,000 border kilometers. Later that year they opened the Tongjiang Bridge, currently the only railway bridge connecting the two countries. It shortens the journey between China’s Heilongjiang region and Moscow by more than 800 kilometers over previous routes, saving 10 hours of transit time. This helped rail transport between the two countries jump to 161 million tonnes in 2023, a 36 percent increase from 2022. Over the first five months of this year, it grew another 20 percent.

    A second railway bridge over the Amur is coming soon and will provide Russia’s resource-rich Sakha Republic with direct access to China. The new route will be 2,000 kilometers shorter than the current one which involves the use of sea ports. Beijing is investing in this railway construction in the Sakha Republic as part of a new international corridor in the Russian Far East: the Mohe-Magadan railway line.

    RAND wraps up its rundown of China-Russia trouble in paradise with hypotheticals that, while possible, start to sound a little desperate:

    The Arctic relationship between Russia and China could be damaged by a hypothetical diplomatic clash – for instance, if China were to precipitate a major safety or environmental incident in the vicinity of the Russian Arctic or somehow publicly embarrass Moscow by undermining the perception that Russia exerts full control over its Arctic region. More broadly, some serious indications that China might represent a direct and immediate military threat to Russia in the Arctic could lead to a backlash from Moscow.

    How is the US supposed to exploit these points of contention? RAND argues the following:

    Western policies that focus on differences between Russia and China may ultimately be more successful in shaping the Arctic’s future than those that emphasize their similarities or their relationship itself as the primary driver of regional outcomes
.

    Chinese growing interest in Arctic resources does not necessarily translate to a stronger dependence on Russia alone
China’s relationship with the United States is a big influence on this scenario’s probability; six of the seven other Arctic countries (except Russia) are allies, militarily and otherwise, of the United States. This scenario would assume a reversal of these countries’ existing preference to watch closely—and deny more often than not—China’s efforts to invest in such sectors as real estate and critical technologies. This scenario also offers a reminder that although the Sino-Russian relationship is important, the mere existence of their relationship is not the only determinant to how China can potentially extend its influence in the region


    One key policy decision by the United States and its northern NATO allies could be to develop separate strategies for dealing with Moscow and Beijing when it comes to Arctic affairs.

    What does that look like? Conveniently, more of the same, which means the US doesn’t have to do much of anything other than stay the course and wait:

    The Western Arctic countries yield strong potential to realize their interests and diminish the power of the Sino-Russian relationship by developing policies that (1) recognize Russia as an aggressive, risk-taking, but ultimately legitimate Arctic state and (2) recognize that China has no innate influence in the Arctic and pursues a vested interest in maintaining good economic and scientific relationships with all Arctic nations. There may be no need to drive a wedge between Russia and China in the Arctic because it already exists through their differences as Arctic actors and difficult history together.

    RAND, to its credit, does admit is that much of the Russian-Chinese cooperation is mutually beneficial:

    
the Sino-Russian relationship is driven by Russia’s need for funding and technology to develop its Arctic region, especially because its pool of investors waned with the invasion of Ukraine and sanctions, and by China’s desire to gain a foothold in the region and tap into Russia’s hydrocarbon resources and access to the NSR for Arctic navigation.

    Furthermore:

    Russia and China have forged a cooperative relationship that has (at least to some measure) helped Russia to further develop its northern economy and afforded China tangible opportunities to establish itself as a recognized stakeholder in the region. The most prominent example is the investment of Chinese companies in two liquid natural gas (LNG) projects in the Yamalo- Nenets Autonomous Okrug in northern Siberia and the Power of Siberia 1 pipeline.27 Overall, China has invested billions of dollars in energy and mining projects in Russia’s Arctic, although the bulk of its investment in Russia (and across the Arctic writ large) is in Yamal LNG, which is a massive undertaking.28 In addition, the Chinese transportation company COSCO SHIPPING Lines Co., Ltd., has been exploring the use of the NSR running along Russia’s Arctic coastline as an option for future global logistics.

    RAND does not, however, consider one the driving forces behind the increased cooperation: the current policy of the US and its vassals. And when you add that factor to the mix, it shows why a Moscow-Beijing split is unlikely. Even if the US and its Arctic allies try to develop separate policies for Beijing and Moscow, the latter two would still have the incentive to work together. Indeed, what makes the NSR more attractive isn’t just how short a route it is between Europe and Asia; it’s that its 5,600 kilometers are controlled by just one country (Russia), which means it faces less potential chokepoints than others.

    A big part of that is because of how the West bailed on Russian Arctic projects.

    Much of Russia’s plans for the extraction and delivery of its Arctic resources previously involved the West, but that, of course, is no longer the case. European shipping companies mostly cut ties with Russian operators in 2022. As part of the economic war against Russia, Western partners abandoned Northern Sea energy projects. At first, traffic fell off a cliff, but it has since rebounded and now looks set to grow exponentially into the future with both Beijing and Moscow being the biggest winners. According to Silk Road Briefing, “a central hub for building large-capacity offshore structures to produce liquefied natural gas (LNG) on a very large scale is underway based in Murmansk. Russia is active in boosting the production of sea-borne super-cooled gas as its pipeline gas exports to Europe, once a key source of revenue for Moscow, have plummeted amid the Western sanctions imposed over the conflict in Ukraine. Those resources are now being directed East, where consumer demand is far greater.”

    And yet the RAND authors propose the US keep up the very policies that are driving Moscow and Beijing together in a bid to drive a wedge between them.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/17/2024 – 21:45

  • Former F-18 Pilot Tells Joe Rogan Drones Aren't WMD 'Sniffers' As Dronegate Intensifies
    Former F-18 Pilot Tells Joe Rogan Drones Aren’t WMD ‘Sniffers’ As Dronegate Intensifies

    Former US Navy Lt. and F/A-18F pilot Ryan Graves appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast to start the week, dismissing rumors that drone sightings in the New Jersey-New York skies were “sniffers” searching for radioactive devices. Still, he described the situation as “dangerous and scary” as the mystery surrounding drone sightings fuels suspense among the public. 

    Graves told Rogan he spoke with high-level individuals who work on teams surrounding weapons of mass destruction. He asked them: “What’s the sense here?” 

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    Graves summarized his conversations with those government officials, stating that WMDs “are not the case—that there is no loose nuke or WMD that these objects, whatever they are, are pursuing right now.”

    “I have a high confidence level that this is not a response to a massive imminent WMD threat on the Eastern Seaboard,” the former pilot said, adding, “Although this is a dangerous and scary situation right now – from at least that particular angle – that’s not the indications I’m receiving.” 

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    On Monday, we coined the situation “dronegate” after President-elect Donald Trump told reporters from his Mar-a-Lago Club in South Florida… 

    “The gov’t knows what is happening … look … our military knows where they took off from … and for some reason, they don’t want to comment. And I think they would better off commenting on what it is … our military knows and our president knows … and for some reason they want to keep people in suspense,” Trump told reporters. 

    Trump said, “I can’t imagine it was the enemy because if it was the enemy, we would blast it. Something strange is going on and for some reason they don’t want to tell the people.” 

    “I decided to cancel my trip to Bedminster (Trump National Golf Club Bedminster),” he said. 

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    Certainly, the plot is thickening by the day as drongate becomes a major headache for the federal government, leaving the American people in a state of panic just before Christmas. 

    On Saturday, we explained one theory of how the purported drone sightings could be psyop to manipulate lawmakers into passing the new H.R.8610 (Counter-UAS Authority Security, Safety, and Reauthorization Act of 2024), which will include appropriations and enhanced government counter-drone powers. 

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    Oddly, Trump canceled his trip this weekend to his beloved Bedminster golf course, a decision that, in itself, suggests the possibility of an ongoing national security threat. Remember, Trump reads national security briefings… 

    One question we have is what motivated – actually – who motivated Graves to go on Rogan’s podcast? 

    Recall the former pilot said he has a number of government contacts after his work of testifying in a 2023 House hearing about Unidentified Aerial Phenomenons. 

    Does he have contacts at US Special Operations Command, the FBI, or other agencies that oversee WMD threats?

    The lack of disclosure by the feds is quickly damaging public trust. It’s time for the feds to come clean about what’s really happening… 

    If we had to speculate – it’s entirely possible this could be a manufactured crisis/psyop designed to advance H.R. 8610…

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    This is dronegate.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/17/2024 – 21:20

  • How The West Rebranded Al-Qaeda's Jolani
    How The West Rebranded Al-Qaeda’s Jolani

    Authored by Alan Macleod via ConsortiumNews.com,

    Corporate media is heralding the fall of Bashar al-Assad and the emergence of Abu Mohammed al-Jolani as the new leader of Syria, despite his deep ties to both Al-Qaeda and ISIS.

    “How Syria’s ‘diversity-friendly’ jihadists plan on building a state,” runs the headline from an article in Britain’s Daily Telegraph that suggests that Jolani will construct a new Syria, respectful of minority rights. The same newspaper also labeled him a “moderate Jihadist.” The Washington Post described him as a pragmatic and charismatic leader, while CNN portrayed him as a “blazer-wearing revolutionary.”

    Meanwhile, an in-depth portrait from Rolling Stone describes him as a “ruthlessly pragmatic, astute politician who has renounced ‘global jihad’” and intends to “unite Syria.” His “strategic acumen is apparent,” writes Rolling Stone, between paragraphs praising Jolani for leading a successful movement against a dictator.

    CNN even scored an exclusive, sit-down interview with Jolani, even as his movement was storming Damascus. When asked by host Jomana Karadsheh about his past actions, he responded by saying, “I believe that everyone in life goes through phases and experiences 
 As you grow, you learn, and you continue to learn until the very last day of your life,” as if he were discussing embarrassing teenage mistakes, not establishing and leading the Al-Nusra Front, Al-Qaeda’s franchise in Syria.

    This is a far cry from the first time CNN covered Jolani. In 2013, the network labeled him one of “the world’s 10 most dangerous terrorists,” known for abducting, torturing and slaughtering racial and religious minorities.

    Still on the U.S. terrorist list today, the F.B.I. is offering a $10 million reward for information about his whereabouts. Washington and other Western governments consider Jolani’s new organization, Hay?at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), as one and the same as Al-Qaeda/Al-Nusra.

    This poses a serious public relations dilemma for Western nations, who supported the HTS-led overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad. And thus, Politico and others report there is a “huge scramble” in Washington to remove HTS and Jolani from the terrorist list as quickly as possible.

    The Making of a Radical

    Jolani has sought to distance himself from his past and present himself as a moderating force that can attempt to unite an intensely divided Syria. While he has, in recent years, displayed a willingness to compromise with other forces and factions, it is far from clear whether the tens of thousands of soldiers he commands — units made up primarily of former fighters from al-Qaeda/al-Nusra and ISIS — will be in a charitable mood once they cement their power.

    “Syria is being purified,” he told a crowd in Damascus on Dec. 8. “This victory is born from the people who have languished in prison, and the fighters broke their chains,” he added.

    Jolani — whose real name is Ahmed Hussein al-Shar’a — was born in 1982 in Saudi Arabia to parents who fled the Golan Heights area of Syria after the 1967 Israeli invasion. In 2003, he went to Iraq to fight against American forces. After three years of war, he was captured by the U.S. military and spent over five years in prison, including a stint at the notorious Abu Ghraib torture center.

    Mugshot of al-Julani in 2006, after his capture by U.S. forces in Iraq. (DoD, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)

    While in Iraq, Jolani fought with ISIS and was even a deputy to its founder. Immediately upon release in 2011, ISIS sent him to Syria with a rumored $1 billion to found the Syrian wing of al-Qaeda and participate in the armed protest movement against Assad that arose out of the Arab Spring.

    Realizing the extremely poor reputation al-Qaeda had in the region and across the world, Jolani attempted to rebrand his forces, officially shuttering the al-Nusra Front in January 2017 and, on the same day, founding HTS. He claimed that HTS preaches a very different ideology and that it will respect Syrian diversity. Not everyone is convinced of this, least of all the British government, who immediately proscribed HTS, describing it as merely an alias of Al-Qaeda.

    “Al-Qaeda/ISIS man didn’t ‘reinvent himself.’ He had the whole propaganda and intelligence apparatus of the ‘West,’ including the BBC, doing it for him,” remarked co-founder of The Electronic Intifada, Ali Abunimah.

    New Government Likes Israel, Hates Hezbollah

    The name “al-Jolani” translates to “From the Golan Heights.” And yet, the leader appears distinctly unconcerned with the Israeli invasion of his homeland. The IDF has taken much of southern Syria, including the strategic Mount Hermon, overlooking Damascus. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that this is part of a permanent operation. “The Golan Heights
will forever be an inseparable part of the State of Israel,” he proclaimed.

    Jolani has already said that he has no intention of confronting Israel. “Syria is not ready for war and does not intend to go into another war. The source of concern was the Iranian militias, and Hezbollah, and the danger has passed,” he said — a strange thing to say while Israel is carrying out the largest Air Force operation in its history, pounding military targets all over Syria. Other HTS spokespersons have also categorically refused to comment on Israel’s attack on the country, even when pressed by incredulous Western journalists.

    Jolani’s comments, singling out two Shia forces rather than Israel as enemies of the state, will have many concerned that this could signal a return to the process of Shia slaughter ISIS waged over much of Syria and Iraq. In 2016, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 383-0 to classify this process as a genocide.

    Fortunately, the new government will likely be a coalition of disparate and moderating forces. However, these groups seem to share a common thread: they all appear to be pro-Israel. A commander of the secular Free Syrian Army, for example, recently gave an interview to The Times of Israel, where he looked forward to a new era of “friendship” and “harmony” with its neighbor to the south. “We will go for full peace with Israel
 Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, we have never made any critical comments against Israel, unlike Hezbollah, who stated they aim to liberate Jerusalem and the Golan Heights,” he said.

    The commander added that “Israel will plant a rose in the Syrian garden” and asked for the country’s financial support in forming a new government.

    Israeli soldiers from the Shaldag Unit on the Syrian side of Mount Hermon earlier this month. (IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)

    Other anti-Assad forces have gone even further, with one individual stating that Israel

    “Isn’t hostile to those who are not hostile toward it. We don’t hate you, we love you very much
we were quite happy when you attacked Hezbollah, really happy, and we’re glad that you won.”

    Statements like these might surprise a casual observer. But the reality is that Israel has been funding, training and arming much of the Syrian opposition since its inception. This includes Al-Qaeda, whose wounded fighters are treated by Israel.

    And while radical Islamist forces appeared to be enemies with everyone, the one group they fastidiously avoided any confrontation with was Israel. Indeed, in 2016, ISIS fighters accidentally fired upon an Israeli position in the Golan Heights, thinking they were Syrian government forces, then quickly issued an apology for doing so.

    From the Golan Heights, the year-long Israeli campaign against Hezbollah and Syrian Army positions also seriously weakened both forces, aiding the opposition in their victory.

    Al-Qaeda & US — Complicated Relationship

    While both journalists and politicians in the U.S. are scrambling to change their opinions on Jolani and HTS, the reality is that, for much of its existence, Washington has enjoyed a very close relationship with al-Qaeda.

    Mujahideen in Kunar, Afghanistan, Jan. 1, 1987. (erwinlux, Flickr, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons)

    The organization was born in Afghanistan in the 1980s, thanks in no small part to the C.I.A. Between 1979 and 1992, the C.I.A. spent billions of dollars funding, arming, and training Afghan Mujahideen militiamen (like Osama bin Laden) in an attempt to bleed the Soviet occupation dry. It was from the ranks of the Mujahideen that bin Laden built his organization.

    During the 1990s, bin Laden’s relationship with the U.S. soured, and it eventually became a principal target for al-Qaeda, culminating in the infamous Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C.

    The Bush administration would use these attacks as a pretext to invade both Afghanistan and Iraq, claiming that America could never be safe if al-Qaeda were not thoroughly destroyed. Bin Laden became perhaps the most notorious individual in the world, and American society was turned upside down in a self-described effort to rout Islamic extremism.

    And yet, by the 2010s, even as the U.S. was ostensibly at war with al-Qaeda in Iraq and Afghanistan, it was secretly working with it in Syria on a plan to overthrow Assad. The C.I.A. spent around $1 billion per year training and arming a wide network of rebel groups to this end. As Jake Sullivan, now the U.S. national security adviser, told Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a leaked 2012 email, “AQ [al-Qaeda] is on our side in Syria.”

    Jake Sullivan, second from left, as deputy chief of staff to the secretary of state, with his boss Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama, November 2012. (White House, Pete Souza)

    Thus, while many casual observers may be shocked to see the media and political class embrace the leader of al-Qaeda in Syria as a modern, progressive champion, the reality is that the U.S. relationship with the group is merely reverting to a position it has previously held. Consequently, it appears that the War on Terror will come to an end with the “terrorists” being redesignated as “moderate rebels” and “freedom fighters.”

    Who Gets to Define ‘Terrorist?’

    Of course, many have argued that the U.S. Terrorist List is entirely arbitrary to begin with and is merely a barometer of who is in Washington’s good books at any given time. In 2020, the Trump administration removed Sudan from its state sponsors of terror list in exchange for the country normalizing relations with Israel, proving how transactional the list was.

    A few months later, it removed the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (a Uyghur militia currently active in Syria) from its list because of its hardening attitude towards China, seeing ETIM as a useful pawn to play against Beijing.

    Washington also continues to keep Cuba on its terror list despite there being no evidence of the island supporting terror groups.

    And the U.S. refused to remove Nelson Mandela from its list of the world’s most notorious terrorists until 2008 — 14 years after he became President of South Africa. In comparison, Jolani’s redesignation might take fewer than 14 days.

    A giant rebranding operation is taking place. Both corporate media and the U.S. government have attempted to transform the founder and head of an al-Qaeda affiliate organization into a woke, progressive actor. It remains to be seen how exactly Jolani will govern and whether he can maintain support from a wide range of Syrian groups. Given what we have seen so far, however, he can be confident of enjoying strong support from the Western press.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/17/2024 – 20:55

  • The Danger Of White Knight Pardons: Biden Could Fundamentally Change Presidential Power
    The Danger Of White Knight Pardons: Biden Could Fundamentally Change Presidential Power

    Authored by Jonathan Turley,

    Below is my column in the New York Post on the news reports that President Joe Biden is seriously considering preemptive pardons for political allies. In granting what I have called “White Knight pardons,” Biden would achieve more of a political than legal purpose. Democrats are worried about the collapsing narrative that President-elect Donald Trump will destroy democracy,  end future elections, and conduct sweeping arrests of everyone from journalists to homosexuals. That narrative, of course, ignores that we have a constitutional system of overlapping protections that has blocked such abuses for over two centuries. Ironically, preemptive pardons would do precisely what Biden suggests that he is deterring: create a dangerous immunity for presidents and their allies in committing criminal abuses.

    Here is the column:

    There are growing indications that President Joe Biden is about to fundamentally change the use of presidential pardons by granting “prospective” or “preemptive” pardons to political allies.

    Despite repeated denials of President-elect Donald Trump that he is seeking retaliation against opponents and his statements that he wants “success [to be] my revenge,” Democratic politicians and pundits have called for up to thousands of such pardons.

    While there is little threat of any viable prosecution of figures like the members of the January 6th Committee, the use of “White Knight pardons” offers obvious political benefits. After many liberals predicted the imminent collapse of democracy and that opponents would be rounded up in mass by the Trump Administration, they are now contemplating the nightmare that democracy might survive and that there will be no mass arrests.

    The next best thing to a convenient collapse of democracy is a claim that Biden’s series of preemptive pardons averted it. It is enough to preserve the narrative in the face of a stable constitutional system . Indeed, Biden’s pardon list has replaced the usual Inauguration Ball lists as the “must-have” item this year. Pardon envy is sweeping over the Beltway as politicians and pundits push to be included on the list of presumptive Trump enemies.

    The political stunt will come at a cost. Preemptive pardons could become the norm as presidents pardon whole categories of allies and even themselves to foreclose federal prosecutions. It can quickly become the norm in what I recently wrote about as our “age of rage.”

    It will give presidents cover to wipe away any threat of prosecution for friends, donors, and associates. This can include self-pardons issued as implied condemnations of their political opponents. It could easily become the final act of every president to pardon himself and all of the members of his Administration. We would then have an effective immunity rule for outgoing parties in American politics.

    Ironically, there is even less need for such preemptive pardons after the Supreme Court recognized that presidents are immune for many decisions made during their presidencies. Likewise, members have robust constitutional protections for their work under Article I, as do journalists and pundits under the Constitution’s First Amendment.

    We have gone over two centuries without such blanket immunity. In my book The Indispensable Right, I discuss our periods of violent political strife and widespread arrests. Thomas Jefferson referred to John Adams’s Federalist government as “the reign of the witches.” Yet, even presidents in those poisonous times did not do what Joe Biden is now contemplating.

    Moreover, presidential pardons have a checkered history, including presidents pardoning family members or political donors. Bill Clinton did both. Not surprisingly, Clinton last week attempted to add his own wife’s name to the sought-after Biden pardon list. He added, however, “I don’t think I should be giving public advice on the pardon power
It’s a very personal thing.”

    That is precisely the point. The power was not created to be used for “very personal things,” like pardoning your half-brother and a fugitive Democratic donor on your last day in office.

    Yet, despite that history, no president has seen fit to go as far as where Biden appears to be heading.

    We have a constitutional system that allows for overlapping protections of individuals from abusive prosecutions and convictions. It does not always work as fast as we would want, but it has sustained the oldest and most stable constitutional system in history.

    These figures would prefer to fundamentally change the use of the pardon power to maintain an apocalyptic narrative that was clearly rejected by the public in this election. If you cannot prove the existence of the widely touted Trump enemies list, a Biden pardon list is the next best thing.

    After years of lying to the American people about the influence-peddling scandal and promising not to consider a pardon for his son, Biden would end his legacy with the ultimate dishonesty: converting pardons into virtual party favors.

    In doing so, he has ironically lowered the standard and expectations for his successors. Joe Biden has become the president that Richard Nixon only imagined. He would establish with utter clarity that this power is not presidential, but personal and political . . . and many in the Beltway are waiting to give him a standing ovation.

    *  *  *

    Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. He is the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.”

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/17/2024 – 20:05

  • Russia Says Ukraine Allies Are 'Accomplices' In Moscow Assassination Of A Top General
    Russia Says Ukraine Allies Are ‘Accomplices’ In Moscow Assassination Of A Top General

    Update(1405): Russia has blasted the West for staying quiet after Ukraine openly boasted of assassinating a top Russian general earlier in the day, identified as Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, who was killed when a scooter bomb detonated remotely upon his leaving his apartment in the early morning hours:

    Russia on Tuesday criticised Ukraine’s allies over what it called insufficient reactions to the assassination in Moscow of the Russian army’s chemical weapons chief, an attack claimed by Kyiv.

    Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused the West in a Telegram post of “approval for war crimes by fighters of the Kyiv regime” and said “all those who welcome terrorist attacks or deliberately hush them up are accomplices“.

    This also brings up questions of past reports exposing a CIA program to train and assist Ukraine’s special forces and intelligence in sabotage and cross-border targeting…

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    American media consumers might have a short memory span, but the Russians sure don’t. The Kremlin is now calling Ukraine’s NATO backers ‘accomplices’ in a clear escalation of rhetoric.

    President Putin had just this week warned that the West is going ‘beyond’ Russia’s red line in its support to Ukraine, and said things are escalating at a dangerous pace. As for this latest ‘scooter bomb’ assassination, the Kremlin is likely to immediately suspect that CIA and Western intelligence services may have assisted.

    The bomb which was detonated remotely had a large blast radius (see video below) and was clearly a very sophisticated device, given the smallness of what was a literal children’s scooter apparently used in the plot.

    * * *

    In another scary escalation which will lead to unpredictable consequences, a top military general and head of the Russian military’s chemical weapons forces was killed in Moscow in a targeted blast which Ukraine quickly owned up to. Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov has been confirmed killed in an assassination bombing, and is the most senior Russian official killed since the start of the Ukraine war in 2022.

    According to emerging details confirmed in state TASS news agency, citing Russia’s emergency services, a bomb was hidden in an electric scooter parked outside Gen. Kirillov’s apartment. As he and his assistant walked by, the explosive was remotely detonated. The assistant was also immediately killed. Footage showed a large blast outside the residential building.

    Chief of Russia’s Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, via TASS.

    The 54-year old oversaw Russia’s radiation, chemical and biological protection troops – and Kiev and Western sources have accused him of ordering deployment of chemical weapons in the conflict.

    An official Kremlin statement reads: “On the morning of December 17, an explosive device planted in a scooter went off near a residential building entrance on Ryazansky Avenue in Moscow, the investigation showed. Chief of Russia’s Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov and his aide were killed in the explosion.”

    The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) is openly boasting to being behind the killing and Ukrainian sources have acknowledged this to American media.

    “Kirillov was a war criminal and an entirely legitimate target, as he issued orders to use prohibited chemical weapons against Ukrainian troops,” an SBU source told ABC. “Such an inglorious end awaits all those who kill Ukrainians. Retribution for war crimes is inevitable.”

    “By order of Kirillov, more than 4,800 cases of the enemy’s use of chemical munitions have been recorded since the beginning of the full-scale war,” the SBU added, but only cited that grenades equipped with substances like CS and other riot control type irritants have been used.

    Video of the bombing has also been released by the SBU. Clearly the hit was carefully planned an choreographed as the attack seems to have been filmed with a ground view from a nearby vehicle.

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    “The footage shows Gen. Kirillov and his aide exiting a building, with the infamous scooter standing nearby,” an unnamed Ukrainian source has described. “The moment they enter the blast zone of the explosive device, the scooter is blown into the air, delivering a ‘verdict’ to the war criminal.”

    Moscow is vowing that Ukraine will pay dearly, with Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman and former president Dmitry Medvedev warning in a fresh statement in the aftermath of Kirillov’s death, “Attempts to intimidate our nation, stop the Russian offensive or sow fear are doomed. Certain punishment awaits Banderite Nazis, including the top military and political leaders of a crumbling country.”

    Medvedev characterized the assassination it as done in desperation given that Kiev forces are steadily being beaten back on the Donbas. Indeed such cross-border acts have only gotten more brazen of late.

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    Medvedev continued: “This terrorist attack demonstrates the agony of the Banderite regime, which is struggling to justify its shaky existence in the eyes of its Western patrons and prolong the deadly hostilities while delivering cowardly attacks on civilians in cities and towns.”

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/17/2024 – 19:55

  • Watch: Syrian 'Moderate Rebel' Removes ISIS Patch At Prompting Of American Journalist
    Watch: Syrian ‘Moderate Rebel’ Removes ISIS Patch At Prompting Of American Journalist

    Video footage has recently emerged taken by journalist James Longman advising ‘rebels’ in Syria that the ISIS logo on their uniforms will be misunderstood by Western audiences. Longman, who is ABC News’ Chief International Correspondent, demonstrates a trend of American journalists going to war zones to essentially coach combatants on how to better present themselves to the outside world. Mainstream media has for many years pushed the myth of “moderate rebels” in Syria seeking to topple Assad, which they finally did this month.

    One of the militants, who might be a member of the US-designated terror group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham or possibly another hardline Islamist faction, attempts to claim to the US journalist that the emblem does not represent ISIS. Still, the man wearing the ISIS patch seems to take the hint and dutifully removes it for the camera. They swear to ABC’s Longman that they are not Daesh (or ISIS), even while openly sporting its symbols.

    Having examined the disturbing video, Ali Abunimah of Electronic Intifada – who speaks Arabic – has issued the following reaction: “I’ve seen this video circulating today, along with the claim that James Longman told the fighter to remove the ISIS patch. He does not do that in this video clip. But it’s not much of a ‘confrontation’ either. And however Longman intended it, the fighters appear to interpret his comments as friendly advice on how to present themselves and in fact remove the patch. Understandable that this is reminding people of how Western media colluded in the rebranding of the Azov Battallion in Ukraine that they had been accurately describing as hardcore Nazis just months earlier.” Watch:

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    And below is a version of the video with English translation captions added:

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    Meanwhile, for a trip down memory lane in another raging conflict zone, a highly revealing and deeply ironic June 2023 NY Times story…

    Nazi Symbols on Ukraine’s Front Lines Highlight Thorny Issues of History

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/17/2024 – 19:40

  • New Study Illustrates Coffee's Unique Influence On Your Gut
    New Study Illustrates Coffee’s Unique Influence On Your Gut

    Authored by George Citroner via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Coffee drinkers consistently harbor up to eight times more of a specific gut bacterium than nondrinkers, according to recent research.

    Photo Smoothies/Shutterstock

    The international study, which tracked the drinking habits of nearly 77,200 people across 25 countries, found that coffee consumption leaves a distinct microbial signature. Researchers can identify coffee drinkers with 95 percent accuracy by examining their gut bacteria alone.

    How Your Brew Affects Gut Microbiome

    A 2021 study established that coffee had the strongest correlation with microbiome composition among over 150 studied foods, notably affecting levels of Lawsonibacter asaccharolyticus in approximately 1,000 people.

    The latest study by researchers from the CIBIO Department at the University of Trento in Italy and Harvard University, published in Nature Microbiology in November, aimed to deepen understanding of how coffee affects gut health.

    To achieve this, researchers analyzed diet and medical data from nearly 23,000 people in the United States and UK, along with publicly available data from almost 54,200 people worldwide. They compared stool samples from coffee drinkers and nondrinkers to identify differences in their gut bacteria composition.

    The study found a strong association between coffee consumption and the levels of L. ​asaccharolyticus, with coffee drinkers exhibiting about five to eight times higher levels of this bacterium than nondrinkers.​

    This trend was globally consistent, revealing that in coffee-consuming regions such as Luxembourg, Denmark, and Sweden, L. asaccharolyticus is prevalent. Contrastingly, it is nearly absent in countries like China, Argentina, and India.

    The findings offer insights into how individual foods interact with our microbiomes and their potential effects on health.

    The research team demonstrated that individual microbiome profiles could predict coffee consumption with 95 percent accuracy. A lab experiment confirmed that its growth rate increases when L. asaccharolyticus is grown in an in vitro environment with coffee. Further observations indicated that people who drank a lot of coffee exhibited a greater abundance of this bacterium.

    Despite these findings, the role of L. asaccharolyticus in human health remains uncertain. Its presence in the gut microbiome correlates with increased levels of hippurate, a marker of metabolic and gut health produced by gut microbes that metabolize plant compounds called polyphenols found in coffee.

    “We do not have conclusive evidence regarding Lawsonibacter asaccharolyticus as a beneficial or detrimental bacterium,” Nicola Segata, professor of genetics and head of the Computational Metagenomics Laboratory at CIBIO, told The Epoch Times. He noted that the research team is conducting specific additional experiments to better address this question.

    Future of Microbiome Testing

    The research team aims to expand their inquiry into the effects of other foods on gut microbiota, although they recognize the challenges of accurately quantifying food intake.

    These findings suggest a potential for using individual foods to increase the abundance or prevalence of specific gut microbes that are supposed to have beneficial effects, according to Segata. “To achieve this, we need to expand this work to many other foods and other microbes, and this is exactly what we are also working on right now,” he said.

    The researchers envision a future where microbiome testing can enable personalized dietary recommendations tailored to the presence of specific bacteria associated with certain foods. This approach has the potential to help people optimize their diets for better health by considering the intricate relationships between our food intake and microbiome composition.

    “When looking at a food like coffee that is easy to collect information for, and that it is consumed either very frequently or never, then these links are popping out as very strong and very clear,” Segata said.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/17/2024 – 19:15

  • World's Smallest Violin Plays As "Depressed" Biden Bureaucrats Can't Find New Jobs
    World’s Smallest Violin Plays As “Depressed” Biden Bureaucrats Can’t Find New Jobs

    Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

    This is a corker.

    Politico is reporting that Biden Administration bureaucrats are depressed because they can’t find new jobs, and members of Biden’s “national security team” are “frantically” scrambling to find new careers before Trump dismantles the deep state.

    “Our side is just battling depression while we update our resumes,” one White House official stated, while another staffer declared that “Everyone is willing to take a demotion because there aren’t enough jobs.”

    Boo hoo. Cry harder.

    While the higher ups are all abandoning ship for Defence contractors, think tanks and consulting firms, the lower level dogsbody bureaucrats are whinging that they face taking “unglamorous jobs” with pay cuts.

    “There’s a lot of good career people here who went through the first Trump administration and are saying, ‘Can I really go through that again?’” said one Biden appointee at the State Department.

    Oh my God, the hardship of having someone you don’t agree with running things.

    “It’s going to be very saturated and crowded and so beggars can’t be choosers, I guess,” said another Biden State Department appointee, adding “The crazy thing is none of these jobs we’re desperate to get are particularly glamorous, unless you want to go lobby for some autocratic foreign governments.”

    The world’s tiniest violin is playing for them.

    Politico notes that “Wherever they land, a wave of Democratic national security and foreign policy staffers will continue the tradition of patiently treading water for four years until, just maybe, a Democrat can win the presidency again in 2028.”

    Yeah. Maybe learn to tread water a lot longer.

    Or perhaps learn to code.

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    Welcome to the real world, losers.

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    Get to the back of the line.

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    Trump is going to provide a lot of opportunities for you.

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    Maybe just don’t mention your last job on your resumĂ©.

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    *  *  *

    Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/17/2024 – 18:25

  • Trump Team Begins Back-Channel Talks With Mexico, El Salvador On Deportation Plans
    Trump Team Begins Back-Channel Talks With Mexico, El Salvador On Deportation Plans

    President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has begun reaching out through back channels to the governments of Mexico and El Salvador to prepare for his mass deportation plan, according to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter. The conversations, which involve Trump advisers and informal intermediaries, are part of an effort to lay the groundwork for returning millions of undocumented immigrants as soon as Trump takes office.

    While Trump has addressed migration broadly with Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum and El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, his team has held more detailed discussions through intermediaries, including businesspeople, to ensure deportation plans can proceed swiftly, the people said on condition of anonymity.

    “We’re already talking,” said Tom Homan, Trump’s designated “border czar,” during a November visit to Texas alongside Governor Greg Abbott. “We’re already planning. We’re going to put a plan in place and secure this nation at the highest levels ever seen.“

    The Challenge of Deportations

    Trump’s deportation push—aiming to target millions of undocumented immigrants, including over 1 million with final orders of removal—relies heavily on the cooperation of other countries. While Mexico and El Salvador have longstanding repatriation processes, Trump’s advisers acknowledge that reaching agreements with other governments, such as Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, and China, will be far more challenging.

    “Unless they can strike a deal with the governments of Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua on deportations, it seems likely they will look for alternate destinations,” said Andrew Selee, president of the Migration Policy Institute, a Washington think tank. “That’s a really hard ask. If the Trump administration arrives just with a stick and no carrot, it’s going to be a tough negotiation.”

    Trump addressed this difficulty Monday when asked about countries like Venezuela resisting deportation flights.

    “They’ll take them back,” Trump said. “They’re all taking them back, yeah. And if they don’t, they’ll be met very harshly economically.”

    Trump advisers involved in the outreach include incoming National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy, according to sources. Homan, while focused on domestic enforcement, has supported these efforts to build deportation infrastructure ahead of Trump’s January 20 inauguration.

    Negotiations after Trump takes office are expected to be led by Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Trump’s nominee for Secretary of State, and Christopher Landau, Trump’s former ambassador to Mexico who has been tapped as Rubio’s deputy.

    The conversations with Mexico have included preparations for deporting Mexican nationals, but the Mexican government has been clear it won’t accept deportees from other countries. “Mexico’s Sheinbaum has said the nation is ready to welcome back its own citizens,” said a senior Mexican official, “but it won’t accept those from other countries.”

    El Salvador presents a different dynamic. Trump’s family maintains a close relationship with President Nayib Bukele, whose administration has remained friendly with Trump allies. Donald Trump Jr. attended Bukele’s second inauguration in June, and Trump’s ambassador nominee for Mexico, Ronald Johnson, has kept in close contact with Bukele since serving as U.S. ambassador to El Salvador.

    Focus on Immediate Enforcement

    Trump’s deportation strategy will begin with targeting individuals already facing deportation orders. “The priority will be those with no legal basis to stay,” said a person familiar with the plans, pointing to undocumented immigrants who have either committed crimes or exhausted their appeals and asylum processes.

    U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has not responded to requests for updated figures, but Migration Policy Institute data shows that Mexico has received more than 1.7 million deportees over the past decade—more than the next nine countries combined.

    Homan and Trump’s advisers argue that aggressive early action will set the tone for enforcement. “The American people re-elected President Trump because they trust him to lead our country and restore peace through strength around the world,” Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s transition spokeswoman, said in a statement. “When he returns to the White House, he will take the necessary action to do just that.”

    While Trump’s relationships with Mexico and El Salvador remain relatively stable, cooperation from other nations remains uncertain. Trump’s transition team recognizes that countries like Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua, which are often the origin points for migrants, have fraught diplomatic relations with the U.S. These nations rarely accept deportation flights, posing a major obstacle to Trump’s mass deportation plan.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/17/2024 – 18:00

  • Congress Unveils Short-Term Funding Bill To Avoid End-Of-Year Government Shutdown
    Congress Unveils Short-Term Funding Bill To Avoid End-Of-Year Government Shutdown

    Update (1900ET): House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Dec. 17 unveiled a bipartisan bill that would keep the government funded until March 14, punting the issue of permanent funding to the incoming 119th Congress in the early days of President-elect Donald Trump’s second term.

    This bill is known as a continuing resolution, or CR.

    As Joseph Lord reports for The Epoch Times, aside from extending the deadline to mid-March, the proposed CR—coming in at 1,547 pages—includes disaster relief in the aftermath of hurricanes in the South, environmental provisions, the Second Chance Reauthorization Act, veterans’ measures, foreign affairs-related legislation, and the Hotel Fees Transparency Act.

    The CR also includes restrictions on investments in China and a one-year extension of the farm bill that consists of various initiatives, including food nutrition programs in schools, crop insurance, and disaster assistance. It usually gets extended for five years.

    While the bill usually gets bipartisan support, a point of contention surrounding it is the GOP’s desire to strengthen requirements for recipients of food stamps, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Democrats oppose making changes.

    The CR includes a measure to transfer control of Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium to the District of Columbia from the federal government as the site could be the new home of the NFL’s Washington Commanders.

    The legislation overwhelmingly passed the House in February but has been stuck in the Senate amid objections from Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.).

    Despite a House rule requiring 72 hours for lawmakers to read legislation, it’s expected that the CR could see a vote on the floor as early as Wednesday, defusing the threat of a government shutdown that would otherwise begin on Friday, Dec. 20.

    Congress was supposed to enact 12 full-year appropriations bills by Sept. 30, which would fund the federal government for Fiscal Year 2025. However, as has happened every year since 1997, Congress failed to pass them in time and, therefore, enacted a continuing resolution (CR).

    The current version will temporarily keep the government funded at prorated levels set for Fiscal Year 2024. The last CR was signed into law on Sept. 26 and authorized funding until Dec. 20.

    With that deadline now fast approaching, Congress will need to move quickly to avoid a shutdown.

    For some Republicans, the added content in the CR makes it look more like the long-despised end-of-year “omnibus” spending bill, which has historically wrapped all government funding into one large, single package.

    “The CR is looking more and more like an omnibus in the sense that we don’t know what’s in it,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) told reporters on Dec. 16. “They need to saddle up and ride and get this thing put together and keep it to the bare minimum, in my opinion.”

    Kennedy indicated he would be a “no” vote on the legislation.

    Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), who veers toward the right flank of the House GOP conference, was also critical.

    “Another CR will be dropped on our desks compliments of the DC Sewer Uniparty. This is not what America voted for,” Burchett said in a post on X prior to the release of the CR.

    Ultimately, its fate will come down to how Democrats cast their ballot: historically, CR bills have won substantially more support from Democrats than Republicans.

    However, Democratic leaders—including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)—will likely take time to review the legislation before making a commitment either way.

    Due to the long congressional recess in the final weeks leading up to the 2024 election—including all of October—it was considered unlikely that Congress would have time to pass the 12 required appropriations bills prior to the Dec. 20 deadline.

    Many Republicans in Congress told The Epoch Times in September that they wanted to delay the question of appropriations to the 119th Congress—expecting that Republicans would control Congress and the White House, and that this would enable passage of more fiscally conservative spending bills.

    Those electoral aims have been fulfilled; Republicans will hold a three-seat majority in both the Senate and House of Representatives in the 119th Congress, along with control of the executive branch through the incoming Trump administration.

    Restarting the whole appropriations process will not require exhaustive committee work, as was done before September when House Republicans attempted to pass several of the 12 appropriations bills.

    It remains to be seen how the Trump administration will influence the passage of permanent spending bills in March, which—if highly partisan—will likely not receive enough Democratic votes to overcome a filibuster in the Senate.

    The Trump administration has proposed using the budget reconciliation process, a limited method of overcoming the filibuster, to enact other policy priorities. This mechanism can be used to pass legislation related to taxing, spending, and the debt.

    Additionally, its chartering of the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) initiative, led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, could influence the composition of the bills.

    *  *  *

    With less than four days to avoid a government shutdown, House Speaker Mike Johnson, (R-LA), and congressional leaders are working to finalize a bipartisan short-term funding bill, though delays and mounting frustrations within the House Republican caucus are complicating the effort.

    Johnson, who initially expected to release the text of the bill over the weekend, then on Monday, said Tuesday that it would be unveiled by the end of the day.

    “We’re almost there,” Johnson told reporters Tuesday following a press conference. “We do expect text today.”

    The proposed legislation would keep the government funded through March 14 while addressing specific priorities, including disaster relief and $10 billion in assistance to farmers. Johnson emphasized that he intends to honor the House’s 72-hour rule, which requires time for lawmakers to review the bill before a vote. However, this would push the process close to the Friday midnight deadline for avoiding a shutdown.

    Johnson said he remains focused on securing broad Republican support for the measure – which we’re sure will contain more pork than a barbecue pit.

    Senate Leaders Echo Urgency

    In the Senate, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, (D-NY), struck a cautiously optimistic tone but stressed the need to finalize the agreement quickly.

    “There continues to be good progress, but appropriators are still working on finalizing an agreement,” Schumer said Tuesday on the Senate floor. “Obviously, we’re getting closer to the December 20 deadline, so time is of the essence for Republicans to reach an agreement with us that we can act on quickly.”

    Both chambers of Congress are facing pressure to wrap up funding negotiations before they adjourn for the Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year holidays.

    Frustration Grows Among House Conservatives

    While negotiations continue, conservative House Republicans are growing increasingly critical of Johnson’s handling of the bill and its timeline.

    “This is not the way to do things,” Rep. Chip Roy, (R-TX), said in a post on X.

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    Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., delivered a scathing critique, calling the emerging legislation “a total dumpster fire” and expressing deep disappointment in Johnson’s leadership.

    “I think it’s garbage,” Burlison told reporters. “This is why I ran for Congress, to try to stop this. And sadly, this is happening again… I’m disappointed. I think that he can do better. He can communicate better. The fact that we haven’t seen the language today and we’re supposed to vote on it this week is unacceptable.”

    When asked if the situation makes him hesitant to support Johnson in the upcoming January 3rd vote for House speaker, Burlison deflected, saying, “That I won’t say.”

    Johnson, however, brushed aside concerns about his leadership.

    “I’m not worried about the speaker vote,” Johnson told reporters. “We’re governing. Everybody knows we have difficult circumstances. We’re doing the very best we can under those circumstances.“

    Leadership Focused on Farmers, Disaster Relief

    House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, (R-LA), offered support for Johnson’s efforts, underscoring the bill’s priorities while projecting optimism about the path forward.

    “We plan to pass a bill to get the government funded,” Scalise said, “and ensure that we take care of disasters and our farmers here in America.”

    Looking ahead, Scalise emphasized the urgency of finishing the week’s work while expressing hopes for a smoother 2024.

    “We have a lot to do the rest of this week, but we all look forward to getting back home to our families and enjoying a great Christmas as we get ready for what will be a very busy and productive New Year,” Scalise said, standing alongside Johnson.

    Stay tuned for updates…

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/17/2024 – 17:50

  • US Conducts New Strikes In Syria & Yemen, Still With No Congressional Authorization
    US Conducts New Strikes In Syria & Yemen, Still With No Congressional Authorization

    Congress has not authorized war, and yet the United States on Monday bombed two countries: Yemen and Syria. US Central Command (CENTCOM) earlier confirmed an airstrike on a military facility of the Houthis in northern Yemen.

    A Houthi defense ministry building in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa was reportedly among those targets which came under attack by US warplanes. “On Dec. 16 Yemen time, US Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted a precision airstrike against a key command and control facility operated by Iran-backed Houthis within Houthi-controlled territory in Sana’a, Yemen,” CENTCOM said in a fresh statement.

    Via Reuters

    Separately, CENTCOM said Monday that American forces bombed ISIS camps in Syria, killing at least 12 Islamic State fighters. 

    The Pentagon said further that the strikes “were conducted as part of the ongoing mission to disrupt, degrade, and defeat ISIS, preventing the terrorist group from conducting external operations and to ensure that ISIS does not seek opportunities to reconstitute in central Syria.”

    So now it appears the Pentagon is in a renewed fight against both the ‘Iran axis’ in Yemen and hardline Sunni terrorists in the heart of Syria. 

    Interestingly the Syria strikes were in areas previously understood as the Russian military’s area of responsibility, as well as the now defunct Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad. 

    The US designated terror organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in its prior iteration was as an al-Qaeda offshoot, was once an open ally of ISIS, and is now in control of Damascus and major Syrian cities. 

    Turkey and Israel have also been involved in bombing Syria, but Israel has focused its literally hundreds of strikes on degrading and destroying leftover Syrian Army missiles, planes, equipment, and bunkers.

    At this moment, the Pentagon also has at least 900 troops occupying the northeast Syrian oil and gas fields, but the Syrian Kurds it supports have increasingly been clashing with Turkish-aligned forces, and directly with the Turkish army, which is still mustering forces along the northern Syrian border. 

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    AntiWar.com’s Dave DeCamp approached Biden administration officials to ask about the pesky question of Congressional authorization to bomb foreign militants in no less than two conflict theatres. 

    The response was as follows: “Biden and Harris told me the US wasn’t at war but today they bombed Syria and Yemen,” DeCamp wrote on X.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/17/2024 – 17:40

  • An Open Letter To Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
    An Open Letter To Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

    Authored by Richard Truesdell and Keith Lehmann via American Greatness,

    Dear Mr. Kennedy,

    Of the many issues you will tackle as Secretary of Health and Human Services, we implore you to work with FCC Commissioner Brenden Carr and immediately put an end to pharmaceutical companies advertising prescription drugs on television. This should be one of your earliest moves in the Trump administration. Why is this so timely?

    The sheer amount of dollars being spent on TV advertising by “Big Pharma” should raise suspicion among those who care about accuracy in media and information being consumed by the public.

    It is an old trick for an industry to buy off the news media for favorable coverage.

    Historic Precedent to Ban Unhealthy Ads on Television

    When evidence of the dangers of smoking cigarettes began to emerge in the 1950s, news organizations were reluctant to expose “Big Tobacco” because it was responsible for an abundance of media ad revenue. The same synergistic relationship exists today with “Big Pharma” and television news.

    Similarly, as Big Tobacco began buying off the TV news more than 70 years ago, Big Pharma is doing that today.

    The incessant drumbeat of COVID boosters, RSV injections, and flu shot ads is run alongside news reporters covering up vaccine side effects, including increased cases of myocarditis, anaphylaxis, psychosis, and/or early death.

    Nowhere is this more evident than with Novo Nordisk A/S’s type 2 diabetes drug Ozempic. While this drug may offer benefits to the millions of Americans who suffer from type 2 diabetes (some surveys place the number of Americans afflicted with type 2 diabetes at nearly 10%, with more than 30% considered pre-diabetic), at what cost? If your insurance doesn’t cover Ozempic, your monthly cost will be nearly $1,000. And you will be “hooked” for life.

    Concurrently, what about the shameless promotion of Ozempic as an aid for weight loss? Can you watch a program on the nightly news on one of the alphabet networks or cable news without seeing ads for Ozempic touting its benefits to lose weight?

    And what about the genre of late-night so-called comics like vax-shill Stephen Colbert? The late-night TV category is dying, with Colbert (CBS), Jimmy Fallon (NBC), and Jimmy Kimmel (ABC) suffering historic low ratings. If not propped up by “Big Pharma” ad dollars, will a ban on ads for prescription drugs be the final nail in their coffins? Let’s hope so, as all three ceased being funny years ago.

    The Long-term Cost of the Chemicals in Our Food Chain

    We know you are already on the record as having intentions of outlawing Big Pharma ads for prescription drugs on television. Today, among high-income countries, only the U.S. and New Zealand allow for such advertising. Almost all other countries are fully knowledgeable of the conflict between ad dollars and news reporting.

    The longer this obvious conflict persists, the more the public will be misled and lied to about the real dangers of prescription drugs and the intentions of Big Pharma to buy off the news media to hide these dangers. A ban on this type of advertising will go a long way toward keeping the news media honest—or perhaps putting the worst of them out of the misinformation business altogether.

    Among the many items on your agenda, once you take office, this is probably the easiest of them. Our broadcast news outlets operate under a license from the FCC and are obligated to serve the public interest at all times. Taking money from Big Pharma to cover up or lie about the potential damage the public will suffer through the use of their products cannot be tolerated any longer.

    We both applaud your passion to Make America Healthy Again. Count us in.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/17/2024 – 17:20

  • "This Is A Bloodsport For Them" – Lara Logan Exposes "The Age Of Information Warfare"
    “This Is A Bloodsport For Them” – Lara Logan Exposes “The Age Of Information Warfare”

    Lara Logan is a South African-born journalist and war correspondent known for her extensive work in conflict zones. She gained significant recognition while working for CBS News, particularly for her coverage of the Iraq War and the Arab Spring.

    Logan’s career includes notable moments such as her 2002 Peabody Award for her report on the abduction of Daniel Pearl.

    However, her career has also been marked by controversy, including a high-profile assault in Egypt in 2011, and later, scrutiny over her reporting methods and political views as she started to shed light on the ‘not mainstream’ narratives that are the hidden realities of our time.

    She, better than most, can attest to the powers of the Deep State and the weaponization of establishment-based entities in the age of information warfare.

    “We are once again watching the lights of freedom going out all over the world. And it is up to us to determine if they will be lit again, ever.”

    Watch Logan’s impassioned speech below:

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    Full Transcript (emphasis ours)…

    “We live in the age of information warfare, where propaganda is not simply a weapon, it is the entire field of battle. This is a war for our minds that is aided by advanced technology, and we have never been here, not in all of human history.”

    “It is a moment when we as journalists should stand together, united, and regardless of politics, we should fight for the truth and we should fight for freedom. Yet, not very long ago, we allowed one of our own, Tucker Carlson, to be branded as a traitor simply for doing his job. In fact, there were many so-called journalists who were leading the charge against Tucker, accusing him of treason for the simple fact of interviewing the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin.”

    “And to my knowledge, there was not a single legacy media institution that spoke up. This was more than a politically motivated attack on one man. It was a betrayal of the most sacred principles of a free press. And my media colleagues know this to be true, no matter what they say. My fear is that they either no longer care or that they lack the moral courage to be honest, including with themselves.”

    “I have worked at the highest levels of the media as a full-time correspondent for 60 Minutes, chief foreign correspondent for CBS News, chief foreign affairs correspondent for CBS News. That was my home for 16 years. And as a journalist, I have sat down with world leaders, mass murderers, and terrorists. And I have held people on both sides of the aisle accountable. I have seen suffering and I have faced evil and I have walked through the fires of hell on distant battlefields.”

    “I faced my own death at the hands of a mob of some 200 men in Egypt when I was gang raped and sodomized and beaten almost to death while on assignment for 60 minutes. And yet for almost a decade I have been targeted and falsely branded and accused of many things. that I did not do. They have attacked my work, my character, my sanity, and my marriage. And I am not alone. We are many.”

    “And we will not give up, and we will not give in. To those who wish to sense of the idea of free speech in America and all over the world, media companies. Institutions and journalism schools have failed all of us.”

    “And for too long we have allowed nonprofit organizations to masquerade as nonpartisan media watchdogs, when in fact they are little more than highly paid political propagandists and assassins whose entire reason for being is to crush anyone who stands in their way and along with them the long held and cherished ideas of free speech, free thinking, and free minds.”

    “This is a blood sport for them. their political allies and their puppet masters. They know how to kill a journalist without murdering them. We call it cancel culture. In truth, it is a death sentence. And they get away with it because they have information dominance. Some are strong enough to survive, but only a few, like Glenn Greenwald, Tucker Carlson, Matt Taibbi.”

    “Only a few like them are able to reach greater heights and thrive. These nonprofits that I’m talking about are part of a vast censorship network that includes government agencies. They use deception to mask their actions with lofty goals like preventing the spread of misinformation, disinformation, hate speech. They use phrases like protecting democracy and make no mistake, words matter.”

    “The media is collaborating with government agencies and operatives to censor and shape the information battlefield, to justify certain actions. For example, when the President of the United States threatens the unvaccinated, saying, our patience is wearing thin, and accuses them of putting communities at risk, his words are designed to justify hatred, censorship, and intimidation.”

    “And when the Vice President compares January 6th to 9-11 and Pearl Harbor, it is a predicate to silence the opposition and justify the weaponization. of the justice system. We are already witnessing another shaping operation to influence the outcome of the 2024 election. This time with the false claim that if one side wins, it will be the end of democracy.”

    “This lie contrived to ensure a particular outcome and to sabotage free speech yet again. Overseas taxpayer funds from hardworking Americans are being doled out by contractors under the Office of Transition Initiatives at USAID, or the State Department Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.”

    “These contractors, many of them ideological zealots, who are not even US government officials, often make over a quarter million dollars a year, and are outside the reach, Senator, of yourself and committees like this. They hand out taxpayer dollars to programs that are shaped by highly partisan NGOs, who hide behind terms like interreligious dialogue, when in fact they are funding Muslim schools that train Islamic terrorists, like they did in Malaysia.”

    “Another example is Humanist International. Through them, the State Department is funding atheism grants that actively cultivate an atheist advocacy network in Nepal. This is not just to attack religion and manipulate foreign politics. It is an attack on free speech, faith, and God. While propaganda and censorship are not new, technology means unprecedented power and reach in the hands of a few.”

    “Companies like Facebook, Instagram, and Google, as you have heard many times today, have been allowed to amass monopoly power. And as a result, they not only reach billions of people across the world, every second of the day, they have absolute control over what we see and what we hear. Imagine those tools in the hands of Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Hitler.”

    “When the Founding Fathers put freedom of speech first, it was not by chance, it was by design. The rights that followed were in part created. to protect the First Amendment. Without it, they knew that freedom itself would perish. I am reminded today of the words spoken by the British Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Gray, in 1914, at the beginning of the First World War.”

    “He said, the lamps are going out all over Europe. We shall not see them lit again in our lifetime. We are once again watching the lights of freedom. They’re going out here and all over the world. And it is up to us to determine if they will be lit again, ever.“

    h/t Camus

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/17/2024 – 17:00

  • All Three Pillars Holding Up The Economy Have Cracked
    All Three Pillars Holding Up The Economy Have Cracked

    Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,

    All three pillars propping up workforce spending are cracking. Plan accordingly.

    Karl Marx and Henry Ford both understood the key pillar of an industrial economy: the workforce has to earn enough to buy the output of the economy. If the workforce doesn’t earn enough to have surplus earnings to spend on the enormous output of an industrial economy, then the producers cannot sell their goods / services at a profit, except to the few at the top as luxury goods–and that’s not an industrial economy, it’s a feudal economy of very limited scope.

    Marx recognized that capitalism is a self-liquidating system as capital has the power to squeeze wages even as the output of an industrial economy steadily increases due to automation, technology, etc.

    Henry Ford understood that if his own workforce couldn’t afford to buy the cars rolling off the assembly line, then his ambition to sell a car to every household was an unreachable chimera. (There were other factors, of course; the work was so brutal and mind-numbing that Ford had to pay more just to keep workers from quitting.)

    If we say the three pillars holding up the economy, the conventional list is: 1) consumer spending (i.e. aggregate demand); 2) productivity and 3) corporate profits. These are not actually pillars, they are outcomes of the core pillar, wage earners making enough to buy the economy’s output.

    As the statistics often cited here show, the purchasing power of wages has been declining for almost 50 years, since the mid-1970s. This means the workforce’s surplus earnings have bought less and less of the economy’s output.

    There are three ways to fill the widening gap that’s opened between what the workforce has to spend as surplus earnings and the vast output of the economy:

    1. Government distributed money. The government distributes “free money” to the workforce via subsidies, tax cuts and credits, or direct cash disbursements.

    2. Cheap abundant credit. The cost of credit is lowered to near-zero and credit is made available to virtually the entire workforce so workers can borrow money to buy goods and services they cannot afford to buy from surplus earnings. If auto loans are 1.9%, the interest is a trivial sum annually.

    3. Asset bubbles. Boost the value of assets via monetary policies to generate unearned “wealth” that can be spent (by either borrowing against the newfound wealth or by selling assets). This expansion of “free money” also generates the “wealth effect,” the feel-good high of feeling richer, which increases the confidence and desire to spend more money.

    There are intrinsic, unbreachable limits to each of these solutions.

    1. The government either “prints” or borrows the money it distributes to the workforce. Over time, low interest rates are unsustainable, despite claims to the contrary, and the interest paid on the state’s vast borrowing consumes so much of the state’s revenues that it starts limiting how much the government can spend. Once state spending stagnates or declines, this pillar breaks and the economy crumbles into recession / depression.

    In other words, depending on the government to fill the gap between wages and the economy’s output is a self-liquidating system.

    2. The expansion of credit leads to defaults and bankruptcies. Relying on the ceaseless expansion of credit based on the declining purchasing power of wages is also a self-liquidating system, as the number of marginal borrowers steadily increases, as does the volume of marginal loans issued by lenders. Marginal borrowers default, triggering losses that push lenders into bankruptcy. This is a self-reinforcing cycle, as the economy rolls over into recession as credit contracts. More workers lose their jobs and default, more loans become uncollectible, and so on.

    3. Asset bubbles concentrate the newfound wealth in the top 10%, exacerbating wealth-income inequality and pushing those left behind to gamble in an increasingly speculative financial sector as the only available means of getting ahead. Speculation is also a self-liquidating system as risky bets eventually go bad and the losses trigger a self-reinforcing feedback of selling assets to raise cash which then pushes valuations lower, triggering more selling, and so on.

    All three of these pillars propping up the economy are self-liquidating systems, and they’re all buckling. Federal borrowing is pushing up against the limits posed by the interest payments on soaring debt. Credit costs are rising and cannot return to near-zero due to inflationary forces. All asset bubbles eventually pop, and the higher they ascend, the more devastating the collapse.

    Wages’ share of the economy have been in structural decline since 1975:

    Federal debt: and no, we can’t “grow our way out of debt” by inflating asset bubbles and subsidizing consumer spending with federal debt:

    Total debt, public and private: the acme of a self-liquidating system:

    The pillars of consumer credit and federal borrowing are reaching intrinsic breaking points, and so everything is now depending on the asset bubbles in housing and stocks to keep inflating phantom wealth at rates high enough to support more borrowing and spending.

    The problem is all asset bubbles pop, despite claims that “this is a new era.” That was widely held in March 2000, too, just before the dot-com bubble burst and the Nasdaq fell 80%.

    All three pillars propping up workforce spending are cracking. Plan accordingly.

    *  *  *

    Become a $3/month patron of my work via patreon.com.

    Subscribe to my Substack for free

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/17/2024 – 16:40

  • NY Hits Luigi Mangione With Terror-Related Charges In UnitedHealthcare CEO Shooting Death
    NY Hits Luigi Mangione With Terror-Related Charges In UnitedHealthcare CEO Shooting Death

    The 26-year-old Ivy League graduate from Hunt Valley, Maryland, who is charged with murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel earlier this month, was formally indicted in New York on Tuesday afternoon.

    Luigi Mangione was indicted on one count of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder, seven counts of criminal possession of a weapon, and one count of possessing a forged driver’s license, according to Bloomberg.

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    The case was elevated to first-degree murder because Thompson was killed “in furtherance of an act of terrorism,” NY prosecutors wrote in the indictment. 

    We suspect the first-degree murder charge in furtherance of terrorism stems from Luigi’s alleged manifesto, which stated, “Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming. A reminder: the US has the #1 most expensive healthcare system in the world…”

    Essentially, “furtherance of terrorism” refers to the use of violence or threats of violence to achieve political or social goals.

    “We allege that Luigi Mangione carried out the brazen, targeted and fatal shooting of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan. This type of premeditated, targeted gun violence cannot and will not be tolerated, and my office has been working day in and day out to bring the defendant to justice,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg wrote in a statement. 

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    Bragg said, “I want to extend my heartfelt prayers to Mr. Thompson’s loved ones as they continue to grieve. This ongoing investigation is the product of an incredible partnership at all levels with the NYPD, and I want to thank Commissioner Tisch and the prosecutors and detectives who worked collaboratively to apprehend Mr. Mangione.” 

    During a news conference, Bragg blamed ghost guns for many of NYC’s troubles. Let’s not forget that far-left Democrats in the metro area have transformed the city into a mecca for illegal aliens. But, of course, don’t blame criminals and illegal alien gangs … blame ghost guns. 

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    Last week, Manhattan attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo was hired by Mangione to defend him on the murder charges. 

    NY Prosecutors have been working on extraditing Mangione from Pennsylvania to Manhattan to face charges formally. A hearing is scheduled for Thursday.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/17/2024 – 16:20

  • Russia's Crude Oil Shipments Slump By 11% In Two Months
    Russia’s Crude Oil Shipments Slump By 11% In Two Months

    By Charles Kennedy of Oilprice.com

    Russian crude oil exports by sea have dropped by 11% from a recent high in October, due to maintenance at the Baltic port of Primorsk, pressure for Russia to align with its OPEC+ quota, and increased sanctions pressure.

    In the four weeks to December 15, Russia’s seaborne crude exports averaged 3.06 million barrels per day (bpd), tanker-tracking data monitored by Bloomberg showed on Tuesday.

    That’s 11% lower compared to a recent peak of a four-week average volume of 3.46 million bpd in early October, according to the data reported by Bloomberg’s Julian Lee.

    In the most recent week to December 15, observed Russian crude oil exports from Primorsk have slumped as the port saw a halt of four days in departures, according to data from port agents seen by Bloomberg. The partial halt to the loading program suggests that there has been either maintenance work on the loading terminal or the pipeline that serves it, according to Bloomberg.

    Apart from physical disruption to loadings, Russian crude oil exports have fallen as Moscow has been under increased pressure to fall in line with its OPEC+ quota as part of the group that looks to support oil prices.

    Moreover, the UK and the EU have ramped up sanctions on the so-called shadow fleet used by Russia to ship its crude oil and petroleum products.

    At the end of November, the UK sanctioned as many as 30 tankers identified as belonging to Russia’s shadow fleet that circumvents the Western oil sanctions, in its single largest sanctions package aimed at Russia’s dark fleet and at stifling Putin’s oil revenues.

    The EU on Monday adopted the 15th package of sanctions against Russia, which targets 52 new vessels from Russia’s shadow fleet, increasing the total number of such listings to 79. These non-EU vessels are subject to a port access ban and a ban on provision of services.

    Moreover, the Biden administration is said to be mulling over additional sanctions against Russia’s oil industry ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration in January.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 12/17/2024 – 15:45

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Dec 17

Today’s News 17th December 2024

  • Give Me Liberty, Not Pronouns
    Give Me Liberty, Not Pronouns

    Authored by Kenin Spivak via RealClearPolitics,

    It’s time to defrock the word police.

    The election, polls, and anecdotal evidence confirm that Americans want to end the obnoxious recitation of pronouns – “Latinx,” “birthing persons,” and other entries in the radical left lexicon – except in eulogies for progressive virtue signaling.

    In a March Gallup poll of more than 12 million adults, 4.4% identified as bisexual, 0.9% as transgender, and 0.1% as pansexual. In exit polls this year of more than 110,000 voters conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago, just 1% identified as “nonbinary,” a subset of the Gallup categories. Some of these individuals, most often nonbinaries, dominate use of non-standard pronouns such as “they,” “zir” and “hir.”

    If 100% of bisexuals, transgenders, and pansexuals used non-standard pronouns (they do not) and all are offended if the remaining 94.6% of us do not publicly proclaim our pronouns in our signature cards and profiles (also untrue), then the pronoun kerfuffle risks offending 5.4% of Americans. From 10 to 20 times more Americans are offended by this babble. According to a Pew study published in June, nearly 56% of registered voters are uncomfortable with someone using the pronouns “they” or “them,” rather than “he” or “she.” Most of the 53% of Americans who consider religion to be “very important” in their lives likely agree.

    Even in Canada, where polls show greater support for gender fluidity, a survey of 3,016 adults from the Angus-Reid Institute found that 66% opposed (36% strongly) and just 22% supported (6% strongly) that “everyone should put their pronouns in their social media profiles/emails.” Media savvy squad member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez deleted her pronouns from her X profile.

    The core question is not whether those who choose non-standard pronouns, other than “they,” should be dissuaded from doing so, but whether we must all subjugate ourselves to pronoun activists by beclowning our signature cards and profiles to confirm that we are adhering to at least 2,000 years of gender identification, and whether we must adopt idiosyncratic pronouns when describing others.

    At the least, no one should use the pronoun “they.” The use of “they” to describe an individual is grammatically incorrect in nearly all circumstances. It is narcissistic and pompous. When discussing multiple people and also using “they” as a pronoun for one or more of them, the result is indecipherable. (Try to understand the sentence I just wrote if the word “them” could mean both more than one individual, and one or more specific individuals.)

    More than a few times I have had the following conversation with a professional whose firm uses pronouns in its signature cards. Me: Does anyone in the firm use pronouns other than him or her? Partner: “No” (or, rarely, “a few”). Me: Why then do you do this, since it must be off-putting to many more people than the number who like it? Partner: Some variation of, “We only care about the feelings of the few.”

    This goes even further when people are penalized for refusing to participate in this farce. Being LGBTQ may be protected by law or common decency, but the Constitution unambiguously protects free speech and the exercise of religion. It does not protect an individual’s right to force others to refer to him or her as a “they.” At least 10 states have passed legislation to ensure that teachers, staff, and students aren’t required to use students’ pronouns or names if they don’t align with the student’s sex at birth.

    Nothing, of course, is more absurd that the misogynistic “birthing person,” or that a nominee for the Supreme Court can’t define “woman.”

    U.S. passport applicants now may select any gender, or an “X” gender, as may residents of 16 states on birth certificates, and at least 25 states and the District of Columbia on drivers’ licenses and other identification, defeating the purpose of identification.

    French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish assign gender to most nouns. Hence, Americans from South America refer to themselves as “Latino,” “Latina,” or just “Hispanic.” The same misogynistic pathology that causes progressives to insist there are more than two immutable sexes, erase women, and put biological males in girls’ sports, drives them to the despised slur “Latinx.”

    A 2021 poll of 800 registered voters of Latin American descent for Bendixen and Amandi International, a Democratic firm, found that only 2% described themselves as Latinx, and 40% found the term offensive. A Pew survey in September found that only 4% of Hispanics use it, 51% have never heard of it, and 75% of those who have, oppose it. In October, a study conducted by professors from Georgetown and Harvard found that the use of Latinx by Democrats was increasing Hispanic support for Donald Trump and other Republicans.

    The progressive lexicon is based on tenuous connections (“grandfathered” is racist), wordy (“people experiencing homelessness” for “homeless”), kooky (“assigned female at birth” for “girl”) and offends vast number of Americans, including women and members of minority groups whom the progressives claim to be supporting.

    According to Future Forward, Kamala Harris’ lead PAC, variants of Trump’s campaign advertisement about her support for taxpayer-funded sex reassignment surgery for transgenders with the tagline “Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.” shifted the race 2.7% in Trump’s favor.

    Trump’s success among most demographic groups, and exit and post-election polling (see here, here, here, and here) tell us that Americans don’t want to be told by the radical left what to think or how to speak about social issues. It is time to put pronouns, Latinx, and other progressive terminology in the waste basket.

    Kenin M. Spivak is founder and chairman of SMI Group LLC, an international consulting firm and investment bank. He is the author of fiction and non-fiction books and a frequent speaker and contributor to media, including The American Mind, National Review, the National Association of Scholars, television, radio, and podcasts.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 12/16/2024 – 23:25

  • Russia, Germany, Turkey Condemn Israeli Land Grab In Syria
    Russia, Germany, Turkey Condemn Israeli Land Grab In Syria

    “Strengthening the Golan is strengthening the State of Israel, and it is especially important at this time. We will continue to hold onto it, cause it to blossom and settle in it,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday, confirming reports that Israel will expand its settler population there.

    Netanyahu has now declare the Golan to belong to Israel ‘forever’ in the wake of the fall of the Assad, and Israel is expected to double the amount of settlers living there. “Multiple Middle Eastern nations and Israel’s ally Germany on Monday denounced Israel’s decision to double the Israeli settler population in the illegally occupied Syrian territory,” Al Jazeera writes.

    Via AFP

    At this point Israeli tanks are positioned a mere couple dozen miles from the capital of Damascus, and Israel has established a forward base on the Syrian side of Mt. Hermon.

    Russia has been among those countries strongly warning Israel not to expand its hold on Syrian territory. The Golan was first taken by Israel in 1967 and it was annexed in 1981.

    Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov on Monday issued the following strong words telling Israel to stop exploiting the situation:

    “I would like to warn certain ‘hotheads’ in West Jerusalem against being intoxicated by opportunities,” Ryabkov said, stressing that “the annexation of the Golan Heights, which many are talking about now, is absolutely unacceptable.” 

    Turkey too has said something similar. “This decision is a new stage in Israel’s goal of expanding its borders through occupation. This step by Israel is a source of grave concern, taken together with Israel’s entry into the area of separation, in violation of the 1974 disengagement agreement, its advance into adjacent areas and airstrikes in Syria,” its foreign ministry said.

    Al Jazeera further notes the following countries’ statements:

    • Qatar rebuked the scheme as a “new episode in a series of Israeli aggressions on Syrian territories”.
    • Jordan called it a “blatant violation of international law”.
    • Turkiye denounced the move as a bid by Israel to “expand its borders”.
    • Saudi Arabia slammed “continued sabotage of Syria’s chances of restoring its security and stability”.
    • Egypt condemned the plans as “a flagrant violation of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

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    Despite many acknowledging that Turkish intelligence was behind the rapid Hayat Tahrir al-Sham takeover of the country, Israel has by and large been a big ‘winner’ on a geostrategic level from Assad’s ousting. 

    But it’s ironic and hypocritical that Turkey would do any condemning of annexing Syrian land here… given Turkey has long occupied northern Syria, and its troops have now moved into the environs of Aleppo while supporting its proxies there.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 12/16/2024 – 23:00

  • Astaxanthin – The Ultimate Anti-Inflammatory And Anti-Aging Nutrient
    Astaxanthin – The Ultimate Anti-Inflammatory And Anti-Aging Nutrient

    Authored by Derek Henry, Holistic Health Coach for Healing the Body,

    At the root of every disease process is inflammation, a first defence process used by the body in order to try and heal itself. The problem is that when your body is in that state chronically it creates an overactive immune system, which brings crippling pain with it. This compromises your ability to do anything, which includes living a normal and productive life. So what do you do if you want to heal inflammation naturally? You consider astaxanthin.

    robynmac/iStock

    Astaxanthin 101

    Astaxanthin (asta-zan-thin) is a deep red coloured phytonutrient synthesized by microalgae called Haematococcus, and is also known as the “King of Carotenoids”. It’s grown in fresh water using sophisticated techniques that encourage the algae to grow its own powerful medicines protecting it from oxidation, UV radiation and other environmental stressors.

    Astaxanthin is actually what gives salmon their reddish colour and allows them to perform heroic feats like swimming upstream against the current and leaping up waterfalls.

    When it is harvested from the algae and concentrated into a tiny liquid capsule it becomes the most powerful antioxidant known in the natural world, with research showing that it is 550 times the antioxidant power of vitamin E! These antioxidants slow down the ageing process and protect us from free radicals that can cause DNA damage, nerve cell damage, and accelerated ageing of our internal organs.

    Astaxanthin for Inflammation

    Inflammation is a first response defence and healing mechanism that becomes active before our immune system does. It is an extremely complex system and in general causes redness, swelling, heat, and pain. These effects occur due to a wide spectrum of inflammation mediators that are released after a detected injury or attack. Some of the mediators are known as prostaglandins, tumor necrosis factors, interleukins, and nitric oxide.

    Some of the strongest pharmaceutical anti-inflammatories limit the production of prostaglandins and therefore ease swelling and pain. However, these drugs can cause side effects as it is very unnatural and unbalanced for the body to deal with extreme suppression of one single mediator, without affecting the balance of the others.

    Alternatively, naturally occurring anti-inflammatory foods will ease inflammation by gently inhibiting several mediators, including prostaglandins, to calm the system as a whole.

    Even though astaxanthin is not as powerful as leading pharmaceutical anti-inflamamtories, it is found to be one of the strongest ones in nature. Several double blind, placebo controlled animal and clinical trials shows that astaxanthin naturally inhibits many of the known inflammation mediators, which eases inflammation and pain without the side effects.

    Authors Note: I personally used astaxanthin in a period where I dealt with debilitating inflammation, and had no desire to use pharmaceutical drugs. I can accurately state that it extinguished 80-90% of my systemic inflammation.

    Other Benefits of Astaxanthin

    The best part of astaxanthin is that the healing benefits don’t stop at pain management due to inflammation. However, since it is such a strong anti-inflammatory it also deals effectively with a number of other health issues, including:

    • Reduces joint pain
    • Reduces the risk of cancer and proliferation of breast cancer tumour cells
    • Protects brain from dementia and other brain related disorders
    • Reduces damage to your DNA by up to 40%
    • Reduces blood sugar levels in diabetics
    • Improves fertility
    • Promotes cardiovascular health
    • Reduces or eliminates carpal tunnel syndrome
    • Boosts immune system
    • Protects against infections
    • Prevents asthma by normalizing histamine levels
    • Protects body from highly oxidative foods
    • Increases endurance, muscle recovery, and workout performance
    • Protects kidneys from damage due to high blood sugar
    • Protects eyes and reduces cataracts
    • Prevents UV damage to eyes and skin (works as an internal sunscreen)

    Since astaxanthin is fat soluble (unlike most antioxidants) it gets carried by fat molecules directly to your muscles, tissues, and organs where it is needed most, like your brain, breast tissue, prostate tissue, skeletal muscles, and retina. This way it prevents oxidation right at the site of stress or potential oxidation.

    Read the rest here…

    Check out Derek Henry here.

    And snag some Astaxanthin here:

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 12/16/2024 – 22:45

  • 2 Men Arrested After Drone Operates 'Dangerously Close' To Boston's Airport, Police Say
    2 Men Arrested After Drone Operates ‘Dangerously Close’ To Boston’s Airport, Police Say

    Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Two people were arrested on Saturday evening near Boston’s Logan Airport for what was described as a “hazardous drone operation,” police said, coming amid widespread reports of drones flying over the New Jersey region.

    A Spirit airlines flight takes off from Boston’s Logan Airport on Jan. 9, 2023. Brian Snyder/Reuters

    At around 10 p.m. Saturday, Boston police officers arrested 42-year-old Robert Duffy and 32-year-old Jeremy Folcik, both of Massachusetts, according to a news release issued Sunday.

    “The arrests were made on Long Island, part of the Boston Harbor Islands, following a hazardous drone operation near Logan Airport’s airspace,” police said. “Both suspects face charges of trespassing, with additional fines or charges potentially forthcoming.”

    It’s not clear if the Logan Airport incident was related to drone sightings in recent weeks near New Jersey and New York City.

    A Boston officer detected a drone “operating dangerously close to Logan International Airport” before finding the location of the unmanned aerial vehicle, police said. Police officials then coordinated with state police, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and other federal agencies.

    Members of the local Boston Police unit found three people in the Long Island Health Campus, which has been decommissioned.

    “Upon attempting to make contact, the suspects fled on foot. Two of the three individuals were apprehended and identified as Duffy and Folcik. During the investigation, a drone was discovered inside a backpack carried by Duffy,” the news release said.

    The other individual was not located or named in the news release. Officials said he is suspected to have fled in a “small vessel,” according to the news release.

    Dozens of mysterious nighttime flights started last month over New Jersey, raising concerns among residents and officials. Part of the worry stems from the flying objects initially being spotted near the Picatinny Arsenal, a U.S. military research and manufacturing facility, and over Trump’s golf course in Bedminster, located in the state.

    Drones are legal in New Jersey for recreational and commercial use and are subject to local and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations and flight restrictions. Operators must be certified by the FAA.

    On Sunday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he is urging the federal government to deploy better drone-tracking technology to identify them.

    “I’m pushing for answers amid these drone sightings. I’m calling for [Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas] to deploy special drone-detection tech across NY and NJ,” Schumer wrote on social platform X. “And I’m working to pass a bill in the Senate to give local law enforcement more tools for drone detection.”

    The New York Democrat is calling on the Department of Homeland Security to immediately deploy special technology that identifies and tracks drones back to their landing spots, according to his office.

    “There’s a lot of us who are pretty frustrated right now,” Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told Fox News Sunday. “The answer ‘We don’t know’ is not a good enough answer.”

    New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Sunday said federal officials were sending a drone detection system to the state.

    “This system will support state and federal law enforcement in their investigations,” Hochul said in a statement. The governor did not immediately provide additional details, including where the system will be deployed.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 12/16/2024 – 22:35

  • West Ready To Court Terror Leader Jolani If Russian Military Pushed Out Of Syria
    West Ready To Court Terror Leader Jolani If Russian Military Pushed Out Of Syria

    We reported earlier that Russia is in contact with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in Damascus over the future fate of the two Russian military bases on Syria’s coast. The Tartous Naval Base remains Russia’s only Mediterranean military port. And alongside Khmeimim Air Base, these are the only two major Russian military outposts outside of the former Soviet Union.

    As expected, the West is pressuring the jihadist group under Abu Mohammed al-Jolani to ensure Russia’s military is booted from the country. What’s more is that European countries are using the question of Syria’s continued economic isolation as leverage.

    The newly installed Syrian leader Al-Julani

    And the West is also dangling the terror designation in front of HTS. “Some European nations are considering making the expulsion of Russia’s military from Syria a precondition for lifting restrictions against the Islamist group now in control of most of the country, according to people familiar with the matter,” The Straits Times reports.

    The report comes as the Biden White House is also mulling the matter of whether to drop its formal terror designation against HTS, which began years ago as Al-Nusra Front, or Syrian al-Qaeda. 

    The West seems to be saying that if HTS merely does what it wants, all can be ‘forgiven’. Per the same report:

    A debate is also underway about whether to make the delivery of longer-term aid to the war-ravaged nation conditional on Moscow vacating its two Syrian bases, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing sensitive material. The talks are ongoing and a joint final decision has yet to be taken, they said. 

    The conferring between countries is a sign of broader international support for the position taken by Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp, who said it would be “too early” to lift European Union sanctions against Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, or HTS, which ousted former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad a little over a week ago. 

    “We really would like to condition that on an inclusive political transition,” Veldkamp also said. The West has been urging HTS to respect ethnic and religious minorities, given that it has been known to massacre and persecute Alawites, Christians, Druze, Shia, or anyone who is not an extremist Sunni.

    The Dutch foreign minister emphasized, “I think it’s also important to look at conditionality regarding the Russian military bases in Syria.” He’s emphatic that “We want the Russians out.”

    The West is turning a blind eye to the ground reality that Syria will go from quasi-secular state under Baath rule to rapid hardline Islamization…

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    Thus it appears the West is lining up to court the terrorists in Damascus… or as we described earlier this is all about putting lipstick on a pig – at the end of which Jolani and HTS will be sold to the European and Americans as a “moderate”. And for Europe, this arrangement will also help deal a blow to Russia related to the Ukraine war.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 12/16/2024 – 22:10

  • The U.S. Must Fortify Itself Against Future Mineral Export Bans
    The U.S. Must Fortify Itself Against Future Mineral Export Bans

    Authored by Gregory Wischer, Morgan Bazilian & Jahara Matisek via RealClearDefense,

    Last week, China imposed export bans on antimony, gallium, and germanium—all of which are listed on China’s dual-use export control list. Other minerals on the list and, thus, at risk of future bans include aluminum, magnesium, and zinc, among others. Beyond their economic importance, many of these minerals have military applications. For example, tungsten superalloys are used in military turbines and armor-piercing munitions, while bismuth is used in ammunition and alloys for defense.

    With many minerals, the U.S. government can increase domestic mining, processing, and recycling to help mitigate future supply cutoffs from China. Of course, building and expanding domestic capacity will take time, significant capital, and appropriate government policies, but it can be done.

    However, for some minerals—such as bismuth and tungsten—the United States simply lacks the mineral reserves, scrap, and substitutes to fill supply gaps from a Chinese export ban. For instance, China supplied over 60 percent of America’s bismuth consumption from 2019 to 2022, and the United States has not produced bismuth since 1997. The U.S. National Defense Stockpile also has no inventory of bismuth.

    For such minerals, the U.S. government—in addition to seeking to boost domestic production—should both increase inventories in the National Defense Stockpile and sign right-of-first refusal (ROFR) offtake agreements with existing overseas mineral producers. Such steps will help buttress the United States against future export bans.

    With stockpiling, the U.S. government should acquire minerals from domestic producers when possible but prioritize acquiring supply wherever it is available including from China. For instance, with both bismuth and tungsten, China is far and away the world’s largest producer: it produces 80 percent of the world’s bismuth and 81 percent of its tungsten.

    The second policy is signing ROFR offtake agreements with existing overseas mineral producers for their uncontracted production. In ROFR agreements, the U.S. government would have the first right—but not the obligation—to purchase a certain volume of mineral production before it is offered to other buyers.

    To secure ROFR offtake agreements, the U.S. government could invest in overseas mineral projects or expansions. Already, the U.S. government has invested (through an intermediary) in two overseas mineral projects: a nickel-cobalt mine in Brazil and a rare earth processing project in South Africa.

    While ROFR offtake agreements are common with prospective mineral producers, the timeline for commissioning new production is lengthy and often jeopardized by technical (e.g., ramp-up issues) and jurisdictional (e.g., regulations) risks. Moreover, ROFR offtake agreements for future mineral production cannot supply minerals if China imposes export bans with immediate effect. Having ROFR offtake agreements for existing production could immediately help fill supply gaps caused by adversarial export bans.

    The U.S. government should prioritize signing ROFR offtake agreements with firms operating in allied and partner countries, such as Australia, Canada, Japan, and South Korea. The U.S. government should also prioritize inking agreements in countries least likely to face disruptions from a possible U.S.-China conflict in the western Pacific.

    For example, Australia and Austria produce about the same volume of tungsten, yet because shipping across the Atlantic Ocean would be more secure than shipping across the Pacific Ocean in a U.S.-China conflict, the U.S. government should first prioritize agreements for tungsten with Austria over Australia. In other cases, avoiding the western Pacific is not possible. For instance, Japan and South Korea are highly exposed to a U.S.-China conflict over Taiwan, but they are the only major bismuth producers that are U.S. allies.

    Demonstrating tungsten’s importance for the U.S. military, U.S. tungsten imports spiked during World War I, World War II, and the Korean War, and U.S. imports would likely spike again in a potential conflict against China. The U.S. government would be well-served in pre-emptively securing these imports and similarly important war minerals through ROFR offtake agreements.

    Controlling the overseas supply of these military minerals can have direct combat implications, too. The Tungsten Institute writes, “Before World War II was started, Germany had bought up virtually the entire world supply of off-grade tungsten ore.” This tungsten proved critical in Germany’s nearly successful North Africa campaign: German tanks used armor-piercing munitions with tungsten carbide cores with dangerous effects against British tanks.

    China’s recent mineral export ban is yet another wake-up call for the U.S. government to reduce America’s reliance on China for critical minerals. For many minerals, the United States can indeed rely on domestic resources to offset future mineral cutoffs from China, but for other minerals, it cannot—it must depend on foreign actors. In such cases, the U.S. government should preemptively stockpile and sign ROFR offtake agreements with overseas mineral producers. These proactive steps will help fortify the United States against future mineral export bans.

    Gregory Wischer is a fellow at the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines.

    Morgan Bazilian is the director of the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines.

    Lt Col Jahara “Franky” Matisek is a military professor in the National Security Affairs department at the U.S. Naval War College and fellow at the Payne Institute for Public Policy. The views expressed in this article are his own.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 12/16/2024 – 21:45

  • Two Homeland Security Agents Sold Drugs Previously Seized As Evidence For Up To $300,000
    Two Homeland Security Agents Sold Drugs Previously Seized As Evidence For Up To $300,000

    It’s another one of those “do as I say, not as a do” examples that continue to emerge during President Biden’s administration…

    This time, it was two Homeland Security agents in Utah, who allegedly sold seized drugs through an informant, earning up to $300,000 per to court documents and according to Yahoo Finance.

    According to an FBI affidavit, the agents sold “bath salts” to the informant weekly from spring to December, with each ounce sold for $5,000 and resold at a higher price.

    The informant, recruited by federal agents while in prison, was initially tasked with legitimate controlled buys. However, the affidavit claims the agents also pressured him into illegal drug sales.

    Yahoo reported that Homeland Security Agent David Cole was arrested in Salt Lake City on Friday and charged in federal court with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. During a Monday hearing, a judge ordered him detained. If convicted, Cole faces a potential prison sentence of 10 years or more.

    Court documents also implicate a second agent, identified as “Person A,” in selling drugs to the informant, though it’s unclear if charges will follow. Cole’s attorney, Alexander Ramos, declined to comment on the allegations, citing ongoing case review.

    Ramos commented: “Dave has many years of service to his community as an outstanding agent with HSI and holds a great reputation among the federal law enforcement community.”

    Searches of the agents’ homes, vehicles, phones, and workspaces uncovered over $67,000 in cash, suspected bath salts, and other evidence, according to the affidavit.

    FBI Special Agent Tristan Hall commented: “Based on an average of one or two drug buys per week, involving 25 grams of bath salts and the amount of $5,000 each buy, it is estimated that Cole and Person A have profited approximately $150,000 to $300,000 in illegal proceeds.”

    The investigation began after the informant’s attorney reported that two Homeland Security agents had coerced him into illegal activities, the report says. 

    The informant, cooperating with the FBI for money and personal safety, alleged the agents sold him drugs seized as evidence, meeting in public locations like Panera Bread and Shake Shack. Details were confirmed through surveillance, and while the agents’ credentials were suspended, they remain employed.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 12/16/2024 – 21:20

  • Trump Says Assad's Ouster In Syria Was An 'Unfriendly Takeover' By Turkey
    Trump Says Assad’s Ouster In Syria Was An ‘Unfriendly Takeover’ By Turkey

    In a wide-ranging question and answer session from the press, President-elect Donald Trump speculated over what was behind the collapse of Syria and the fall of President Bashar al-Assad.

    He said the jihadist rebel victory in Syria was really an ‘unfriendly takeover’ by Turkey. The explanation he gave at first generated headlines which made it appear he was condemning and lashing out at Turkish action; however, the full comments were a bit more sympathetic and deferential to Erdogan and to Turkey.

    Getty Images

    In the comments he hailed Turkey’s regional role as a major power and his personal ties with President Erdogan.

    “Turkey is a major force, by the way, and Erdogan is somebody I got along with great but he has a major military force. And he has not been worn out with war,” Trump told reporters at the briefing held at Mar-a-Lago estate. “He’s built a very strong, powerful army” – he said in reference to Erdogan.

    “[Erdogan] is a very smart guy and very tough, but Turkey did an unfriendly takeover without a lot of lives being lost. I can say that Assad was a butcher here what he did to children.”

    Trump also explained that “Turkey is the one behind it” and stressed “They wanted it for 1000s of years, and he got it, and those people that went in are controlled by Turkey, and that’s okay. It’s another way to but no, I don’t think that.”

    He said that while “nobody knows” the future of post-Assad Syria, he still thinks “Turkey is going to hold the key to” the nation. “Actually, I don’t think you’ve heard that from anybody else, but I’ve been pretty good at predicting,” Trump followed with, but without saying whether he will eventually pull US forces out of Syria.

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    The presence of US forces in Deir Ezzor and Hasakeh regions has frequently outraged Turkey, especially given US troops are training and arming Syrian Kurdish YGP forces (which form the core of the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF). But Ankara views this group as but an extension of the outlawed PKK.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 12/16/2024 – 20:30

  • Unidentified Drones In America's Skies? Smells Like A False Flag…
    Unidentified Drones In America’s Skies? Smells Like A False Flag…

    Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us,

    The term “False Flag” gets thrown around rather haphazardly these days and it’s important to recognize that a real false flag requires a particular end result – The public blaming the wrong culprit for an event that someone else (usually our own government) perpetrated. When it comes to the increasing fervor over major drone activity across the US, I have very little doubt that what we are witnessing is a false flag scenario.

    First, let’s outline what has happened so far: Drone sightings have exploded across the country involving a wide variety of devices – but the incidents that concern me the most are those involving the SUV-sized UAVs in places like New Jersey. The sightings have been happening for months. US government agencies including the FBI, DHS and national security officials claim they have no idea who is behind this activity, even though drones have been seen operating over highly protected areas like US military bases.

    There’s a lot of information to be gleaned here if you know what you’re looking for. I have written extensively about drones and drone warfare in my survival newsletter over the years, primarily on new developments in the technology and ways for civilians to defeat that technology. However, I have also written on how civilians can use drones for their own self defense.

    I know enough about tracking technology to say with relative certainly that officials are lying about the drones over New Jersey, and probably about most of the covert drone activity in other parts of the country. They know who is controlling these drones, and it’s most likely our own government.  What we are witnessing is some form of false flag in progress.

    First and foremost, drones can indeed be tracked rather easily depending on where they fly. Remote signals going back to the operator can be tracked with the right equipment. The stronger the remote signal the easier it is to find the operator. In New Jersey, for example, US Air Force Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst partnered with AeroDefense, a local business specializing in tracking technology and drone detection, to produce a system to track drones across the installation as well as pinpoint perpetrators who fly them. They started this program back in 2020.

    Drone company DJI, which controls around 90% of the consumer drone market, has their own proprietary drone tracking technology that can be purchased by governments and various agencies. There’s likely dozens more companies out there right now producing similar products to the DJI tracking tech.

    Under new FAA regulations instituted this year, all drones operating in US air space (except very small drones) are required to carry a Remote ID module which broadcasts operator information and location. Most drones now have Remote ID integrated into their software and removing it can be a pain. For example, DJI drones are basically no longer used by Ukrainian forces because the built-in Remote ID gives away their positions. They now build most of their drones from scratch.

    There are ways around drone tracking (to a point). Remote ID spoofing devices can be built and programmed for as little as $20. These broadcasting modules can create the illusion of dozens of drones in the sky with false operator data included.  Anyone trying to use Remote ID tracking to find you will have no idea which drones are real and which are fake.

    Drone signal repeaters (which function much like ham radio repeaters) are not uncommon and are used in Ukraine by both sides to help confuse tracking attempts. Signal repeaters and antennas are easy to hide, and pinpointing an exact location is difficult. In Ukraine, trackers would simply find a general area where the antenna or operator might be and then hit it with artillery. If they only hit a repeater, then the operator is out about $200 and that’s it.

    The Russians use drones connected to long spools of fiber optic cable which allows them to send the devices into areas protecting by jamming.  The direct connection also keeps the operators from being tracked.

    Then there are drones with AI software which bypass a lot of tracking tools. If the drone is controlling itself then there’s no operator signal to trace. The drone might be broadcasting a video signal but that’s not going to give up the location of the people who deployed the drone.

    Most of these techniques would never be used by common civilians or even small terror groups (AI flight software in particular would only be used by governments). On top of that, access to large drones or car-sized drones is very rare for civilians and requires extensive permits. The cost of such devices is prohibitive (tens-of-thousands or hundreds-of-thousands of dollars depending on the drone).

    My point is, there is no way civilian operators or small terror groups are behind the majority of these events. The level of sophistication involved here requires military or government agency oversight. Beyond that, there aren’t enough  countermeasures in the world to prevent tracking over sensitive government locations.  The US military and DHS have extensive means to track down drones (especially large drones) flying in close proximity to bases and protected sites.

    Triangulation would not be hard given the drone operators would have to fly through the middle of multiple detection equipped facilities. And, even if the drones are AI operated, large drones are not very fast or nimble. They could be followed without much trouble by helicopters or other drones.

    Lack of public knowledge on this issue is being exploited by government officials and the media. I have seen multiple agency representatives claim that there’s “not enough restrictions in place” to keep the threat of domestic drones in check. I have also seen government reps claim these drones are being operated by a foreign enemy like Iran.  Recently, at least two men were arrested for flying a small drone too close to an airport in Long Island – Federal agencies and the media have tried to link these men to the covert drone sighting across the country when it’s likely they have nothing to do with the situation.

    Misinformation like this suggests an attempt to pin the drone activity on civilian sources, or, a foreign adversary working with civilian sources. 

    In other words, they are preparing the ground for one of two outcomes:

    1. More aggressive restrictions on civilian drones, or,

    2. a drone attack that is blamed on a foreign government.

    The size of the drones is what worries me most. If the goal of a foreign government was to monitor sensitive sites and collect information, they wouldn’t use car-sized drones. Large drones would be too easy to trace.  They would use small mid-range drones outfitted with thermal that fit in a backpack.

    But, our own government could fly fleets of large drones over cites and military bases with impunity.  If our government wanted to, say, blow up a sacrificial military facility, damage a nuclear power plant or hit a civilian center, car-sized drones would be very useful because they are designed to carry considerable weight.  Drones like those sighted over New Jersey could carry 500-1000 pounds of ordnance (maybe more). A swarm of these drones could cause total havoc in a heavily populated area.

    I worry about this outcome because the Biden Administration and the globalist establishment have been very active in the past several months trying to create as many ignition points for world war as they possibly can before Donald Trump takes office in January. A false flag at this time makes perfect sense.

    My second theory is based on the strange comments by defense officials linking the activity to lack of restrictions on the civilian drone market.  As noted, there is NO WAY civilians are flying car-sized drones in US airspace over protected sites without being followed.  The drones are too expensive, too big to move around without people noticing and that kind of operation requires insider knowledge of DoD and DHS tracking methods.

    Some have speculated that there may be an agenda to get legislation (like a new Patriot Act) passed in the near future. 

    I believe this may be a ploy to get traction on legislation restricting or banning civilian ownership of drones. Some people might be skeptical about that idea, but consider for a moment how useful drones are to a potential populist rebellion


    For over a century, governments and national armies have had a monopoly on aerial surveillance and the ability to engage enemies from the sky.  With the invention of drones many patriots and survivalists have viewed the technology as the biggest threat to future attempts at rebellion against the establishment. The devices are cheap to produce, can operate in forests and urban environments and even small drones can carry enough explosives to maim or possibly kill with precision.

    In the past, smaller forces using asymmetric tactics could still gain the upper hand against governments, even when fighting an advanced military with air superiority.  Drones are now treated as the end game for insurgencies.  But the truth is quite the opposite; drones are the end game for standard armies and a huge advantage for asymmetric rebellions.  Drones are the biggest game changer in warfare for civilians since the invention of the repeating rifle.

    We have seen the face of combat change dramatically in the war in Ukraine as drones become increasingly vital for both sides. Medium-sized drones have disrupted typical maneuver warfare tactics using high explosives to disable armored columns. Small drones allow operators to monitor the battlefield from the sky for miles and make discreet troop movements impossible.

    Drones can be easily used by civilians for the same purposes. For the first time ever, patriots have access to the air for surveillance and defense. I would not be surprised to see governments fabricate reasons why the technology “needs to be banned” – They will try to sell the American people on the idea that drones are a danger to public safety, even if that requires bankrolling a terror attack to frighten people into compliance.

    In either case – A trigger for WWIII or a test case for banning the civilian drone market, the establishment gains an advantage.  As far as I can tell, no one else benefits from these drone incidents.  All signs point to a false flag.  If this reality is exposed widely enough, I expect that the government will finally admit that they were behind the drone flights, but only as an effort to “protect the public” from an insidious threat that they could not tell us about beforehand.

    *  *  *

    If you would like to support the work that Alt-Market does while also receiving content on advanced tactics for defeating the globalist agenda, subscribe to our exclusive newsletter The Wild Bunch Dispatch.  Learn more about it HERE.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 12/16/2024 – 20:05

  • "Deeply Conflicted" Judge Rules Trump Doesn't Have Immunity In New York 'Hush Money' Case
    “Deeply Conflicted” Judge Rules Trump Doesn’t Have Immunity In New York ‘Hush Money’ Case

    President-elect Donald Trump does not have immunity in the so-called “hush money” case in New York, Judge Juan Merchan ruled in a decision on Dec. 16.

    The conduct described by the 34 felony counts of which Trump was convicted earlier this year is related “entirely to unofficial conduct entitled to no immunity protections,” Merchan wrote.

    As Joseph Lord reports for The Epoch Times, the decision, coming in the wake of Trump’s sweeping victory in the 2024 presidential election, is tied to a U.S. Supreme Court decision earlier this year that reaffirmed the longstanding precedent that official presidential conduct enjoys “presumptive immunity” from criminal prosecution.

    The Supreme Court’s decision forced Merchan to determine whether the charges were presumptively immune under the law.

    Trump’s attorneys contended that New York prosecutors introduced evidence during his seven-week trial that was protected by the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity doctrine.

    Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) urged the judge to reject Trump’s arguments, arguing that no evidence placed before the jury was protected, and even if it was, it paled in comparison to “other overwhelming evidence of defendant’s guilt.”

    Merchan agreed, finding that none of the challenged evidence was protected.

    Even if immunity did extend to the evidence in question, Merchan wrote he “would still find that the People’s use of these acts as evidence of the decidedly personal acts of falsifying business records poses no danger of intrusion on the authority and function of the Executive Branch, a conclusion amply supported by non-motive-related evidence.”

    The Hill reports that Trump has separately argued that his White House victory compels the dismissal of the jury’s verdict and the case in its entirety.

    Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) has pushed back, instead laying out alternatives like freezing the proceedings during Trump’s term.

    The judge has yet to rule on that matter.

    “Today’s decision by deeply conflicted, acting Justice Merchan in the Manhattan DA Witch Hunt is a direct violation of the Supreme Court’s decision on immunity, and other longstanding jurisprudence,” Steven Cheung, Trump’s spokesperson and incoming White House communications director, said in a statement.

    In a separate letter, Merchan revealed that Trump also sent a Dec. 3 letter alleging juror misconduct. The judge provided sparse details but indicated the issue would be made public with redactions.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 12/16/2024 – 19:43

  • The Life-Affirming Vitality Of Raw Milk
    The Life-Affirming Vitality Of Raw Milk

    Authored by Matthew Gasda via RealClearBooks,

    I’ve been drinking raw milk for almost 15 years, ever since I made a sudden switch from veganism while visiting my sister in Europe. At the time, she was living in Germany and getting raw milk from a local farmer. I remember mocking her, interrogating her, feigning disgust—performing disgust—which I thought was justified by science and ethics. Then, in an instant, it hit me: I was the one being disgusting (rejecting local, traditional, healthy food while scouring German supermarkets for synthetic vegan snacks imported from around the globe).

    When I got back to New York City, where I lived then and still live now, I found a raw milk co-op, which I still use today. The driver, who I won’t name because it’s illegal to sell raw milk in New York, has become my friend. The milk comes from the Amish. Over these 15 years, I’ve only been to the doctor once, for a routine physical. I’ve had no major health problems or depression. My friends say I look young; I feel young. I play sports every weekend. I play fast for my age. I feel better, much stronger, than when I was much younger, and vegan.

    Thus, the animus behind the Amish vote turning out for Trump, linked to events like the federal raid on Amos Miller’s farm and the confiscation of his raw dairy, didn’t surprise me. The Amish are representative figures for a particular kind of social and subject position. Their traditional practices and resistance to modernization make them perfect symbols for a broader cultural revolt against technocratic authority.

    While not a national headline, the Fed’s raid on Miller went viral on X, and for me, it exemplified how progressive health culture—once about choice and care—has become indistinguishable from federal overreach. The message sent by the state health officials and NGO activists is clear: no one should drink milk or slaughter animals on their own or seek non-pharmacologically mediated health. We should drink oat milk, pea protein smoothies, and eat fake meat. Pharmaceuticals should be the first and last line against illness.

    For some, the meme-ification of raw milk (and related products like beef tallow) is just a sideshow to what is increasingly, clearly, a small “r” anti-bureaucrat populist political revolt. However, I think the raw milk meme, the signifier, encapsulates something very deep about that revolution: Americans want the level of healthiness the Amish have, and are increasingly willing, like the Amish, to push back against health norms dictated by bureaucrats, Big Agra, and Big Pharma.

    “Taste classifies, and it classifies the classifier,” the sociologist Pierre Bourdieu wisely asserts. Case in point: fake milks, which have long symbolized “progress”  and liberal orthodoxy, environmental sensitivity, and supposed better health and living. Progressive food hygiene reflects a broader cultivation of neuroticism—a puritanical morbidity that’s ultimately about self-denial. It’s not just that Amish foods, rooted in centuries of tradition, are safe. It’s that they taste good—rich, fatty, nutritious. Foods like raw milk, pastured eggs, and raw meat excite the senses, nourish the body, and make modern life, with its endless laptop work, socializing, and algorithmic dating, feel worthwhile.

    Drinking raw milk is part of a larger desire to reconnect to the body, to natural reality, to traditions, to the earth. Raw milk symbolizes nature, locality, and the uncommodified. It stands against a scientistic (not scientific) mindset that insists on interventions like pasteurization—treating food in a way that might make it marginally safer but also destroys part of its essence, its taste. Pasteurization is a metaphor for the progressive mentality: a relentless pursuit of safety at all costs, even if it makes life blander and less vital.

    Raw milk, tallow, and the broader “MAHA” movement reject this safetyism. They defy the smug, know-it-all attitudes of the Axios, Ezra Klein class, who can’t fathom why anyone would choose non-optimized, non-expert-approved practices. For years, I’ve had friends (who are often demonstrably, obviously, very physically unwell) tell me I’m endangering myself by drinking raw milk. They’ve called it disgusting, weird, even subversive. These same types were shocked when I didn’t wear a mask or get a vaccine, and they’re just as shocked that I didn’t vote for Kamala.

    This ahistorical obsession with safety and control—what’s “normal”—isn’t just conditioned by corporate food interests; it’s embedded in a complex web of power relations that shape our very understanding of health and risk. The modern food safety regime—which has been internalized by cable-news watching, unthinking ‘libs’ as normal—demands not just compliance, but cultish devotion to the status quo systems (like the food and medical systems)—a devotion which entails a denial of our sensory experience and a rejection of accumulated wisdom. It’s a form of what Bourdieu calls “symbolic violence,” whereby what for thousands of years was considered a normal act (drinking unprocessed milk), becomes redefined by a dominant, in this case, technocratic culture as dangerous or regressive.

    Our technocratic, medicalized, scientistic life-system insists we feel “right” rather than feel alive, and that symbols matter more than the signals of the body itself. Drinking raw milk, therefore, has a kind of sacramental quality, just in the sense that it shocks those who practice the rituals of liberal hygiene and right-living; it inverts hygiene practices and is actually about making food holy again.

    We’re asked to sacrifice tradition for regulation, vitality for standardization, embodied wisdom for bureaucratic protocols. We’re trading the full-bodied experience of life—with all its subtle flavors, risks, and rewards—for a thin gruel of safetyism and industrial efficiency. Raw milk memes, and the Amish voting turnout, and MAHA isn’t just about dairy or tallow or seed oils; it’s about refusing a certain kind of bargain where useful unofficial forms of knowledge and experience are discarded and mocked.

    Progressivism, both as a politics and a lifestyle, has the high burden of proving that the future is always better than the past; I think many are finding that there’s no reason to accept that burden. Sometimes the past, backed by thousands of years of fine-tuning, is just better than the future.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 12/16/2024 – 19:15

  • Assad Breaks Silence From Moscow, Denies 'Planned' Syria Departure
    Assad Breaks Silence From Moscow, Denies ‘Planned’ Syria Departure

    Syria’s toppled leader Bashar al-Assad has made a statement for the first time since fleeing Syria after jihadist groups led by US-designated terror organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) took over the country and the army peeled away without a fight.

    The statement was posted Monday to the Syrian Presidency’s Telegram account; however, it can’t be independently verified that he personally made the statement. Assad is with his family in Moscow, where they have received asylum from the Russian government.

    The posted letter describes that Syria’s collapse was the result of terrorism and that his leaving was not planned. He said he was evacuated to Russia from the Khmeimim airbase on the Syrian coast. This happened the evening of December 8, and the letter further describes that the base was coming under drone attacks and the security situation deteriorating. He suggested he wanted to stay and fight.

    Via Associated Press

    “My departure from Syria was neither planned nor did it occur during the final hours of the battles, as some have claimed. On the contrary, I remained in Damascus, carrying out my duties until the early hours of Sunday 8th December 2024,” the statement said.

    “With no viable means of leaving the base, Moscow requested that the base’s command arrange an immediate evacuation to Russia on the evening of Sunday 8th December. This took place a day after the fall of Damascus, following the collapse of the final military positions and the resulting paralysis of all remaining state institutions,” the statement continued.

    “At no point during these events did I consider stepping down or seeking refuge, nor was such a proposal made by any individual or party. The only course of action was to continue fighting against the terrorist onslaught,” it added.

    But the statement does say that as state institutions collapsed that his position as president of the country quickly became “void of purpose” as by then Syria was overrun by “terrorists”.

    “When the state falls into the hands of terrorism and the ability to make a meaningful contribution is lost, any position becomes void of purpose, rendering its occupation meaningless,” Assad added.

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    Assad’s precise whereabouts or the timeline of events of his exit had been unknown for days even after he was in Moscow. It appears many of this top officials, including his brother Maher, had fled either across the Iraq border or to Dubai. For example, Assad’s top media advisor Bouthaina Shaaban was spotted in Dubai’s airport.

    Western media sources are currently alleging that in recent years Assad had $250 million in cash flown from Syria to Russia. The media is presenting this as him having looted the country’s central bank, but the airlifts took place a number of years ago:

    The Financial Times (FT) said that it had uncovered records showing that Assad’s regime flew two tonnes of banknotes into Moscow between 2018 and 2019 to be deposited at Russian banks. Newsweek has contacted the Russian foreign ministry for comment.

    The FT says that Syria’s central bank airlifted $250 million in cash to Russia at a time when Assad was indebted to Moscow and the Middle Eastern country was desperately short of foreign currency.

    Likely this was also done to bypass Western sanctions, and given Russia has long been a hub of Assad family finances. 

    Meanwhile, Reuters reported last week that “The vaults in Syria’s central bank were left unscathed by looters in the turmoil that briefly engulfed the capital Damascus after the overthrow of president Bashar al-Assad, a senior business leader and three other sources told Reuters.” According to more breaking developments:

    • SYRIA RETAINS NEARLY 26 TONS OF GOLD RESERVES INSIDE CENTRAL BANK VAULT – SOURCES
    • SYRIA’S CENTRAL BANK HAS ROUGHLY $200 MLN IN U.S. DOLLAR RESERVES IN VAULTS – SOURCES
    • SYRIA’S GOLD RESERVES WORTH $2.2 BLN AT CURRENT MARKET PRICES – REUTERS CALCULATIONS

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    Bassel Hamawi, head of the Damascus Chambers of Commerce, said that “The most important point is that the amounts in the central bank are still as they were, there is no infringement on the central bank and the money in the central bank has been handed over to the new government” – despite other smaller cash stores at the bank having been stolen.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 12/16/2024 – 18:50

  • Autonomous AI Poses Existential Threat – And It's Almost Here: Former Google CEO
    Autonomous AI Poses Existential Threat – And It’s Almost Here: Former Google CEO

    Authored by Joseph Lord via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt said that autonomous artificial intelligence (AI) is coming—and that it could pose an existential threat to humanity.

    Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights Subcommittee on Capitol Hill, in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 21, 2011. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

    “We’re soon going to be able to have computers running on their own, deciding what they want to do,” Schmidt, who has long raised alarm about both the dangers and the benefits AI poses to humanity, said during a Dec. 15 appearance on ABC’s “This Week.”

    “That’s a dangerous point: When the system can self improve, we need to seriously think about unplugging it,” Schmidt said.

    Schmidt is far from the first tech leader to raise these concerns.

    The rise of consumer AI products like ChatGPT has been unprecedented in the past two years, with major improvements to the language-based model. Other AI models have become increasingly adept at creating visual art, photographs, and full-length videos that are nearly indistinguishable from reality in many cases.

    For some, the technology calls to mind the “Terminator” series, which centers on a dystopian future where AI takes over the planet, leading to apocalyptic results.

    For all the fears that ChatGPT and similar platforms have raised, consumer AI services available today still fall into a category experts would consider “dumb AI.” These AI are trained on a massive set of data, but lack consciousness, sentience, or the ability to behave autonomously.

    Schmidt and other experts are not particularly worried about these systems.

    Rather, they’re concerned about more advanced AI, known in the tech world as “artificial general intelligence” (AGI), describing far more complex AI systems that could have sentience and, by extension, could develop conscious motives independent from and potentially dangerous to human interests.

    Schmidt said no such systems exist today yet, and we’re rapidly moving toward a new, in-between type of AI: one lacking the sentience that would define an AGI, and still able to act autonomously in fields like research and weaponry.

    “I’ve done this for 50 years. I’ve never seen innovation at this scale,” Schmidt said of the rapid developments in AI complexity.

    Schmidt said that more developed AI would have many benefits to humanity—and could have just as many “bad things like weapons and cyber attacks.”

    The Challenge

    The challenge, Schmidt said, is multifaceted.

    At a core level, he repeated a common sentiment among tech leaders: if autonomous AGI-like systems are inevitable, it will require massive cooperation among both corporate interests and governments internationally to avoid potentially devastating consequences.

    That’s easier said than done. AI provides U.S. competitors like China, Russia, and Iran with a potential leg-up over the United States that would be difficult to achieve otherwise.

    Within the tech industry as well, there’s currently massive competition among major corporations—Google, Microsoft, and others—to outcompete rivals, a situation that raises inherent risks of improper security protocols for dealing with a rogue AI, Schmidt said.

    “The competition is so fierce, there’s a concern that one of the companies will decide to omit the [safety] steps and then somehow release something that really does some harm,” Schmidt said. Such harms would only become evident after the fact, he said.

    The challenge is greater on the international stage, where adversarial nations are likely to see the new technology as revolutionary for their efforts to challenge U.S. global hegemony and expand their own influence.

    “The Chinese are clever, and they understand the power of a new kind of intelligence for their industrial might, their military might, and their surveillance system,” Schmidt said.

    That’s a bit of a catch-22 for U.S. leaders in the field, who find themselves forced to balance existential concerns for humanity with the potential for the United States to fall behind its adversaries, which could be catastrophic to global stability.

    In the worst case, such systems could be used to engineer crippling biological and nuclear weapons, particularly by terror groups like ISIS.

    For this reason, Schmidt said, it’s absolutely crucial that the United States continue to innovate in the field, and ultimately maintain technological dominance over China and other adversarial states and groups.

    Industry Leaders Demand Regulation

    Regulation of the field remains insufficient, Schmidt said. But he expects that governments’ focus on enhancing safeguards around the tech will accelerate dramatically in the coming years.

    Asked by anchor George Stephanopoulos if governments were doing enough to regulate it, Schmidt replied, “Not yet, but they will, because they’ll have to.”

    Despite some initial interest in the field—hearings, legislative proposals, and other initiatives—emerging during the current 118th Congress, this session seems to be on track to end without any major legislation related to AI.

    President-elect Donald Trump, for his part, has warned of the vast risks posed by AI, saying during an appearance on Logan Paul’s “Impaulsive” podcast that it’s “really powerful stuff.”

    He also spoke of the need to maintain competitiveness with adversaries.

    “It brings with it difficulty, but we have to be at the forefront,” Trump said. “It’s going to happen, and if it’s going to happen, we have to take the lead over China. China’s the primary threat.”

    Schmidt’s takes on both the benefits and the challenges of the technology aligns with other industry reactions.

    In June 2024, OpenAI and Google employees signed a letter warning of “serious risks” posed by AI, and calling for greater government oversight of the field.

    Elon Musk has put forward similar warnings, saying that Google is seeking to create a “digital God” through its DeepMind AI program.

    In August, these concerns intensified after it was discovered that an AI took autonomous action to avoid being shut down—raising fears that humanity is already losing control over its creation as governments remain inactive.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 12/16/2024 – 18:25

  • South Korean President Skips Summons Amid Political Crisis, Faces Arrest Risk
    South Korean President Skips Summons Amid Political Crisis, Faces Arrest Risk

    South Korea’s Constitutional Court began reviewing President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment on Saturday, following a National Assembly vote that led to it. Yoon was scheduled for questioning on Sunday as part of a prosecutors’ office investigation, but he has not responded. Meanwhile, the leader of his party, who had supported the impeachment, has resigned.

    NBC News reports the prosecutors’ office asked Yoon to appear for questioning on Sunday as part of an investigation over his failed attempt to declare emergency martial law earlier this month. Prosecutors will issue another summons for the president. 

    On Saturday, the National Assembly voted to impeach Yoon, with 204 lawmakers in the 300-member house in favor of the motion and 85 against. Eight votes were declared invalid, while three lawmakers abstained from voting.

    Source: Bloomberg 

    The vote comes a little more than a week after Yoon survived an impeachment vote, capping multi-week political turmoil in the country that borders North Korea. This follows Yoon’s declaration of the briefest martial law in South Korean history on December 3, lasting only a few hours, after accusing the opposition party of engaging in ‘anti-state activities.’

    Recall, Yoon said: “I will not give up. I will do my best for our country.” And this could be why he failed to appear for questioning on Sunday.

    “If Yoon continues to defy requests for questioning in the two inquiries, investigators could ask a court to issue a warrant for his arrest,” NBC noted. 

    Under South Korea’s Constitution, Yoon’s impeachment has allowed Prime Minister Han Duck-soo to become interim leader.

    Political instability in South Korea led to the resignation of Han Dong Hoon, the leader of Yoon’s People Power Party, on Monday morning. 

    Han said he does “not regret supporting the impeachment” because the president’s use of martial law was wrong. 

    “Defending illegal martial law is a betrayal of the country, the people, the conservative spirit, and the achievements of our party that achieved industrialization and democratization,” Han emphasized. 

    Given that the Constitutional Court will now decide whether to reinstate or remove Yoon, Goldman’s Goohoon Kwon and Andrew Tilton provided clients with the possible transition scenarios. That process could take up to six months.

    Here’s what comes next: 

    Newsquawk’s latest headlines on the ongoing political turmoil: 

    • South Korean MPs have successfully voted to impeach President Yoon in their second attempt, amid backlash following his brief move to impose martial law, according to BBC. Yoon was suspended from official duties at 19:24 local time on Saturday while PM Han is to continue as acting president, according to Yonhap.

    • South Korea’s acting president Han vowed to leave no vacuum in state affairs, build a solid security posture, and ensure the cabinet works hard to maintain trust with the US, Japan, and other partners. He also pledged efforts to operate financial and forex markets smoothly, according to Yonhap. Acting President Han said the country will maintain preparedness to prevent North Korea from stirring up provocations, secure national interests ahead of the new US administration, and prioritise national security above all else, according to News1 and Yonhap.

    • South Korea’s opposition leader Lee Jae-myung said the party has decided not to proceed with the impeachment of acting , according to Reuters.

    • Bank of Korea stated it is necessary to respond more actively to the economic impact compared with past impeachment periods, given heightened challenges in external conditions. It also said it will use all available policy instruments, in conjunction with the government, to respond to and avert escalation of volatility in financial and forex markets, according to Reuters.

    • South Korea’s Finance Minister said the government will continue to swiftly deploy market-stabilising measures as needed, seek more support measures for vulnerable sectors, and actively communicate with parliament to keep the economy stable. The minister also confirmed that the bi-annual economic policy plan will be announced before the end of the year, according to Reuters.

    • South Korea’s financial regulator said it will expand market-stabilising funds if needed to boost liquidity in bond and short-term money markets and expects financial markets to stabilise as recent political events are temporary shocks, according to Reuters.

    Also, the Goldman analysts warned of another scenario that could unfold: “… muddling through in a political gridlock.” 

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 12/16/2024 – 18:00

  • Key Figures From "Thank You Dr. Fauci" Lead The Quest For COVID-19 Accountability
    Key Figures From “Thank You Dr. Fauci” Lead The Quest For COVID-19 Accountability

    The documentary Thank You Dr. Fauci has emerged as a prescient roadmap for understanding the COVID-19 pandemic, its origins, and the political and scientific decisions that shaped the world’s response. If you haven’t already, please watch and share this groundbreaking work.

    With recent talk of a preemptive pardon for Fauci, the film – and those featured in it, is set to take center stage in what we hope begins a phase of accountability.

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    Directed by progressive filmmaker Jenner Furst, Thank You Dr. Fauci brings together an extraordinary cast of whistleblowers, investigators, and scientists who were early voices in questioning the narratives surrounding the pandemic. As the Trump administration prepares to take office, with figures like Senator Rand Paul leading investigations into COVID-19 origins, the documentary stands as a bold call for transparency, justice, and reform.

    The film carefully curates a mix of insiders, investigators, and progressive activists who have shaped the COVID-19 discourse. Their inclusion not only provides a thorough examination of the pandemic but also underscores the film’s broader message about systemic failures and the need for reform.

    Dr. Richard Ebright: The Voice Against Risky Research

    Ebright, a molecular biologist and professor at Rutgers University, plays a crucial role in Thank You Dr. Fauci as one of the most prominent critics of gain-of-function research and its potential role in the COVID-19 pandemic.

    For years, Ebright has been a leading voice in the scientific community warning of the dangers posed by experiments that enhance the transmissibility or pathogenicity of viruses. His expertise and willingness to challenge public health orthodoxy make him a pivotal figure in the film’s narrative of accountability and reform.

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    Dr. Jay Bhattacharya: From Lockdown Critic to Key Voice in the Trump Administration

    Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a Stanford University professor of medicine and co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, emerges in Thank You Dr. Fauci as one of the most prominent critics of lockdowns and restrictive COVID-19 policies. Known for advocating “focused protection” instead of broad lockdowns, Bhattacharya has consistently argued that public health measures disproportionately harmed the poor, children, and vulnerable populations while failing to adequately address the spread of the virus. His inclusion in the film underscores the growing debate over the societal and economic costs of pandemic policies.

    Bhattacharya has been appointed by President-elect Donald Trump as the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This role places him at the helm of one of the most powerful health agencies in the world, giving him the opportunity to reshape how the government approaches public health and pandemic preparedness.

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    Dr. Bryce Nickels and Dr. Justin Kinney: Scientists Leading the Push for Biosafety Reform

    Dr. Bryce Nickels, a molecular biologist at Rutgers University, and Dr. Justin Kinney, a quantitative biologist at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, feature prominently in Thank You Dr. Fauci as advocates for greater accountability and reform in scientific research. Both scientists have been vocal critics of gain-of-function research, arguing that the lack of oversight and transparency in this field contributed to the conditions that may have led to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The pair are working to have bullshit Fauci-commissioned scientific papers retracted.

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    Dr. Marty Makary – early Fauci Skeptic picked by Trump to lead the FDA

    Kenny Holston/The New York Times

    In Thank You, Dr. Fauci, Makary notes how he became a Fauci skeptic “during the Ebola epidemic,” after Fauci “transferred a nurse in Dallas with Ebola to the NIH clinical center in Washington DC, and then Dr. Fauci puts on an astronaut suit and walks in with a photographer for a photo opportunity.”

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    “The media parroted whatever Fauci and the CDC fed them, just as they did when government leaders told them there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, parroting whatever the government told them without asking any questions,” Makary told the House Select Subcommittee on the Covid Pandemic on May 11, 2023.

    Makary has been picked by President-elect Donald Trump as the next commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Should he be confirmed, he will report to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – should Kennedy also be confirmed as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

    David Asher – former State Department Investigator

    David Asher, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and bioweapons expert, led the U.S. State Department’s investigation into the origins of COVID-19 during the Trump administration. His inquiry focused on the possibility that the virus originated from a laboratory incident at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) in China.

    Asher’s investigation examined the WIV’s research activities, including gain-of-function experiments that enhance a virus’s transmissibility or virulence. He raised concerns about the safety protocols at the WIV and the potential for an accidental release of the virus. Asher also highlighted the Chinese government’s lack of transparency and cooperation in investigating the pandemic’s origins.

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    Andrew Huff – at the center of EcoHealth

    Dr. Andrew Huff is a whistleblower who worked for EcoHealth Alliance who we’ve covered multiple times over the past few years. According to Huff, a former VP at EcoHealth – his former employer helped the Wuhan lab put together the “best existing methods to engineer bat coronaviruses to attack other species” for many years.

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    “China knew from day one that this was a genetically engineered agent. The US government is to blame for the transfer of dangerous biotechnology to the Chinese,” Huff wrote in his book, The Truth About Wuhan.”

    Charles Rixey and Lt. Col. Joseph Murphy: The Whistleblowers

    The film gives significant attention to Charles Rixey of the DRASTIC research group and Lt. Col. Joseph Murphy, both of whom uncovered critical evidence supporting the lab-leak hypothesis. Their work reveals how government agencies and scientific organizations may have suppressed key information about the pandemic’s origins. The inclusion of leaked documents, coupled with their firsthand accounts, adds weight to the film’s argument that a full reckoning of the pandemic’s roots is overdue.

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    Adam Andrzejewski: RIP

    A crusader for government transparency, Andrzejewski – founder of OpenTheBooks.com filed several Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests which revealed Fauci’s exorbitant $450,000 per year salary and several other damning details related to the pandemic. Andrzejewski passed away unexpectedly in August at the age of 55 right before he was set to testify against Fauci.

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    Dr. Robert Redfield: A Key Figure in the COVID-19 Accountability Movement

    Dr. Robert Redfield, the former Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), emerges as a critical voice in Thank You Dr. Fauci – noting how he was shut out of Fauci’s conclave of pandemic advisors despite his position.

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    The Trump Administration and a New Era of Accountability

    As Thank You, Dr. Fauci gains traction, the Trump administration’s return to power positions figures like Senator Rand Paul to lead investigations into COVID-19’s origins and alleged coverups. Paul, a vocal critic of Fauci, has promised to subpoena records and hold hearings into gain-of-function research and the suppression of the lab-leak theory.

    The documentary becomes particularly relevant in this context, as many of the individuals featured are expected to play active roles in shaping these inquiries. The film’s message aligns with the incoming administration’s focus on challenging the so-called “Deep State” and holding public health officials accountable.

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    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 12/16/2024 – 17:40

  • Santa, Please Bring Me A War For Christmas
    Santa, Please Bring Me A War For Christmas

    Authored by James Howard Kunstler,

    “Understand this deeply – you nearly lost your country and your freedom to a deranged, totalitarian-leaning enemy of our nation’s soul and destiny. Take this personally.”

    – Mel K

    So, you expected “Joe Biden” to serve up a neat little Christmas-time World War Three, lobbing ATACMS into Russia and all, but instead, surprise surprise, you got The War of the Worlds: mysterious drones hovering on-high over the endless muffler shops, manicure parlors, mafia palazzos, and mosques of New Jersey.

    But there seems to be more to this than, say, the stunt that Orson Welles pulled in 1938, scaring a few rubes over the radio.

    This ain’t no foolin’ around.

    It’s been going on for weeks.

    And not just in New Jersey. But around New York City, up the Hudson River Valley above Stewart Airport, over in Massachusetts, down in Pennsylvania, and out in Ohio in the vicinity of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton Ohio.

    Howls of “WTF” echo all over the cable news channels. The US government — that is, the twilighting “Joe Biden” admin — plays dumb.

    Alejandro Mayorkas, our unimpeachably frank Homeland Security chief told ABC-News on Sunday “that there’s no question that drones are being sighted.” I’m sure that told you a lot. He went on to explain that the FAA changed its rules last year allowing drones to fly at night. Are we to suppose that avid US drone-owners waited until the very last month of this year to start flying their pet aircraft after dark? Pentagon spox John Kirby, added helpfully at a news conference that federal investigators had been “unable to corroborate reports of any unauthorized drones above New Jersey.”

    (Translation: DARPA and other Pentagon ops are too busy figuring out new ways to surveil and kill you to bother with these drone swarms.)

    Theories abound and multiply.

    One is that these are US Govt drones seeking signals of radioactivity emanating from a nuclear bomb supposedly purloined out of Ukraine’s old Soviet arsenal — and possibly stashed in a shipping container or some-such other hidey-hole along our east coast. It’s a good story. It’s rumored that some-60 Uke nukes from that era have gone missing in the decades since. Of course, the theoretical owner of such a device would have to be pretty dumb to not stash his nuke in a lead-shielded casket to prevent detection. In the meantime, what else can be said or done? Standing by on that mushroom cloud. . . .

    Blogger / Author and former White House stenographer (2002 – 2018) Mike McCormick had a neat theory: that shipping interests were testing drone deliveries of imported goods from offshore in an attempt to work-around the longshoreman’s union contract negotiations currently underway.

    The union has been fighting against automation that would eliminate the good-paying jobs of 85,000 dock-workers.

    Any takers on that one?

    Of course, it’s difficult to swallow the govt’s statements that, basically, they dunno nuffins ‘bout no drones. There are enough of them flying over enough varied terrain that surely the USAF could find a way to shoot one down over a cow pasture in, say, Orange County, New York. I’m frankly a little surprised that some enterprising civilian marksman hasn’t popped off a few 7mm Remington mag loads into the hovering lights. At least they haven’t said it’s Santa Claus testing a new high-tech delivery system that would put his old-timey sleigh-and-reindeer out of business.

    The theory I lean toward is the notion that “Joe Biden” (meaning the DC blob) is desperately seeking some way to obstruct or fend-off the January 20th inauguration of Mr. Trump. Because, well, to put it bluntly, a whole lot of blobistas are worried about going to jail when the likes of Kash Patel, John Ratcliffe, Tulsi-G, and Pam Bondi get their mitts on the levers of power and start opening up the files. They’ve got thirty-five days to. . . to do something! (Somebody, please do something!!!)

    There was a lot of chatter all year long about a coming space alien emergency. I know, sounds preposterous, and even more so when you consider that the military arm of the blob would be so dumb as to try to pass off drones as alien spacecrafts — like something out of a 1950s horror movie when the “special effects” had to be done with puppets and balsa-wood models flying on wires. Maybe it’s actually come to that in this super dumbed-down age. (Are you aware that the main diminishing return of our magical computer tech is that it’s made our society an order-of-magnitude dumber across the board? Well, it has.)

    The situation remains fluid, with ongoing investigations and public discourse about the implications and origins of these drone activities.

    The FBI is on-the-case (so never fear!) along with Mr. Mayorkas and his outfit, and maybe even the US military.

    Chill.

    They got this — as Hollywood loves to say. Go shopping. Have a goshdarn eggnog. Shut up.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 12/16/2024 – 17:40

  • West Pushing Russia Beyond 'Red Line' While Building Up Troops In Europe: Putin
    West Pushing Russia Beyond ‘Red Line’ While Building Up Troops In Europe: Putin

    The month of December has already witnessed several waves of US-supplied long-range ATACMS target inside Russian territory. Many have been intercepted, but others have struck Russian bases.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday addressed a meeting of his defense ministry wherein he warned that the Western allies are pushing Russia beyond a red line. He stressed that this means Moscow is pushed into a situation in which it must retaliate.

    He began the comments by accusing the US of seeking “to weaken our country and inflict a strategic defeat”  by continuing “to pump a de facto illegitimate ruling regime in Kiev with weapons and money, sending mercenaries and military advisers, thereby encouraging further escalation of the conflict.”

    Putin continued, according an English translation in state media, “They push us to the red line
 we begin to respond, and then they frighten their population.” He said that Washington authorities in this way use “simple tactics” to keep the American population in fear, allowing escalation of threats to continue.

    According to another translation by Reuters:

    The Russian president said: “They [Western leaders] are simply scaring their own population that we are going to attack someone there using the pretext of the mythical Russian threat.

    “The tactic is very simple: they push us to ‘a red line’, from which we can not retreat, we start to respond and then they immediately scare their population – in the old days it was with the Soviet threat and now it’s with the Russian threat.”

    He not only warned that Russia and other independent nations are facing West-sponsored “hybrid wars” – but that NATO is increasing its force posture in Europe near Russia’s borders.

    “The number of American service members in Europe has already exceeded 100,000 troops,“ he said, also noting that Washington’s presence in the Asia-Pacific region has increased too.

    Putin in the comments further hinted that though Moscow currently abides by the INF Treaty, even after Washington pulled out, all self-imposed restrictions could immediately be lifted should the US begin deploying its medium and short-range missile systems in violation of the now defunct treaty.

    “If the United States begins to deploy such systems, then all our voluntary restrictions will be lifted,” he warned. “The relocation and deployment of these missile systems in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region is already being practiced.”

    President-Elect Donald Trump on Monday said that he could immediately reverse the Biden admin’s policy of allowing Kiev to hit Russia with US missiles. He has vowed to rapidly de-escalate and negotiate toward peace.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 12/16/2024 – 17:20

  • Biden Lied About Everything: Philly Fed Finds All Jobs "Created" In Q2 Were Fake
    Biden Lied About Everything: Philly Fed Finds All Jobs “Created” In Q2 Were Fake

    Back in August, many were surprised by the accuracy of our forecast, when we predicted that in its annual revision, the Biden Bureau of Labor Statistics would revise jobs for the April 2023-March 2024 period by “up to 1 million”, something which we said would mean that all job report “beats” recorded in the past year will have been misses and the US labor market is in far worse shape than the admin would admit.

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    The final results, as everyone knows by now, was a shocking 818K revision lower, just as the Philadelphia Fed had predicted 6 months prior, in March, when it calculated correctly that the Biden Department of Goalseeking Propaganda had overstated payrolls by “at least 800,000.”

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    The answer ended up 818,000 for the 12 month period ended March 31 (or about 68,000 per month) and the implied sharp deterioration to the job market was the main scapegoat used by the Fed to launch its easing cycle with a jumbo 50bps rate cut (now that “suddenly” the economic golden age pushed by the Biden propaganda regime, and trillions in debt, had just collapsed).

    We mention all of this up because on Friday, the Philly Fed served up its latest shocker: not only did the Biden admin lie again, but the collapse in the labor market that had been covered up for much of the past year and was only exposed with the annual benchmark revision, extended into the second quarter.

    “Estimates by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia indicate that the employment changes from March through June 2024 were significantly different” – read lower – “in 27 states compared with preliminary state estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) Current Employment Statistics (CES)”, the Philly Fed said on December 12.

    “According to the early benchmark (EB) estimates conducted by the Phily Fed, employment was lower in 25 states, higher in two states, and lesser changes in the remaining 23 states and the District of Columbia.”

    Translation: 23 states unchanged, 1 revised higher…  and 25 lower. The breakdown is shown below.

    Maybe someone can calculate what the odds of that distribution occurring naturally are, but here is our guess: virtually nil. Which is why would make such a loud stink every month after the Biden BLS revised jobs data lower month after month after month. The whole point was to make the labor market appear stronger than it was, then to gradually revised it all away. And now the Philadelphia Fed confirms – again – that we were right all along.

    And so, after it first revised the 12 months ending March 31 by 818K, the downgrads extended into the second quarter of 2024, when the Philadelphia Fed early benchmark estimates showed that instead of the 1.1% gain shown initially by the BLS, payroll jobs in the 50 states and the District of Columbia were actually down 0.1%!

    By state, the regional Fed bank estimates that largest revision of employment for the nine-month period ended in June will come from California, where it sees a downward revision of 172,700 jobs. Payrolls in Texas may be revised down by 112,100. An extended forecast by the BLS to the third quarter show further declines as well.

    And while we don’t yet know the specifics of the revisions – those will be revealed on Feb 7, 2025 when the final numbers are published – at the national level, we do know that all the jobs reportedly “created” in the second quarter, were actually fake, there were no net jobs created at all, and in fact, the US lost jobs in Q2!

    Translation: in his latest attempt to create an impression of economic growth, Biden lied about everything, again.

    Source: Philly Fed

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 12/16/2024 – 17:00

  • VDH: Are The Years Of Madness Ending?
    VDH: Are The Years Of Madness Ending?

    Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness,

    Never in U.S. history has a president-elect been welcomed as the real president before his January 20 inauguration.

    And never has the incumbent president so willingly surrendered his last two months in office and all but abdicated—to the relief of his nation and the rest of the world.

    One reason so many are welcoming Trump’s return is the universally desperate hope that his election spelled an end to a collective madness at home and its ripples abroad during the last four years. And why not?

    Nations overseas had never quite witnessed anything like the lethal August 2021 American flight from Afghanistan.

    That utter humiliation and impotence of the U.S. military likely signaled to Russia there would be no consequences if it invaded Ukraine—and it did; to Iran that it could now unleash Hamas and Hezbollah on Israel—and it did; and to China that it could daily threaten Taiwan and send a spy balloon across the United States with impunity—and it did.

    The result was the current global chaos perhaps not seen since the late 1930s when a confused United States was similarly a bystander to the rise of bellicose regimes and wars. The Biden administration shrugged that the Red Sea, the Black Sea, the South China Sea, the Straits of Hormuz, and the Eastern Mediterranean Sea all became dangerous to the U.S. Navy and unsafe to world shipping.

    A disparate group of nuclear and near-nuclear powers—Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran—are either at war with Western allies or threatening war with them. Their confidence was predicated on the assumption that the U.S. after 2020 was engaged in a Maoist-like cultural revolution that warred on its own security, energy, military, universities, and social unity—and would continue with a second Biden term.

    The Biden-era cultural revolution has done great damage to the United States. The U.S. border was systematically and deliberately destroyed to allow some 10-12 million illegal entrants to pour into the U.S. without legality or background checks. Never has an outgoing administration spitefully sold taxpayer-purchased border wall material for pennies on the dollar—rather than see it used for the purposes for which it was purchased.

    Never had the U.S. experienced such an immigrant surge. And never had more than 50 million, and over 15 percent of the resident American population been foreign-born.

    Why did Biden and Alejandro Mayorkas erase the border? What madness and hate drove them to dismantle federal immigration law? Was it sheer nihilism? Or a desperate but calculated effort to alter American demography for political purposes?

    For four years, the public, elected officials, and pundits have all warned that Joe Biden was dangerously cognitively challenged and indeed completely unfit to fulfill the duties of the presidency.

    A long-suffering nation winced as Biden slurred his words, spoke in unintelligible sound bites, stood frozen and mute, screamed at and libeled half the country, tripped, fell, wandered aimlessly, became bewildered, and more or less proved a global embarrassment. All knew Biden was not able to run the country; yet none knew exactly who was actually in charge of America in his stead. The Obamas? Leftists like Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, the Squad, Jill Biden, and the Biden staff?

    Our allies worried that the usually resilient American president was now all but demented. Our enemies enjoyed these leaderless years of opportunity. And the left serially misled the public that the decrepit Biden, whom they feared in private was senile, was “dynamic,” “energic,” and “fit as a fiddle.”

    Never has a president so deserved to be removed by the 25th Amendment or through impeachment and conviction. And never has even his inner circle finally but silently agreed as they left office, the very enablers who had done their political best to mask his dementia for four long years.

    Never has the justice system, from local to state to national jurisdictions, so systematically and coordinately, sought to bankrupt, render inert, and jail an ex-president and current presidential candidate.

    Rarely have the FBI, the CIA, the IRS, the Department of Justice, and the Pentagon become weaponized and so flagrantly and with impunity broken the law, abandoned their mission statements, and served political agendas rather than the American people. Not since the J. Edgar Hoover era has the FBI hierarchy serially lied under oath, stonewalled Congress, forged a court affidavit, or partnered with the media to suppress the news. Has the FBI ever raided an ex-president’s home, spied on parents at school board meetings, monitored Catholics, or tried to terrify and harass pro-life activists?

    Never has a presidential family so brazenly profited by selling its influence to foreign interests. Never has it used the powers of the FBI and DOJ to cover up its crimes and to ensure the family filial bagman would be for years exempted by the DOJ and later pardoned by the president himself, the father of the family miscreant and privy to the family syndicate’s illegal activities.

    Seldom has a president and his administration sought to fuel a veritable cultural revolution to change the fabric of the nation by institutionalizing a third, transexual gender, violating civil rights law, and systematically admitting, hiring, and promoting Americans on the basis of their race and gender.

    Never since the Civil War era had local and state insurrectionist governments established 600 nullification zones, in which they vowed to break federal law and consider it null and void within their jurisdictions. Never have rioters looted, burned, killed, assaulted, and occupied large swaths of cities for over 120 days, and largely with impunity.

    Never had the U.S. Treasury borrowed so much money so quickly and owed $37 in national debt—and been so intent on borrowing continuously nearly $2 trillion a year in annual deficits.

    Never has a political party sought to systematically violate long-standing traditions, customs, and often the law itself to destroy a political opponent: hiring a foreign national to spread smears among the media and bureaucracies, impeaching a president twice, trying an ex-president in the Senate, seeking to remove a presidential candidate from 16 state ballots, using five different judicial jurisdictions to try an ex-president, and serially so defaming a candidate and ex-president as a dictator, fascist, and Nazi to create a climate that encouraged two near-miss assassination attempts on him.

    In sum, for the last four years, the world has watched aghast as the United States lost its collective mind and became a radical Jacobin revolutionary society.

    So why is there not a sense of almost ecstatic relief, not just among conservatives but even among Democrats, that the years of darkness and madness are ending?

    The global public believes that the United States will again become lawful, have a secure border, return as a beacon of free-market economics, protect its allies, deter its enemies, win over its neutrals, return to the rule of law, restore the professionalism and prestige of its government agencies, check predatory nations abroad with a new deterrent military, and prepare to lead the world in energy production, exploration of space, and scientific and technology development.

    Summed up, the welcomed counterrevolution is one of restoration—to dream again that nothing is impossible, and the dreary age of stasis, envy, cynicism, and nihilism is ending, replaced again by a world without limits. No one knows quite what is ahead, but all know that it is at least better already than the current nightmare.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 12/16/2024 – 16:20

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Dec 16

Today’s News 16th December 2024

  • The Democratic Party Changed While We Stayed In Place
    The Democratic Party Changed While We Stayed In Place

    Authored by Josh Stylman via The Brownstone Institute,

    Let me start by saying I loathe politics. I’ve always been drawn to liberal ideas—individual freedom, protecting the vulnerable, questioning authority, and the fundamental belief that consenting adults should be free to live their lives however they choose as long as they’re not harming others. These aren’t political positions to me; they’re basic human principles. But the game of politics itself repulses me. What I’m about to share isn’t about politics; it’s about our shared reality and how we’ve lost touch with it.

    The Mindvirus

    What’s truly mind-numbing to me is how people don’t see what’s happening right in front of them. The media has devolved into nothing more than a propaganda mouthpiece for the establishment, programming people to react rather than think. I’ve experienced this firsthand: When I drew historical comparisons between vaccine mandates and 1933 Germany’s early authoritarian policies, I was instantly labeled an extremist and cancelled by my NYC community. Yet now, these same people casually call everyone at Trump’s MSG rally Nazis. The irony would be funny if it weren’t so tragic.

    My Liberal Foundation

    I still believe deeply in core liberal principles:

    • Genuine free speech, not the controlled corporate version we see today
    • Standing against establishment overreach
    • Opposing unchecked corporate power
    • Fighting against unnecessary wars
    • Complete bodily autonomy – your body, your choice, in ALL contexts
    • Defending individual rights consistently, not selectively

    These aren’t just political positions—they’re principles about human dignity and freedom.

    The Democratic Party’s Transformation

    The Democratic Party’s drift from these values didn’t happen overnight. Many of us, exhausted by Bush’s brutal wars, lies about weapons of mass destruction, and the Patriot Act’s assault on civil liberties, invested our hopes in Obama’s promise of change. But instead of the transformation we sought, we got what felt like Bush’s third and fourth terms.

    Under Obama, we watched as corporate influence grew stronger, not weaker. The Snowden revelations exposed massive surveillance programs. The housing crisis devastated ordinary Americans while Wall Street got bailouts. Rather than challenging institutional power, the Democratic establishment became increasingly entangled with it.

    The betrayal of liberal values became even clearer with Bernie Sanders. Like Trump, Bernie tapped into something real—a deep frustration with a system that had left ordinary Americans behind. Both men, from vastly different perspectives, recognized that working people were suffering while elites prospered. But the Democratic establishment couldn’t allow an actual progressive challenger. They used every trick in the book—from media manipulation to primary shenanigans—to block him from the nomination. Most disappointing was watching Bernie himself bend the knee to the same establishment he had railed against, leaving millions of supporters feeling betrayed and politically homeless.

    When Hillary Clinton emerged as the nominee, we were told rejecting her meant rejecting women’s leadership. But we weren’t rejecting female leadership—we were rejecting warmongering and corporate cronyism. What we needed was a leader embodying the feminine divine: qualities of compassion, understanding, nurturing wisdom, and the ability to truly listen. Instead, we got another hawk in the corporate establishment’s pocket. And when that failed, they doubled down on cynical identity politics with Harris.

    Today, the situation relating to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. perfectly exemplifies how far the party has fallen. Here was a lifelong Democrat, a member of the party’s most popular family, who wanted to challenge these corrupting influences—and they wouldn’t even let him on the debate stage. I firmly believe that had they given him the opportunity, he could have united the country and beaten Trump.

    But that reveals the truth: this was never about beating Trump. It was about ensuring they maintained control by installing another establishment stooge who wouldn’t challenge their power structure. His departure from the party isn’t just about one candidate; it’s the culmination of a long betrayal of liberal principles.

    The Politics of Distraction vs. Real Issues

    Take abortion rights. This is an incredibly nuanced issue with deeply held convictions on all sides. I’ve spoken with several constitutional lawyers who’ve explained that overturning Roe was legally sound—not a political decision but a constitutional one about federal versus state authority. That makes it even more telling that Democrats, when they had a supermajority, chose not to codify these protections into federal law. Instead, they’ve kept this issue unresolved, using it as a reliable tool to drive voter turnout every four years.

    While abortion access matters deeply to many Americans, we’re facing multiple crises that threaten the very foundation of our republic: inflation is crushing working families while Wall Street posts record profits; government surveillance of citizens has reached dystopian levels; and our regulatory agencies—the FDA and CDC—have been completely captured by corporate interests, approving one toxic product after another while our children are being poisoned by processed foods, environmental toxins, and experimental drugs.

    The climate crisis (or what some see as deliberate geoengineering) threatens our very survival. Our border is in complete chaos—while we send billions to foreign conflicts most Americans barely understand. All this while our own infrastructure crumbles and our nation grows more divided than ever.

    The hypocrisy around women’s rights is particularly telling. The same party that claims to champion women’s bodily autonomy pushed for mandatory experimental medical interventions, despite documented evidence of mRNA vaccines affecting women’s reproductive cycles and fertility. These effects were known from early trials, yet raising concerns got you labeled as “anti-science.” Meanwhile, they’ve insisted that biological males have access to women’s spaces—including locker rooms, bathrooms, and sports competitions—prioritizing fashionable ideologies over women’s safety and fair competition.

    The Democrats permanently lost any moral authority on bodily autonomy the moment they advocated for mandatory medical procedures—yet they continue to lecture us about it without a hint of self-awareness. Liberal principles aren’t a Chinese menu where you get to pick and choose which freedoms matter.

    Take Kamala Harris—she literally campaigned on “My body, my choice” while simultaneously mandating experimental Covid shots for her own campaign staff. You can’t claim to champion bodily autonomy in one breath and deny it in the next based on political convenience. Either you believe in individual liberty and bodily autonomy, or you don’t. There’s no à la carte option when it comes to fundamental human rights.

    The Corporate-State Fusion

    What we’re seeing today aligns disturbingly well with Mussolini’s definition of fascism: the merger of state and corporate power. Look at Klaus Schwab’s World Economic Forum promoting “stakeholder capitalism,” where corporations and governments form partnerships to control various aspects of society. The WEF’s corporate membership reads like a who’s who of Democratic Party megadonors: BlackRock, which donated millions to Biden’s campaign while pushing ESG policies that benefit their bottom line; Pfizer, which poured over $10 million into Democratic coffers while securing massive government contracts; Google and Meta, which not only donate heavily but actively suppress information challenging Democratic narratives.

    This isn’t a coincidence; it’s coordination. These same companies shape policy that enriches them: BlackRock advises on financial policy while managing government assets, Pfizer helps write drug approval guidelines while selling mandatory vaccines, and Big Tech collaborates with federal agencies to control information flow. We saw this play out in real time: from day one of the Biden administration, they created backdoor channels into social media companies to censor Americans’ speech about Covid, the 2020 election, and other sensitive topics.

    This isn’t a theory—it’s documented fact. Every major policy decision seems to benefit these corporate partners: vaccine mandates, digital currency initiatives, censorship programs, climate policies—all funneling money and power to the same corporations that fund the Democratic machine. When corporations and government work together to control information and behavior, that’s precisely the corporate-state fusion that classical liberals once fought against. The Democratic Party has become the party of corporate fascism while claiming to fight against it.

    The Democratic Facade

    The current administration embodies everything wrong with our system. Look at Kamala Harris—she dropped out of the 2020 presidential race before any primary, polling below 1%. Biden then selected her solely because he limited his pool to black women—not because of her qualifications, but because of identity politics. Her record as Senator was abysmal—she sponsored zero significant legislation and missed 84% of votes during her brief tenure. Then as Vice President, her role as border czar has been an unprecedented disaster—one the administration now tries to pretend never happened.

    And here’s the ultimate irony: this is the party screaming loudest about “threats to democracy,” yet they literally installed Harris as their candidate when nobody voted for her—she dropped out before a single primary vote was cast due to dismal polling. They wouldn’t even let their own members participate in primary debates. They’re lecturing us about democracy while actively suppressing democratic processes within their own party. When they say “democracy is on the ballot,” what they really mean is their controlled version of democracy where they pick the candidates and we’re supposed to fall in line.

    Nobody voted for her, and honestly, nobody really likes her—they just hate Trump more. They could prop up a steaming pile of manure as a candidate, and people would vote for it just to vote against Trump. But here’s the real question: If Trump is truly the democracy-ending threat they claim, why didn’t democracy end during his first term? And if Harris is the solution to our problems, why hasn’t she fixed anything while in office?

    The Trump Enigma

    My view on Trump has evolved, though not in the way many might expect. I didn’t vote for him in 2016 or 2020. Growing up in this region, I knew him only as a second-generation real estate developer—Woody Guthrie had written those critical lyrics about his father, “Old Man Trump.” At the time, I thought Donald was just another entitled heir who happened to opportunistically tap into something real. 

    But there’s so much more to this story. His connections to secret societies and the occult run surprisingly deep. His Trump Tower penthouse is essentially a Masonic temple, designed as a replica of Versailles with deliberate esoteric symbolism throughout. His mentor was a 33° Scottish Rite, and Roy Cohn’—master of blackmail and dark arts—shaped his early career. Most intriguingly, his uncle John Trump was the MIT scientist tasked with reviewing Nikola Tesla’s papers after his death—papers that allegedly contained world-changing technologies, from free energy to more exotic possibilities. I don’t know what it all means, but there’s clearly more to this story than the “orange man bad” narrative we’re fed.

    At this point, I see only three possibilities:

    1. He’s playing his part in a grand political wrestling match (WWF style)
    2. He’s a dueling bad guy (genuinely a thorn in the establishment’s side)
    3. He’s actually the hero of this story (which would be the most hilarious plot twist imaginable from the vantage point of someone like me)

    The Path Forward

    Candidly, I don’t know and at this point, any of these seem plausible. What I do know is what the blue team represents—their actions have made that crystal clear. But Trump remains a bit of a mystery to me. I have a hard time believing any politician could be our savior—real change has always come from the bottom up, not the top down. But something interesting happened that gave me a glimmer of hope: RFK, Jr. jumping on board.

    The RFK, Jr. situation is fascinating. Here’s a Kennedy—essentially Democratic royalty—teaming up with Trump after being shut out by his own party. This isn’t just any political alliance. RFK, Jr.’s deep understanding of the administrative state, from public health institutions to regulatory agencies, combined with his proven track record of exposing corporate capture and fighting pharmaceutical corruption, makes this particularly intriguing. Maybe, just maybe, this alliance could protect our children from harmful policies and unnecessary wars?

    I struggle with what comes next because I understand the gravity of our situation. Our republic is incredibly fragile—more fragile than most people realize. The Founders knew this, warning us about the difficulty of maintaining a democratic republic. But I refuse to give up on dialogue, even when it feels hopeless. If people don’t see what’s happening by now—the censorship, the mandates, the war-mongering, what appears to be intentional schismogenesis (I wrote about this idea here)—will they ever?

    The powers that profit from our division; they’ve mastered the art of keeping us fighting each other so we don’t look up to see who’s really pulling the strings. These aren’t just political issues—they’re existential challenges that require reasonable people to discuss complex solutions. Your neighbor who voted differently isn’t your enemy—they likely want many of the same things you do: safety, prosperity, freedom, and a better future for their children. They might just have different ideas about how to get there.

    I know this is heavy stuff. You might disagree with everything I’ve said, and that’s okay. What’s not okay is letting these disagreements destroy our relationships and communities. The choice isn’t just about who we vote for—it’s about how we treat each other, how we discuss our differences, and whether we can find common ground in our shared humanity.

    The way forward isn’t through hatred or fear. It’s through understanding, open dialogue, and most importantly, love. We might be living through the death throes of the American experiment, or we might be witnessing its rebirth. Either way, we’re in this together, and our strength lies in our ability to work through these challenges as a community, as neighbors, and as friends. Let’s choose wisdom over reaction, understanding over judgment, and love over fear. Our future depends on it.

    Republished from the author’s Substack

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 12/15/2024 – 23:20

  • Federal Officials Will Deploy High-Tech System To New York After Drones Shut Down Airport, Governor Says
    Federal Officials Will Deploy High-Tech System To New York After Drones Shut Down Airport, Governor Says

    By Jack Phillips of The Epoch Times

    New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that the federal government will send a “a state-of-the-art drone detection system” to her state after a number of drone sightings across New York and New Jersey in recent days.

    While she did not elaborate on the system that will be deployed, it “will support state and federal law enforcement in their investigations,” she said in a statement on the morning of Dec. 15.

    “I am grateful for the support, but we need more. Congress must pass a law that will give us the power to deal directly with the drones,” the governor wrote on social media platform X around the same time. She urged Congress to pass the Counter-UAS Authority Security, Safety, and Reauthorization Act that will give states “the authority and resources required to respond to circumstances like we face today.”

    It’s not clear whether the federal government sent a similar system to New Jersey, where most of the drone sightings have occurred, or in other states. Over the weekend, swarms of drones were spotted in other states along the East Coast, including Maryland.

    On Dec. 14, Hochul said that a drone sighting shut down Stewart International Airport, a small airport located in Orange County within the Hudson Valley.

    “Last night, the runways at Stewart Airfield were shut down for approximately one hour due to drone activity in the airspace,” the governor said in a statement. “This has gone too far.”

    Hochul then called on the federal government to provide assistance in dealing with the unmanned vehicles, adding that federal rules make it difficult for the state to deal with drones.

    “Extending these powers to New York State and our peers is essential,” the governor also said. “Until those powers are granted to state and local officials, the Biden administration must step in by directing additional federal law enforcement to New York and the surrounding region to ensure the safety of our critical infrastructure and our people.”

    Federal officials in the past week have stressed that there is no evidence the drones pose a security or public safety threat to the United States, while also asserting the drones are not being operated by a foreign adversary such as Iran or China.

    On the morning of Dec. 15, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas suggested in an ABC News interview that the drones also were not flying around sensitive military sites.

    Despite the assurances from federal officials, multiple elected officials have called on the government to shoot the drones down.

    “Can this really be happening without our government’s knowledge,” President-elect Donald Trump wrote on social media over the weekend. “I don’t think so! Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shoot them down.”

    Continue reading at The Epoch Times

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 12/15/2024 – 22:10

  • Suspicious OpenAI Whistleblower Death Ruled Suicide
    Suspicious OpenAI Whistleblower Death Ruled Suicide

    The November death of former OpenAI researcher-turned-whistleblower, 26-year-old Suchir Balaji was ruled a suicide, the San Jose Mercury News reports.

    According to the medical examiner, there was no foul play in Balaji’s Nov. 26 death in his San Francisco apartment.

    Balaji had publicly accused OpenAI of violating US copyright law with ChatGPT. According to the NY Times;

    He came to the conclusion that OpenAI’s use of copyrighted data violated the law and that technologies like ChatGPT were damaging the internet.

    In August, he left OpenAI because he no longer wanted to contribute to technologies that he believed would bring society more harm than benefit.

    “If you believe what I believe, you have to just leave the company,” he said during a recent series of interviews with The New York Times.

    The Times named Balaji a person with “unique and relevant documents” that the outlet would use in their ongoing litigation with OpenAI – which claims that the company, and its partner Microsoft, are using the world of reporters and editors without permission.

    In an October post to X, Balaji wrote: “I was at OpenAI for nearly 4 years and worked on ChatGPT for the last 1.5 of them. I initially didn’t know much about copyright, fair use, etc. but became curious after seeing all the lawsuits filed against GenAI companies. When I tried to understand the issue better, I eventually came to the conclusion that fair use seems like a pretty implausible defense for a lot of generative AI products, for the basic reason that they can create substitutes that compete with the data they’re trained on. I’ve written up the more detailed reasons for why I believe this in my post. Obviously, I’m not a lawyer, but I still feel like it’s important for even non-lawyers to understand the law — both the letter of it, and also why it’s actually there in the first place.”

    He then made a lengthy post on his personal blog outlining why he thinks OpenAI violates Fair Use. Four weeks later he was dead.

    Balaji, who grew up in Cupertino, California, studied computer science at UC Berkeley – telling the Times that he wanted to use AI to help society.

    “I thought we could invent some kind of scientist that could help solve them,” he told the outlet.

    But in 2022, after two years with OpenAI, Balaji grew concerned over the data he was assigned to gather for the company’s GPT-4 program, which was trained on virtually the entire internet. He told the Times that this violated US “fair use” laws.

    “Microsoft and OpenAI simply take the work product of reporters, journalists, editorial writers, editors and others who contribute to the work of local newspapers — all without any regard for the efforts, much less the legal rights, of those who create and publish the news on which local communities rely,” the Times said in its lawsuit.

    OpenAI has refuted the claims, saying all of its work is covered under fair use.

    “We see immense potential for AI tools like ChatGPT to deepen publishers’ relationships with readers and enhance the news experience,” the company said.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 12/15/2024 – 21:35

  • Cold Shoulder: Democrats Ignore Tulsi Gabbard's Request To Meet
    Cold Shoulder: Democrats Ignore Tulsi Gabbard’s Request To Meet

    Authored by Phillip Wegmann via American Greatness,

    The return of Tulsi Gabbard to Capitol Hill began with breakfast in the Senate dining room courtesy of Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, followed by back-to-back meetings with other Republicans, all of whom were happy to welcome the former Hawaii Democrat and discuss her nomination to lead the U.S. intelligence community.

    But members of her old political party, including one-time House colleagues, largely ignored her. It’s still early in the process, but Gabbard has been unable to schedule a single meeting with Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee.

    Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, outgoing chairman of the committee, has not responded to her requests for a meeting, according to a source directly familiar with Gabbard’s efforts. Others have replied to her outreach but remain hesitant about putting anything on the books. At least one Democrat scheduled a sit-down this week only to abruptly cancel.

    The cold shoulder comes nearly a month after President-elect Donald Trump picked Gabbard to be his director of national intelligence, two years after she quit a Democratic Party that she called “an elitist cabal of warmongers,” and immediately after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria.

    Gabbard met with the now-deposed dictator twice in 2017 while on a “fact-finding mission” to the war-torn country. These meetings proved to be an impediment when she ran for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 2020.

    “What do you say to Democratic voters who watched you go over there, and what do you say to military members who have been deployed repeatedly in Syria, pushing back against Assad?” Kasie Hunt asked two years later during an MSNBC interview.

    Gabbard replied that U.S. troops deployed there “without understanding what the clear mission or objective is.”

    Gabbard added that Assad was “not the enemy of the United States because Syria does not pose a direct threat to the United States.” Hillary Clinton promptly accused Gabbard, then a major in the Hawaii National Guard, of being a “Russian asset.”

    The Republicans who will control the Senate next year do not see the meeting with Assad eight years ago as disqualifying or insurmountable. Despite the suggestion of Democrats such as Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who recently worried that Gabbard “couldn’t pass a background check,” Republicans point out that as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves, Gabbard already has a top-secret security clearance. More than 250 military veterans co-signed a letter published Monday endorsing her as “a warrior whose vote cannot be bought.”

    Trump remains unbothered by the meeting with Assad. Asked by NBC News if the meeting “compromises her,” the president-elect all but rolled his eyes. “I met with Putin,” he said of the Russian president now sheltering the Syrian dictator. “I met with President Xi of China. I met with Kim Jong-un twice. Does that mean that I can’t be president?”

    Nonetheless, Gabbard will be grilled about her Syria meeting. Defense hawks, Republicans and Democrats alike, are expected to press her for details in committee and challenge her foreign policy views that some have described as “isolationist.” Allies of the president-elect prefer the term “America First.” And it is increasingly the new orthodoxy among a GOP base wary and weary of overseas entanglements.

    There is some evidence that skepticism of a muscular foreign policy has gained traction among younger Democrats and independents in the last four or five years. When Hillary Clinton questioned Gabbard’s logic and loyalty, Gabbard punched back. In a series of tweets, she called the former secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee “the queen of warmongers” and “personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party.”

    Upstart presidential candidate Andrew Yang took Gabbard’s side. “Tulsi Gabbard deserves much more respect and thanks than this,” Yang tweeted. “She literally just got back from serving our country abroad.”

    As Gabbard made the rounds Monday, the nominee mostly ignored shouted questions from reporters. The only public statement Gabbard made was a reiteration of the Trump policy announced over the weekend that the U.S. would stay out of Syria.

    “My own views and experiences have been shaped by my multiple deployments and seeing firsthand the cost of war and the threat of Islamist terrorism,” Gabbard said.

    “It’s one of the many reasons why I appreciate President Trump’s leadership and his election where he is fully committed, as he has said over and over, to bringing about an end to wars, demonstrating peace through strength, and putting the national security interests and the safety, security, and freedom of the American people, first and foremost.”

    Gabbard would oversee a vast intelligence apparatus if confirmed, a role of tremendous influence and significant authority over presidential intel briefings and issues of declassification. Sympatico with Trump, she has already earned support from very different corners of the GOP. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a skeptic of foreign intervention, endorsed her last month as did the much more hawkish South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who previously served in the same Army reserve unit with the nominee.

    She still holds out hope for Democratic support. The Senate Intelligence Committee, which prides itself on bipartisanship, unanimously advanced the nomination of Avril Haines, President Biden’s director of national intelligence, before the Senate confirmed her 84-10.

    But Gabbard isn’t starting from scratch. She knows at least one member of the committee already. New York Sen. Kristen Gillibrand, who now sits on the intel committee, once campaigned on behalf of Gabbard and called the then-little-known Hawaii politician “a rising star.”

    Republicans now lay claim to the lapsed Democrat, and the president-elect sees in Gabbard an opportunity to cement the political “realignment” that he heralded after winning the election.

    While Trump locked down the Republican faithful, he won the election by expanding his base to include what his longtime pollster John McLaughlin calls “disaffected Democrats.” These voters jumped ship, like Gabbard, and became MAGA converts, also like Gabbard. The question as Trump begins his second term, and as Republicans look to the next election without him atop the ticket, is whether the GOP can keep them.

    “Right now, these Trump voters, the Republican Party is just renting them,” McLaughlin told RealClearPolitics. Putting an ex-Democrat like Gabbard in a Republican cabinet, he said, would go a long way toward making those voters “permanent.”

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 12/15/2024 – 21:00

  • Trump Considers Privatizing US Postal Service That Lost $9.5 Billion In FY2024
    Trump Considers Privatizing US Postal Service That Lost $9.5 Billion In FY2024

    Donald Trump is fired up about finally giving the money-losing US Postal Service its long-overdue shove into the private sector, according to three sources who talked to the Washington Post. 

    Trump is said to have discussed the idea with Howard Lutnick, who’s co-chairing his transition team and who’s been tapped to serve as Commerce secretary in the new administration. He also held a meeting with various transition officials to exchange thoughts on privatization of the huge organization. Separately, the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, has held its own discussions about drastic action. 

    After watching generation after generation pour taxpayer dollars into the rolling dumpster fire that is the USPS, Trump wants to finally make it someone else’s problem (KJAS.com via Beech Grove Fire Department)

    Last month, USPS disclosed that it posted a net loss of $9.5 billion for the 2024 fiscal year — a loss that was 46% worse than the service’s $6.5 billion deficit in 2023. The plunge came alongside a slight uptick in revenue enabled by the latest annual increase in postage rates, pursuant to the 2021 Delivering for America plan. That program was supposed to help the perennially-profitless behemoth “achieve financial sustainability and service excellence.” The service also has a crummy balance sheet, with nearly $80 billion in liabilities. 

    The USPS “profit” in 2022 was a mirage resulting from the repeal of a requirement to prepay future retiree health benefits, and the cancellation of past-due prefunding obligations (chart via Washington Post)

    After reviewing the numbers, Trump stated his opinion that the Postal Service shouldn’t be subsidized by the government, the Post’s sources said. Casey Mulligan, a University of Chicago economics professor who served on Trump’s Council of Economic Advisers, tells the Post it’s time for a major change:  

    “The government is slow, slow, slow — decades slow on adopting new ways of doing things, and there’s a lot of [other] carrier services that became legal in the ’70s that are doing things so much better with increased volumes and reduced costs. We didn’t finish the job in the first term, but we should finish it now.”

    USPS recorded a 40.7% year-over-year decline in priority mail volume during the third quarter of the 2024 fiscal year

    The Postal Service is politically powerful — starting with its raw headcount: While you may not guess it given the long lines that typify a visit to a post office, USPS has a staggering 650,000 employees, who become  very active whenever privatization gains momentum. It’s also popular among Americans — 72% view it favorably, compared just 21% who view it unfavorably, according to a 2024 Pew Research poll. 

    Meanwhile, though a belief in small government is supposedly a GOP cornerstone, the postal service is particularly valued by people living in rural, Republican districts. Earlier this month, Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley angrily confronted Postmaster General Louis DeJoy over a plan to save costs by slowing delivery for some mail, something that would affect rural areas more than urban ones. “I hate this plan and I’m going to do everything I can to kill it,” said Hawley in a Senate hearing.   

    USPS workers held a preemptive Pittsburgh protest in 2018 to ward off a potential privatization move by Trump’s first administration (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

    In addition to having GOP control of the Senate and the House in the next legislature, Trump is positioned to fill three vacancies on the Postal Service’s 11-member board. (Biden has submitted nominees, but you can expect the Senate to ignore them through Jan 20.) Of the incumbents, three are Republicans, with two of them appointed by Trump in his first term. 

    Even if privatization doesn’t happen, Trump’s mere threat of pursuing it could help drive changes to the organization. As the Lexington Institute‘s Paul Steilder tells the Post… 

    “At the end of the day, the Postal Service is going to need money, it’s going to need assistance, or it’s going to have to come up with some radical, draconian measures to break even in the near term. That gives both the White House and Congress an awful lot of power and an awful lot of leeway here.”

    Sound good on paper…but, as evidenced by the “profit”-and-loss chart above, Congress has long shown a lack of urgency about seeing the USPS “break even in the near term.” Even with a president who’s fired about it — for now — we’re not convinced it will be any different this time. 

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 12/15/2024 – 20:25

  • This Week's Fed Meeting Is Barely On The Radar Screen
    This Week’s Fed Meeting Is Barely On The Radar Screen

    By Peter Tchir of Academy Securities

    It is unusual to say that I don’t really care that much about the FOMC meeting, but I don’t. Everything seems incredibly well telegraphed coming into this meeting.

    • Markets are pricing in a 93% chance of a 25 bp cut. We will get it.
    • Markets are pricing in an 87% chance of no cut in January. We won’t get a cut.

    The Fed tends not to deviate that much from market expectations, and the next two meetings appear pretty cut and dry right now, without some unforeseen large data (or geopolitical) surprises.

    The hawkish sentiment expected is appropriate:

    • The only real weakness in the jobs data recently has been in the often (and rightfully) maligned Household Survey. The margin for error in the Establishment Survey is big enough to drive a truck through it, and the Household Survey margin for error would let you drive a tanker ship (while blindfolded in rough seas) through it. The two surveys often deviate, significantly and over extended periods of time, but if we get any “normalization” we should see unemployment rates decrease in the coming months.
    • Inflation is proving to be sticky. As companies purchase inventory ahead of potential tariffs, we will see inflation remain sticky. Many investors and business owners are seeing the surge in NFIB Small Business Optimism (as one concrete example) and we are likely to see people prepare for that growth, which should keep prices elevated.
    • Seasonality. We have argued that the seasonal adjustments have been off for two main reasons:
      • Shifting demographics. Basically, any upward adjustment for construction in the winter to account for Northeast slowdowns is erroneous now that the bulk of construction has shifted away from that region.
      • Including COVID-era data. The timing of COVID lockdowns and re-openings has been included in the data and tends to create adjustments that overstate the strength of the economy in the winter and understate it in the summer.
    • So seasonal adjustments should contribute to (artificially) higher inflation and jobs data in the coming months. It won’t be as impactful as last year, or the year before, but it will be a factor and will “manufacture” or “create” data that keeps the Fed on the sidelines.

    Even the Neutral Rate seems to have settled into around 3.75% towards the end of 2025, which is hard to argue with (I think it should be 4%, but that would be quibbling since we had the move from 2.875% over the past few months). Nothing the Fed says at this presser is likely to move the needle on the neutral rate, since I think they had every intention of getting the market to price it higher, and they have been successful.

    Drones are the 1st Thing I Search For (mostly on X and news sources, not the skies)

    Drones, especially the ones that have been over New Jersey for weeks (but are apparently being seen elsewhere), have become fascinating. Even President-elect Trump tweeted about them (though I’d be shocked if he hasn’t been briefed, or at least had the opportunity to be briefed).

    It is fascinating and makes me think a lot about Twilight Zone episodes (just in time for hopefully some Twilight Zone marathons during the holidays).

    Academy’s Geopolitical Intelligence Group has been discussing them, but so far, nothing conclusive is emerging, which again adds to the “Twilight Zone nature” of this drone phenomenon.

    As we get info that can be shared (and we have a high degree of faith in its accuracy), I’m sure we will send out a SITREP, but in the meantime, everyone is left speculating. However, while the rough consensus is that these are almost certainly ours, we aren’t really sure why the details aren’t being released (especially when there is so much curiosity).

    Some Trump 1.5 Pleasant “Surprises”

    Two things struck me as very interesting in the past week. I would say “out of character,” but they aren’t really out of character once you think about them.

    Inviting Xi to the inauguration. Given all the rhetoric about China, unfair practices, tariffs, etc., it was easy to be surprised by this invitation. But that’s only because “we” forgot to account for how much Trump believes he can influence people in personal meetings. It is very interesting, though in the back of my mind, this time seems “different.” According to a few of our GIG members, he feels strongly that Xi failed to live up to promises on the purchases of certain agricultural products.

    Getting rid of Daylight-Saving Time. I don’t think it was a campaign promise, but who doesn’t agree with the idea of keeping it lighter later in the day? Let’s remember not to forget that Trump wants people to like him, so why wouldn’t he embrace something that very few people would seem to disagree with (and I really can’t think of the reasons to disagree with this).
    In the meantime, while President Biden is still the president and making headlines of his own, it is pretty clear that wherever possible, people have moved on to positioning themselves for the new Trump administration. Hence our use of the term – “Trump 1.5.”

    I still expect some “chaos” as Trump thrives (or believes he thrives) in chaotic environments and things seem to be a little too complacent right now.

    How High Can Yields Go?

    While I don’t care that much about this week’s FOMC, I do care a lot about where longer dated yields are headed.

    • I haven’t liked how the moves to higher yields have generally been unidirectional (if that is a word). Despite all the positive messaging from DOGE, there is renewed concern about the path of the deficit.
    • I did enjoy Treasury Secretary Yellen expressing “regret” that they didn’t do more to contain the deficit, since it wasn’t very apparent that any time was spent on trying to control the deficit. Until the voters make it clear that the deficit scares them (and I don’t really think that was part of the message that voters sent at this election), both sides will continue to spend, because it generally helps them.
    • If we are correct on inflation, jobs, and seasonal effects, there are some more problems out there for the rates market. We thought 4.4% and higher in the aftermath of the election was overdone and highly susceptible to a short squeeze. I don’t see that right now (and we haven’t seen it since it was at 4.2%). If anything, while we have been steadfast that the risk of a gap higher of 50 bps is far more likely than a similar gap to lower yields, we must take our range up to the 4.4% to 4.6% area on 10s.

    Bearish the longer end of the yield curve (10s through 30s), though we will see how the market responds here to what seems like resistance.

    Refine Baby Refine

    While guest hosting on Bloomberg TV Tuesday morning (link), I was able to ask Ellen Wald (an energy expert) about not just “drill baby drill,” but also about refining (starts at the 36:25 mark).

    Her response fit perfectly into a couple of our themes:

    • We need to not just focus on the extraction of commodities, but also on the processing!
      • She did say that “Refine Baby Refine” would be a more important goal for the U.S. (citing that under 20% of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve can be refined in the United States).
    • Challenging NIMBY (not in my backyard) and reviewing regulations that were put in place when we were the sole superpower (economically and militarily) and the world seemed to be on course for further globalization, rather than deglobalization with a series of hot wars!

    I think that betting on infrastructure and anything critical that we are required to extract from the earth (and process), especially in areas of importance to the nation’s ability to be independent of foreign suppliers, will do very well in the coming year. Yes, the stock market is all about a handful of stocks again, but we think that this thesis will be our biggest recommendation to start the new year.

    Crypto

    We spent time on this in last weekend’s The Genius of Mariah Carey, but I think I have underestimated how much higher this can all go.

    • The donations were so big and so one-sided that they definitely contributed significantly to the win. That is unlikely to be ignored. The wealth being created in the crypto space allows for even bigger donations going forward. I had thought about that, but was convinced by one of our advisory board members that I was heavily underestimating the power that this donation base currently provides to the administration. It does seem a bit like a Twilight Zone episode, but it is a convincing argument (and the administration is filled with crypto advocates).
    • Trump can control it. We’ve argued that Trump likes things that he can “control” and if his goal is to have it go higher (and that appears to be his goal) then he certainly can do a lot to make it go higher. He can probably do a lot more to move the price of Bitcoin significantly (in a direction of his choosing) than he can with the dollar! While I think over time he won’t have that connection, I’m probably wrong that the timing is any time soon.

    Not sure I can make myself buy up here. Virtually every historical use case has failed, except that now the “limited supply” theme seems to be helping it rise. I have to admit, the “digital gold” rebranding is also interesting as advocates beg big governments to adopt it as a reserve asset.

    Maybe I can convince myself to add some ETH to the portfolio? Logically I struggle with the value proposition, but this market has always been about flow and adoption, and it seems to be on their side right now.

    Bottom Line

    The FOMC will be boring, but that won’t stop 10-year yields from rising further.

    Stocks have had almost no breadth, we’ve seen some valuations hit extreme levels, and we just had the Nasdaq 100 rebalancing announced, etc., but it is difficult to fight especially when a major player in the chip industry can still surprise the market to the point that it had a record setting rise (for them) which was big enough to drag that entire sector of the market higher. As a contrarian, it is difficult to judge sentiment and positioning when so many people seem checked out, so keep looking for some trading ranges, and wait for a real “consensus” type of trade as we near the new year. I think (officially) the Santa rally starts this week.

    I will “refine” the “refine baby refine” viewpoint as I do think that could be the best risk/reward theme out there, if we can identify it properly.

    Credit, boring. I cannot say that I like it here and now, but spreads still seem unlikely to do much. I will stick to my argument that I do NOT like credit on an all-in yield basis, and investors should still be reducing their yield exposure, while corporations should take advantage of the ongoing window to issue more!

    Crypto, feels like another pump and dump, but this pump seems like it could have a lot more legs to it.

    Have a great week, and we can only hope that we find out what all these drones are up to sooner rather than later as, to quote Rod Serling: “So, if you’re ever feeling like you’ve entered a strange new world, just remember, you might have crossed into
.the Twilight Zone.”

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 12/15/2024 – 19:50

  • Bird Or Drone? Mystery Behind What Struck AAL Flight 1722 During Departure From NYC
    Bird Or Drone? Mystery Behind What Struck AAL Flight 1722 During Departure From NYC

    An American Airlines flight departing from LaGuardia and bound for Charlotte, North Carolina, was forced to make an emergency landing at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Thursday night after what authorities described as a “bird strike” that caused an engine fire. However, given the ongoing mystery of drone sightings in the New Jersey-New York City airspace, one can’t help but wonder…

    American Airlines flight AAL1722 departed LaGuardia on Thursday night en route to Charlotte and suffered what authorities said was a bird strike on departure. A spokesperson for the airline said none of the 190 passengers or six crew members were hurt during the incident. 

    According to NBC New York, the plane landed without incident at JFK minutes later. 

    A verified video of the incident from a passenger’s smartphone shows the moment an object was sucked into one of the plane’s jet engines. 

    NBC New York cited a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration that explained the object was, in fact, a “bird.” 

    However, not everyone was convinced. 

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    Meteorologist John Basham wrote on X, “Freeze Frames Appear To Show A POSSIBLE DRONE, Not A Bird.” 

    Hmm.

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    “Looks Too Big To Be A Bird. I’d Love For @AmericanAir To Post Images Of The Damage To The Engine. If There Was A Bird Strike, I’d Expect To See Biological Remnants,” Basham pointed out.

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    Thursday night’s incident comes amid exploding mass hysteria surrounding drone sightings in the area. Some speculate the drones may be part of the government’s nuclear drone sniffer taskforce, while others suggest it could be a psyop.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 12/15/2024 – 19:15

  • Abu Mohammad al-Julani: Putting Lipstick On A Pig
    Abu Mohammad al-Julani: Putting Lipstick On A Pig

    Via The Cradle

    Just in time for the Al-Qaeda offshoot Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s (HTS) lightning conquest of Syria, a western PR campaign was launched to rebrand the terror group’s leader, Abu Mohammad al-Julani. 

    The BBC assured their readers that Julani, now commonly referred to as Ahmed al-Sharaa – which is his real name – had “reinvented himself,” while the Telegraph insisted that the former deputy to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is now “diversity friendly.”

    On December 6, just days before entering the capital Damascus, Julani sat down with CNN journalist Jomana Karadsheh for an exclusive interview to explain his past.

    “Julani says he has gone through episodes of transformation through the years,” CNN wrote, after he assured Karadsheh “no one has the right to eliminate” Syria’s Alawites, Christians, and Druze.”

    But why was Julani so eager to convince the American public that he had no plans to exterminate Syria’s religious minorities? This question looms larger when recalling the massacre of 190 Alawites in Latakia on August 4, 2013, and the taking of hundreds more as captives. 

    Back then, militants from HTS (then the Nusra Front), ISIS, and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) attacked 10 villages, slaughtering civilians in ways documented by Human Rights Watch: gunshot wounds, stabbings, decapitations, and charred remains. “Some corpses were found in a state of complete charring, and others had their feet tied,” the report stated.

    Another useful US asset 

    Fast forward to recent years, and Julani’s “transformation” seems less about repentance and more about utility. Despite HTS remaining on the US terror list – and an American bounty of $10 million reserved for Julani himself – former US special envoy to Syria, James Jeffrey, described the group as a strategic “asset” for US operations in Syria. 

    Under the guise of countering extremism, Washington pursued a dual strategy: enforcing crushing economic sanctions on Syria – of the sort that killed 500,000 Iraqi children in the 1990s –  while ensuring its wheat-abundant and oil-rich regions remain under US control. 

    Ambassador Jeffrey admitted to PBS in March 2021 that Julani’s HTS was the “least bad option of the various options on Idlib, and Idlib is one of the most important places in Syria, which is one of the most important places right now in the Middle East.”

    But how did Julani ascend to power in Idlib? His Nusra Front spearheaded the 2015 conquest under the banner of Jaish al-Fatah (the Army of Conquest), a coalition that combined Nusra suicide bombers with Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters equipped with CIA-supplied TOW missiles. Foreign Policy hailed the campaign’s swift progress, crediting this synergy of jihadists and western arms.

    Years later, US official Brett McGurk would label Idlib “the largest Al-Qaeda safe haven since 9/11.” Yet, the crucial role of US weapons and strategic aid in this outcome went unmentioned. 

    Assistance from Tel Aviv and Brussels too 

    This assistance extended beyond arms: the Financial Times (FT) reported that in response, EU foreign ministers “lifted an oil embargo against Syria to allow rebels to sell crude to fund their operation.” 

    While the FSA claimed control of the oil fields, activists openly acknowledged that the Nusra Front was the true beneficiary, trucking barrels to Turkiye for refining or export to Europe. The arrangement netted Nusra millions before ISIS seized the fields a year later.

    Academic and Syria expert Joshua Landis noted the importance of controlling the oil fields, explaining that “Whoever gets their hands on the oil, water, and agriculture holds Sunni Syria by the throat” and that “the logical conclusion from this craziness is that Europe will be funding Al-Qaeda.”

    Behind the scenes, western and regional powers facilitated Julani’s ascent. Israeli airstrikes supported Nusra during clashes with Syrian forces, while outgoing Israeli Army Chief Gadi Eisenkot admitted to supplying “light weapons” to rebel groups – essentially acknowledging what the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) had been reporting for years to “discredit the rebels as stooges of the Zionists.”

    Previous reports in the Wall Street Journal showed that Israel had for years provided humanitarian and medical aid to “rebels” in southern Syria, including by bringing Nusra fighters across the border into Israel for treatment. 

    In an interview with The American Conservative in border village Beit Jinn, militants revealed that Israel had been paying salaries – to the tune of $200,000 per month – for the entire year before HTS troops were expelled from the area by the SAA and fled to Idlib.

    Meanwhile, the US oversaw a “cataract of weaponry” to Syria’s opposition, as described by the New York Times. Though publicly earmarked for the FSA, these arms frequently ended up in Nusra’s hands.

    Julani’s meteoric rise began years earlier, seeded by his ties to Al-Qaeda in Iraq and its Jordanian leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The latter, whose activities conveniently justified the US invasion of Iraq, operated with tacit US acknowledgment. 

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    Julani followed a similar trajectory, emerging as a key player in the Nusra Front, which conducted bombings in Damascus and other cities in 2011 and 2012, with attacks initially misattributed to the Syrian government.

    A salafist principality

    Why did the EU choose to “fund Al-Qaeda” by dropping oil sanctions? Why did the US provide a “cataract of weaponry” to Nusra?

    An August 2012 Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) report revealed that the US and its regional allies supported the establishment of a “Salafist principality” in eastern Syria and western Iraq as part of the effort to depose president Bashar al-Assad and divide the country.

    The DIA report said a radical religious mini-state exactly of the sort later established by ISIS as its “caliphate” was the US goal, even while admitting that the so-called Syrian revolution seeking to topple Assad’s government was being driven by “Salafists, the Muslim Brotherhood, and al-Qaeda.”

    The seeds of the Salafist principality were planted when late ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi dispatched Julani to Syria in August 2011 – at that time, Baghdadi’s group was known as the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI).

    Prominent Lebanese journalist Radwan Mortada, who was embedded with Al-Qaeda fighters from Lebanon in Syria, met Julani in the central Syrian city of Homs at this time. Mortada informs The Cradle that Julani was being hosted by the Farouq Brigades, an FSA faction based in the city.

    Contrary to media reports, Farouq commanders insisted the group was not comprised of defectors from the Syrian army. Instead, they said Farouq was a sectarian Salafist group that included fighters who had fought for Zarqawi’s Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) after the 2003 US invasion. 

    A few months later, Julani and his fighters secretly entered the war against the Syrian government by carrying out multiple terror attacks. In Damascus on December 23, 2011, Julani sent suicide bombers to target the General Security Directorate in Damascus, killing 44, including civilians and security personnel.

    Two weeks later, on 6 January 2012, Julani sent another suicide bomber to detonate explosives near a bus in the Midan district of Damascus, killing some 26 people.

    The establishment of the “Support Front for the People of the Levant,” or the Nusra Front, was revealed after a videotape was provided to journalist Mortada showing Julani and other masked men announcing the group’s existence and claiming responsibility for the attacks, which opposition activists had blamed on the Syrian government itself.

    The great prison release

    Julani’s rise, however, was facilitated years earlier. In what has been dubbed the “Great Prison Release of 2009,” the US military freed 5,700 high-security detainees from Bucca Prison in Iraq. Among these was Julani, alongside future ISIS leaders like Baghdadi. Craig Whiteside of the US Naval War College described Camp Bucca as “America’s Jihadi University,” emphasizing the role of these releases in revitalizing the Islamic State of Iraq – which had been nearly defeated by Sunni tribal uprisings.

    “The United States is often unjustly blamed for many things that are wrong in this world, but the revitalization of ISIL [ISIS] and its incubation in our own Camp Bucca is something that Americans truly own,” Whiteside wrote. 

    “The Iraqi government has many enemies, and the United States helped put many of them out on the street in 2009. Why?” Whiteside wondered, not realizing they would be sent to Syria as part of the US’s covert war to topple Bashar al-Assad.

    More alarming today is the prospect of HTS releasing thousands of ISIS fighters from US–Kurdish prisons in Syria’s north to expand their ranks. It wouldn’t be the first time. This past July, American-backed Kurds released around 1,500 ISIS prisoners from detention camps, which the US military describes as an ISIS “army in waiting.”

    The question of who Abu Mohammad al-Julani is – his motivations, ideologies, and transformations – is ultimately less important than what he represents. Over the past two decades, one fact remains consistent: Julani is a tool of US and Israeli strategy.

    From his early days in Iraq to his rise as the leader of the Nusra Front and later HTS, Julani has played a pivotal role in advancing the geopolitical interests of his benefactors. Whether branded a terrorist or a “blazer-wearing” moderate, his actions have consistently served as a means to destabilize Syria and the wider West Asian region. 

    Julani’s “reinvention” is no more than a veneer designed to mask the enduring reality of his role: a strategic asset in a game where ideology is secondary to power.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 12/15/2024 – 18:40

  • Jordan Peterson Flees "Totalitarian Hellhole" Canada For U.S. Due To Censorship, Taxes
    Jordan Peterson Flees “Totalitarian Hellhole” Canada For U.S. Due To Censorship, Taxes

    There were a number of celebrities claiming they’d move to Canada if President Trump was re-elected, but now there’s one Canadian who’s doing the opposite.

    World famous psychologist Jordan Peterson has said Canada is turning into a “totalitarian hellhole” by suppressing free speech and has fled Canada as a result, according to the New York Post.

    In a recent episode of his daughter’s podcast, Peterson revealed he moved to the U.S. due to Canada’s contentious Bill C-63 and his dispute with the College of Psychologists of Ontario.

    Bill C-63, the Online Harms Act, seeks to curb hate speech by holding social media platforms accountable for reducing harmful content.

    Peterson said: “The issue with the College of Psychologists is very annoying, to say the least, and the new legislation that the liberals are attempting to push through, Bill C-63, we’d all be living in a totalitarian hellhole if it passes.”

    The New York Post writes that the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association warned the bill could lead to wrongful convictions, while others criticized it for allowing complaints based on mere “fear” of a hate crime. In response, the Canadian government recently decided to split the bill into two parts, separating free speech concerns from child protection measures.

    Meanwhile, Jordan Peterson, facing criticism for his views on transgenderism, racism, and COVID-19, remains at odds with the College of Psychologists of Ontario. The college threatened to revoke his license unless he completes social media re-education training—a decision upheld by Canada’s Supreme Court in August after Peterson’s appeal was dismissed.

    Peterson also cited Canada’s high cost of living under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as a factor in his decision to leave.

    “The tax situation is out of hand,” he concluded. “The government in Canada at the federal level is incompetent beyond belief, and it’s become uncomfortable for me in my neighborhood in Toronto.”

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 12/15/2024 – 18:05

  • Israel To Deploy Remote Automated Weapons In West Bank For First Time
    Israel To Deploy Remote Automated Weapons In West Bank For First Time

    Via Middle East Eye

    The Israeli military is preparing to deploy remotely controlled automated weapons across occupied West Bank checkpoints to target Palestinians, according to a report by the Israeli Army Radio on Sunday.

    The system, named “Roeh-Yoreh” (“See-Fires”), is an advanced weaponry structure developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. It includes a tower with sophisticated surveillance equipment and a remote-controlled lethal fire mechanism. 

    AFP: Israeli soldier looks out from a watch tower at the Qalandia checkpoint between the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem.

    Since its introduction into the Israeli military arsenal in 2008, the system has been exclusively used in Gaza, where it was deployed along the security fence to target Palestinians approaching the barrier. 

    According to Army Radio, the move to use the system in the West Bank comes despite its limited effectiveness in repelling the Hamas-led October 7 attacks out of Gaza. 

    In the early hours of the assault, Hamas used drones to hit the tower-mounted weapons, disabling them with ease and allowing fighters to cross the boundary into Israel. 

    The Israeli military plans to deploy dozens of Roeh-Yoreh systems in strategic locations across the West Bank, including settlement entrances and key control points, according to the report.

    The goal, it added, was to prevent armed attacks and infiltrations into illegal Israeli settlements. The manufacturing of these systems for the West Bank has already begun. 

    Initially, they will be installed at high-risk locations by the Israeli military, with plans to expand deployment to additional sites.

    According to the report, the 636 Reconnaissance Unit of the West Bank Division will operate the systems, amid rising Israeli concerns about growing security threats in the territory. 

    Around 700,000 Israeli settlers live in roughly 300 illegal settlements in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, which have been constructed since they were captured by Israel in the 1967 war. Under international law, settlement construction in an occupied territory is illegal.

    Remote weapons system at Gaza fence. Some of these reportedly failed during the Oct.7 terror attack by Hamas.

    Since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October last year, violence by the army and settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank has skyrocketed. 

    At least 800 Palestinians from the West Bank have been killed by Israeli fire since the war began, with around 6,500 more wounded, according to Palestinian health officials. 

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 12/15/2024 – 17:30

  • Police In China Test Indestructible Ball Shaped Robot That Can "Identify And Chase Suspects"
    Police In China Test Indestructible Ball Shaped Robot That Can “Identify And Chase Suspects”

    Move over, BB-8: police in China are now testing a ball-shaped robot that “can identify and chase suspects” for the first time. 

    The spherical police robot in Wenzhou, China, features cameras, flashing lights, and a self-stabilizing design, according to the South China Morning Post. Equipped with tools like tear gas, it supports law enforcement and “cannot be smashed”.

    Authorities say it is also “resilient in hostile environments.”

    Developed by Zhejiang University’s College of Control Science and Engineering, the 125kg spherical robot addresses challenges faced by wheeled and legged robots. According to Associate Professor Wang You, it can reach a top speed of 35km/h in just 2.5 seconds, Wenzhou Daily reported.

    Wang You said: “This robot can cope with dangers such as falling or being beaten, and can perform tactical actions such as enemy identification, tracking and capture after modular modification.”

    “Because it can complete tasks in hostile environments, it can make up for the deficiencies of [Wenzhou police] drones and robot dogs,” Wang added. 

    The SCMP writes that the spherical robot remains functional even under attack, navigating crowds and harsh environments with ease. Equipped with speakers, net guns, and tear-gas sprayers, it enhances patrol efficiency and crisis response.

    The robot is part of China’s push for hi-tech innovation in policing. In March, the Ministries of Public Security and Industry issued a call for robot applications in areas like patrols, border defense, and evidence collection.

    Examples of robot use will be showcased later for promotion in future initiatives. This week, Chengdu police deployed robots in commercial areas to prevent mob violence. In a simulated fight, a robot flashed lights, announced, “Win the fight, go to jail; lose the fight, go to the hospital,” and alerted nearby officers via text.

    What could go wrong?

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 12/15/2024 – 16:55

  • Pelosi Recovering After Hip Surgery In Europe
    Pelosi Recovering After Hip Surgery In Europe

    Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times,

    Former House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) underwent hip replacement surgery in Europe on Dec. 14, according to her spokesperson, who said the California Democrat is well on her way to recovery.

    “Earlier this morning, Speaker Emerita Pelosi underwent a successful hip replacement and is well on the mend,” Pelosi’s spokesman Ian Krager said in a statement Saturday morning.

    The spokesman conveyed Pelosi’s gratitude to U.S. military staff at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC) in Germany and to medical staff at Hospital Kirchberg in Luxembourg for their “excellent care and kindness.” LRMC is the largest American military hospital outside the United States, while Hospital Kirchberg is a civilian hospital providing a range of medical services. It’s not clear at which facility Pelosi was operated on.

    “Speaker Pelosi is enjoying the overwhelming outpouring of prayers and well wishes and is ever determined to ensure access to quality health care for all Americans,” the spokesperson added.

    A day prior, Krager announced that Pelosi sustained an injury while on an official engagement as part of a bipartisan congressional delegation in Luxembourg and had to be hospitalized. He did not provide any further details about the injury but noted that Pelosi was receiving “excellent treatment” and “continues to work.”

    Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), who joined the trip, shared on social media that he was “praying for a speedy recovery” for Pelosi. A group photo taken Friday at the U.S. Embassy in Luxembourg showed the two lawmakers holding hands.

    “I’m disappointed Speaker Emerita Pelosi won’t be able to join the rest of our delegation’s events this weekend as I know how much she looked forward to honoring our veterans. But she is strong, and I am confident she will be back on her feet in no time,” McCaul wrote.

    McCaul is leading the congressional delegation. Participants plan to take part in commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge in both Luxembourg and Belgium, along with veterans and their families, active duty service members, government and military officials, and foreign dignitaries.

    Over a career spanning seven presidential administrations, Pelosi has been a prominent figure in Washington. She first served as House speaker from 2007 to 2011 and again in 2019 after Democrats regained control of the House in the 2018 midterm elections.

    In November, Pelosi secured reelection in California’s 11th Congressional District, which includes most of San Francisco. The victory marked Pelosi’s 20th term in the House of Representatives. She stepped down as House speaker in 2023 but continues to serve in the chamber.

    Pelosi also played a pivotal role in passing President Joe Biden’s sweeping $1 trillion infrastructure bill in 2022.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 12/15/2024 – 16:20

  • Dramatic Video Shows Black Sea Storm Splitting Russian Oil Tanker In Half
    Dramatic Video Shows Black Sea Storm Splitting Russian Oil Tanker In Half

    Two Russian oil tankers sustained severe damage in heavy seas in the Kerch Strait, a strait in Eastern Europe that connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov.

    The Telegraph reports that the Volgoneft-212 tanker and Volgoneft-239 were damaged near Moscow-annexed Crimea, with one of the vessels breaking apart, killing at least one sailor, and causing an oil spill.

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    Additional reporting from the Telegraph:

    Russian investigators opened two criminal cases to look into possible “safety violations” after at least one person was killed when the 136-metre Volgoneft 212 tanker, with 15 people on board, split in half with its bow sinking, footage published by state media showed, with waves washing over its deck.

    The Russian-flagged vessel, built in 1969, was damaged and had run aground, officials said.

    “There was a spill of petroleum products,” said Russia’s water transport agency, Rosmorrechflot.

    A second Russian-flagged ship, the 132-metre Volgoneft 239, was drifting after sustaining damage, the emergency ministry said. It has a crew of 14 people and was built in 1973.

    Both tankers have a loading capacity of about 4,200 tonnes oil products.

    “Two Russian tankers carrying fuel oil — Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239 — are sinking in the Kerch Strait,” Belarusian media outlet NEXTA wrote on X. 

    This is an unverified video. 

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    On Sunday, President Vladimir Putin ordered Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Savelyev to lead a rescue mission for the sailors on board the two tankers and mitigate the fuel spill. This directive was conveyed via the Kremlin’s Telegram channel.

    Ukraine has previously deployed kamikaze stealth boats in the area to attack Russian military vessels. However, Kyiv has not commented on the current situation in the strait.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 12/15/2024 – 15:45

  • "Falling Off A Cliff": This Chart Proves That We Are In A Major Economic Downturn Right Now
    “Falling Off A Cliff”: This Chart Proves That We Are In A Major Economic Downturn Right Now

    Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

    The number of job openings in the United States has been “falling off a cliff”, and that is a major red flag.  

    The last four years have been an economic nightmare for most Americans, and that is one of the primary reasons why Donald Trump won the election.  But as we approach 2025, things are starting to get frighteningly bad.  When the number of job openings in the U.S. drops by 2 million or more, that normally signals that we are either in a recession or that one is about to happen.  Well, as you can see from this chart that was posted by Bravos Research on Twitter, we are witnessing a collapse in job openings that is absolutely unprecedented


    I was floored when I saw that chart.

    I knew that job openings were falling, but I didn’t know that things had gotten this bad.

    Not too long ago, there were about 12 million job openings in the United States.  Unfortunately, here in the second half of 2024 that figure has fallen below 8 million


    There were an estimated 7.4 million unfilled jobs on the last day of September, a drop from August’s revised tally of 7.86 million openings, according to new data released Tuesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The largest drop-offs in openings were in industries that have driven much of the job growth in recent years: health care and social assistance, and government, according to the report.

    Meanwhile, major employers continue to shed workers all over the nation.

    For example, the U.S. lost a total of 78,000 manufacturing jobs during a recent three month period


    The manufacturing sector continued to shed jobs in October, bringing its tally of job losses to 78,000 over the past three months.

    The Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday released its jobs report for October, which found that the manufacturing sector lost 46,000 jobs last month, according to the agency’s preliminary analysis.

    That followed a loss of 6,000 jobs in September, which is also a preliminary figure, as well as a decline of 26,000 jobs in August.

    Every day, there are more layoff announcements in the news, and the number of people filing initial claims for unemployment benefits increased much more than experts were projecting last week


    The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits for the first time jumped significantly last week (from 225k to 242k – well above expectations of 220k) – the highest since the first week of October.

    On an un-adjusted basis, claims exploded higher (highest since January)


    Throughout the second half of this year, I have been arguing that the U.S. economy is rapidly heading in the wrong direction.

    Now we have even more confirmation that this is indeed happening.

    Once we get past the holiday season, retailers are going to be dropping like flies.

    According to the Daily Mail, it appears that Party City could soon be forced to declare bankruptcy


    A major party and craft retailer with 850 stores across the nation is considering filing for bankruptcy.

    Party City has been faced with the possibility of mass closures just a little over a year after the company surfaced from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

    The celebration retailer, known for selling balloons and essential party supplies, is currently behind on rent at some of its locations, people close to the matter told Bloomberg.

    And it is being reported that 670 Family Dollar stores have already been shut down


    Discount behemoth Dollar Tree has shuttered 670 of its underperforming Family Dollar stores so far, about two-thirds of the nearly 1,000 it plans to close, as it considers whether to sell or spin off the struggling chain.

    The Chesapeake, Virginia-based retailer provided an update on its portfolio optimization efforts when it reported is fiscal third-quarter earnings. Dollar Tree officials also said they were still reviewing options for Family Dollar, with no set deadline or timeline to complete that process.

    Overall, thousands upon thousands of retail stores in the U.S. have been shuttered in 2024, and thousands upon thousands will be shuttered in 2025.

    In many areas of the country, the landscape is absolutely littered with once thriving businesses that have now been boarded up.

    More than a decade ago, I warned that we were headed for a future when impoverished areas of the U.S. would be filled with boarded up businesses and abandoned buildings.

    Now we are there.

    On top of everything else, inflation is starting to surge once again, and one recent survey discovered that about a third of all U.S. households have been forced to cut back spending just to keep the lights on


    With the cost of things like food and housing still straining people’s budgets, many U.S. households over the past year have found themselves having to pare their spending on basic necessities just to keep the lights on at home.

    That’s according to a recent Lending Tree study which analyzed U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey data from Aug. 20, 2024 to Sep. 16, 2024 to find the percentage of Americans 18 and older that had cut back on necessary expenses to pay their energy bill, kept their home at an unsafe or unhealthy temperature, or was unable to pay the full amount on an energy bill at least once over the preceding 12 months.

    The study found that more than 34% of respondents said they have had to cut back or skip spending on certain necessary expenses at least once over the past year in order to pay their energy bill.

    As I discussed the other day, prior to the election most Americans believed that we were already in a recession.

    Since the election, conditions have only gotten worse.

    Many are hoping that our economic momentum can be reversed once the new administration takes over.

    We should all be hoping that is true.

    But right now we are on a freight train that is steamrolling in the wrong direction, and that is not good news at all.

    *  *  *

    Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 12/15/2024 – 15:10

  • CNN "Discovers" Syrian Prisoner Left Behind In Gulag – Skeptics Claim Incident Was Staged
    CNN “Discovers” Syrian Prisoner Left Behind In Gulag – Skeptics Claim Incident Was Staged

    Has the establishment media lost their touch when it comes to theatrical propaganda, or is the public becoming more savvy?  CNN’s reputation for accuracy has been extensively damaged over the past several years; their vitriol over Donald Trump and their defense of fraudulent pandemic narratives are often cited as likely contributors to their embarrassing audience losses.  It has gotten to the point where people don’t trust anything the outlet does anymore.

    A recent broadcast by CNN’s chief international correspondent, Clarissa Ward, has come under fire this week from skeptics who claim the outlet “staged” a dramatic encounter with a lone Assad prisoner trapped in a gulag in Damascus who was allegedly kept in a dark cell for years and did not realize the regime had fallen.

    The prisoner, who is found laying under a blanket but looking well dressed, well fed and well groomed, thanks the reporter profusely for saving him, then proceeds to walk outside into the bright daylight without any need to adjust his eyes after his long imprisonment in darkness.

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    “In nearly twenty years as a journalist, this was one of the most extraordinary moments I have witnessed,” Ward wrote on her X page.

    It is fair to say that the interaction comes off as scripted.  If so, this does not necessarily mean that CNN or Clarissa Ward was aware of the strange nature of the prisoner or his story.  They may very well have believed that the man was a real prisoner trapped in a cell without windows and tortured until Assad was deposed.          

    In a June 2021 interview with CBS News, Clarissa Ward, openly expressed her fascination with the Syrian “revolution” and her admiration for anti-government “rebels.”  “Yeah, I mean, you know, I will cop to the fact that I think I crossed the line in Syria. I became so emotionally involved, and I was crushed by the US response and the US policy,” she admitted to host Michael Morell, advocating for more aggressive “regime change” measures beyond the imposition of crippling sanctions.

    CNN was the first Western media to interview Mohammed Al-Jolani, the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a militant group backed by the US and Israel.  The Biden Administration is currently discussing the possibility of removing the HTS terrorist designation.  The US media has invested a considerable amount of positive spin for the Syrian insurgents, and videos like CNN’s report from the prison in Damascus are likely to become commonplace over the next few months. 

    Image management was one of the biggest failures of western intelligence agencies after their initial support for rebel groups in Syria, with many of the same fighters ultimately forming the ISIS terror network and engaging in genocidal activities.  Media reports painted the insurgents as pure patriots ready to die for freedom, until videos began to surface of their horrific actions against minority groups including Syrian Christians.  The question is, why is the establishment so desperate for the public to have a positive opinion of these rebels?        

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 12/15/2024 – 14:35

  • Is Google's Willow Processor A Threat To Bitcoin?
    Is Google’s Willow Processor A Threat To Bitcoin?

    Submitted by QTR’s Fringe Finance

    Just a couple of days ago I wrote a piece reminding readers that, despite looking at bitcoin more favorably the last year or so, it still remains an unprecedented and opaque area of markets where risk could rear its head quickly, unexpectedly, and before chaos in broader equity and bond markets.

    Collectively worth about $3 trillion now, cryptocurrency is like catnip for risk takers right now, I wrote. Then, I looked at the question of quantum computing:

    I’ve also often raised the question of what comes next after SHA-256 hash functions and whether or not Bitcoin will be safe amidst the jump to quantum computing.

    The prevailing sentiment has always been that to protect the Bitcoin network, miners and those invested in developing the network will have to stay on the forefront of technological change and encryption capabilities to ensure the network doesn’t lose a beat as the world of microprocessing advances. The ‘bull case’ thoughts about this risk, at least according to Michael Saylor the last time I talked to him, was that if you had the power to crack SHA-256 encryption right now, there would be much bigger potential targets to go after than the Bitcoin network, seeing as how the very same encryption ensures the integrity of almost all major, consequential defense, military, and government computer networks worldwide.

    Saylor makes a valid point, but as Bitcoin’s market cap grows, so does the incentive to hack or compromise its network. With a $1.8 trillion bounty effectively on the line, the temptation for bad actors increases. Fortunately, Bitcoin’s network is built with significant redundancy and safeguards, but the true risks, especially from quantum computing, will only become clear as technology advances.

    And in my original case for being less skeptical on bitcoin, out in Spring of this year, I made note of the quantum computing risk I have always mentioned when discussing bitcoin. I wrote:

    It’s like the potential impact of quantum computing—I’ve heard both sides of that case and have pretty much acquiesced to the position that it’s a bridge we will have to cross when we get to it.

    Finally, back in 2021, in a debate between Peter Schiff and (now indicted) Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky, quantum computing was asked and answered in the same fashion, with the prevailing sentiment being ‘we’ll get to it when we get to it’:

    When talking about quantum computing, Mashinsky admits that bitcoin is going to have to be modified over the next decade as quantum computing advances. No one knows what those advancements or changes will look like and who is to say whether the bitcoin you buy today will adhere to the same rules and same mathematical certainties it will after such a modification is made.

    Well, to make a long story short, we’re going to have to ‘get to it’ a hell of a lot faster than most people may have thought. That’s because this week, Google introduced its new quantum processor, Willow.

    Even for not being a semiconductor nerd, I know the chip marks a groundbreaking leap in quantum computing. It is capable of solving problems in under five minutes that would take traditional supercomputers trillions of years, Willow addresses one of quantum computing’s major hurdles—reducing errors as systems scale.

    This advancement positions Google as a leader in the quantum field, even as some experts believe commercial uses are still years away, likely around 2030. But needless to say, the announcement has perked up the ears of many, including the cryptocurrency community.

    Protos wrote about two ways Google’s new chip and Bitcoin this week. They write the new chip has sparked fears it could pose a serious threat to Bitcoin’s security in two key ways: overtaking Bitcoin’s mining network and targeting Satoshi Nakamoto’s dormant coins.

    The piece argues that Willow’s breakthrough capabilities allow it to solve problems in minutes that would take supercomputers trillions of years — and that such power could hypothetically outpace Bitcoin’s global mining network, which secures transactions by solving complex cryptographic puzzles.

    If Willow could perform this work faster and cheaper than the network, it might seize control of Bitcoin’s blockchain, enabling it to reorder, censor, or even double-spend transactions.

    The second potential threat involves Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, who owns over 1 million BTC stored using an older cryptographic format (P2PK) that exposes public keys on the blockchain. A quantum computer could exploit this vulnerability by brute-forcing private keys, potentially unlocking Nakamoto’s holdings. Modern Bitcoin addresses are more quantum-resistant, as they hide public keys until transactions are initiated, reducing the risk of exposure.

    đŸ”„Â 50% OFF FOR LIFE: Using this coupon entitles you to 50% off an annual subscription to Fringe Finance for life: Get 50% off forever

    It’s now officially a race, with Coinspeaker noting that the Bitcoin community is actively researching quantum-resistant solutions to safeguard against future advancements in quantum technology.

    And while Bitcoin may ultimately come out on top when all is said and done this time, it’s these types of unprecedented risks and uncertainties that, to me, continue to make gold the granddaddy of all stores of value and safety.

    Bitcoin trades like a risk asset because it will face countless new tests like this that gold has already endured over the past 5,000 years. One by one, Bitcoin will need to ‘pass’ each of these tests if it aims to maintain value over anywhere near the time horizon gold has achieved.

    If nothing else, the announcement of Willow and the ensuing discussion should serve as a wake-up call to the dormant nervous systems of Bitcoin holders and maximalists. They must remember that while Bitcoin has passed every test over the past 15 years, there will undoubtedly be more bumps in the road along its adoption curve.

    I continue to own some Bitcoin but still firmly believe that gold remains the ultimate store of value and the best way to preserve wealth when opting out of the fiat money system.

    QTR’s Disclaimer: Please read my full legal disclaimer on my About page here. This post represents my opinions only. In addition, please understand I am an idiot and often get things wrong and lose money. I may own or transact in any names mentioned in this piece at any time without warning. Contributor posts and aggregated posts have been hand selected by me, have not been fact checked and are the opinions of their authors. They are either submitted to QTR by their author, reprinted under a Creative Commons license with my best effort to uphold what the license asks, or with the permission of the author.

    This is not a recommendation to buy or sell any stocks or securities, just my opinions. I often lose money on positions I trade/invest in. I may add any name mentioned in this article and sell any name mentioned in this piece at any time, without further warning. None of this is a solicitation to buy or sell securities. I may or may not own names I write about and are watching. Sometimes I’m bullish without owning things, sometimes I’m bearish and do own things. Just assume my positions could be exactly the opposite of what you think they are just in case. If I’m long I could quickly be short and vice versa. I won’t update my positions. All positions can change immediately as soon as I publish this, with or without notice and at any point I can be long, short or neutral on any position. You are on your own. Do not make decisions based on my blog. I exist on the fringe. The publisher does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided in this page. These are not the opinions of any of my employers, partners, or associates. I did my best to be honest about my disclosures but can’t guarantee I am right; I write these posts after a couple beers sometimes. I edit after my posts are published because I’m impatient and lazy, so if you see a typo, check back in a half hour. Also, I just straight up get shit wrong a lot. I mention it twice because it’s that important.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 12/15/2024 – 14:00

  • Georgia's New President, An Ex-Soccer Player, Solidifies Anti-EU Leadership
    Georgia’s New President, An Ex-Soccer Player, Solidifies Anti-EU Leadership

    The Republic of Georgia has a new president, and he is a former professional footballer for Manchester City: 53-year old Mikheil Kavelashvili of Georgian Dream party.

    He emerged victorious on Saturday, but was the only candidate, after 224 out of 225 members of Georgia’s electoral college voted him in. This is after the country’s main opposition groups declared a boycott of parliament, claiming the October elections which saw the Dream Party sweep were rigged.

    Mikheil Kavelashvili, via APA

    Large pro-EU protests have since been a mainstay in the capital of Tbilisi. “According to the results provided by the secretary general [of the Central Election Commission/CEC], Mikhail Kavelashvili has been elected president,” CEC Chairman Giorgi Kalandarishvili announced this weekend.

    Kavelashvili’s inauguration is set for December 29, and that too is likely to be heavily protested, amid police deploying riot control methods against larger and larger crowds all this month.

    Western media describes him as “far right” and a hardline critic of the West, as well as ‘conspiratorial’ given he has in the recent past claimed that Western interests are seeking to drive Georgia into conflict with Russia.

    Who is Mikheil Kavelashvili?

    One European source provides the following brief backgrounder…

    It has been an unlikely path to the presidency for Kavelashvili, who emerged from Dinamo Tblisi’s youth system as a promising young footballer in 1989. He went on to build a successful career as a striker, becoming a regular for his local team before moving to Russian side Spartak Vladikavkaz in 1995.

    He then joined English side Manchester City for two seasons before playing for several different Swiss Super League teams and retiring in 2006. During his playing career, he amassed 46 appearances for the Georgian national team and scored nine goals.

    Just 10 years after his retirement from the football world, he was elected to Georgia’s parliament in 2016 on the Georgian Dream ticket. In 2022, he co-founded the People’s Power political movement, which was allied with Georgian Dream and became known for its strong anti-western rhetoric.

    Mikheil Kavelashvili, right, in 2007.The Press Service of the Georgian Parliament.

    He has been criticized for lack of governing credentials, despite having previously been an MP. More from EuroNews:

    Kavelashvili has often been mocked by the opposition in Georgia for lacking higher education. On the day of his election as president, protesters outside the parliament building brought their own university diplomas, while others kicked around footballs.

    Kavelashvili was one of the authors of a controversial law requiring organisations that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “pursuing the interest of a foreign power,” similar to a Russian law used to discredit organizations critical of the government.

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    The dividing lines for Georgia’s current crisis, which has seen the Dream Party solidify complete control of the government – but with unrest in the streets – is much like Ukraine’s political divide in 2014. But let’s hope the situation doesn’t turn to open conflict involving the US or Russia, which is something officials in Tbilisi have long been worried about.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 12/15/2024 – 13:25

  • US In 'Direct Contact' With Designated Terror Group HTS, Blinken Admits
    US In ‘Direct Contact’ With Designated Terror Group HTS, Blinken Admits

    The US has made “direct contact” with the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) under Abu Mohammad al-Jolani which now holds Damascus and most major Syrian cities in the wake of Assad’s fall.

    “We’ve been in contact with HTS and with other parties,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said following talks with Arab diplomats in Aqaba, Jordan.

    This is the first official acknowledgement that the Biden administration is interacting with HTS, which has long been an officially US-designated terror organization, as it originated as Syrian al-Qaeda. Jolani also was once the personal envoy of ISIS terror leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

    NBC News has underscored, “The U.S. designates HTS a terrorist organization, making it legally impossible to work with the group, but contact underscores ongoing efforts to change that designation as the U.S. and its allies look to support Syria’s transition from Assad rule.”

    A statement from Blinken’s meetings in Aqaba and signed by representatives of the US, EU, Turkey and several Arab countries called for a “a more hopeful, secure and peaceful future”. It urged the protection of women and all ethnic and religious minorities, and for the preventing of “the reemergence of all terrorist groups.”

    Also, Jordan’s foreign minister stressed that regional powers don’t want to see post-Assad Syria “descend into chaos”. Given that it remains formally listed as a terror group, HTS was not represented in the Jordan meeting.

    The EU has also listed HTS as a terror group. Jolani still has a $10 million bounty on his head. Ironically he has been seen openly at well-known areas of Damascus, and the US could target him if it wanted to – but is clearly not.

    “As we see Syria move in that direction and, in a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned process, take these steps, we in turn will look at various sanctions and other measures that we’ve taken and respond in kind,” Blinken said from Aqaba.

    Blinken affirmed the US position on Syria has been “communicated” to the new HTS leaders. Ironically, this comes after years of the US refusing to engage diplomatically with Bashar al-Assad, who was a secular ruler.

    The US had shuttered its embassy and severed relations going all the way back to 2012. Since then there have been minimal back-channel efforts to communicate with Assad officials.

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    Meanwhile, there have been reports that the Biden White House, with a mere weeks to go until Trump enters office, could actually remove HTS’ terror designation. This despite its long documented links to both Al Qaeda and Islamic State in the not too distant past.

    Washington has since 2011 pursued regime change against Assad, and though Syria emerged victorious by the early 2020s, the Army and country appeared demoralized after years of US-imposed strangling sanctions, and with US troops occupying the country’s oil and gas fields in the northeast.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 12/15/2024 – 12:15

  • 20 (Or So) Obvious Questions About January 6
    20 (Or So) Obvious Questions About January 6

    Authored by Jack Cashill via American Thinker,

    Even before Donald Trump ascends to the presidency on January 20, his appointees should ask themselves the questions that follow — all of them simple and straightforward.  With Christopher Wray stepping down from the FBI directorship, they will have a much better chance of getting straight answers quickly.

    Trump’s team should then share those answers widely.  This information will make President Trump’s pardon of more than 1,500 Americans much more comprehensible to the American public and much less controversial.

    –Although now the FBI admits to having 26 confidential human sources in the crowd on January 6, how many total “assets” did the FBI and other entities plant, and what roles did they play?

    –Was Ray Epps working for an entity? And if so, under what terms?

    –Who planted the pipe bombs outside the DNC and near the RNC headquarters?

    –Who instructed Kamala Harris to conceal the fact that she was at the DNC when the bomb was found and why?

    –Why did Harris allow hundreds of J6ers to be prosecuted for threatening her designated space at the Capitol when she wasn’t at the Capitol?

    –Who were the “two law enforcement officials” who told the New York Times that “pro-Trump rioters” fatally struck Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick with a fire extinguisher, inflicting “a bloody gash in his head”?

    –Who orchestrated the 100-day-plus suppression of Sicknick’s autopsy report?

    –If Sicknick was not murdered, as the DOJ finally conceded, why did a federal judge give Julian Khater an 80-month prison sentence for spritzing Sicknick with an over-the-counter pepper spray?

    –Has there been an official inquiry into the subsequent suicide deaths of four USCP officers, and if not, why has the DOJ routinely blamed the J6ers for causing those deaths?

    –Why was there no crime scene investigation in the likely homicide of Rosanne Boyland?

    –Who chose to ignore the obvious video evidence of Boyland being suffocated as a result of a police action and to falsely blame her death on an amphetamine overdose?

    –Who suppressed the Boyland autopsy report for 90 days and stonewalled her family at every turn?

    –Why was Lila Morris, the Metropolitan P.D. officer caught on video repeatedly bashing the unconscious Boyland over the head with a tree branch, not even disciplined?

    –Why was Metropolitan P.D. lieutenant Jason Bagshaw promoted despite having been caught on video bashing the defenseless Victoria White bloody?

    –Why did the DOJ not interview the eyewitnesses to the shooting death of Ashli Babbitt?

    –Why did the USCP coddle and promote Babbitt’s killer, Michael Byrd, despite a shooting that, according to use-of-force expert Stan Kephart, “violated not only the law but his oath”?

    –Who ordered the “shock and awe” raids on the homes of hundreds of non-violent protesters and why?

    –Why has the so-called “Scaffold Commander” not been arrested despite multiple clear images of his face?

    –Why has the man who constructed the mock gallows on the Capitol grounds not been arrested despite multiple clear images of his face?

    –Why did the USCP allow the gallows to stand unmolested on Capitol grounds for more than four hours before the crowds gathered?

    –Why was Emanuel Jackson quickly set free despite having been caught on video swinging a baseball bat at police officers over a two-hour period?

    –If there was no insurrection, as the DOJ conceded, why were the sentences given to the J6ers so much more severe than the $30–50 fines given to the protesters who physically obstructed the Kavanaugh hearings?

    These are the simple questions, the ones off the top.  I am sure readers will think of others I may have overlooked.  To be sure, more probing questions need to be asked about the January 6 Select Committee report as well as the charging documents for the J6ers.

    Having read through much of this material, I am impressed by how casually — and routinely — our elected officials and federal jurists distort the facts to protect the party line.  In short, they lie, and some have done so under oath.

    I am impressed, too, by the shamelessness of a DOJ that can boast of its success rate in securing convictions, knowing that the accused were allowed no change of venue and faced juries pulled from a pool 95 percent anti-Trump.  This needs to change.

    More questions need to be asked as well about the security failures at all levels on January 6.  In his otherwise worthy book, Government Gangsters, Kash Patel more or less exonerates the Pentagon.  He should not have.  Incompetence explains much of what went wrong on January 6, but so does treason.

    Nearly 1,600 American citizens were arrested for exercising their First Amendment rights on January 6, and roughly half of them have been incarcerated.  Save for the insurrectionists among them — if there were any — the rest deserve not just commutation of their sentences, but a full pardon.  Many may deserve compensation.  And all deserve the truth.

    To learn more, see Jack Cashill’s newest book, Ashli: The Untold Story of the Women of January 6.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 12/15/2024 – 11:40

Digest powered by RSS Digest

Dec 15

Today’s News 15th December 2024

  • Online Shopping: Charting The Holiday Surge
    Online Shopping: Charting The Holiday Surge

    In the fourth quarter of 2023, online shopping was a record-breaking 17% of all retail sales. Put another way, one out of every six dollars was spent online.

    This graphic from Visual Capitalist’s Jenna Ross, in partnership with BGO, highlights the spike in ecommerce that occurs every year during the holiday season.

    The Growing Popularity of Online Shopping

    Over the last 15 years, the percentage of money consumers are spending online has more than tripled. The most online shopping always occurs in the fourth quarter due to Black Friday and holiday spending.

    In the table below, we show online shopping as a percentage of total retail sales over time.

    Source: U.S. Census Bureau. Data accessed November 19, 2024.

    With people stretched for time during the busy holiday season, many opt for quick online orders and home deliveries. 

    Beyond convenience, deals also draw people to their screens. For instance, Amazon’s October Prime Day and Cyber Monday both offer deals catered to online shoppers. In 2024, Cyber Monday drew over 64 million U.S. shoppers—nearly three times higher than the 23 million people who shopped in stores.

    To handle the increase in online shopping orders, U.S. retailers will need to have a plan for storing their products and transporting them to customers.

    The Logistics of Online Orders

    Free and fast shipping are top priorities for online shoppers. Nearly 40% would abandon a retailer with high shipping costs, while 32% would stop buying because of late deliveries. These high expectations, and the increase in ecommerce, is driving demand for real estate that can process online orders.

    BGO’s industrial warehouse and logistics properties are strategically located to help reduce expenses and transport goods to consumers more quickly. During the busy holiday period, these properties run at full efficiency to meet the surging demand.

    Learn what’s moving markets in BGO’s The Chief Economist newsletter.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/14/2024 – 22:45

  • Possible Foreign Policy Shifts In The New Administration
    Possible Foreign Policy Shifts In The New Administration

    Authored by Christian Milord via The Epoch Times,

    With an incoming administration that will be installed on Jan. 20, 2025, will there be shifts in America’s foreign policies for the next four years that could affect the security of California and the other states?

    It’s likely that some of the positions in the Biden administration will be maintained, but President-elect Donald Trump’s stamp on future policies could reflect stances taken during his first term. How will Trump, 47th president, compare with Trump, 45th president?

    Trump, similar to Teddy Roosevelt, will likely often speak softly and carry a big stick. He will get along with our adversaries to gain leverage but will also inform authoritarian leaders in no uncertain terms that aggressions against America and its global partners will not stand.

    During Trump’s first term, China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia were limited to routine saber-rattling on the world stage. However, during President Joe Biden’s tenure, China’s bullying became more overt, Iran greenlighted the invasion of Israel, Russia invaded Ukraine for the second time, and North Korea launched more test missiles than ever and sent troops to Ukraine. These brazen activities will be difficult to halt, but Trump has indicated he will strive to mitigate them.

    First, Trump will enhance border security to a much greater degree than the prior administration. He might have to cut off funding to sanctuary cities and states that oppose his deportation plan for criminals. In addition, it shouldn’t take the threat of tariffs against Canada and Mexico for those two nations to carry out the legwork to secure their sides of the border with the United States.

    Trump will also likely persuade Panama to shutter the Darien Gap, a lawless migration hub. The Department of Homeland Security also urgently needs more Border Patrol agents, and the border wall with Mexico must be completed to maintain an orderly immigration process. Moreover, additional immigration judges will be required to expedite the process of immigration for genuine asylum cases and legal immigration cases.

    Border security is a critical part of the overall national security strategy in order to vet immigrants and prevent criminal gangs and terrorists from entering the country. Many of these criminals are involved in arms, drugs, and human trafficking that are devastating to vulnerable minors, while our social services are stretched to the breaking point.

    Unlawful immigrants who seek to game the system and take advantage of tax-funded social services should be turned back at the border. If an immigrant breaks the initial law of entering the country illegally, what is to stop them from circumventing other laws in an attempt to take shortcuts to permanent residency?

    Next, Trump will continue to support Israel and Ukraine in their fight against tyranny to a certain extent, but he will also work to bring the hostile parties together to negotiate for cease-fires or a cessation of conflict. Moscow promised Kyiv in the Budapest Memorandum of 1994 that if Ukraine’s nuclear weapons were turned over to Russia, there would be no invasion. Ukraine complied, but Vladimir Putin broke the pact and invaded twice. That is why any treaties with Russia must be assessed with a trust-but-verify posture.

    Trump will likely sign off on greater sanctions against Iranian and Russian assets in order to wind down the wars and curtail the flow of weapons to nefarious actors within reach of the combat zones. He will concur with Benjamin Netanyahu that Hamas must never again govern in the Gaza Strip. Trump might also apply leverage to North Korea’s Kim Jong Un to persuade him to withdraw his troops from the Russian battle-space adjacent to Ukraine.

    Third, America’s national security could be enhanced if Trump shores up our freedom-loving global partners and also reaches out to developing nations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

    This cultural and commercial outreach can provide a counterweight to China’s malign activities in those continents. The European Union could also contribute to Europe’s’ security and stability abroad.

    Fourth, Trump will likely adopt foreign policy that utilizes both the carrot and stick of diplomacy and military power.

    Building a strong military force can actually mitigate the need to apply armed power as it projects peace through strength, according to President Ronald Reagan. It is highly critical that our armed forces stay ahead of the curve vis a vis our adversaries in the spheres of training and weapons platforms.

    Fifth, hopefully Trump will allow Congress to appropriate adequate resources to the armed forces in order to maintain capability, capacity, and readiness to deter China’s potential blockade or invasion of Taiwan. It would take an entire book to catalog the atrocities carried out by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on a daily basis as it conducts unrestricted warfare against its own people and the West. Trump ought to approach the CCP and its predatory practices from the perspective of cold, hard reality.

    Any trade with China should involve reciprocity, and if China doubles down on trade barriers, tariffs can be imposed. If Beijing wants to enter foreign markets, buy land, and set up shop, then it should allow Western companies to do the same in China. Moreover, the United States ought to decouple from any Chinese goods or services that adversely affect national security.

    Finally, Trump will pursue an America First agenda in foreign policy by using both arm-twisting and horse-trading. He will place the interests of the U.S. above the demands of other nations in order to advance free markets, liberty, peace, and an accepted rules-based order.

    Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/14/2024 – 22:10

  • American Citizen Flown Out Of Syria By US Military 
    American Citizen Flown Out Of Syria By US Military 

    An American man has been flown out of Syria by the US military from an undisclosed location, after he was handed over by Syria’s new governing authorities, HTS.

    The US citizen has been identified as Travis Timmerman, who had been held in a Syrian prison since his arrest under the Assad government seven months ago. Several international reports said he had walked into Syria from Lebanon, presumably with no visa and not utilizing a customs or proper border checkpoint. 

    Via NBC

    AP and Reuters confirmed Friday Timmerman was handed over to “the American side” and flown out of Syria. Timmerman is from Missouri, but was last seen in Hungary but his family hadn’t heard from him since. 

    He said he had entered Syria on a spiritual “pilgrimage” and it appears his arrest resulted from entering Syria by illegal means and without an issued visa. Americans and Westerners have frequently traveled in Syria, even over the last few years, but they have gotten valid visas typically from the Syrian Embassy in Beirut, or at the border of entry.

    He has described in Western media interviews that he was treated well in prison, and he is in good health. BBC describes of the past days:

    On Monday, a day after rebels took control of Damascus and toppled Assad, Mr Timmerman said two men armed with a hammer broke open his prison door. It was “busted down, it woke me up”, he said.

    “I thought the guards were still there, so I thought the warfare could have been more active than it ended up being
 Once we got out, there was no resistance, there was no real fighting.”

    The 30-year-old said he left prison with a large group of people and had been attempting to make his way to Jordan.

    Since Assad’s fall people have clamored to break open prison doors and set all prisoners free. Currently there’s a search for American journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared in Syria in 2012 after embedding with anti-Assad militants.

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    Despite his being in an area with al-Qaeda jihadists and armed gangs at the time, the US government has always blamed the Assad side for his disappearance, which Damascus always vehemently denied. The search across the country is still on for any clues of what might have happened to him.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/14/2024 – 21:35

  • ADHD Or Something Else? One In 4 Adults Are Self-Diagnosing
    ADHD Or Something Else? One In 4 Adults Are Self-Diagnosing

    Authored by Amy Denny via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Imagine being the school band director and waking up at 1 a.m. on the day of a big parade to realize that you never booked the school bus to transport your students.

    PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/Shutterstock

    For Lisa Burden, this experience was more than a nightmare. It was a wake-up call to her own shortcomings. While exceptionally bright and creative, she also had to contend with another side of herself. She’d struggled since childhood with challenges like being able to keep track of things and being told she talked too much.

    “There were responsibilities that I would just forget to do. It wasn’t like I didn’t want to do them,” she told The Epoch Times. “I came to a point when I had to admit I could not keep it all in my head. I’ll have a thought, and then I don’t know when I’ll have that thought again.”

    While attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a condition that can undermine a person’s ability to navigate our modern age, in some ways, it is more helpful to think of it as a mismatch of mental abilities. ADHD involves symptoms of inattentiveness, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity, among others.

    People with ADHD have brains that think differently in a world that’s become more sedentary and rigid. Experts say seeing ADHD through a new lens can help adults strengthen their thinking, improve their relationships, and accentuate their strengths.

    Maybe It Is ADHD

    About 15.5 million—or 6 percent—of American adults have been diagnosed with ADHD. About half were diagnosed as adults, with one-third of those diagnosed receiving treatment, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    To be diagnosed with ADHD as a child, one needs to have six symptoms involving inattentiveness, hyperactivity, or impulsivity. An adult diagnosis requires five.

    Those symptoms include the following:

    • Trouble paying attention or being easily distracted
    • Being disorganized
    • Procrastinating
    • Inability to plan or organize
    • Difficulty recalling daily tasks
    • Losing things frequently
    • Being extremely talkative or frequently interrupting
    • Trouble multitasking or focusing on larger projects
    • Finding it hard to follow instructions or finish projects
    • Inability to sit still for lengthy periods
    • Fidgeting
    • The need to be constantly moving
    • Prioritizing immediate rewards over future rewards

    There are a few other criteria, too, including symptoms that have been around since before age 12, with clear evidence that they are severe, frequent, and persistent enough to cause problems in at least two areas of life, such as at work, school, church, or home.

    Finally, hormonal and mental disorders, such as depression, anxiety, or a psychotic disorder, must be ruled out. However, there is no definitive diagnostic tool, such as bloodwork or brain scans, for ADHD.

    Beyond Stereotypes

    Experts understand ADHD better than they did two decades ago. The stigma is lifting, and awareness is growing, according to Marcy M. Caldwell, a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in the treatment and assessment of adult ADHD.

    She told The Epoch Times that social media has given voice to people who are describing their experiences with ADHD and raising it as a possibility for many people who might not have considered it previously.

    For a number of years, ADHD was stereotypically considered a disorder associated with young boys. That, particularly, left a lot of girls undiagnosed in childhood who went on to be diagnosed as adults.

    However, professionals are beginning to better understand that symptoms can vary depending on race, sex, and age, Caldwell said. They are also noting that children often don’t outgrow ADHD, as was previously believed in most cases. Rather, she said symptoms relapse and remit throughout life depending on other circumstances.

    “In that waxing and waning, the symptoms can come up again around major life events,” Caldwell said. “In normal life, the major events come up at different times. But in 2020, we were all hit with a major life event, so there was a big upsurge in diagnosis that happened after COVID as everyone was adjusting to very new circumstances.”

    Pillars of Brain Health

    Caldwell described the ADHD brain as working as an off-on light switch, whereas a neurotypical brain can adjust lighting with a dimmer switch. That is, for those with ADHD, the light switch is either on—hyperfocusing, usually with enjoyable tasks—or off for tasks that aren’t as pleasurable.

    It takes far more energy, she said, for someone with ADHD to use their brain like a dimmer switch, though it can be done. That energy can come from the following foundational health pillars:

    • Sleep
    • Exercise
    • Nutrition
    • Medication
    • Meditation
    • Connection

    “Those are six really hard things, and there’s a lot involved with them. You don’t have to do all of them,” she said.

    However, on a day when you don’t get much sleep, you can try one of the others to boost your brain energy, typically exercise, according to Caldwell.

    IQ Biologix supplements and a ketogenic diet will also go a long way…

    Movement as Fuel

    Any exercise is great for boosting energy, though specific exercises may be more tolerable to different brain states, said Caldwell. Rowing, running, and walking are helpful for those who are inattentive. Meanwhile, sports like soccer or karate—during which you must respond to a constantly changing environment—are good for those struggling with hyperactivity and impulsivity.

    The problem, Caldwell added, is that most people try to change how their brains work so they can function in the world rather than changing the world for how their brains work. That means if you need to move more, as many with ADHD do, consider using a standing or treadmill desk, take frequent breaks, and exercise before work to build up energy stores.

    “A lot of people start out with more ability to regulate their tasks and attention, and as the day goes on, they have less capacity to do that,” she said. “Save things that aren’t as taxing for later in the day.”

    Read the rest here…

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/14/2024 – 21:00

  • Assad's Fall Is A Major Blow To Russia
    Assad’s Fall Is A Major Blow To Russia

    Authored by Andrew Latham via RealClearWorld,

    Russia’s 2015 military intervention in Syria was a bold assertion of its great power ambitions, rescuing Bashar al-Assad’s regime and projecting influence in the Middle East. However, recent rebel advances and Assad’s sudden deposal threaten to isolate Russia’s Khmeimim airbase and Tartus naval facility, undermining both the practical and symbolic foundations of Moscow’s global power status.

    The fall of Assad promises to be a major blow to Russia, which is already bogged down in Ukraine. Its ramifications are likely to be felt across Moscow’s foreign policy, which could soon face some stark and unenviable choices.

    The Russian presence in Syria is central to the Kremlin’s broader strategy of force projection. Its Mediterranean bases allow Moscow to sustain military operations in the Levant, North Africa, and beyond, countering U.S. influence. With the key city of Homs having fallen to the rebels, supply routes to Khmeimim and Tartus have been severed, forcing reliance on vulnerable air and sea routes. This will weaken Russia’s operational readiness and its ability to influence events in neighboring theaters, including Africa.

    Khmeimim also serves as a logistical hub for Russian private military contractors (PMCs) like the Wagner Group, active in Libya, Mali, and the Central African Republic. These contractors are central to Moscow’s efforts to expand its influence in Africa, providing security and securing lucrative economic deals. With Khmeimim isolated, sustaining these operations would become costly and inefficient, reducing Moscow’s ability to achieve its geopolitical objectives on the continent.

    The isolation of Khmeimim and Tartus will severely constrain Russia’s ability to sustain military operations in Syria and beyond, undermining its ability to conduct airstrikes, reconnaissance, and rapid-response missions. PMCs, reliant on robust logistics, will face disruptions, emboldening opposition forces and exposing the fragility of Russia’s African partnerships. These setbacks will ripple through Moscow’s strategic calculations, undercutting its influence and economic goals.

    The symbolic consequences of a rebel victory will be even more damaging. Moscow has portrayed its intervention in Syria as a demonstration of its reliability as an ally and its ability to uphold the sovereignty of client states. The loss in Syria will puncture this narrative, exposing the limits of Russian power and credibility. Regional actors, including Iran, Turkey, and the Gulf states, will recalibrate their perceptions of Moscow’s influence, while African partners might pivot toward more reliable alternatives such as China or the West.

    Domestically, the repercussions of a diminished role in Syria will be significant. President Vladimir Putin has marketed the Syrian intervention as a triumph of Russian statecraft, portraying it as a cornerstone of Russia’s resurgence on the global stage. While critics of Russia’s foreign interventions have questioned their costs for years, the fall of Assad could amplify these doubts in ways the prolonged conflict in Ukraine has not. Syria’s collapse would symbolize a failure of Russia’s ability to safeguard allied regimes, striking at the narrative of strategic competence that Putin has worked to project. Public perceptions of Russian strength, carefully curated through state-controlled media, could falter, creating broader political vulnerabilities. Moreover, Syria has served as a testing ground for Russian weapons systems, and reduced visibility in the region would weaken their appeal to buyers, further diminishing Russia’s geopolitical leverage and economic gains from arms exports. The rebel victory in Syria will resonate globally. For the United States and its allies, it will validate strategies to contain Russian influence and embolden further countermeasures. NATO could leverage Russia’s difficulties to underscore the limitations of its global reach, while China might accelerate efforts to dominate regions like Central Asia and Africa, further sidelining Moscow in regions where it traditionally competes.

    Russia now faces a stark choice: escalate its military commitment to protect its strategic interests, such as its naval facility in Tartus and airbase in Khmeimim, or accept a diminished role in the region. Escalation would aim to preserve these assets and reassert influence but risks clashes with other regional powers and would strain resources already stretched by commitments in Ukraine and Africa. Retrenchment, however, would signal a devastating blow to Russia’s credibility as a reliable guarantor of allied regimes worldwide, sending a clear message to its partners in Africa, the Middle East, and beyond that Moscow cannot be counted on to defend its allies in times of crisis. This erosion of trust would undermine Russia’s broader global strategy and invite further challenges to its influence elsewhere.

    Already there is evidence Russian warships have left Tartus, raising questions about Russia’s commitment to its Syrian bases. As Russia navigates this crisis, it must confront the limits of its resources and the fragility of its aspirations. Great power status requires not just military might but strategic resilience. The outcome of the Syrian conflict will shape the future of Russia’s role in the evolving international order. For Moscow, the stakes could not be higher.

    Andrew Latham is Professor of Political Science at Macalester College and a Non-Resident Fellow at Defense Priorities.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/14/2024 – 20:15

  • Video Games Have Become Rife With DEI And Some Fans Aren’t Buying It
    Video Games Have Become Rife With DEI And Some Fans Aren’t Buying It

    Authored by Stacy Robinson via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    BioWare, developer of the wildly popular Mass Effect and Dragon Age video game series, is at the center of a new battle.

    Following the failed launch of two costly triple-A titles, the studio was banking on a win. Its latest offering is the fourth title in the Dragon Age series; the last was released 10 years ago.

    Illustration by The Epoch Times, Shutterstock

    Initial reactions to trailers for Dragon Age: The Veilguard were decidedly negative. Longtime fans of the series criticized the softer, stylized art of the new game, comparing it to a Disney-Pixar movie.

    But after BioWare invited a group of streamers and critics to a private, hands-on demo of the game, hope was rekindled. Those who had experienced Veilguard firsthand were generally positive, and encouraged fans of the series to wait for the full release.

    Days before its release, clips of Veilguard were leaked, revealing that the game was rife with transgender ideology and messaging based on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

    One scene showed a character doing pushups as penance for forgetting to use “they/them” pronouns, and then lecturing about how a simple apology was not enough for the crime of “misgendering.”

    Another scene, in a high fantasy setting with dragons and elves, showed a character revealing to her parents that she identified as nonbinary.

    The game’s character customization system does not allow for the creation of curvy female characters but it does allow players to add mastectomy scars.

    Laura Kate Dale, “queer representation critic and consultant” and author of “Gender Euphoria,” posted on social media platform X about having worked on the project.

    Corinne Busche, Veilguard’s game director, is also transgender. Busche told co-workers that the goal for the Dragon Age team at BioWare is to use games to create a safe space for the LGBT community.

    “It’s such a rare thing for marginalized communities to have representation where we feel proud and powerful in how we are depicted. It’s so deeply meaningful for so many,” Busche said in a developer interview on BioWare’s website.

    While it is true that previous Dragon Age titles featured LGBT characters—and allowed players to romance same sex characters in-game—Veilguard’s approach seems to have struck a different chord this time.

    Visitors play the Dragon Age video game by American video game company, Electronic Arts, during a preview of the Paris Games Week on Oct. 22, 2024. Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images

    Critics’ Reviews

    While some fans were still scratching their heads at the leaked clips, early critic reviews for Veilguard were mostly positive.

    The game received the thumbs-up from Eurogamer, Game Rant, and GamingBible—all of whom awarded it a perfect 100 out of 100. Even Finger Guns, which gave it a lower-end score of 60, called it “a solid, albeit, unspectacular RPG experience.”

    IGN—notorious for giving scores of seven—gave Veilguard a nine out of 10. [ZH: lol]

    That review was received differently when it was revealed the critic identifies as transgender; IGN released an alternate, less positive review shortly thereafter.

    Some critics were more tepid in their response.

    Games journalist Skillup gave the game a “cannot recommend” evaluation. He didn’t mention the progressive content and instead referred to the game’s “silly and childish” tone, and lack of narrative subtlety.

    “This game cannot surface any ideas without just saying them aloud,” he said.

    “Every interaction sounds like HR is in the room.”

    He—and others—also criticized the “hollow and repetitive” gameplay loop. “Zero variety in mission design,” he noted. He said he eventually lowered the game’s difficulty settings, just so he could rush through it more quickly.

    The disparity between professional critic reviews and those by consumers is stark: Metacritic shows the game’s audience score is 3.8 out of 10 for Playstation users; the score for PC users is 2.5.

    Video game enthusiasts play the latest released games at the Eurogamer Expo in London on Sept. 26, 2013. Oli Scarff/Getty Images

    Costly Business

    Triple-A game development is a risky, expensive business. Games can cost hundreds of millions and take years to develop; one failure may drive a studio out of business.

    Official sales numbers for Veilguard have not been released—a common practice unless a game does very well—but speculation abounds. It is unlikely the real numbers will be known before EA’s earnings call in February

    One way of gauging sales is to look at the number of concurrent players on STEAM, the world’s largest digital PC video game marketplace. Veilguard reached a maximum of just over 89,000 players on Nov. 3.

    By comparison, Farming Simulator 25 peaked at more than 135,000 concurrent players.

    Veilguard is reported to have sold more than a million copies—not a great result for a triple-A title that may have cost between $80 million and $200 million to develop.

    By contrast, Game Science’s recent release Black Myth: Wukong sold 18 million copies within its first two weeks.

    And while Veilguard was given positive reviews by gaming media, Wukong’s development team was accused of sexism, fat-shaming, and homophobia just ahead of the release.

    Read the rest here…

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/14/2024 – 19:50

  • Saudi 2034 Selection Raises Eyebrows As Global Footprint Of FIFA World Cup Grows
    Saudi 2034 Selection Raises Eyebrows As Global Footprint Of FIFA World Cup Grows

    As expected, FIFA confirmed this week that Spain, Portugal and Morocco will host the 2030 World Cup.

    In addition, in view of the centenary of the first World Cup, held in Uruguay in 1930, there will also be a ceremony in the country’s capital Montevideo, as well as three opening matches being played in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay.

    The 2030 World Cup will therefore have an unprecedented format, as it will be held in six countries and on three continents (Africa, Europe and South America). Until now, the World Cup has never been held in more than two countries or on different continents. In 2002, South Korea and Japan held it jointly, while in 2026 it will be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

    Despite FIFA president Gianni Infantino hailing how “In a divided world, FIFA and football are coming together,” the plans have come in for some initial harsh criticism – mainly for the effect the geographical spread will have on the tournament’s carbon footprint.

    Concerns have also been raised that, due to a change in hemispheres, some teams will end up having to play the competition in two different meteorological seasons.

    As Statista’s Felix Richter shows in the infographic below, since 1930, the FIFA Men’s World Cup has been held every four years, with only two interruptions caused by the Second World War, in 1942 and 1946.

    Infographic: The Growing Global Footprint of the FIFA World Cup | Statista

    You will find more infographics at Statista

    The 2034 World Cup will be hosted by Saudi Arabia, a decision that drew its fair share of criticism as well.

    By making sure that only federations from Asia and Oceania could bid for the 2034 World Cup and setting a deadline too tight to meet for other applicants, FIFA effectively fast-tracked Saudi Arabia’s hosting ambitions, shortly before announcing a multi-year global partnership with Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil giant.

    In its official “Bid Evaluation Report”, FIFA largely swatted human rights concerns aside, giving the Saudi bid an overall score of 4.2 out of 5 – the highest score ever awarded.

    According to the report, the inclusion of human rights within the criteria for evaluating bids is “about making decisions based on evidence of how effectively bidders intend to address human rights risks connected with a tournament. It is not about peremptorily excluding countries based on their general human rights context”.

    Reacting to the report, Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International’s Head of Labour Rights and Sport, said:

    “As expected, FIFA’s evaluation of Saudi Arabia’s World Cup bid is an astonishing whitewash of the country’s atrocious human rights record. There are no meaningful commitments that will prevent workers from being exploited, residents from being evicted or activists from being arrested.”

    As Statista’s chart shows, Saudi Arabia’s “general human rights context” is in fact sub-optimal, as the country routinely ranks near the bottom of international indices on governance and human rights.

    Infographic: Saudi Arabia: World Cup Host With a Questionable Reputation | Statista

    You will find more infographics at Statista

    So, evidently, the same sport that pride-fully pushes a strong LGBTQ+ agenda seems more than willing to put all that aside when it comes to money, giving World Cups to the explicitly homophobic sharia law theo-monarchy of Saudi Arabia.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/14/2024 – 19:15

  • 'Gladiator II' Is A MAGA Metaphor
    ‘Gladiator II’ Is A MAGA Metaphor

    Authored by Richard Porter via RealClearPolitics,

    Hollywood sequels rarely achieve the magic of the original, but “Gladiator II” comes close.  Except for the familiar populist framework of a lone man taking on “the system” against all odds, the echoes to the original are sufficiently distant that the new movie feels fresh and original. 

    Plus, it turns out that Ridley Scott’s blockbuster is a timely, if unwitting, metaphor for Donald Trump’s own sequel, which is off to a better start than his original. This time he won the popular vote and his transition is smoother, most recently featuring Trump’s triumphant trip to Paris, Kash Patel’s appointment to lead the FBI, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s obeisant visit to Mar-a-Lago.  

    This is what Trump’s “revenge” looks like. Compared to a Gladiator-inspired populist revolt, it’s both genteel and more satisfying: What red-blooded American viewer doesn’t enjoy seeing Trump arm-wrestling with Macron again and making a nanny-state bully like Trudeau heel, or seeing him appoint bold populists like Patel, Bobby Kennedy Jr., and Tulsi Gabbard to lead, and turn upside down, politicized government agencies that sought to do him in?

    Ancient Rome has always been both an inspiration and a cautionary tale for America’s leaders. George Washington modeled on Cincinnatus by relinquishing his military power to enhance civilian government, and he frequently quoted the Roman senator Cato, who sacrificed his life in support of the Roman Republic. The Founders chose an eagle as our national symbol – the symbol of the Roman god Jupiter used to represent Roman power. Both John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams idolized the Roman orator Cicero. More ominously, Abraham Lincoln’s stage-actor assassin John Wilkes Booth played the role of Mark Antony in an 1864 New York City performance of “Julius Caesar,” with his brother Edwin playing Brutus. And as he leapt from the president’s box in Ford’s Theater, Booth shouted “Sic semper tyrannis,” the words attributed to Brutus as he killed Ceasar.

    Over the course of our nation’s history, comparisons between the United States and ancient Rome have focused on the fall of the latter as a caution for the former. The comparisons range from financial mismanagement to far-flung and over-extended military commitments.

    So, Roman lessons for the U.S. are nothing new. Ridley Scott, who produced and directed “Gladiator II,” drew parallels between his movie and contemporary American politics in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, but – this is fun! – he’s spectacularly wrong about both. 

    Scott told the Hollywood Reporter that he modeled the heavy in Gladiator II – a creepy, Machiavellian opportunist whom Denzel Washington brings to life – on Donald Trump. “He evolved into a very rich merchant selling shit to the Roman armies – food, oil, wine, cloth, weapons, everything,” Scott said. “He maybe had a million men spread around Europe. So he was a billionaire at the time, so why wouldn’t he [have ambitions toward the throne]? ‘Why not me?’ He’s also a gangster – very close to Trump. A clever gangster. He creates chaos and from chaos he can evolve.”

    Is anyone surprised that a Hollywood liberal misses the point about Trump in his own movie? Ridley Scott has it precisely backwards: The Trump parallel is not the scheming creature of the Roman political swamp, but the hero, a prince who would not bow to those who sought to crush and kill him. It’s Trump’s rivals, scheming, duplicitous power seekers seeking to whip up hate, who are whispering in the ear of a non-compos mentis leader.

    And what ultimately drove the young prince to become the populist leader of Rome? As he approaches the inevitable climatic death match, the Gladiator himself reprises the core idea from the first film: “The dream that was Rome.” It’s a fragile dream of a Republic that will only be achieved by taking back power from corrupt, weak leaders and scheming politicians.

    The gladiator’s speech about Rome applies to contemporary America. It’s about recapturing the American Dream and refreshing government of, by, and for the forgotten people – instead of the powerful – the very ideas that bring cheers to a Trump rally.

    With that in mind, consider the words ascribed to Marcus Aurelius – words that the film’s hero and villain both quote: “The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury” or “The best revenge is not to be like your enemy.”

    Trump’s many enemies, the folks whipping up fear that he will use government power to go after political enemies as the Democrats did to him, misunderstand MAGA “revenge,” as Trump made clear again during his long Sunday interview with Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press.” Government institutions that have been infused with politics and corrupted away from their purpose are not reformed by changing the politics, but by purging the politics. 

    Trump’s revenge is to be different, to empower allies to reveal and reform corruption, and to reduce the power of government over the people instead of expanding it.

    Nothing will crush his haters more than being a great president. “I’m really looking to make our country successful,” Trump told Kristen Welker. “I’m not looking to go back into the past. I’m looking to make our country successful. Retribution will be through success. If we can make our success ñ?? this country successful, that would be my greatest, that would be such a great achievement. Bring it back.”

    Trump’s 2024 victory against all the forces arrayed against him is just the opening act of his sequel. Now the fun really begins. Someday, Hollywood will understand what most Americans already see: Donald Trump is a gladiator for the dream that is America.

    Richard Porter is a lawyer in Chicago and a former policy advisor to President George H.W. Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/14/2024 – 18:40

  • Trump Says He'll Kill Daylight Saving Time, But Maybe He Really Wants It To Be Permanent
    Trump Says He’ll Kill Daylight Saving Time, But Maybe He Really Wants It To Be Permanent

    President-elect Trump on Friday said he and fellow Republicans would make a full effort to liberate Americans from daylight saving time and its twice-yearly clock adjustments — which take a human toll that ranges from annoyance to death.

    “The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn’t! Daylight Saving Time is inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation,” wrote Trump in posts to his own TruthSocial platform as well as X. 

    While his statement was welcome news to many people across the political spectrum, it prompted immediate confusion about what exactly he was proposing. There are two approaches to ending those aggravating clock adjustments on the second Sunday in March and first Sunday in November:

    • Eliminating daylight saving time, which would mean year-round “standard time” 
    • Making daylight saving time permanent 

    Many people who detest the changing of the clocks casually call for “doing away with daylight saving time,” not appreciating that, taken literally, it would mean their summers would have earlier sunrises and sunsets. It’s not clear if Trump unintentionally fell into using that language, or if he really wants to see permanent standard time — which is already the state of affairs in Arizona and Hawaii.  

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    Like so many of the nation’s ills, daylight saving time sprang from the warfare state: It was first introduced during World War I with the goal of conserving fuel. Woodrow Wilson’s interventionist idiocy unjustly killed 115,516 American service members, and daylight saving time keeps on taking lives on the home front. Researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder found that around 30 traffic-accident fatalities a year may result from the disruption in sleep rhythms, while another study found a 3% daily spike in total mortality in the week after the spring clock adjustment.   

    Permanent daylight saving time is appealing to people who want to enjoy more daylight when they leave work. It also has the support of retailers, restaurants, recreation leagues and other organizations that do better with more light at day’s end. Criminals may oppose it: Research has found that dangerous crime increases 7% when daylight saving time ends each fall.  

    That’s not to say permanent daylight saving time is a no-brainer. That option comes at the price of many more Americans in northern states waking up to darkness at 8am and even later during the winter months. “A lot of people prefer to have that daylight at the end of the day instead,” University of Pennsylvania clinical psychology professor Philip Gehrman told the New York Times. “But those mornings are going to get dark.” Those dark mornings are cited as a potential safety risk to children waiting at bus stops and walking to schools.  

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    Meanwhile, many sleep experts say permanent standard time is the healthier option for the human body. “If you get too much light too late in the evening, it disrupts your sleep, and we are essentially creating a months-long environment in which we are actually receiving light at a time that is later in the day than is optimal for our health,” public health professor Dr. Adam Spira of Johns Hopkins told CNN.  

    A 2021 AP-NORC poll found that only 25% of Americans want to keep flipping the clocks back and forth, while 43% said they wanted standard time all year, and 32% said daylight saving time should be  made permanent. It’s likely many respondents would change their stances — in both directions — if they had a deeper understanding of each option’s implications.

    In November, Trump wing-men Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy — who are heading up his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — both hinted that they’d like to see an end to the clock changes. Trump’s son, Don Jr, immediately chimed in, saying, “Leave it daylight saving time always.” 

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    In 2022, a bill to make daylight saving time permanent passed the Senate via unanimous consent, but hit a brick wall in the House. That “Sunshine Protection Act” was introduced by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who’s been nominated to serve as Trump’s Secretary of State.   

    It’s a topic many people are passionate about, which is why it’s a shame Trump didn’t throw it into this year’s presidential election mix. In the wake of his announced opposition to the clock changes, social media lit up with people sharing their own views on the topic: 

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    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/14/2024 – 18:05

  • Peter Schiff Exclusive: This Economy Is "On Borrowed Time"
    Peter Schiff Exclusive: This Economy Is “On Borrowed Time”

    Submitted by QTR’s Fringe Finance

    I was happy to welcome my friend Peter Schiff back on to Fringe Finance this past week, where I was able to get his take on a couple of the items I wrote about on the blog last week – most importantly, whether or not he thinks markets will crash up (hyperinflation) or down (deflationary depression).

    Schiff and I also talked about his perspectives on markets, government policies, and the future of Bitcoin and gold. I also asked Schiff about his miscalculations, primarily underestimating the length of time it would take for economic reckoning and on bitcoin.

    Speaking from his residence in Puerto Rico, Schiff painted a dire picture of the U.S. economy, marked by excessive debt, misguided monetary policies, and misplaced optimism.

    Schiff’s outlook on the markets remains grim. “The market is already very expensive,” he observed, highlighting that “the optimism factored in is misplaced.” He warned of an impending reckoning, exacerbated by years of deficit spending and inflationary policies: “We have a $36.2 trillion debt that’ll soon reach $40 trillion. This is unsustainable.”

    “The market is already very expensive. It’s hard to see parabolic upside when optimism is misplaced. The markets are expecting good things to happen that aren’t going to happen.” – Peter Schiff

    On whether markets are set to “crash up or crash down,” Schiff remarked, “Higher inflation is baked in, but that’s not good for the dollar. The markets are wrong to think it is.” His skepticism extends to the Federal Reserve, which he accused of sacrificing long-term economic health for short-term stability: “The Fed is a one-trick pony. Its solution to every problem is to inflate, mask the problem, and hope it goes away.”

    đŸ”„Â 50% OFF FOR LIFE: Using this coupon entitles you to 50% off an annual subscription to Fringe Finance for life: Get 50% off forever

    Schiff remains an unwavering advocate for gold, dismissing Bitcoin as a speculative bubble. He criticized Bitcoin’s lack of utility, stating, “It’s not digital gold; it’s not digital anything.” Contrasting it with gold, Schiff argued, “Gold has intrinsic value and has been a store of wealth for millennia. Bitcoin has failed to be money for 15 years.”

    Taking aim at Michael Saylor’s proposal for the U.S. government to sell its gold reserves to buy Bitcoin, Schiff called it “a horrible idea” and dismissed Saylor’s comments as “self-serving.” He continued, “Bitcoin is not a reserve asset; it’s a speculative tool that has concentrated risk.”

    Schiff also lambasted the speculative frenzy surrounding Bitcoin ETFs and institutional purchases: “Bitcoin ETFs and MicroStrategy have cornered 8% of Bitcoin’s total supply. That’s a bubble waiting to burst.”

    “Bitcoin ETFs and MicroStrategy have already cornered 8% of Bitcoin’s supply. That’s concentration risk in a speculative bubble,” Schiff said. “Michael Saylor’s proposal for the U.S. to sell its gold for Bitcoin is not just a bad idea—it’s delusional. It’s putting all your eggs in one highly speculative basket.”

    Schiff highlighted the worsening state of the U.S. economy: “People are working harder for less real income, drowning in debt, and paying 25% interest on credit cards. This is the reality behind the so-called recovery.” He lambasted the bipartisan reluctance to address deficits: “Trump promised to cut deficits but signed every debt-busting bill put on his desk. Nothing will change under his leadership.”

    We also discussed:

    • Market outlook: Speculation on whether markets will experience an inflationary rise or deflationary crash
    • Federal Reserve policies: Predictions about the Fed’s actions concerning inflation and interest rates
    • Inflation expectations: Discussion about how inflation impacts the economy and the U.S. dollar
    • Government deficits: Criticism of rising budget and trade deficits under various administrations.
    • Trump’s economic policies: Evaluation of Trump’s promises versus the reality of government spending and deficits
    • Impact of tax cuts: Debate over whether tax cuts would stimulate the economy or worsen the deficit
    • Military and welfare spending: Criticism of increases in military and welfare spending despite calls for fiscal restraint.
    • Gold and currency: The comparative value of gold versus the U.S. dollar and other assets.
    • Bitcoin and cryptocurrency: Analysis of Bitcoin’s perceived value, speculative nature, and potential risks.
    • Comparative risk of assets: Comparison between speculative investment in Bitcoin and traditional markets.
    • Historical trends in gold ETFs: Analysis of gold’s stability and its market dynamics versus Bitcoin.
    • Government intervention in Bitcoin: Concerns over potential government involvement in Bitcoin markets
    • Critique of modern monetary theory (MMT): Dismissal of MMT as a sustainable economic approach
    • Economic bubbles and malinvestment: Concerns over the allocation of capital into unproductive sectors
    • Debt servicing crisis: Warnings about rising interest payments on national debt
    • Future economic predictions: Forecasts of a potential dollar crisis or significant inflationary period

    You can watch the entire hourlong interview here. 

    QTR’s Disclaimer: Please read my full legal disclaimer on my About page here. This post represents my opinions only. In addition, please understand I am an idiot and often get things wrong and lose money. I may own or transact in any names mentioned in this piece at any time without warning. Contributor posts and aggregated posts have been hand selected by me, have not been fact checked and are the opinions of their authors. They are either submitted to QTR by their author, reprinted under a Creative Commons license with my best effort to uphold what the license asks, or with the permission of the author.

    This is not a recommendation to buy or sell any stocks or securities, just my opinions. I often lose money on positions I trade/invest in. I may add any name mentioned in this article and sell any name mentioned in this piece at any time, without further warning. None of this is a solicitation to buy or sell securities. I may or may not own names I write about and are watching. Sometimes I’m bullish without owning things, sometimes I’m bearish and do own things. Just assume my positions could be exactly the opposite of what you think they are just in case. If I’m long I could quickly be short and vice versa. I won’t update my positions. All positions can change immediately as soon as I publish this, with or without notice and at any point I can be long, short or neutral on any position. You are on your own. Do not make decisions based on my blog. I exist on the fringe. The publisher does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided in this page. These are not the opinions of any of my employers, partners, or associates. I did my best to be honest about my disclosures but can’t guarantee I am right; I write these posts after a couple beers sometimes. I edit after my posts are published because I’m impatient and lazy, so if you see a typo, check back in a half hour. Also, I just straight up get shit wrong a lot. I mention it twice because it’s that important.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/14/2024 – 17:30

  • ABC To Pay Trump $15 Million For Defamation, Issue Apology
    ABC To Pay Trump $15 Million For Defamation, Issue Apology

    ABC News and star anchor George Stephanopoulos have reached a settlement with Donald Trump for $15 million, after Stephanopoulos asserted that Trump was found “liable for rape” in a civil case while interviewing Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) last March.

    After the network played a clip of Mace discussing being a victim of rape, Stephanopoulos asked: “How do you square your endorsement of Donald Trump with the testimony we just saw?”

    “You’ve endorsed Donald Trump for president. Judges and two separate juries have found him liable for rape and for defaming the victim of that rape,” the host continued, referring to the case brought by Trump accuser E. Jean Carroll.

    During his contentious discussion with Mace, Stephanopoulos repeated the claim 10 times despite the fact that a jury only found Trump liable for “sexual abuse” – which under New York law is distinctly different from rape.

    After the federal jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse, but not rape, Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote in a later ruling that just because Carroll failed to prove rape “within the meaning of the New York Penal Law does not mean that she failed to prove that Mr. Trump ‘raped’ her as many people commonly understand the word ‘rape.’”

    …

    The settlement was publicly filed on Saturday, revealing that the two parties have come to an agreement and avoided a costly trial. According to the settlement, ABC News will pay $15 million as a charitable contribution to a “Presidential foundation and museum to be established by or for Plaintiff, as Presidents of the United States of America have established in the past.” Additionally, the network will pay $1 million in Trump’s attorney fees. -Fox News

    After Trump sued for defamation, Stephanopoulos was a pissy little midget – telling CBS late-night host Stephen Colbert that he wouldn’t be “cowed out of doing my job because of a threat,” Fox notes further.

    “Trump sued me because I used the word ‘rape,’ even though a judge said that’s in fact what did happen. We filed a motion to dismiss.”

    The settlement came after U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisette M. Reid recently ordered Trump and Stephanopoulos to attend an in-person deposition hearing next week ahead of the Dec. 24 deadline for the defendants to file a motion for summary judgment, in order to avoid a trial.

    In his lawsuit against Stephanopoulos and ABC, Trump was represented by Florida attorneys Alejandro Brito and Richard Klugh, who also represent the president-elect in his legal case against CNN. The settlement with ABC was filed in the Southern District of Florida Federal Court where both parties signed and agreed to the terms. -Fox News

    The settlement is the latest in a string of legal victories for Trump – ranging from the dismissal of his 2020 election fraud lawsuit, to his classifieds records case. Trump was also granted a request to file a motion to dismiss in his New York ‘Stormy Daniels’ case.

    Trump is separately suing CBS News for $10 billion in damages over “deceptive conduct.”

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/14/2024 – 16:55

  • Natural Gas – Not Nuclear – Is the Key To Powering North America's Future
    Natural Gas – Not Nuclear – Is the Key To Powering North America’s Future

    Authored by Gwyn Morgan via The Epoch Times,

    After decades on the outs with environmentalists and regulators, nuclear power is being heralded as a key component for a “net zero” future of clean, reliable energy. Its promise is likely to fall short, however, due to some hard realities.

    As North America grapples with the challenge of providing secure, affordable, and sustainable energy amidst soaring electricity demand, it is time to accept this fact: Natural gas remains the most practical solution for powering our grid and economy.

    Nuclear power’s limitations are rooted in its costs, risks, and delays. Even under ideal circumstances, building or restarting a nuclear facility is arduous. Consider Microsoft’s much-publicized plan to restart the long-dormant Unit 1 reactor at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania. This project is lauded as proof of an incipient “nuclear revival,” but despite leveraging existing infrastructure it will cost US$1.6 billion and take four years to bring online.

    This is not a unique case. Across North America, nuclear energy projects face monumental lead times. The new generation of small modular reactors (SMRs), often touted as a game-changer, is still largely theoretical. In Canada—Alberta in particular—discussions around SMRs have been ongoing for years, with no concrete progress. The most optimistic projections estimate the first SMR in Western Canada might be operational by 2034.

    The reality is that nuclear energy cannot scale quickly enough to meet urgent electricity needs. Canada’s power grid is already strained, and electricity demand is set to grow significantly, driven by electric vehicles and enormous data centres for AI applications. Nuclear power, even if expanded aggressively, cannot fill the gap within the necessary time frames.

    Natural gas, by contrast, is abundant, flexible, low-risk—and highly affordable. It accounts for 40 percent of U.S. electricity generation and plays a critical role in Canada’s energy mix. Unlike nuclear, natural gas infrastructure can be built rapidly, ensuring that new capacity comes online when it’s needed—not decades later. Gas-fired plants are cost-effective and capable of providing consistent, large-scale power while being capable of rapid starts and shut-downs, making them suitable for meeting both base-load and “peaking” power demands.

    Climate-related concerns surrounding natural gas need to be put in perspective. Natural gas is the lowest-emission fossil fuel and produces less than half the carbon dioxide of coal per unit of energy output. It is also highly adaptable, supporting renewable energy integration by compensating for the intermittency of wind and solar power.

    Nuclear energy advocates frequently highlight its zero-emission credentials, yet they overlook its immense challenges, not just the front-end problems of high cost and long lead times, but ongoing waste disposal and future decommissioning.

    Natural gas, by comparison, presents fewer risks. Its production and distribution systems are well-established, and North America is uniquely positioned to benefit from the vast reserves underlying all three countries on the continent. Despite low prices and ever-increasing regulatory obstacles, Canada’s natural gas production has been setting new records. Streamlining regulatory processes and expanding liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity would help revive Canada’s battered economy, with plenty of natural gas left over to help meet growing domestic electricity needs.

    Critics argue that investing in natural gas is at odds with the “energy transition” to a glorious net zero future, but this oversimplifies the related challenges and ignores hard realities. By reducing reliance on dirtier fuels like coal, natural gas can help lower a country’s greenhouse gas emissions while providing the reliability needed to support economic growth and renewable energy integration.

    Europe’s energy crisis following the recent reduction of Russian gas imports underscores natural gas’s vital role in maintaining reliable electricity supplies. As nations like Germany still phase out nuclear power due to the sheer blind ideology of their left-wing parties, they’re growing more dependent on natural gas to keep the lights (mostly) on and the factories (partially) humming.

    Europe is already a destination for LNG exported from the U.S. Gulf Coast, and American LNG exports will soon resume growth under the incoming Trump administration. Canada has the resources and know-how to similarly scale up its LNG exports; all we need is a supportive federal government.

    For all its theoretical benefits, nuclear power remains impractical for meeting immediate and medium-term energy demands. Its high costs, lengthy timelines, and significant remaining public opposition make it unlikely to serve as North America’s energy backbone.

    Natural gas, on the other hand, is affordable, scalable, and reliable. It is the fuel that powers industries, keeps homes warm and provides the stability our electricity grid needs—whether or not we ever transition to “net zero.” By prioritizing investment in natural gas infrastructure and expanding its use, we can meet today’s energy challenges head-on while laying the groundwork for tomorrow’s innovations.

    *  *  *

    The original, full-length version of this article was recently published in C2C Journal.

    Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/14/2024 – 16:20

  • We Are Not Looking For A Fight With Israel: HTS Leader Jolani 
    We Are Not Looking For A Fight With Israel: HTS Leader Jolani 

    Israel has already conducted at least 300 major strikes on Syria since Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) took over Damascus and much of the country, with President Assad having fled to Moscow, where’s he’s been given asylum.

    Israeli warplanes have been able to launch attacks with impunity, having decimated airbases, missile storehouses, and even chemical weapons facilities. Israel has finally degraded and destroyed what was once among the most feared anti-air defense system and network in the region (which is why previously Israeli warplanes only launched attacks on Syria from over Lebanese airspace). 

    Throughout this past week, HTS leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani (who is now reverting to his birth name of Ahmad al-Sharaa) remained noticeably silent on the non-stop Israeli attacks which have kept all of Damascus awake at night and involved low flying Israeli warplanes.

    AFP/Getty Images

    But on Saturday Jolani is seeking to give Israel ‘assurances’ – also as IDF tanks and troops have crossed into Syria and have expanded occupation of more parts of the south. He said his new government has “no intention of confronting Israel.”

    “We are not looking to engage in a conflict with Israel and cannot bear such a battle,” Jolani continued, and further pointed out he’s not looking for war with Iran either.

    He signaled intent for “no hostilities with the Iranian people” but also called Assad’s ouster “a victory over the dangerous Iranian project in the region.”

    He said Syrian state “should not be governed with a revolutionary mindset, and we need laws and institutions [to this end]” – as he pledges to bring stability and has said he won’t let his forces embark on revenge killings.

    There have been reports of Sunni Islamist militants targeting Alawite villages in the Latakia or possibly central Syrian countryside, but thus far no evidence of attacks on ethno-religions minorities in Damascus or major cities have emerged.

    The Druze community, which is an Islamic offshoot in the south and considered heretical by hardline Sunnis, is deeply fearful and some tribes near Golan are actually seeking Israeli production. The Druze leadership doesn’t trust the jihadists of HTS and are actually petitioning Israel to annex their villages:

    In a video posted to X on Friday that features captions in English, a Hader resident claiming to be a representative of the Druze people, an esoteric ethnoreligious group, urged a large crowd to consider what their future will be like. The village is located within the buffer zone between Israel and Syria, which IDF troops entered last week.

    “If we have to choose, we will choose the lesser evil,” he said. “And even if it’s considered evil to ask to be annexed to the [Israeli] Golan, it’s a much lesser evil than the evil coming our way,” the man added, apparently referring to the HTS, which was formerly known as the Al Nusra front – an offshoot of Al Qaeda in Syria.

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    The man warned, clearly in reference to the armed jihadist factions now all over Syria: “That evil might take our women, might take our daughters, they might take our houses.”

    Israel has meanwhile signaled it plans to keep its military presence in southern Syria, and will maintain a forward operating base on the Syrian side of Mt. Hermon. 

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/14/2024 – 15:45

  • Sigh… Gen Z Interns Are Still Tweeting About Project 2025 From Biden's X Account
    Sigh… Gen Z Interns Are Still Tweeting About Project 2025 From Biden’s X Account

    Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

    President Trump won the election over a month ago. Yet ‘Joe Biden’ sent out a post on X Friday saying that he’s “praying” Trump will not implement “Project 2025”.

    They just can’t stop with this nonsense.

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    They don’t know what else to do with themselves.

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    They’re like Wall-E the garbage droid that keeps collecting garbage for eternity after humanity has left Earth for a different planet.

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    Speaking of garbage…

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    The post doesn’t even make sense.

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    Why would anyone listen to the Biden Administration about what constitutes sound economic policy?

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    Ebenezer Scrooge says what?

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    *  *  *

    Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/14/2024 – 15:10

  • "Watch Credit Spreads" For Crash Signals – Insights From Pento & Roberts On 2025 Positioning
    “Watch Credit Spreads” For Crash Signals – Insights From Pento & Roberts On 2025 Positioning

    Are markets headed for a cliff? Most analysts flipped bullish following the Trump win with promises of peace, lower taxes, and business-friendly regulation. But one strategist, Michael Pento, is calling for a major crash as severe as 50% off the S&P.

    Friday night concluded another ZeroHedge live-premium debate with Pento, founder of Pento Portfolio Strategies, and Chief Investment Strategist at RIA Advisors Lance Roberts. 

    Expertly moderated by Real Vision’s Ash Bennington, we’ve compiled key moments below but encourage all readers to listen to the full debate (linked at the bottom).

    Credit Spreads Canary

    Unlike the stock market, driven by sentiment and speculation, credit markets are “fundamentally based” on assessing inflation, credit risk, and returns — according to Roberts.

    He points out that these spreads have historically served as a “good early warning indicator” of bear markets. Roberts concedes Pento’s thesis about the precarious state of the market and even admits, “we’re going to crash” (but strongly advises against all-cash and shorting, explained later).

    “If there’s anything you’re going to watch to tell you a crash is going to come, watch credit spreads.”

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    Fed Is Finished

    Pento argues that the Federal Reserve is unlikely to intervene aggressively in the event of another economic crash due to significant changes since pre-COVID conditions. He challenges the assumption that “the Fed’s got your back” by pointing to current constraints that make a return to policies like zero interest rates (ZIRP) and quantitative easing (QE) less feasible.

    Pento: “It’s a little sophomoric to say, ‘well, the Feds got your back. Well, the Fed’s just going to print money.’” 

    “Look at what happened in 2020. The Fed’s balance sheet went from $4 trillion to $9 trillion from 2020 to 2022
 the reason why the Fed is going to be loathe and reticent and reluctant to do that again, is because we had inflation in this country for the first time really since 1981. And if you measure inflation the way they did pre-Boskin in 1996, inflation was really about 20%.”

    “Inflation has already wiped out the bottom four quintiles of the middle class.”

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    Even if the Fed tries to put up a fight, says Pento, there’s no guarantee that they can save markets. Japan has thrown the kitchen sink at its markets to levels well beyond the American central bank but to no avail:

    “Japan has zero percent interest rates. The Bank of Japan owns every JGB that’s ever issued. They own half of the ETF market, and their market is below where it was 35 years ago.”

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    Harmful Doomer Predictions 

    Roberts blasts doomsday predictions for causing massive losses for retail investors, encouraging them to remain permanently out of markets while the S&P climbs to new highs. 

    “If you’re going to say a crash is coming
 it’s got to have a specific timeframe.” 

    He highlights the market’s resilience during events like the 2020 shutdown. “If there was ever a reason the market should be down 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, it should have been that event.” Though Roberts concedes that the federal government kept stocks afloat with stimulus checks, debt forgiveness, zero interest rates, and $120 billion in monthly quantitative easing.

    Overall, he strongly discourages investors against crash predicting because current conditions, fueled by liquidity and support, may sustain the rally longer than expected. “They might be surprised how long this can last because of what’s still fueling the underlying market.”

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    To hear Pento’s entire case for the 50% crash and his full discussion with Roberts that went for over an hour, you must sign up for the ZeroHedge Premium or Professional tiers. Pro subs additionally gain access to institutional research from the major banks to help you gain an edge when trading. Also tune in this Tuesday evening for a debate between Jonathan Turley and GW Professor Dave Karpf on free speech and Elon’s acquisition of Twitter, moderated by Gene Epstein of the SoHo Forum.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/14/2024 – 14:35

  • "We're Kinda Worried…" – Judicial Watch Helps Unearth 911 Call Made By Trump Shooter's Dad
    “We’re Kinda Worried…” – Judicial Watch Helps Unearth 911 Call Made By Trump Shooter’s Dad

    Authored by Ken Silva via Headline USA,

    Thanks to the help of the non-profit transparency group Judicial Watch, Headline USA has obtained a recording of the 911 call Thomas Crooks’s father made on the day his son allegedly tried assassinating Donald Trump during his July 13 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

    Allegheny County—where Crooks lived with his parents, Matthew and Mary Crooks—provided the call to Headline USA on Friday after a four-month legal process.

    The call lasts roughly 2 minutes before abruptly ending. Matthew Crooks initially called Allegheny County 911 dispatch, which transferred him to the Bethel Park Police Department.

    “Hi, yes. Uh, my name is Matthew Crooks. I was calling in regards to my son, Thomas. Uh, he belongs to the Clairton Sportsman Club in Clairton, and I don’t have the number for Jefferson Police on hand. The reason I’m calling is he left the house here at about a quarter to two this afternoon, and we’ve gotten no contact from him, no text messages, nothing’s been returned, and he’s not home yet,” Matthew said.

    “That’s totally not like him. So we’re kind of worried, not really sure what we should do.”

    The recording ended after Matthew confirmed his son was 20 years old. Headline USA is filing an appeal in an attempt to obtain the rest of the recording—if it exists.

    Obtaining the 2-minute recording was a lengthy process in the first place.

    After requesting the call on Aug. 12, Bethel Park Police denied disclosure nine days later— citing Section 708(b)(18) of the RTKL, which exempts 911 recordings from public disclosure.

    However, the exact same RTKL paragraph cited by Bethel Police also states that law enforcement can release 911 recordings that are in the public interest.

    Headline USA appealed accordingly, but an appeals officer ruled that he didn’t have the power to force disclosure. Only a police department or a court has the power to force disclosure of 911 calls, the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records ruled in October. The Office of Open Records made a similar ruling that same month in an appeal filed by NBC News, which also sought the call.

    That’s where Judicial Watch came in. The non-profit watchdog agreed to take on this publication’s case, filing a lawsuit in late October in the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas to force Bethel Park Police to disclose the 911 call.

    “Disclosing the 911 recording would further aid the public’s interest in completing a timeline of events surrounding the attempted assignation of President Trump on July 13, 2024,” attorney J. Chadwick Schnee argued on behalf of Judicial Watch and Headline USA—asking the court to reverse the appeal office’s decision and to deem the 911 recording to be in the public interest.

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    However, a judge never had the chance to rule on Judicial Watch’s lawsuit. Last week, ABC News published a story about the call, reporting that it obtained the 911 call via a Right to Know Law request—the same method by which both Headline USA and NBC had requested it. Though Headline USA’s request was with Bethel Park Police, NBC had tried obtaining the recording via Allegheny County—and the county fought NBC all the way to appeal, and won.

    It’s not clear why Allegheny County disclosed the call to ABC after denying it to NBC—and successfully arguing in October that it wasn’t in the public interest. However, Allegheny County only disclosed the call after Judicial Watch filed its lawsuit.

    ABC did reveal that the call was made at 10:56 p.m., which settles conflicting reports of whether the father called before or after his son shot at Trump at 6:11 p.m.—grazing Trump’s ear, killing a firefighter, and seriously wounding two others before dying from law enforcement’s return fire.

    The timing of the call wasn’t included in the response Headline USA received.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/14/2024 – 14:00

  • Fury Erupts As Biden Commutes Sentence Of Infamous 'Kids-For-Cash' Judge
    Fury Erupts As Biden Commutes Sentence Of Infamous ‘Kids-For-Cash’ Judge

    Earlier this week, President Biden broke the record for the largest one-day act of clemency, dishing out 39 pardons and commuting 1,499 sentences. Now, as journalists and citizens begin sifting through that massive pile, some troubling discoveries are coming to light — perhaps none more disturbing than Biden’s commutation of a sentence given to a Pennsylvania judge convicted of railroading children to prison in exchange for $2.1 million in kickbacks from the private prison’s operator to himself and Judge Mark Ciaverella.    

    In a truly sinister scandal that came to be known by the nickname “Kids-for-Cash,” Luzerne County Judge Michael Conahan pled guilty to racketeering charges and was sentenced to more than 17 years in prison. By some estimates, the scheme affected more than 2,500 juveniles. In many cases, the minors were provided no defense counsel, and the crooked judges creatively applied laws in order to lengthen sentences. In a case handled by Ciaverella, a 15-year-old girl who created a MySpace page to mock her school’s assistant principal had a 90-second, no-lawyer trial, and was sentenced to three months in confinement.

    Former Luzerne County PA Judge Michael Conahan pleaded guilty to handing out lengthy juvenile sentences in return for millions of dollars in kickbacks  (via The Citizen’s Voice) 

    Sandy Fonzo is among those who are outraged by Biden’s commutation of Conahan’s sentence. Her son, a star wrestler with college scholarship prospects, was sentenced to confinement for his senior year on a minor drug paraphernalia charge. He emerged depressed and angry, and would late commit suicide. “I am shocked and I am hurt,” said Fonzo. “Conahan‘s actions destroyed families, including mine, and my son‘s death is a tragic reminder of the consequences of his abuse of power.”

    Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was among those rushing to condemn Biden’s move. “I do feel strongly that President Biden got it absolutely wrong and created a lot of pain here in northeastern Pennsylvania,” said Shapiro at a Friday event — held, believe it or not, on “Biden Street” — in the president’s first hometown, Scranton. “[Conahan] deserves to be behind bars, not walking as a free man.”

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    Amid the uproar, a Biden administration official told Politico that the specifics of Conahan’s situation weren’t taken into account; instead, the commutations were dished out en masse to anyone who fit a general set of criteria. (Is that supposed to make it sound better?) As Politico explains, “those commutations were extended to people on Covid-related home confinement after federal authorities verified that their offenses were nonviolent and not a sex offense or terrorism related.”

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    Those sloppy parameters left plenty of room for serious evil-doers — like Conahan and who knows how many else — to be set free.  As GOP Pennsylvania state Sen. Lisa Baker asked, “Where does ruining the lives of vulnerable kids in order to enrich oneself warrant a presidential commutation?”

    The firestorm comes two weeks after Biden issued a blanket pardon of his son Hunter for any federal crimes he “has committed or may have committed or participated in” between Jan. 1, 2014 and Dec. 1, 2024. Coming after promises that he would not issue such a pardon, the move received condemnation from Republicans and Democrat alike, and an AP-NORC poll found only two out of ten Americans approve it. 

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    “I have the great privilege of extending mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, restoring opportunity for Americans to participate in daily life and contribute to their communities,” said Biden in a statement issued alongside last week’s pardons and commutations.

    There’s a great, sickening irony in Biden shortening the sentence of a man who unjustly lengthened the sentences of others — out of pure greed. 

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/14/2024 – 13:25

  • Trump Appoints Former Fox Anchor Kari Lake To Lead Voice Of America
    Trump Appoints Former Fox Anchor Kari Lake To Lead Voice Of America

    Authored by Melanie Sun via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    President-elect Donald Trump has named former Fox 10 Phoenix news anchor Kari Lake to lead the federally funded international broadcasting network Voice of America (VOA).

    Kari Lake speaks at the Faith and Freedom Road to Majority conference at Hilton in Washington on June 24, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

    “I am pleased to announce that Kari Lake will serve as our next Director of the Voice of America,” Trump said in a number of announcements for positions in his administration on Dec. 11.

    “She will be appointed by, and work closely with, our next head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, who I will announce soon, to ensure that the American values of Freedom and Liberty are broadcast around the World fairly and accurately, unlike the lies spread by the Fake News Media.”

    VOA was founded on Feb. 1, 1942, with a non-American audience in mind, to share the “policies of the United States clearly and effectively.” At the time, its goal was to combat Nazi propaganda.

    Lake ran in both the 2024 U.S. Senate election and Arizona’s 2022 gubernatorial election, with her Democratic competitors named winners in both races.

    “I am honored that President Trump has asked me to lead the Voice of America,” Lake said in a post on social media platform X shortly after being named.

    “VOANews is a vital international media outlet dedicated to advancing the interests of the United States by engaging directly with people across the globe and promoting democracy and truth,” she said of the network that has an audience of 326 million people across 48 languages.

    “Under my leadership, the VOA will excel in its mission: chronicling America’s achievements worldwide,” she said. “I can’t wait to get started.”

    Other Appointments

    Also on the night of Dec. 11, Trump nominated Michael J. Rigas as deputy secretary of state for management and resources. The position requires confirmation by the Senate.

    “Michael will bring accountability to the State Department as he did Government wide, when he served in my First Term as the Deputy and Acting Director of the Office of Personnel Management, and the Acting Deputy Director for Management at the Office of Management and Budget,” Trump said of the Harvard alumnus.

    “Mike is a conservative warrior who knows how Government works, and will help Make America Great Again!”

    Trump also named Daniel J. Newlin as his administration’s ambassador to Colombia.

    An entrepreneur and former lawman, Newlin dedicated a 28-year career to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in Orlando, where he investigated major crimes, including armed robbery, gang violence, human trafficking, and illegal gun and narcotics trafficking.

    “With his Law Enforcement expertise enabling him to navigate complex international issues, and his business insights fostering economic partnerships, Newlin stands as a powerful advocate for U.S. interests, and a Champion for strengthening ties, and making a difference in the World. Dan will do a great job!” Trump said.

    The president-elect also named philanthropist and physician Dr. Peter Lamelas as ambassador to Argentina and Leandro Rizzuto Jr., as ambassador to the Organization of American States.

    Lamelas, a refugee from communist Cuba, is known for creating the largest urgent care health care company in Florida. He was previously chosen by Trump to serve on the Department of Justice’s Medal of Valor Review Board to recognize first responders.

    Rizzuto, son of chairman and co-founder of the Conair Corporation Leandro Rizzuto, formerly served as U.S. consul general to Bermuda in the first Trump administration.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/14/2024 – 12:50

  • NJ Drone 'Invasion' Just In Time For Congress To Reauthorize Orwellian Law
    NJ Drone ‘Invasion’ Just In Time For Congress To Reauthorize Orwellian Law

    A series of drone sightings over New Jersey that began in mid-November has left residents and lawmakers spooked about the possibility of foreign adversaries breaching US airspace with drone swarms. While officials have attempted to reassure the public, some lawmakers have stoked fear, leading to widespread panic on social media, with people interpreting anything moving in the night sky as a potential drone (even commercial jets and stars). 

    Source: Fox News

    Days ago, the FBI and the US Homeland Security Department released a statement indicating, “We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus.” 

    “Historically, we have experienced cases of mistaken identity, where reported drones are, in fact, manned aircraft,” the federal agencies said. 

    White House national security communications adviser John Kirby said many of the purported drone sightings are commercial jets with no evidence of a national security or public safety threat. 

    If actual ‘truck-sized’ drones (some say Iranian origin) were flying in some of the world’s most restricted airspace, let’s use common sense—the Pentagon would have scrambled F-22s and F-35s on the East Coast almost immediately. Since that hasn’t happened (as far as we know), we can’t help but be suspicious about the whole drone situation. Additionally, no private satellite data shows that Iranian drone carriers are parked off the coast; in fact, these vessels are located 7,500 miles away.

    Let’s take a step back and review some of Elon Musk’s tweets on X:

    • Sept. 30: “Drone swarm battles are coming that will boggle the mind” 

    • Sept. 29: “Epic drone wars coming” 

    • Jan. 5, 2023: “The Drone Wars are already a big deal, but we ain’t seen nothing yet 
” 

    What did Elon know ahead of time?

    Even President-elect Trump wrote on the Truth Social platform: “Can this really be happening without our government’s knowledge? I don (sic) think so! Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shot (sic) them down!!! DJT.” 

    Fox News reporter Bill Melugin asked Musk on X his thoughts on the situation… “Alien spaceships controlled by Iran obv,” Musk replied.

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    No actual drones have been recovered, and footage on X frequently features amateur videos mistaking drones for commercial aircraft. Furthermore, as far as we know, the FAA has not closed large sections of airspace or diverted planes. While we are not dismissing the possibility of foreign adversary-operated drones breaching heavily restricted airspace, we are pointing out the extraordinary hype on social media (with no substance), which has caused widespread panic with some users on X calling this a “psyop.” 

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    Let’s say some of these drone sightings were real. Then, maybe… 

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    X user mcm_ct_usa makes the point the purported drone sightings could be a “psyop against you to manipulate Congress into passing the new H.R.8610 (Counter-UAS Authority Security, Safety, and Reauthorization Act of 2024) which will include appropriations and enhanced government powers to control you, and they’re even going so far as to use it to push for acts of war against other countries.” 

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    It’s coincidental that last week, a Homeland Security joint subcommittee held a hearing on H.R.8610, the Counter-UAS Authority Security, Safety, and Reauthorization Act. This bill would renew and reform counter-UAS legal authorities and strengthen the FAA’s oversight powers of drones.

    “The reason we need legal authority is that without it, use of the most effective types of drone detection and counter-drone technologies could violate criminal laws, including those that prohibit destroying or disabling aircraft in flight and intercepting signals and communications,” said Brad Wiegmann, the DOJ’s deputy assistant attorney general for national security.

    With current drone-countering authorities set to expire on Dec. 20, the sudden surge in purported drone sightings and the accompanying MSM and social media panic might make a bit more sense—as an effort to push for the reauthorization of Orwellian drone laws.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 12/14/2024 – 12:15

Digest powered by RSS Digest

Dec 14

Today’s News 14th December 2024

  • Global South's Energy Rebellion At COP29 Signals A New Future
    Global South’s Energy Rebellion At COP29 Signals A New Future

    Authored by Vijay Jayaraj via RealClearWire,

    The climate movement’s annual showpiece, the United Nation’s Conference of Parties (COP), held this year in Baku, Azerbaijan, has been exposed to an unprecedented level of disinterest—even dissent—from developing nations.

    Leaders of some of the world’s most resource-rich, economically aspiring countries have opted to sit this one out, sending only low-level delegates, if any. This is the latest signal of a growing resistance to an anti-fossil fuel “gospel” advanced by the United Nations.

    Last year’s COP28 in the Middle East, where oil wealth underpins entire economies, forced the climate community to confront its contradictions. Today, COP29 in central Asia continues this reckoning and presages the demise of an unscientific and anti-developmental policy framework wrecking global economies.

    Host of COP29 Educates Climate Woke Delegates

    The tone of COP29 itself is a marked departure from prior gatherings. In Azerbaijan, where oil and gas production are integral to the national economy, the summit’s host, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, called fossil fuels “a gift from God,” lauding their contribution to global prosperity and stability.

    Fossil fuels have moved from being a taboo “elephant in the room” to a subject of open discussion at COPs. The leaders of countries in Africa and Latin America are freely questioning the premise of banning their use of fossil fuels while much of the developed world continues to consume record amounts of coal, oil and natural gas. The notion that high-income nations can dictate the energy agenda is seen as a remnant of a power structure that primarily serves the interests of the world’s most privileged.

    The International Energy Agency projects that developing countries will see substantial growth in energy demand over the next decade, an expansion that cannot be met by renewables. Leaders in these regions understand that hydrocarbons are critical to achieving their development goals.

    Unprecedented Pullout From COP Conference and Resistance From Global South

    In a surprising move, Argentina’s newly elected president, Javier Gerardo Milei, withdrew his country’s 80-person delegation from Baku less than a third of the way into this year’s 11-day COP. He cited the need for pragmatic energy policies that encourage development rather than stymie it.

    For Milei, whose presidential campaign was based on a pro-business, anti-bureaucracy platform, the message is clear: Policy must serve the economic needs of his country first. Argentina’s ongoing energy crisis, its untapped shale gas reserves and a crippling economic situation demand a level-headed approach that prioritizes national interests over global climate ideals that are both batty and corrupt.

    Milei’s political philosophy resonates with a growing number of leaders in the Global South who view economic growth as paramount and recognize that access to energy is fundamental to achieving it.

    Argentina’s departure from COP29 is a turning point that should serve as a wake-up call to the U.N. and its allies. The time for one-size-fits-all mandates is over. The rigid orthodoxy of fossil fuel divestment pushed by the U.N. and wealthy nations is losing ground, challenged by leaders who refuse to sacrifice their national interests to a destructive agenda.

    For much of the Global South, the idea of an immediate energy transition remains, at best, aspirational and, at worst, profoundly out of touch. The reality is that fossil fuels still power 80 percent of global energy consumption. This isn’t just an inconvenient truth; it’s an inescapable basis of modern civilization that developing nations understand viscerally.

    As the COP29 circus concludes in Baku, the world is seeing the crumbling of the long-held illusion that a global transition to green energyis feasible, much less fair and desirable. Developing nations are proclaiming that they will not be deprived of necessary energy sources by nations that continue to feast on the very fossil fuels they frown upon. The disconnect between rhetoric and reality is stark, and developing countries are calling attention to it.

    Fossil fuels are not a relic of the past; for many countries, they are the key to a prosperous future—truly “a gift from God.”

     

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/13/2024 – 23:25

  • Russian Forces Positioned To Take Key City Of Pokrovsk As Ukrainian Manpower Falters
    Russian Forces Positioned To Take Key City Of Pokrovsk As Ukrainian Manpower Falters

    The key logistical hub of Ukraine’s eastern front, Pokrovsk has been under steady contention for the past three months. Russian forces have spent the better part of that time pushing westward to flank just south of the city.  They have now taken Kurakhove and cut off supply routes coming from Pokrovsk to a large portion of the front line.  Some reports indicate that Ukrainian troops trying to leave Kurakhove may be cut off.  The slow motion flanking maneuver has set the stage for Pokrovsk to be enveloped from the south.  

    Since the beginning of the war the area has been the primary staging ground for resupply of Ukrainian troops across the east.  After Pokrovsk is cut off or taken, it is expected that Russia will then be able to gain significant ground across the entire front and move closer to controlling all of Donetsk.  

    Losses for Ukraine have been stacking up in 2024 and lack of manpower has been the overarching theme.  Though numerous western officials and think-tanks (including The Institute For The Study of War) claim that Russian gains have been paid for with “massive casualties”, they’ve provided no concrete proof so far to support their stats.  The “Russian meat grinder” narrative is beginning to sound like a coping mechanism or propaganda as it becomes clear that Russia is gaining troop strength instead of losing momentum.

    (There has been similar propaganda surrounding mass casualties of North Korean troops in Kursk – There are still no verified reports or video footage of actual DPRK troops in combat against Ukraine.  Rumors abound, like the “Ghost of Kyiv”)

    What we do know is that Ukraine is desperate for new soldiers to refresh their defensive lines.  NATO leaders and the Biden White House have been putting pressure on Vladimir Zelensky to draft men from the 18-25 age bracket; a move Zelensky has avoided to prevent the complete loss of a generation.  The average age of conscripts is now well over 40 years old.  

    This may be why Joe Biden recently gave the green light for Ukraine to use long range missiles (ATACMs and Storm Shadows) within Russian territory.  Every time Ukraine faces a strategic failure, NATO offers up new weaponry as a public distraction.  They said Abrams tanks would be a game changer for Ukraine, then they said the F-16s would be a game changer.  Now they claim the long range strikes using smart weapons will be a game changer.

    Most military analysts agree that these weapons have had little effect on the course of the war.   

    Russia’s typical methodology for dealing with urban centers has been to surround and then bombard with artillery and FABs until the majority of buildings and defenses are rubble.  A renowned Ukrainian military officer, Serhii Filimonov, commander of the Da Vinci Wolves battalion of the 59th Motorised Brigade, described Pokrovsk’s defense as a “disaster”.  Senior officers are placing “unrealistic” demands on units and are unfamiliar with circumstances on the front line, Filimonov wrote on his Telegram channel this week.   

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/13/2024 – 23:00

  • Amazon To Donate $1 Million to Trump's Inauguration Fund, Live Stream On Prime Video
    Amazon To Donate $1 Million to Trump’s Inauguration Fund, Live Stream On Prime Video

    Authored by Caden Pearson via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Amazon said Thursday it will donate $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration fund and an additional $1 million in-kind donation by live-streaming the historical event on Prime Video.

    Jeff Bezos speaks during an Action on Forests and Land Use event on day three of COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, on Nov. 2, 2021. Chris Jackson/Getty Images

    Amazon’s announcement, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, coincided with news that Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, also contributed $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund.

    The move marks a shift for tech leaders who appear to want to improve the previously rocky relations with Trump, who will take office next month.

    Trump has previously criticized the Amazon- and Jeff Bezos-owned The Washington Post over political coverage. Bezos has publicly condemned some of Trump’s rhetoric and accused him of bias in a 2019 lawsuit over a $10 billion Pentagon contract.

    Bezos has recently softened his stance, expressing optimism about Trump’s second term and endorsing proposed regulatory reforms while at a business summit last week.

    Bezos and Trump are set to meet next week, potentially marking a turning point in their relationship.

    Amazon’s donation and live-streaming offer, as well as Meta’s donation, signal a strategic effort to improve relations with Trump and his incoming administration after years of tension.

    Trump’s relationship with Meta was strained by the suspension of his Facebook and Instagram accounts in January 2021, following the breach of the Capitol. The company attributed the deplatforming to what they said was Trump’s “praise for people engaged in violence at the Capitol on January 6.”

    The company restored his accounts in early 2023 and announced stiffer penalties for public figures who repeatedly violate its policies “in ways that incite or celebrate ongoing violent events or civil unrest.”

    This heightened scrutiny was later revoked on July 12, one day before the attempted assassination of Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

    Zuckerberg expressed praise for Trump following his brush with death, and called him.

    “Seeing Donald Trump get up after getting shot in the face and pump his fist in the air with the American flag is one of the most bad-[expletive] things I’ve ever seen in my life,” Zuckerberg told Bloomberg days after the shooting.

    Trump’s stance on Zuckerberg has also softened since the call, he revealed on the “Bussin’ With the Boys” podcast. Trump said during the interview that he appreciated the tech leader’s call and praised him for “staying out of the election.”

    This was a reference to the $400 million Zuckerberg and his wife donated $400 million to election offices around the country during the 2020 elections, with 90 percent directed toward Democrat-leaning counties in key swing states.

    In recent months, Zuckerberg has publicly supported some of Trump’s economic plans.

    Stephen Miller, Trump’s incoming deputy chief of staff for policy, has said Zuckerberg wants to support and assist the president-elect in implementing national reforms. The donation marks a turning point in the billionaires’ previously rocky relationship.

    The Associated Press and Samantha Flom contributed to this report.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/13/2024 – 22:35

  • Court Denies TikTok Request To Delay US Ban Set For Jan 19
    Court Denies TikTok Request To Delay US Ban Set For Jan 19

    By Catherine Yang of The Epoch Times

    A federal appeals court on Dec. 13 denied TikTok’s request to delay the Jan. 19, 2025, deadline for it to cut ties with the Chinese communist regime, shortly after the app filed its final argument for a delay.

    In an unsigned, expedited order, the three-judge panel denied the request and found there was no precedent for granting this type of request.

    TikTok, its parent company ByteDance, and a group of TikTok users had challenged the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA) that went into effect in April, arguing the law was unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds. PAFACA forbids apps that operate in the United States from being owned by a foreign adversary. ByteDance argues that it is effectively a ban because the Chinese regime will not allow the sale of TikTok and its proprietary algorithm.

    The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia last week denied the petitioners’ challenge, finding the law did not violate the First Amendment. The Justice Department, representing the government, argued that the law targeted ownership of an entity by a foreign adversary, not content on the app.

    When President Joe Biden signed the law in April, it started a 270-day countdown for ByteDance to either divest of TikTok by Jan. 19, 2025, or cease operations in the United States.

    TikTok then requested the court pause the countdown while it seeks appeal at the U.S. Supreme Court. The DOJ had opposed the delay, arguing three branches of government had already affirmed that TikTok presented a national security risk.

    “The petitioners have not identified any case in which a court, after rejecting a constitutional challenge to an Act of Congress, has enjoined the Act from going into effect while review is sought in the Supreme Court,” the order reads.

    The judges found that TikTok and the petitioners relied on First Amendment arguments that the court had already rejected in order to make their case for an extension.

    “As to those claims, this court has already unanimously concluded the Act satisfies the requirements of the First Amendment under heightened scrutiny,” the order reads.

    TikTok may ask the Supreme Court to issue an emergency injunction, effectively stopping the countdown, while the high court considers its petition. There is no guarantee that the Supreme Court will take any case.

    In its emergency request for relief, TikTok said delaying enforcement of the law would “simply create breathing room for the Supreme Court to conduct an orderly review and for the incoming Administration to evaluate this matter—before one of this country’s most important speech platforms is shuttered.”

    The platform said that a temporary shutdown would “have devastating effects on TikTok Inc.’s business” while halting the law would “impose no material harm on the Government.”

    A separate filing showed TikTok creators declaring that the law would cause them harm. For example, Brian Firebaugh, a cattle rancher who has the “cattleguy” account on TikTok, told the D.C. circuit court that he earns most of his income through selling ranch products promoted on the platform.

    “Not only would a TikTok ban quickly dismantle my business and my family’s way of life, it would also immediately eliminate the most effective tool for me to communicate with and support the agricultural community in Texas,” he said.

    DOJ’s response said that TikTok and others were downplaying national security concerns.

    “TikTok’s continued operation in the United States under its current ownership poses substantial harms to national security by virtue of TikTok’s data-collection practices and the covert intelligence and surveillance efforts of the Chinese government,” DOJ’s response read.

    Continue reading at Epoch Times

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/13/2024 – 22:15

  • Trump Slams Long-Range Missile Strikes On Russia
    Trump Slams Long-Range Missile Strikes On Russia

    Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

    President-elect Donald Trump has said that he “vehemently” disagrees with the US supporting long-range missile strikes inside Russian territory, which President Biden authorized last month.

    “I disagree very vehemently with sending missiles hundreds of miles into Russia. Why are we doing that?” Trump said in an interview with Time Magazine for an issue that named him Person of the Year.

    Getty Images

    “We’re just escalating this war and making it worse. That should not have been allowed to be done,” Trump added.

    Biden took the step to support Ukrainian strikes on Russia using US ATACMS and British Storm Shadow missiles even after Moscow made clear it would risk a nuclear escalation.

    Russia responded to Ukraine’s initial ATACMS and Storm Shadow strikes by firing a new hypersonic intermediate-range missile known as the Oreshnik.

    Ukrainian forces fired more ATACMS into Russia this week, and the Russian Defense Ministry has vowed there will be another response:

    “This attack by Western long-range weapons won’t be left unanswered, and corresponding measures will be taken,” the ministry said.

    Trump campaigned on ending the proxy war in Ukraine but has not articulated how exactly he plans to do that. He was asked in the Time interview if he would “abandon” Ukraine and responded:

    “I want to reach an agreement, and the only way you’re going to reach an agreement is not to abandon. You understand what that means, right?”

    The president-elect stressed in the interview that he was concerned with the death toll in the conflict, saying it was much higher than what’s been reported. He said the “numbers of dead young soldiers lying on fields all over the place are staggering. It’s crazy what’s taking place.”

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/13/2024 – 21:45

  • Moody's Cuts France In Surprise Downgrade Amid Mounting Political Chaos
    Moody’s Cuts France In Surprise Downgrade Amid Mounting Political Chaos

    Two weeks ago, at the end of November, when many were expecting Moody’s to downgrade France’s Aa2 rating (after it was put on negative outlook in October), the rating agency chickened out as there was still hope that Macron might salvage some of the political chaos engulfing Europe’s second biggest economy, and well aware that telling the truth in Europe is very costly. Alas, after Marine Le Pen toppled Barnier’s government in a dispute over deficit reduction one week ago, Moody’s no longer could pretend that France is anything but a flaming dumpster fire of a political circus, and late after the Friday close, in a downgrade that came outside of Moody’s regular review schedule for France, Moody’s cut its rating of the euro area’s second biggest economy to Aa3 from Aa2, three levels below the maximum rating, and with a “stable outlook”, for now. Moody’s was the last holdout: France has already been cut to equivalent levels by Fitch and S&P.

    The downgrade comes hours after President Emmanuel Macron named on Friday veteran centrist politician and early ally Francois Bayrou as his fourth prime minister this year. His predecessor Michel Barnier failed to pass a 2025 budget and was toppled earlier this month by left and right-wing lawmakers opposed to his 60 billion euro belt-tightening push that he had hoped would rein in France’s spiraling fiscal deficit.

    The political crisis forced the outgoing government to propose emergency legislation this week to temporarily roll over 2024 spending limits and tax thresholds into next year until a more permanent 2025 budget can be passed.

    The decision “reflects our view that the country’s public finances will be substantially weakened over the coming years,” Moody’s said in a statement. “Looking ahead, there is now very low probability that the next government will sustainably reduce the size of fiscal deficits beyond next year.”

    “As a result, we forecast that France’s public finances will be materially weaker over the next three years compared to our October 2024 baseline scenario,” it added.

    Barnier had intended to cut the budget deficit next year to 5% of economic output from 6.1% this year with a 60 billion euro package of spending cuts and tax hikes. But a majority of lawmakers were opposed to much of the belt-tightening drive and voted a no confidence measure against Barnier’s government, bringing it down.

    Bayrou, who has long warned about France’s weak public finances, said on Friday shortly after taking office that he faced a “Himalaya” of a challenge reining in the deficit.

    Outgoing Finance Minister Antoine Armand said the downgrade reflects the recent parliamentary developments and uncertainty around the budget. “The nomination of Francois Bayrou as prime minister and the reaffirmed will to reduce the deficit will provide an explicit response,” Armand said in a social media post.

    The government’s collapse and the scrapping of France’s 2025 budget added to months of political upheaval that has already hammered business confidence, with the country’s economic outlook steadily deteriorating.

    Barnier’s budget foresaw significant belt tightening by historical standards to bring the deficit to 5% of economic output from 6.1% this year. The next government will likely have to pare back those ambitions in order to get support from some of the lawmakers who toppled Barnier, but economists say the final outcome may even be no improvement. Plans to repair public finances were already derailed this year by poor tax revenues as consumer spending and corporate profits disappointed.

    The political crisis put French stocks and debt under pressure, pushing the risk premium on French government bonds at one point to their highest level over 12 years, with the yield on French bonds surpassing that of Greece.

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    Ironically, back during the peak European sovereign debt crisis, it was France that was among the countries that came to Greece’s rescue. Alas, nobody in Europe is big enough to rescue France. Expect the EURUSD to tumble when trading reopens on Monday, on its way to parity with the dollar.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/13/2024 – 21:39

  • California Docs, Hospitals Sued For Rushing 12-Year-Old Into Gender Transition
    California Docs, Hospitals Sued For Rushing 12-Year-Old Into Gender Transition

    A 20-year-old woman has filed suit against California hospitals and doctors, saying they rushed to conclude she suffered from gender dysphoria and then “fast-tracked [her] onto the conveyor belt of irreversibly damaging” medical interventions that included puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and a double-mastectomy at age 14.  

    According to the complaint filed in Los Angeles, Kaya Clementine Breen says she was sexually abused as a young child and that, around age 11 or 12, “began struggling with the thought of developing into a woman and began to believe that life would be easier if she were a boy.” When she shared those feelings with a school counselor, the counselor told Breen that she must be transgender, and then called her parents to push the same assumption as a fact. 

    Kaya Clementine Breen says she was irreversibly damaged by doctors and others who hastily commenced “gender-affirming” care on her at age 12 

    Breen’s parents sought out “experts” at the Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles, including Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy, one of the world’s most vocal advocates for the gender-transitioning of children. “At her very first visit, after mere minutes, Dr. Olson-Kennedy diagnosed Clementine with gender dysphoria and recommended surgical implantation of puberty blockers,” according to the complaint, which also alleges that Olson-Kennedy neglected to perform a mental-health assessment or inquire about past trauma or abuse. 

    Echoing a grievance that commonly surfaces in the gender-transition realm, the complaint alleges Olson-Kennedy told Breen’s parents that their daughter would “commit suicide if she did not begin taking testosterone…At that time, Clementine had never had any thoughts of suicide, and she certainly had never expressed anything along those lines to Dr Olson-Kennedy.” According to The Economist, Olson-Kennedy’s own notes made no mention of suicidal ideation. Ironically, it was only after enduring transition procedures and “therapies” that Breen would later attempt suicide as her mental health declined and she contended with extreme depression and anger. 

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    The fateful Dec. 27, 2016 consultation with Olson-Kennedy led to years of drastic medical alterations of Breen’s body. These included puberty-blockers at age 12, cross-sex hormones starting from age 13 through 19 and a “gender-affirming” double-mastectomy at just 14 years old. She was also “urged” to have a hysterectomy at age 17, though it’s unclear from the complaint if she did so. The mastectomy surgeon is among the many defendants, and is accused of his own negligence in carrying out the drastic procedure, having only met Breen for about 30 minutes on the very morning of the life-altering surgery.  

    Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy is accused of baselessly telling Breen’s parents their daughter would commit suicide if she didn’t commence a gender transition at age 12

    It was only via mental health care that she started receiving near the end of high school that Breen eventually concluded she was not “trans” after all. She stopped identifying as a male named “Finn,” and has begun de-transitioning — to the extent it’s possible. Summarizing Breen’s experience as “a despicable, failed medical experiment and a knowing, deliberate, and gross breach of the standard of care,” the complaint lays out a long and disturbing list of enduring harms:

    She has suffered physically, socially, neurologically, and psychologically. Her voice has permanently deepened. Her female body did not develop, and she has a very masculine body structure. Her fertility is almost certainly destroyed from the combination of years on puberty blockers and testosterone.

    And even if she could conceive and deliver a child, she would not be able to breastfeed because her healthy breasts were removed when she was only 14. And she has to seethe scars from that unnecessary surgery every day. She has experienced vaginal atrophy, and her sex life has been materially impacted. She is also at risk for bone-related problems later in life.

    Breen’s experience closely matches the picture Megyn Kelly painted in her searing indictment of “gender-affirming care” during her October appearance on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher”: 

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    Olson-Kennedy came under fire earlier this year when she admitted to withholding the findings of her team’s research, which found puberty blockers did not result in mental health improvements for children, telling the New York Times, “I do not want our work to be weaponized. It has to be exactly on point, clear and concise. And that takes time.” Earlier this year, a British study concluded that a great many children who think they may be transgender have mental health issues that spring from abuse or difficult family situations.  

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/13/2024 – 21:20

  • Yes, It Was A Landslide
    Yes, It Was A Landslide

    Authored by J.T.Young via American Greatness,

    Having lost the election, demoralized Democrats now argue their defeat wasn’t a landslide. Nice try. Their reaction is more than knee-jerk petulance; instead, it arises from fears of permanence. With Trump gaining momentum, even before his inauguration, Democrats rightfully fear that they could fare even worse in 2028 and beyond.

    Before the election, the Democrats’ presidential complaint was the Electoral College. Certain they would win the popular vote, Tim Walz, speaking in October, voiced what other Democrats thought: “I think all of us know the electoral college needs to go.” On the night of November 5, their concern changed. Now Democrat apologists (CNN, NYT, LAT, and more) are all arguing to diminish Trump’s victory—and thereby his momentum.

    While Democrats and their supporters’ need is understandable, Trump’s landslide gets bigger the more it is scrutinized.

    Even on the surface, its particulars are impressive. Trump was the Republicans’ first presidential candidate to beat a Democrat in the popular vote in 20 years. He won more popular votes than any Republican presidential candidate in history. He won each of the contest’s seven swing states—and he came close to flipping several (NJ, VA, NM, NH, and MN) seemingly solid blue states. And he won the electoral vote 312-226.

    Conversely, compared to Biden in 2020, Democrats’ popular vote percentage dropped in 50 of 51 states and the District of Columbia, going up only in Utah by a scant 0.2 percentage points.

    Big as Trump’s win was on the surface, closer examination shows it was bigger still.

    Trump’s victory came despite finishing behind Harris by over four million votes in California and New York combined and despite these states combining for 84 electoral votes. Dismissing the result in these two states, Trump won by five percentage points in the other 48 states and 312 to 142 in electoral votes. Take away the results of Massachusetts and Washington, and Trump won by almost seven percentage points in the popular vote and 312-121 in the electoral vote.

    Basically, apart from the coasts, Trump won overwhelmingly: where 80 percent of the presidential electoral votes are, Trump won three-quarters of them.

    Next, put these impressive numbers into the context of their occurrence.

    Trump amassed these numbers while being enormously outraised and outspent. Harris had hundreds of millions more to fuel her campaign than Trump did. And she had to only focus on the seven swing states that everyone knew were the fulcrum of the contest. Yet, Trump still swept all seven—something that neither he nor Biden had been able to do in 2016 and 2020.

    Trump also rang up his numbers despite eight years of unrelenting negativity from the establishment media. For almost a decade, there has been nothing approaching balanced coverage: regardless of his opponent—Hillary, Biden, and Harris—each received a strong establishment media tailwind. Yet despite this, Trump increased his general election popular vote percentage each time.

    And that establishment media bias was never stronger than in the aftermath of Biden’s withdrawal.

    For over 100 days, the establishment media gave Harris a pass: on press conferences, on interviews, on evading questions, on softball venues when she did appear, on often not answering questions in even these friendly confines, and on nonsensical responses when she did speak.

    And Trump won despite having almost the entirety of America’s self-styled elite opposing him.

    In academia, in Hollywood, in music, in sports, the coolest of the cool and the biggest of the big were overwhelmingly and vocally against him. Not surprisingly, in the face of all this opposition, Trump’s favorability rating was below Harris’s.

    Yet, Trump still racked up his impressive numbers.

    Despite every conceivable disadvantage, Trump beat not one, but two Democrat nominees to win the presidency. Outright – not only in electoral votes but by almost 2.5 million votes.

    That is the definition of a landslide.

    Of late, Americans have suffered a surfeit of Democrats and their apologists saying something isn’t true when it patently is—that Joe Biden was capable of being president, that the Democrat elite wasn’t deposing Joe Biden when they drove him from the ticket, that Kamala Harris was his qualified replacement, that Joe Biden wouldn’t pardon Hunter. The list is endless; it stretches back in time and extends uninterrupted into it. But nowhere is Democrat denial greater than in their attempt to deny Trump’s November presidential landslide.

    Their reason is as obvious as the truth they are seeking to deny. They fear its repetition.

    They worry that Republicans will continue Trump’s conservative populism, and they know that next time 2024’s overwhelming advantages will be gone. Bad as November’s landslide was, the ones Democrats potentially face going forward could be far worse.

    *  *  *

    J.T. Young is the author of the new book, Unprecedented Assault: How Big Government Unleashed America’s Socialist Left, from RealClear Publishing, and has over three decades of experience working in Congress, the Department of Treasury, and OMB, and representing a Fortune 20 company.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/13/2024 – 20:55

  • Israel Sees 'Opportunity' For Attacking Iran Nuke Sites With Syria Knocked Out
    Israel Sees ‘Opportunity’ For Attacking Iran Nuke Sites With Syria Knocked Out

    With Syria burning and no longer a threat, Israel’s military said it is currently conducting preparations for “potential strikes” on Iranian nuclear facilities.

    Its air force has already been carrying out literally hundreds of raids on Syrian Army bases in the wake of Bashar al-Assad’s overthrow. Israel has complete domination of Syria’s skies, and given that Assad’s anti-air defense missile systems are no longer an issue, this would make it much easier to strike the Islamic Republic of Iran.

    According to a Thursday report in The Times of Israel, the IDF “believes that following the weakening of Iranian proxy groups in the Middle East and the dramatic fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, there is an opportunity to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, military officials said Thursday.”

    “The Israeli Air Force has therefore continued to increase its readiness and preparations for such potential strikes in Iran,” the report states.

    “The IDF also believes that Iran — isolated after the fall of the Assad regime and the weakening of its main proxy group Hezbollah in Lebanon — may push ahead further with its nuclear program and develop a bomb as it scrambles to replace its deterrence,” it adds.

    Iran has long maintained it develops only peaceful nuclear energy, and there’s little doubt that after the dramatic events unfolding in Syria, and with Hezbollah top leadership largely decimated, Tehran finds itself on a back foot. 

    Some Israeli and Western officials believe that all of this will make Iranian leaders more desperate to ensure they have a final and ultimate defense against any threats (as in rapidly developing a nuke).

    The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have said in a new statement, “The Syrian air defense array is one of the strongest in the Middle East and the blow caused to it is a significant achievement for the Air Force’s superiority in the region.”

    Any potential preemptive Israeli attack directly on Iran would however unleash more immense anti-Netanyahu controversy in Israel, at a moment he’s already under fire by hostage victims’ families for his handling of Gaza.

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    Israel and Hezbollah just achieved a long hoped-for ceasefire in Lebanon, and any attacks on Iran could also open up that front again, at a moment Israel is trying for the safe return of its citizens to northern towns and settlements, which the ceasefire is aimed to achieve. 

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/13/2024 – 20:30

  • Biden's Education Dept Spent Over $1 Billion On DEI Grants; Report
    Biden’s Education Dept Spent Over $1 Billion On DEI Grants; Report

    Authored by Eric Lendrum via American Greatness,

    A new report claims that the Biden Administration’s Department of Education has spent over $1 billion on grants that force the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) agenda in hiring practices, programming, and mental health training in public schools.

    According to Fox News, the report from the watchdog group Parents Defending Education (PDE) claims that this DEI spending has been ongoing since 2021. PDE researchers found a total of 229 such grants across 42 states, plus Washington D.C., during the roughly four-year time period.

    With the spending broken down along specific criteria, nearly $490 million was spent for grants that demanded more racial bias in hiring practices, while $343 million was spent on general DEI programs, and another $170 million was spent on mandating DEI-based mental health training. This amounts to just over $1 billion, at approximately $1,002,522,304.

    This spending “incorporates both awarded (committed) and disbursed dollars, as most of the grant money is distributed [a] period of several years,” the report reads.

    One of the researchers who worked on the report, Rhyen Staley, said it was likely that the report does not even account for every single grant that may be considered pro-DEI, as the report narrowed down their search to a handful of criteria. This led to the researchers ignoring many other grants that they determined to be simply using “buzzwords” rather than actively promoting DEI.

    “The only people or groups to benefit from the enormous amount of grant funding are the universities, administrators, and DEI consultants, at the expense of children’s education,” said Staley.

    “This needs to change by placing children’s learning at the forefront of education, instead of prioritizing race-based policies and DEI.”

    A statement was issued by PDE Senior Advisor Michele Exner, declaring that “over one billion dollars [have been] squandered on progressive pet projects all while American students’ academic performance continues to plummet. Under Secretary [Miguel] Cardona, this organization has been a complete farce that has failed families and students time and time again.”

    “This will be the legacy of the Biden administration’s Department of Education,” Exner added.

    “Families are fed up and are excited for January when we will have new leadership in the nation’s capital who will focus on getting this toxic and divisive waste out of our education system.”

    The Department of Education has long been a target of conservative scrutiny, with many advocating for the abolition of the department altogether, as it has failed to improve average test scores or education quality across the nation. President-elect Donald Trump vowed on the campaign trail that he would eliminate the department, a sentiment that was echoed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the leaders of Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/13/2024 – 20:05

  • "FSD, Robotaxi, & Optimus": Deutsche Bank Highlights Top Takeaways From Tesla Meeting
    “FSD, Robotaxi, & Optimus”: Deutsche Bank Highlights Top Takeaways From Tesla Meeting

    Tesla shares continue to trade at record highs to close the week, regaining popularity as investors focus on full self-driving, robotaxi, new lost-coast models, and Optimus robots.

    The stock has delivered a stunning performance year-to-date, surging 70% and commanding a $1.3 trillion market capitalization.

    Meanwhile, Elon Musk commented on X this week that Bill Gates’ Tesla short could potentially “bankrupt” the billionaire. 

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    Heading into 2025, a team of analysts from Deutsche Bank hosted an investor meeting with Tesla’s head of investor relations, Travis Axelrod, to explore the key drivers behind the stock’s performance.

    “The majority of focus was naturally around FSD, robotaxi, and Optimus but we also covered the status of new models in 2025 and puts/takes regarding margin,” DB’s Edison Yu and Winnie Dong wrote in a note to clients. 

    They summarized the key takeaways in the conversation with Axelrod:

    New models and 2025 volume growth

    • The new Tesla model (we refer to as “Model Q”) should launch in 1H25 and will be priced <$30k including subsidies (i.e., $37,499 if US EV tax credit goes away).

    • Additionally in the 2H, there will be other new vehicles released that are intended to augment Tesla’s TAM. We suspect one model will be a 3-row longer wheelbase Model Y variant in China.

    • All these new models will be built on existing lines. Management once again highlighted volume growth of 20-30% in 2025; the rationale behind this growth range is based on ability to maximize existing capacity utilization.

    • Operationally, Tesla commented that hitting the high end of the range would be contingent on essentially flawless execution and is confident that the China supply chain can scale up fairly quickly while it may be harder in N. America.

    • Tesla’s plan for the Mexico plant will continue to hinge upon geo-political dynamics and the tariff situation under the new Trump Administration.

    Puts and takes for 2025 margins

    • Tesla explained that 2025 will be a year of product launches, and whenever that happens, there will be disruption to profitability as it will be in the early days of building a product and have more inefficient fixed cost absorption.

    • But this could be offset by a lower cost of goods sold from the more affordable products.

    • 2025 margins will also hinge upon where ASP lands based on the demand curve.

    • The main goal is to focus on growing volume and garnering incremental gross profit (as opposed to targeting a certain gross margin %), delivering

    Robotaxi operations

    • Still expects to launch robotaxi services in CA and TX next year using existing vehicles (3/Y), generating paid rides.

    • In terms of the UI, the company plans to use an internally developed ridehail app and control the “value chain.”

    • Tesla believes it would be reasonable to assume some type of teleoperator would be needed at least initially for safety/redundancy purposes.

    • Tesla views regulation as the biggest headwind to broad deployment of robotaxi, which the company hopes will be adjusted at the federal level through updating of rules at NHTSA.

    • Management intends to start off entirely with the company-owned fleet and eventually dynamically adjust supply based on customer demand/ traffic patterns.

    Cybercab development

    • Unboxed manufacturing should result in ~$20-30k COGS per vehicle, at run rate, a number which isn’t possible under current, traditional manufacturing processes.

    • CyberCab, when production starts in 2026, will be the first product to use unboxed manufacturing with the expectation that any products released subsequently will also use unboxed processes.

    • At full run rate production, the company expects to build a CyberCab for less than $30k.

    • As the CyberCab rollout occurs in 2026, the company will need to make investments across its service/cleaning and charging apparatus (e.g., install wireless charging) with TX and CA likely the first states to see a rollout given proximity to manufacturing facilities and headquarters.

    FSD progress

    • V13 has just been rolled out to early access users, and typically takes about 2-3 weeks to roll out to the broader audience if no issues are found.

    • This version should demonstrate 3-5x performance improvement vs. v12.5 from a miles between critical intervention perspective (1 every ~10k miles).

    • Management continues to target launch of an unsupervised version of FSD between Q2 and Q3 of next year, coinciding with start of robotaxi operations. This could be some iteration of v13.x depending on level of progress. Important to note that FSD can be unsupervised even if it doesn’t surpass human level safety threshold early on as long as Tesla feels comfortable taking on the risk/liability.

    • In general, the large improvement seen over the past year can be attributed to the increase in training compute, from 20k to ~90k GPUs in the span of 10 months. Tesla can now train dozens of end-to-end models in a few weeks vs. only one, enabling much faster iteration/improvement.

    • In terms of FSD attach rate, Tesla commented that it has seen an increase after the V12 release to N. America (>20%) vs. in April this year, and another jump during the 10/10 event. Adoption rate should continue to increase as Tesla increasingly fine-tunes its marketing strategy to offer more free trials.

    Competition in autonomous driving

    • Management doesn’t see any true competition in the US/Europe from a cost/scale perspective.

    • For pure play robotaxi efforts like Waymo and Cruise, Tesla believes they’re essentially using more sensors (e.g., lidar) to compensate for deficiencies in the rules-based software (almost as a buffer).

    • Unlike Tesla with a massive fleet of customers to generate a large amount of data, Waymo is reliant on a very small fleet that cannot generate enough data to effectively train large E2E models.

    • Separately, Waymo also does not have proper scale/vertical integration in making cars and associated parts, forcing them to partner with an OEM. As such, even if Waymo switches to E2E approach, it would likely still be at a cost/scale advantage considering the largest cost in Tesla’s view is the D&A.

    • In respect to China, Tesla does observe more entities taking a similar approach (E2E vision-only architecture). Its own commercial efforts are still in motion, working on getting approval from the local government to take data out of the country to improve performance of its E2E models, still aiming for 1Q25 roll-out. Chinese competitors appear to be quickly pivoting toward using E2E model for perception but path planning is still mainly using rules-based.

    • For Europe, the regulations around autonomous driving makes it a challenging backdrop, given the driver has to approve the automatic response of the vehicle, which would defeat the purpose of self-driving functionality.

    • Looking farther out, the 3rd gen Dojo chip which is expected to launch in 2028 will be another big enabler because the 1st gen cannot compete on cost/performance vs. Nvidia and 2nd gen (in 2026) still can’t compete on performance (should be at cost parity though). At that point, the economics around training compute become much more favorable.

    Evolution of Optimus

    • The objective remains to have >1k humanoid robots deployed internally in factories and then selling to external customers in 2026. Performance will be limited to fairly basic material handling tasks for industrial environments as opposed to home lifestyle which would happen much later on.

    • From a development perspective, the “intelligence” of Optimus will continue to improve and should at some point mirror the rapid improvement seen in FSD over the past year. Currently, Optimus is being trained by data sets generated through teleoperation and videos of itself performing tasks paired with motor/actuator data to essentially map out framework that can align with human movement. Ultimately, after the compatibility is fully mapped out, Optimus should be able to train/learn by watching videos of humans performing tasks in a “DIY” type of manner, similar to how FSD learns from humans driving.

    • In terms of manufacturing, the aspirational target is getting the BoM down to ~$30k. The engineering team is still iterating and there will likely be changes depending on what parts need to be re-engineered to reduce cost as opposed to scale volume components.

    • When selling to customers, the strategy could either be to sell the HW+SW together or lease out the robot. Tesla is confident that the economics could be very favorable in replacing human labor especially in the US.

    Other considerations

    • Megapack demand remains very strong with the company standing by its expectations for more than 100% growth this year, implying ~27 GWh of production. Next year, the new Shanghai factory will come online and the US could potentially provide up to ~40 GWh.

    • The company believes that the recent court ruling rejecting Musk’s pay package was wrong and will be appealing the decision, though there is no timeline on its response.

    Based on their conversation, the analysts raised their price target on Tesla from $295 to $370. Here is their explanation: 

    We raise our price target from $295 to $370, mainly assigning greater value to Tesla’s autonomy efforts. Specifically, we refine our valuation framework to include FSD sales (both one-time and subscription), robotaxi operations, and OEM licensing fees into the “Robotaxi” bucket whereas previously we included FSD in the “Auto” line. Moreover, given our belief the new US administration can streamline federal regulations around deployment of robotaxi, we increase our robotaxi forecasts and use a higher 20x EV/Revenue multiple on 2035E sales of > $40bn (vs. prior 15x) akin to leading E2E AI peers. We also assume some type of service to be deployed overseas in that time frame. Other elements of our valuation are essentially unchanged except we lower our Energy multiple from 25x EV/ EBITDA to 20x given de-rating seen recently by comparable companies.

    The summarized key takeaways from DB analysts offer valuable insights into the company as 2024 winds down and the new year approaches. 

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/13/2024 – 19:40

  • Trump's Treasury Pick Sees A "Global Economic Reordering"
    Trump’s Treasury Pick Sees A “Global Economic Reordering”

    Authored by James Rickards via DailyReckoning.com,

    President Trump’s pick for Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, has stated that he believes the world is on the cusp of a “global economic reordering”. And he would “like to be a part of it”.

    He has hinted at the need for a new international agreement on the level of the famous Bretton Woods Agreement of 1944. Bretton Woods, of course, established the world monetary order over 8 decades ago.

    It sounds like Bessent is thinking big. He will certainly need to, given the challenges the Trump administration will face over the next four years. Trump will come into office at a key moment in American history, and his administration’s decisions will echo over the coming decades.

    The world order is indeed shifting, and if America is to thrive going forward, major changes will be required. “Economic surgery”, as Bessent refers to it.

    Bessent has a deep understanding of international trade and finance. Along with George Soros, he famously profited from “breaking” the Bank of England while betting against the pound in 1992.

    He also worked closely with Stanley Druckenmiller, one of the greatest investors of all time. Bessent eventually ran his own hedge fund and is a self-made multi-billionaire. He represents a substantial upgrade from the more academic Janet Yellen.

    This man has a deep Rolodex and a wealth of knowledge when it comes to trade and finance.

    Interestingly, Bessent is a major gold bull:

    “I think we’re in a long-term bull market in Gold. We’re seeing reserve accumulation by central banks. I follow it closely. It’s my biggest position.”

    A gold enthusiast as U.S. Treasury Secretary? Interesting. Ironically, gold fell more than 3% when Trump announced his appointment, apparently due to Bessent’s hawkish budgetary credentials.

    Trump’s pick for Treasury is an advocate of cutting government spending and deficits. During the Biden administration he offered fierce denunciation of economic policies. And he was a strong critic of the Green New Scam, stating that the Biden administration has “repeatedly stretched its legal authorities to direct resources towards favored areas of the economy, often in direct contravention of statute.”

    3-3-3 and China

    Bessent has proposed the 3-3-3 economic plan for America, consisting of:

    • 3% annual real growth

    • 3% deficit-to-GDP max

    • 3 million additional barrels of oil per day

    These goals offer a nice start. If Trump can pull off all three, we’ll be well on our way to long-term sustainability.

    Internationally, Bessent sees China as America’s prime competition. He believes the yuan is undervalued and that this is distorting the world economy by favoring Chinese exports. He says Chinese citizens save too much, and don’t consume enough, which is true.

    A cornerstone of Bessent’s approach will be aggressive trade policies. Tariffs, and perhaps more importantly, the threat of tariffs. Threats can go a long way, as long as they’re prepared to back them up.

    Tough trade policy will be key to dealing with growing worldwide economic imbalances.

    Trump’s economic team believes strongly that higher tax rates are not the way forward. Bessent has stated that lower tax rates can actually create higher tax revenue through increased growth. Overall, his views on growth are encouraging:

    “I decided to come out from behind my desk because I do believe in this election, there’s a big choice and we are going to decide whether we are going to grow our way out of this debt burden.

    I think we can through deregulation, energy, independence and dominance in the US and a growth mindset. We can get back to growth. I feel very strongly that this is the last chance to grow our way out of this.”

    This is correct. It is our last chance to change course on the economic Titanic. We’re headed for an iceberg and strong international trade policy and faster growth are the only ways to avoid it.

    Of course, as Treasury Secretary there’s only so much Bessent can do. But he should act as a positive influence on Trump in terms of policy. It’s a prestigious position, and even with limited policy tools, he should be able to make his influence felt.

    So far Trump’s economic team is shaping up to be a disruptive and powerful force. We’ll be monitoring this situation closely. Stay tuned.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/13/2024 – 19:15

  • Russia Launches Massive Attack On Ukrainian "Critical Fuel & Energy Infrastructure"
    Russia Launches Massive Attack On Ukrainian “Critical Fuel & Energy Infrastructure”

    Russia launched a massive drone and missile strike against Ukraine on Friday in retaliation for Kyiv’s recent use of the US-supplied Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) against a Russian military base.

    ABC News quoted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said Russia launched 93 missiles and nearly 200 drones targeting the country’s energy infrastructure. This was one of the largest bombardments against Ukraine’s energy sector since the invasion began almost three years ago.

    Zelenskyy said Ukrainian defense forces intercepted 81 missiles, including 11 cruise missiles shot down by Western-supplied General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets.

    He accused Russia of continuing to “terrorize millions of people” with these reckless assaults, renewing his request to the international community for intervention and more support for Ukraine.

    “A strong reaction from the world is needed: a massive strike – a massive reaction. This is the only way to stop terror,” Zelenskyy said.

    Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry published a statement on its official Telegram channel, claiming that the retaliatory strike hit all intended targets:

    “In response to the use of American long-range weapons, Russia’s Armed Forces launched a massive strike with high-precision long-range air- and sea-based weapons and UAVs on critical fuel and energy infrastructure facilities in Ukraine that support the operation of the military-industrial complex.”

    On Wednesday, Ukraine fired six ATACMS at a Russian airfield inside the country’s sovereign territory. Russia claimed after the attack that all missiles were intercepted.

    Reports on X indicate that Ukraine’s state-run energy company, Ukrenergo, warned that up to 50% of residential customers could be without power after today’s attack.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/13/2024 – 18:55

  • Why The Popularity Of BNPL?
    Why The Popularity Of BNPL?

    Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Epoch Times,

    I’ve become a fan of TubiTV. It’s obvious why it is growing in popularity as a streaming service. There is no login and everything is instantly available. The movies and shows stream one after another so that you can have it on for hours, just like television in the old days. And it costs nothing at all. It pays for itself with advertising, and the ads are oddly welcome because they are not the usual ones you see on network television.

    Many great old movies are there and plenty of shows too. Tired of woke? This is a service for you. Most movies before 2000 are actually reliably free of that nonsense. I always check this site before paying for content on other venues. It also allows me to observe what kinds of things are being advertised to those who are either unwilling to pay for streaming or lack the financial means. That alone is instructive.

    Major advertisers for this service are the financial apps classified as BNPL, or “buy now, pay later” services. There are so many of them now that it is hard to keep up. The ads feature someone at the store with a large tab. The person notes that there is not enough money in the bank account to cover the costs. The idea is that you download an app, link it to your bank account, and then get an instant cash advance.

    Maybe such services would be popular anytime, but I suspect more so now that real income has fallen in these inflationary times. There are signs of hope on the horizon that the economy will improve in the future. Wall Street certainly thinks so, and retail spending seems to be recovering, but these ads tell a different story. They reveal just how much suffering there is out there right now, how many people truly do not have enough in the bank to pay basic costs.

    On the one hand, this is very sad. On the other hand, these services are valuable and somewhat brilliant.

    I’m not joining the chorus of commentators who are calling for them to be regulated or abolished. They exploit no one. They serve plenty of people. To be sure, they do cost money. What is the interest they charge? That’s a complicated question because mostly they are fee-based, like an ATM. The fees can be quite high in accord with the going rate, so anywhere from 7 percent to 20 percent.

    One way or another, these companies are going to be paid back and then some. There is no such thing as a free lunch or free groceries. The bill is going to be paid by someone.

    Thinking of how these services work helps us understand something about the loan contract of medieval origins. They represent an exchange of people with capital in the form of money and people without capital in the form of money who need to consume something. When the first loan contract came along and families like the Medicis got rich, there was something of a moral panic in Europe. How can people make so much money merely by moving money around? It seemed strange.

    Every religious tradition has something different to say. The Christians (both Protestants and Catholics) mostly condemned the charging of interest as “usury,” while Islam carved out a number of exceptions. The Second Lateran Council (1139) and Third Lateran Council (1179) both denied Christian burials for usurers. Indeed, the Catholic church did not fully liberalize on the topic until the 19th century.

    Judaism did not condemn interest, reasoning that it was a perfectly justifiable exchange between people with excess and those without. It is for this reason that Jews developed a reputation as the money lenders: Other religions could not come up with morally sophisticated justifications for the practice. Islam still retains its strictness, although with exceptions.

    What is the basis of the charging of interest? It is relatively simple: Goods obtained now are more expensive than the same goods purchased later. It is called “time preference” in the economics literature, but you see it every day in regular pricing habits. It’s conventional that a flight purchased for two weeks from now is going to be cheaper than a flight leaving tomorrow.

    It always pays to plan ahead. This is why people who forgo consumption today in favor of saving earn interest while people who live on revolving credit cards are paying more than 20 percent for the privilege. They are simply involved in an exchange: high time preference trading with low time preferences. Interest also covers other factors, such as the risk of not being paid back or the risk, in the case of business loans, that the enterprise will not be profitable.

    Regardless, the free market has proven to be brilliantly adept at managing the exchange between the present and the future and pricing it in a rational way. You want those groceries now but don’t have the money to buy them? You can get a cash advance—at a price that you agree to pay. There is nothing sketchy about this: It is a deal struck by parties based on voluntary decision-making.

    The interest rate itself merely reflects the pricing of time relative to available resources. Like any other price, it can fluctuate based on underlying realities. When society is full of savers, more resources become available for lending, and the interest rate is going to be pushed down. When society is full of high time preferences with more borrowers than savers, the interest rate is going to rise.

    There is no role in any of this for the Federal Reserve to intervene to drive interest rates up or down. The belief that the Fed can and should do this is based on nothing but mythology. If the Fed acts to drive rates lower than what the market would be, it is creating a distortion, what F.A. Hayek cleverly called “forced savings” because it signals the existence of resources that are not really there. That leads to a distortion in product structures such as we saw for the decades after 2000 and especially after 2008.

    Such distortions achieve nothing for overall economic growth. They only end up fueling the boom/bust cycle. This is just another application of the general principle that government has no resources of its own that it does not take from the people. An artificially low rate of interest ends up creating new money and credit that funds unsustainable investments that result in inflation, as our present experience proves.

    Thus do these BNPL programs end up creating loan markets of a different form. They are especially valuable among a class of borrowers who cannot gain access to credit cards. These days, getting a credit card is no easy task for some people, which is why debit cards have become more common than ever. Still, people need credit from time to time, and the markets have been brilliant in figuring out ways to make this possible.

    I’m generally favorable to many of the Trump administration’s proposed economic policies, but this idea of capping interest rates on credit cards is not a good one. It will result in higher user fees elsewhere or end up denying credit to people who otherwise would have it, thus giving the BNPL industry a boost.

    One thing it simply will not do is lower borrowing costs.

    Interest rate caps are no different from any other price control: They end up creating market distortions with unsustainable surpluses and shortages.

    What credit markets need is to be left alone. This goes for the Fed’s interventions, attempts to regulate credit card rates, or proposed regulations of the BNPL industry. They are operating just fine on their own. Hey, it’s not my cup of tea, but it’s good that they are there for people who need them. It so happens that people like me who are too cheap to buy movies without ads also happen to be the same demographic cohort to come up short for grocery money from time to time. It makes perfect sense.

    *  *  *

    Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/13/2024 – 18:25

  • Trump Team Weighing Options For Preemptive Airstrikes On Iran's Nuclear Program
    Trump Team Weighing Options For Preemptive Airstrikes On Iran’s Nuclear Program

    Just days after the rapid collapse of the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad, and now with Israeli warplanes having complete domination over Syria’s skies for the first time in modern history, the priorities of US and Israeli officials in the region have drastically changed.

    Both US and Israeli leaders are now mulling the possibility of striking Iran’s nuclear program, amid several reports in recent weeks saying the Islamic Republic is expanding its program and enriching more nuclear-grade material. Tehran is now much more on the defensive, and could be more desperate to achieve nuclear weapons.

    A significant Friday report in The Wall Street Journal says that “President-elect Donald Trump is weighing options for stopping Iran from being able to build a nuclear weapon, including the possibility of preventive airstrikes, a move that would break with the longstanding policy of containing Tehran with diplomacy and sanctions.”

    “Trump has told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in recent calls that he is concerned about an Iranian nuclear breakout on his watch, two people familiar with their conversations said, signaling he is looking for proposals to prevent that outcome,” the report continues.

    “The president-elect wants plans that stop short of igniting a new war, particularly one that could pull in the U.S. military, as strikes on Tehran’s nuclear facilities have the potential put the U.S. and Iran on a collision course.”

    Currently the United States still has some 1,000 troops occupying northeast Syria, and they have come under internecine attacks by Iran-backed militias over the recent years. In any broader US-Iran war, these troops would be sitting ducks for attack via Tehran’s proxies in the region.

    Trump in his first administration tried but failed to bring the troops home, but deeper entanglement in striking Iran could surely draw these troops into a broader conflict. The Pentagon would in that case likely expand its deployed forces in the region as well.

    “Iran has enough highly enriched uranium alone to build four nuclear bombs, making it the only nonnuclear-weapon country to be producing 60% near-weapons-grade fissile material,” WSJ has noted further. “It would take just a few days to convert that stockpile into weapons-grade nuclear fuel.”

    Iran has long maintained it develops only peaceful nuclear energy, and there’s little doubt that after the dramatic events unfolding in Syria, and with Hezbollah top leadership largely decimated, Tehran finds itself on a back foot. 

    Some Israeli and Western officials believe that all of this will make Iranian leaders more desperate to ensure they have a final and ultimate defense against any threats (as in rapidly developing a nuke).

    But if Trump were to authorize strikes on Iranian facilities, this would also obviously violate his frequent vows to his voters to not start new wars in the Middle East. The reality is that even ‘limited’ strikes still constitute an act of war. The potential for runaway escalation involving the US, Iran, and Israel would be a much bigger likelihood. 

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/13/2024 – 18:00

  • The Historic Failure Of The Biden Administration
    The Historic Failure Of The Biden Administration

    Authored by James Fanell and Bradley Thayer via American Greatness,

    Whether American presidents are successes or failures is measured by their major foreign and domestic actions. That has been the historical standard by which they are weighed and which defines their legacy. Some presidents are outstanding in every respect. Washington defined the American presidency. Lincoln saved the Union and kept foreign powers, most importantly Great Britain, from intervening to aid the South. Most presidents are heavily mixed; Buchanan employed the Army to suppress the Mormon Rebellion, but his monumental failure was that he did not act to stop the Civil War. Lyndon Johnson’s failure in Vietnam defined his presidency. Richard Nixon had many successes in foreign policy, but Watergate was his demise. Jimmy Carter failed abroad and at home.

    With just over 40 days left, Americans are nearing the end of the Biden administration, and so it is fitting to provide an assessment of it and to place it in historical context.

    By any metric from American history and by any objective standard used to measure his predecessors in the White House, the Biden administration has been a catastrophic failure for the American people. Were that it was otherwise. An old man suffering from the horrors of dementia is a tragedy. Biden is not only a dementia patient but also President of the United States. It is clear that now he is more dementia victim than he is president. He cannot stay awake at international meetings and other fora, and he seems to willingly accept the deliberate snubs. Accordingly, as hard as it is to acknowledge, given that he is the President of the United States, world leaders, and Americans know that he has no business being in the nation’s highest office. This impacts all Americans and U.S. national security, and it is important to recognize facts that impact national security as they are, rather than as we would desire them to be.

    In the years to come, the fiasco of the Biden administration will be explained by multiple factors. We may certainly anticipate that presidential historians will argue that his dementia was debilitating and precluded him from effective leadership, or that his presidency was just a Potemkin Village. Others may assess that Barack Hussein Obama was actually in control through his direct intervention and via surrogates like Susan Rice—who overreached in pushing a radical Marxist agenda. At this point, no matter the causes, it is essential to document the Biden administration’s failures and to learn from them as a cautionary tale about the disastrous impacts of the worst president in American history. Of course, we note that his greatest catastrophes may be yet to come.

    In domestic policy, Biden destroyed the economy, inflation returned with a vengeance, and America’s borders were opened intentionally. This caused a flood of illegal immigration. Immigration took an unprecedented turn, even an unimaginable one; the U.S. government entered the business of importing people, some 12 to 15 million, and thereby funded the cartels and other criminals and criminal organizations. The true numbers will not be known until Trump comes into office and reveals how this happened and the true impact and parameters of the problem. Another domestic failure has been the massive increase in the federal deficit—one that impacts every American, as well as our national security posture. Likewise, energy security was compromised, and America’s energy independence was lost. These domestic disasters reveal the spirit of the American people was targeted deliberately—in order to usher in a new world order based on the tenets of collectivism and top-down control rather than the principles of individualism, freedom, and liberty.

    In the realm of foreign policy, the Biden Administration will be remembered for their disastrous and deadly retreat from Afghanistan to the benign neglect of checking the People’s Republic of China (PRC) across the Indo-Pacific. By failing to deter the Russian invasion of Ukraine and by laboring to simultaneously sustain and escalate the war, rather than pressuring both sides to end the conflict, Biden will be held responsible for the deaths and displacement of many millions. Even the recent collapse of governments in Germany and France can be laid at Biden’s doorstep due to his waffling approach to great power politics and NATO’s ineptitude. The Middle East went from stability to war as Israel fights against multiple threats in the wake of the horrific terror attacks on October 7, 2023. In the Indo-Pacific, Xi Jinping, the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), treated Biden as a supplicant. In no small part because Xi knew that Joe Biden’s administration was compromised via millions from the PRC that flowed in and enriched the Biden family’s coffers. Xi instructed Biden on how to behave, and the Biden administration went along with it when it mattered, such as not laboring to overthrow the CCP at a time of great peril for it.

    The opportunity cost of the Biden administration was massive. Their actions precluded other strategic choices, priorities, and paths that the U.S. might have taken. For example, the strategic airfield in Bagram, Afghanistan would not have been lost to Chinese influence and occupation. The war in Ukraine might have been deterred, and millions alive and billions of dollars saved for American citizens being hit by deadly hurricanes in North Carolina or fires in Maui. Moreover, America’s arsenal of stockpiled weapons would not have been depleted.

    Likewise, the CCP would be on the run through a concerted and consistent whole-of-government agenda to roll back the PRC’s advances in their declared “People’s War” against the U.S. Fundamentally, Biden was the return to and the last of the post-Cold War presidents—Clinton, George W. Bush, and Obama—those who could do anything they wanted in the domestic and international realms because they were living off the capital their predecessors had accumulated—a strong and prosperous America. In his first term, Trump was different and labored mightily to change course. Now America faces genuine peril at home and abroad.

    The warnings from the Biden administration are myriad. However, at root, the lesson is how could it have been otherwise when a vile and loathsome individual intent on enriching himself be permitted to be used as a puppet by Obama and the CCP? Biden neither has the merit nor the mettle to be president. He is a vessel filled with personal ambition but does not possess the acumen or virtue to realize his ambition. It had to be given to him by Obama. His legacy is a grotesque one: he proved the “Peter Principle” wrong—that you actually can rise far beyond your level of incompetence. He did his best to destroy the country. He leaves for his successor a dangerous world and an economy in an equally precarious position. Thankfully, Trump and his administration will be up for such a massive task.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/13/2024 – 17:40

  • Sen. Rand Paul Urges Immediate US Withdrawal From Syria Amid Failed State & 'ISIS 2.0' Fears
    Sen. Rand Paul Urges Immediate US Withdrawal From Syria Amid Failed State & ‘ISIS 2.0’ Fears

    US Senator Rand Paul has called for the immediate withdrawal of American forces from Syria in a statement on X earlier this week, with just over a month ago before the Trump administration enters the White House.

    President-elect Trump and his team will have a lot of major and key decisions to make on conflict zones in various parts of the globe. Syria will be a crucial focus, given it is now essentially a failed state and is poised to further become a terrorist hotbed, and given US-designated terror group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham now controls Damascus and much of the country.

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

    “Bring our troops home! The war pits Islamists against socialist Kurds against Iranian proxies. Not our fight. 900 US troops scattered about Syria are a target, not a deterrent,” Sen. Paul posted on X in reference to the ongoing ‘mini-civil war’ still raging in Deir Ezzor area and the north.

    While the Pentagon recently claimed there are no plans to expand the US military presence in northeast Syria, there’s no hint of bringing any troops home either.

    US forces are there propping up the Syrian Kurds (SDF/YPG), who also control Syria’s oil and gas fields, but the US proxies are now locked in a battle for survival with the larger and better armed Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA). The SDF has just been kicked out of Manbij, and fighting is still happening.

    These US proxies are now bogged down enough to have to give up any pretense at a ‘counter-ISIS’ mission, which is the “official” reason the Pentagon is supposed to be there in the first place.

    All of this is a huge flaming mess to say the least, and Trump will inherit it from day one, including the likelihood of a greatly resurgent ISIS, which can now have free reign in many parts of Syria…

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    Pentagon chief spokesman Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder has meanwhile confirmed US forces have come under sporadic attack amid the chaos, and that there have been a few troop injureis: “As you know, those numbers can fluctuate. I’m not aware of any other injuries at this time,” the said.

    “Again, we’ll not hesitate to take appropriate action and protect our forces if they are threatened,” he added. Days ago, as the shock of the HTS advance against Assad forces was happening elsewhere in Syria, the US launched major airstrikes against alleged ISIS locations across the east of Syria.

    Meanwhile… Rand Paul is RIGHT:

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    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/13/2024 – 17:20

  • FBI, DHS Say "No Evidence" New Jersey Drones Pose National Security Threat
    FBI, DHS Say “No Evidence” New Jersey Drones Pose National Security Threat

    Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times,

    The FBI and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) responded to reports about drone sightings over the New Jersey area in the past several weeks, a phenomena that has raised alarm among local elected officials.

    In a statement to The Epoch Times on Thursday evening, the FBI and DHS said the agencies “have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus.”

    “The FBI, DHS and our federal partners, in close coordination with the New Jersey State Police, continue to deploy personnel and technology to investigate this situation and confirm whether the reported drone flights are actually drones or are instead manned aircraft or otherwise inaccurate sightings,” the statement reads.

    Their statement did not go into more detail about the sightings in recent days. Several state and U.S. lawmakers in both New Jersey and New York have called on the federal government to release more information or take action regarding the drone sightings.

    In several interviews this week, Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) warned that the drones may be Iranian in origin, which was denied by a Pentagon spokeswoman. White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Thursday that the drones do not pose a national security risk to the United States.

    On Thursday, Van Drew disputed the Pentagon’s statement about Iran being unconnected to the drone sightings, doubling down on his previous claim. He said “high-level” anonymous U.S. officials provided him with that information, which is why he is going public with it.

    That same day, Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) sent a joint letter to DHS, the FBI, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to brief them on drone activity over New Jersey and New York.

    “The potential safety and security risks posed by these drones in civilian areas is especially pertinent considering recent drone incursions at sensitive military sites in and outside of the continental United States over the past year,” they warned.

    Separately, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told reporters that the drones should be “shot down, if necessary” and that the United States “should be doing some very urgent intelligence analysis and take them out of the skies, especially if they’re flying over airports or military bases.”

    “The lack of information is absolutely unacceptable,” the senator said Thursday.

    In their statement Thursday, FBI and DHS also cautioned that there have been “cases of mistaken identity” and that the drones might be “manned aircraft or facilities.”

    In the meantime, DHS and the FBI are supporting New Jersey state and local law enforcement with detection capabilities “but have not corroborated any of the reported visual sightings with electronic detection.”

    “To the contrary, upon review of available imagery, it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft, operating lawfully,” they said.

    “There are no reported or confirmed drone sightings in any restricted air space.”

    The FBI and DHS asserted that the two agencies “take seriously” any threats that could be posed by drones but stressed that officials “have uncovered no such malicious activity or intent at this stage” so far.

    “While there is no known malicious activity occurring in New Jersey,” the agencies said, “the reported sightings there do, however, highlight the insufficiency of current authorities.”

    Reports of drone sightings over the Garden State began in November, Van Drew and other New Jersey officials have said.

    In early 2023, a high-altitude balloon that originated from China flew hundreds of miles across North America, passing near sensitive military sites, U.S. officials said at the time.

    The U.S. Air Force ultimately shot down the balloon off the coast of South Carolina in early February of that year.

    Multiple other balloon sightings were reported since then, with the U.S. military shooting down a balloon over Lake Huron near Michigan in February 2023.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/13/2024 – 17:00

  • New Study Links Ozempic To Vision Loss, Confirms Harvard Research
    New Study Links Ozempic To Vision Loss, Confirms Harvard Research

    Another study has been published suggesting that patients taking semaglutide—the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster drug Ozempic—may face a higher risk of developing a rare eye condition that can lead to blindness. 

    “The glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) semaglutide has quickly become a key treatment for managing type 2 diabetes and obesity. Recent findings have raised concern about a potential association between semaglutide use and non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION),” according to a new Danish–Norwegian study, backing up similar results from a Harvard University study published in July. 

    Non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, or NAION, occurs when blood flow to the optic nerve is blocked, causing sudden vision loss. 

    Bloomberg first reported the results on Friday afternoon. The findings were initially published on Wednesday on medRxiv, an online platform for sharing research.

    The results indicate that a type 2 diabetes patient taking Ozempic for two decades would have a .3% to .5% chance of developing NAION. 

    “The vision loss is usually irreversible and there is no treatment. Given the serious nature of this potential adverse effect of semaglutide, we leveraged the nationwide Danish and Norwegian health registries to further investigate this association,” according to authors from the University of Southern Denmark, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, and the University of Copenhagen.

    The authors emphasized: “Given the well-established effects of semaglutide in managing both diabetes and obesity, it is crucial to weigh the potential risk of NAION against the substantial therapeutic benefits of semaglutide. While the association observed for the use of semaglutide in type 2 diabetes represents a two-fold or higher relative risk increase…” 

    The Nordic study comes months after Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts Eye and Ear found the rising risk of Ozempic patients developing NAION. 

    In Copenhagen, Novo shares slid as much as 5.4%. Since peaking in June at 1,000 Krone, shares have entered a bear market (-26%). 

    Using Goldman’s index of companies with high exposure to GLP-1s, the Trump dump pressured the index lower from nearly 40% gains on the year in late summer to hovering around 14% on Friday, while companies at risk from GLP-1s have steadily gained on the year, 13%.

    In addition to the risk of vision loss, Ozempic and Wegovy users can also develop “Ozempic Face” after rapid body fat loss. 

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 12/13/2024 – 16:40

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Dec 13

Today’s News 13th December 2024

  • Provoked: The Long Train Of Abuses That Culminated In The Ukraine War
    Provoked: The Long Train Of Abuses That Culminated In The Ukraine War

    Authored by Carus Michaelangelo via The Mises Institute,

    [Provoked: How Washington Started the New Cold War with Russia and the Catastrophe in Ukraine, by Scott Horton, The Libertarian Institute, 2024; 690 pp.]

    “A fox knows many things, but a hedgehog knows one big thing.” Scott Horton is the liberty movement’s foreign policy hedgehog, endeavoring to convince the American public of one essential truth: the folly of war. But within that sphere, Horton is a fox, weaving an encyclopedic knowledge of various conflicts into an elaborate and convincing tapestry that indicts elites, intellectuals, the military-industrial complex, and—with characteristic vitriol—neoconservatives in pushing the US toward unnecessary wars.

    Provoked: How Washington Started the New Cold War with Russia and the Catastrophe in Ukraine, fits this mold to a tee—not because Horton contorts facts to a preconceived narrative. Rather, because it is often the same people pushing conflict after conflict who, unsurprisingly, resort to the same, well-worn playbook. Horton’s tome is riveting, from beginning to end. Here, I will focus on the early post-Cold War years, since this part of the story is oft-neglected in contemporary debates about the origins of the Ukraine war.

    With the closing of the Cold War, and the USSR dissolving, the US faced a crisis of success: what use is the NATO military alliance without the Soviet enemy to align against? More broadly, what grand strategy should the US adopt now that containing communism was obsolete? For neoconservatives, whose answer post-Cold War was benevolent global hegemony, the solution was to adapt NATO. NATO must gradually absorb more European nations, while leaving Russia out in the cold—contained and encircled, in an even worse position than during the Cold War. NATO must expand its mission to keep European peace and expand Western democracy, or wither on the vine.

    From George H.W. Bush to today, the record meticulously compiled by Horton demonstrates that US and other Western leaders communicated to Russia leaders and officials that NATO would not expand east—and could even allow for Russian membership in NATO. Various efforts like the Partnership for Peace and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe were promoted to foster this impression that Russia would be included in European affairs, alliances, and institutions, rather than these structures aligning against them. All the while, these same US and Western leaders took virtually the opposite positions internally, with the result that the US willfully misled the Russians. The exact internal and external postures waxed and waned over the years, but this ultimate pattern held firm. This was even though, all along, Russian officials warned about how they and the Russian people would react to NATO advancing east. What we see is, in terms with which Americans are well-familiar, “a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object.”

    It began with George H.W. Bush, who promised Mikhail Gorbachev, after the fall of the Berlin Wall as the Soviet Union careened towards collapse, that the US would not take advantage of the situation. This was also reflected in a NATO resolution on June 7, 1991. Bush and his advisors promised that NATO would not expand if the Soviet Union would withdraw and allow German reunification. The 1990 settlement would only specify that the US would not put troops in East Germany, a nuance which Russia hawks have exploited to argue there was no promise not to expand NATO. But this does not fly. Horton asks the rhetorical question: what sense would it make for the Soviet Union to extract a promise not to put troops in East Germany, if the US had a free hand to bring the rest of Eastern Europe into a military alliance? This agreement only makes sense on a backdrop of agreeing not to expand NATO.

    The sins of the Clinton years were legion. In the early 90s, the US sent economists from the Harvard Institute of International Development to Russia to enact what came to be called a “shock therapy” economic policy. It was so badly designed and had such poor outcomes that many Russian thought it must be deliberate. Unsurprisingly, this did not dispose ordinary Russians to view the West favorably. Throughout the decade, Clinton and his advisors duplicitously offered Russia promises that a “Partnership for Peace” process would be pursued rather than NATO expansion—and that NATO would lose its military character—all the while planning to expand NATO.

    The Clinton administration was heavily involved in the Balkans wars of Bosnia and Kosovo, which present strong cases against “humanitarian” intervention. The result of Bosnia was that NATO proved itself capable of fulfilling a new mission, while the US solidified itself at the head of European affairs, each of which were necessary for subsequent NATO expansion. Kosovo further solidified NATO’s new role on the continent—even intervening in civil wars—while the bombing campaign against Serbia convinced Russians that the US was an aggressive, ruthless great power, who would violate international rules when it suited them. The US engaged in this aggressive war, in violation of the UN Charter, without approval of the UN Security Council (on which Russia sat). So much for the liberal rules-based international order. The US’s frequent remaking of the rules was a frequent complaint of Russia, including during the Iraq War.

    Moreover, when Russia went to war with break-away Chechnya, Clinton’s CIA and US allies supported Chechen rebels and separatist mujahideen fighters fighting on Chechnya’s side against the Russians, with the goal to disrupt an existing Russian oil pipeline running through Chechnya. This, too, Putin cited when invading Ukraine. (If this were all not bad enough, Horton shows how the Clinton administration supported the bin Ladenite terrorists in the Balkans wars and in Chechnya. Indeed, more than half of the September 11 hijackers were involved in these wars in the Balkans and Chechnya—often both.)

    Putin’s rise was itself a consequence of the Clintonian interventions in the 1990s: from the “shock therapy” economic policy, to helping Yeltsin get reelected in 1996, to Kosovo and Chechnya. As Horton points out, ironically, Putin invoked the Kosovo precedent of intervening in a civil war to “protect” an ethnic minority to justify invading Ukraine. In one stunning example from the Kosovo war, Horton recounted how the Clinton administration ordered the bombing of a Serbian TV station. These actions still influence Putin’s thoughts about the West today. Putin’s strike on a TV tower in Kiev in February 2022 likely called back to that conflict.

    The NATO-Russia Founding Act of May 1997 was another milestone in US duplicity toward Russia. It assured that NATO would not deploy nuclear weapons or “substantial” troops to new NATO nations’ territories. Importantly, the Clinton administration misled Russia into thinking the Founding Act would give Russia a genuine role in NATO deliberations—although it would not have a say within the NATO alliance itself—when, in the words of Clinton advisor Strobe Talbott, the US’s view was that “all we’re really promising them is monthly meetings.”

    Throughout Clinton’s term, the Clinton administration fed Russia the lie that claimed NATO’s mission was becoming political, rather than military, so agreeing not to expand NATO would be admitting that NATO’s mission was to contain Russia. He even said he would leave open the possibility of Russia entering NATO. But Horton shows they had no intention to do any of this. To make matters worse, in July 1997 NATO and Ukraine signed an agreement that would provide for training Ukraine’s military and improve their interoperability with NATO, and in August 1997 planned a military exercise involving several former Warsaw Pact states and Soviet republics to simulate US military intervention in an ethnic conflict in Crimea.

    No, this was not all. The US tried to cut out Russia from Caspian Basin oil by refusing to run a pipeline from Azerbaijan through Russia, pushing it to a Western route through Turkey instead. The US also backed the GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Moldova) grouping to “speed European integration and exclude Russia influence from the South Caucasus,” according to Horton, which Russia strongly opposed, calling it an “Axis of Evil” in 2005. The Clinton administration also violated Bush and Gorbachev’s Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe in 1999, incredulously claiming that the “permanent US military bases in Bulgaria and Romania” were actually just temporary.

    The close of the Clinton years began a wave of “color revolutions” in Russia’s backyard. The key thing about these “revolutions” is that they are heavily funded and supported by foreign governments or NGOs, such as George Soros’ groups. Rather than directly or covertly overthrow an existing regime, these organizations operate “above board,” meaning they avoid specifically endorsing candidates—since that would be illegal—and instead fund and assist groups that promote more generic, non-partisan efforts like “democracy.” In context, of course, their activities are geared to “benefit . . . a favored candidate or party.” A favorite tactic is using “parallel vote tabulation” or exit polls, which are used to dispute official election results. The dispute typically spills over into street demonstrations with the goal of ousting the ostensible victor.

    The “revolutions” began in Serbia in 2000 with the ousting of Clinton’s bĂȘte noire Slobodan MiloĆĄević. As Horton sardonically comments, this culminated in the “sacking and burning of the [Serbian] parliament building in what would surely be called a violent insurrection by American Democrats if they had not been behind it.” Numerous other states would be targeted for color revolutions by the US and its Soros-backed NGO allies over the next decades.

    Incredibly, this only begins to scratch the surface of these early, post-Cold War provocations toward Russia that Horton documents, let alone the follies and misdeeds that occurred during the George W. Bush presidency and thereafter. Horton has persuasively made the case that the US provoked Russia over the course of three decades, knowing that Russia would respond with hostility toward NATO expansion. Yet, with reckless abandon, US leaders and officials pushed on, achieving their wildest dreams of NATO expansion and setting their sights on what was always their crown jewel—Ukraine. It did not have to be this way, and it still does not. But time is ticking. Defying expectations, President Biden manages to reach new heights of absurdity in his escalatory policy toward Russia, ticking off a box on Zelensky’s deadly five-point “peace” plan. The war cannot end soon enough.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/12/2024 – 23:25

  • UnitedHealthcare CEO Assassination Could Spark "Next Wave" Of "Occupy Wall Street 2.0," Warns Security Expert
    UnitedHealthcare CEO Assassination Could Spark “Next Wave” Of “Occupy Wall Street 2.0,” Warns Security Expert

    In an interview, QUX Technologies CEO Keith Hanson told Fox News that the death of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO could ignite the “next wave” of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

    “It’s the Occupy Wall Street 2.0 at this point where you have the original wave of the ‘everybody gets a trophy’ generation was hitting the real world and suddenly realizing that everybody from their teachers to their professors at college had pretty much lied to them about the way that the real world works,” Hanson said.

    The law enforcement trainer continued: “And now I’m starting to see an uptick in the resentment and the vitriol towards corporations and to corporate CEOs. And I guess it would make sense that this is kind of the next wave. I mean, this is basically the proletariat rising against the bourgeois class and taking what’s theirs. And it’s concerning.”

    In New York City, posters featuring UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s portrait marked with a red X appeared around town, alongside “wanted” images of other top healthcare CEOs.

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    In Seattle, a construction sign read: “One less CEO, Many more to go.” 

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    Hanson disclosed that following the assassination of CEO Brian Thompson last week, allegedly by 26-year-old Ivy League graduate Luigi Mangione, corporate America has been ramping up private security amid fears of copycat attacks.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/12/2024 – 23:00

  • Escobar: Syria's Post-Mortem – Terror, Occupation, And Palestine
    Escobar: Syria’s Post-Mortem – Terror, Occupation, And Palestine

    Authored by Pepe Escobar via The Cradle,

    The short headline defining the abrupt, swift end of Syria as we knew it would be: Eretz Israel meets new-Ottomanism. The subtitle? A win-win for the west, and a lethal blow against the Axis of Resistance.

    But to quote still-pervasive American pop culture, perhaps the owls are not what they seem.

    Let’s start with former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s surrender. Qatari diplomats, off the record, maintain that Assad tried to negotiate a transfer of power with the armed opposition that had launched a major military offensive in the days prior, starting with Aleppo, then swiftly headed southward toward Hama, Homs, aiming for Damascus. That’s what was discussed in detail between Russia, Iran, and Turkiye behind closed doors in Doha this past weekend, during the last sigh of the moribund “Astana process” to demilitarize Syria.

    The transfer of power negotiation failed. Hence, Assad was offered asylum by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. That explains why both Iran and Russia instantly changed the terminology while still in Doha, and began to refer to the “legitimate opposition” in a bid to distinguish non-militant reformists from the armed extremists cutting a swathe across the state.  

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov – his body language telling everything about his anger – literally said, “Assad must negotiate with the legitimate opposition, which is on the UN list.” 

    Very important: Lavrov did not mean Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Salafi-jihadi, or Rent-a-Jihadi mob financed by the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) with weapons funded by Qatar, and fully supported by NATO and Tel Aviv. 

    What happened after the funeral in Doha was quite murky, suggesting a western intel remote-controlled coup, developing as fast as lightning, complete with reports of domestic betrayals. 

    The original Astana idea was to keep Damascus safe and to have Ankara manage HTS. Yet Assad had already committed a serious strategic blunder, believing in lofty promises by NATO messaged through his newfound Arab leader friends in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.    

    To his own astonishment, according to Syrian and regional officials, Assad finally realized how fragile his own position was, having turned down military assistance from his stalwart regional allies, Iran and Hezbollah, believing that his new Arab allies might keep him safe.

    The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) was in shambles after 13 years of war and ruthless US sanctions. Logistics were prey to deplorable corruption. The rot was systemic. But importantly, while many were prepared to fight the foreign-backed terror groups once again, insiders say Assad never fully deployed his army to counterattack the onslaught.

    Tehran and Moscow tried everything – up to the last minute. In fact, Assad was already in deep trouble since his visit to Moscow on 29 November that reaped no tangible results. The Damascus establishment thus regarded Russia’s insistence that Assad must abandon his previous red lines on negotiating a political settlement as a de facto signal pointing to the end. 

    Turkiye: ‘we have nothing to do with it’

    Apart from doing nothing to prevent the increasing atrophy and collapse of the SAA, Assad did nothing to rein in Israel, which has been bombing Syria non-stop for years. 

    Until the very last moment, Tehran was willing to help: two brigades were ready to get into Syria, but it would take at least two weeks to deploy them.      

    The Fars News Agency explained the mechanism in detail – from the Syrian leadership’s inexorable lack of motivation to fight the terror brigades to Assad ignoring serious warnings from Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei since June, all the way to two months ago, with other Iranian officials warning that HTS and its foreign backers were preparing a blitzkrieg. According to the Iranians: 

    “After Aleppo fell, it became clear that Assad had no real intentions of staying in power, so we started to engage in diplomatic talks with the opposition, and arranged the safe exit of our troops from Syria. If the SAA does not fight, neither will we risk our soldiers’ lives. Russia and the UAE had managed to convince him to step down, so there was nothing we could do.”

    There’s no Russian confirmation that they convinced Assad to step down: one just needs to interpret that failed meeting in Moscow on 29 November. Yet, significantly, there is confirmation, before that, about Turkiye knowing everything about the HTS offensive as far back as six months ago. 

    Ankara’s version is predictably murky: HTS told them about it, and asked them not to intervene. Additionally, the Turkish Foreign Ministry spun that President-Caliph Recep Tayyip Erdogan tried to warn Assad (no word from Damascus on that). Ankara, on the record, via Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, firmly denies orchestrating or approving the Rent-a-Jihadi offensive. They may regret this yet, with everyone from Washington to Tel Aviv jumping in to take credit for the fall of Damascus.

    Only the NATO propaganda machine believes this version – as HTS has been for years completely supported not only by Turkiye, but also, covertly, by Israel, which was outed for paying salaries to the extremists during the Syrian war, and famously helped rehabilitate Al-Qaeda fighters injured in battle. 

    All that leads to the predominant scenario of a carefully calculated CIA/MI6/Mossad controlled demolition, complete with a non-stop weaponizing flow, Ukrainian training of takfiris on the use of FPV kamikaze drones, and Samsonites full of cash bribing high-ranking Syrian officials. 

    New Great Game reloaded

    The Syrian collapse may be a classic case of “extending Russia” – and also Iran, when it comes to the all-crucial land bridge that connects it with its allies in the Mediterranean (the Lebanese and Palestinian resistance movements). Not to mention sending a message to China, which, for all its lofty “community of a shared future” rhetoric, had done absolutely nothing to help in the reconstruction of Syria. 

    On the geo-energy level, now there are no more obstacles to the resolution of an epic Pipelineistan saga – and one of the key reasons for the war on Syria, as I analyzed it nine years ago: building the Qatar–Turkiye gas pipeline through Syrian territory to provide Europe with an alternative to Russian gas. Assad had rejected that project, after which Doha helped fund the Syrian war to depose him.

    There’s no evidence that key Persian Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia and UAE will gleefully accept Qatar’s geoeconomic stardom if the pipeline is built. For starters, it needs to run through Saudi territory, and Riyadh may no longer be open to that. 

    This burning question connects to a pile-up of other questions, including, with the Syrian gateway all but gone: how will Hezbollah receive weapons supplies in the future, and how will the Arab world react to Turkiye trying to go full Neo-Ottoman?   

    Then there’s the thorny case of BRICS partner-state Turkiye directly clashing with top BRICS members Russia, China, and Iran. Ankara’s new turn may even end up causing it to be rejected by BRICS, and not granted a favorable trade status by China. 

    While a case can certainly be made that losing Syria may be devastating for Russia and the Global Majority, hold those horses – for now. In the event of losing the port of Tartous that the USSR-Russia has run since 1971, alongside the Hmeimim air base – and thus being ousted from the Eastern Mediterranean – Moscow would have replacing options, with different degrees of feasibility. 

    We have Algeria (a BRICS partner), Egypt (a BRICS member), and Libya. Even the Persian Gulf: that, incidentally, could become part of the Russia–Iran comprehensive strategic partnership, to be officially signed on 25 January in Moscow by Putin and his Iranian counterpart President Masoud Pezeshkian. 

    It’s extremely naĂŻve to assume that Moscow was caught by surprise by the staging of an alleged Kursk 2.0. As if all Russian intel assets – bases, satellites, ground intel – would not have scrutinized a bunch of Salafi-Jihadis for months assembling an army of tens of thousands in Greater Idlib, complete with a tank division.   
    So it’s quite plausible that what’s being played is classic Russia, combined with Persian guile. It didn’t take long for Tehran and Moscow to do the math on what they would lose – especially in terms of human resources – by falling into the trap of supporting an already enfeebled Assad in yet another bloody, protracted ground war.  Still, Tehran offered military support, and Moscow, air support, and negotiations scenarios till the very end.

    Now, the whole Syrian tragedy – including a possible Caliphate of all-Sham led by reformed, minority-hugging jihadist Abu Mohammad al-Julani – falls into the full managing responsibility of the NATO/Tel Aviv/Ankara combo. 

    They are simply not prepared to navigate the ultra-complex tribal, clannish, embedded in corruption Syrian matrix – not to mention the magma of 37 terror outfits only kept together, so far, by the tiny glue of ousting Assad. This volcano will certainly explode in their collective faces, potentially in the form of horrendous internal battles that may last at least a few years.   

    Syria’s northeast and east are already, instantly, mired in total anarchy, with a multitude of local tribes bent on keeping their mafioso schemes at all costs, refusing to be controlled by a US–Kurd Rojava composite that is largely communist and secular. Some of these tribes are already getting cozy with the Turk-supported Salafi-jihadis. Other Arab tribes had this year joined forces with Damascus against both the extremists and Kurdish secessionists.    

    Western Syria may also be anarchy territory, as in Idlib: bloody rivalry between terror and bandit networks, between clans, tribes, ethnic groups, and religious groups regimented by Assad, the panorama even more complex than in Libya under former President Muammar al-Gaddafi. 

    As for the Head-Choppers’ supply lines, they will inevitably be stretched – and then it will be easy to cut them off, not only by Iran, for instance, but also by the NATO wing via Turkiye/Israel when they turn against the Caliphate, as they invariably may if the latter’s abuses become too media-apparent.   
    No one is able to foresee what will happen to the carcass of Assad-dynasty Syria. Millions of refugees may return, especially from Turkiye, which Washington has for years tried to prevent to protect its “Kurdification” project in the north – but at the same time, millions will flee, terrified by the prospect of a new Caliphate and a renewed civil war.

    Is there a possible ray of light amongst such gloom? The leader of the transition government will be Mohammad al-Bashir, who was, until recently, the prime minister of the so-called Syrian Salvation Government (SSG) in HTS-ruled Idlib. An electrical engineer by training, Bashir added a further degree to his education in 2021: Sharia and law.

    Losing Syria should not mean losing Palestine 

    The Global Majority may be mourning what, on the surface, looks like a nearly lethal blow against the Axis of Resistance. Yet there’s no way Russia, Iran, Iraq – and even thunderously silent China – will let a NATO-Israel-Turkiye-backed Salafi-jihadi proxy army prevail. Unlike the collective west, they are smarter, tougher, infinitely more patient, and consider the contours of the Big Picture ahead. It’s too early; sooner or later they will start rollin’ to prevent western-backed jihadism from spilling into Beijing, Tehran, and Moscow.  

    Russian foreign intel agency Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki (SVR) now has to be monitoring 24/7 what will be the next destination of the large cross-Heartland Salafi-jihadi brigade in Syria, overwhelmingly Uzbeks, Uighurs, Tajiks, and a sprinkle of Chechens. There’s no question they will be used to “extend” (US Think Tankland terminology) not only Central Asia but the Russian Federation. 
    Meanwhile, Israel will be overstretched in the Golan. The Americans will temporarily feel safe and secure around the oil fields from which they will keep stealing Syrian oil. These are two ideal latitudes for the start of what would be the first concerted BRICS retaliation against those who are unleashing the First BRICS War.  

    Then there’s the ultimate tragedy: Palestine. A massive plot twist took place right inside the venerable Umayyad mosque in Damascus. The NATO-Israeli-Turk Head-Chopping Army is now promising the Palestinians they are coming to liberate Gaza and Jerusalem. 

    Yet until this past Sunday, it was all “We love Israel.” The MC of this PR op – designed to fool the Muslim world and the Global Majority – is none other than the Caliph of al-Sham himself, Julani.

    As it stands, the new regime in Damascus will be, for all practical purposes, backed by those who support and engineer Eretz Israel and the genocide of Palestine. It’s already out in the open, coming from Israeli cabinet officials themselves: Tel Aviv ideally would love to expel the population of Gaza and the West Bank to Syria, though Jordan is their preferred destination.

    This is the battle to focus on from now on. The late Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah was adamant when he insisted on the deeper meaning of losing Syria: “Palestine would be lost.” More than ever, it’s up to a Global Resistance not to allow it. 

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/12/2024 – 22:35

  • Gold & The Evil Cycles Of War And Economic Destruction
    Gold & The Evil Cycles Of War And Economic Destruction

    Authored by Egon von Greyerz via vongreyerz.gold,

    As we approach what usually should be a blissful holiday period, the treacherous path the world is now on does not bode well for 2025 and beyond.

    Two global crises will dominate the world for at least several years and possibly decades.

    FINANCIAL CRISIS

    The crisis I have been discussing and writing about for many years is the end of the current monetary era, especially in the West. The exponential growth of debt, which we have experienced since 1971 when Nixon closed the gold window, is reaching an uber-exponential phase in the current century with runaway deficits and debt. 

    The likely course of events is unlimited money printing to counter an uncontrollable debt crisis. This leads to monetary debasement, high inflation or hyperinflation, which eventually turns into a deflationary collapse of the financial system and depression. 

    THERE CAN BE NO CLEARER SIGN OF THE END OF AN ECONOMIC ERA THAN WHEN THE RESERVE CURRENCY DECLINES BY 99%.  

    A possible alternative would be that the financial system implodes before the money printing has taken effect, with a subsequent deflationary implosion. This would mean a period without functioning banks and money. 

    As this is the way every monetary system has ended in history, without fail, anyone questioning this inevitable outcome will be entirely wrong. It is only a question of when, not if. 

    As the Austrian economist von Mises said:

    As always in history, an economic crisis always goes hand in hand with political or geopolitical turmoil. 

    When a country spends money it doesn’t have, starting a war is the most convenient way of creating new paper money, which, of course, has ZERO intrinsic value. 

    Expanding credit or printing money does not create economic value, but buys time.

    Money printing also buys votes. Reelection is the primary objective of any government in a democratic system.

    Consecutive US governments have increased US Federal debt almost every year since the early 1930s. 

    The current deficit is over $2 trillion, and tax revenue is only $5 trillion. With over $7 trillion in federal spending, the US government needs to borrow another 40% on top ($2T) to make ends meet.

    I created the graph below in November 2016, when Trump was elected the 45th President of the United States. I forecast that 8 years later (whoever was president), the debt that Trump inherited ($20 trillion) would be $40 trillion in early 2025. I based the forecast on a simple extrapolation. Since 1981, US debt has, on average, doubled every 8 years. Well, the debt will probably not reach $40T by 20 January 2025, but still, it went up by $16T rather than the $20T that I forecast. 

    More importantly, as the graph below shows, debt has increased 44X since 1981, but tax revenue has only increased 6X to $4.9T.  

    Can anyone explain how this debt will be repaid? The standard reply is that governments don’t need to repay their debt. 

    Well, let me again cite history, which is such a useful empirical tool. 

    Throughout history, a country which has not repaid its debts has, without fail, always defaulted, and the currency has gone to ZERO. 

    No one must believe that it will be different this time!

    A monetary crisis at the end of a major cycle leads to economic collapse, poverty and misery. 

    However, this current financial cycle is already developing in parallel with a geopolitical crisis of a magnitude and scale that could be greater than those of WWI and WWII. 

    GEOPOLITICAL CRISIS 

    The financial and geopolitical conflicts are clearly linked. As in many armed conflicts, the US has been involved since WWII, although the country is not directly threatened.

    This has been the case in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and Ukraine. 

    Most of these wars are about fear of losing the US hegemony. The US government subscribes to the 1904 Mackinder theory that whoever controls the Heartland controls the world. The Heartland is the area of Eastern Europe stretching to the Yangtze River in the east and the Himalayas in the south. This area has massive natural resources. 

    Syria probably just fell to opposition groups backed by Turkey in an attack supported by the US military. Interestingly, the latest conflict started the same day as the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. Clearly, it’s not a coincidence. 

    So Turkey, which for a while has ridden two horses, a Russian and an American, has now taken the US side. 

    Turkey is a NATO member and also a prospective BRICS member, among others, Russia, China, Iran and India. 

    With Turkey now on the US side and against Russia, we see the first military conflict between the West and BRICS.  

    Nobody knows if Syria will regroup again with Assad in Moscow and the soldiers deserting the army. For the Russia – Iran axis, Syria is strategically critical. But Russia cannot win that war with just air power and most probably does not want to divert resources from Ukraine. 

    Thus, we now have yet another crisis in the Middle East, a situation with dire consequences for the area and the world.

    So we are likely to see continued war in Syria, with anarchy and the rise of more jihadist groups. 

    As Thanassis Cambanis, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, said: “In the best case scenario, Syria’s factions will struggle for primacy through contained local battles. At the other extreme, the collapse will spur a renewed period of total warfare in which factions target civilians.”

    So, it is likely that more Syrian people will be homeless and migrate to Europe and the US. As we know, no Western country has the capacity to take care of these people, so again, another humanitarian catastrophe has hit the world. 

    Losing access to Syria and the Mediterranean has weakened Iran, which will look for other options. The danger has always been that Iran blocks the Strait of Hormuz, which would lock in 24% of global oil. The US could not stop this. It would lead to oil prices at least doubling or more and a major global depression. 

    The UAE (United Arab Emirates), which includes Dubai, is right by the Strait of Hormuz. 

    Personally, I have always been surprised that so many people move to and invest in Dubai, given the major geopolitical risk that this area carries.

    The world is in a severe war cycle, which, at best, will include insoluble and intractable wars in the Middle East and Eastern Europe with both the US and Russia involved. And at worst, a nuclear war.

    I was always of the opinion that the Ukrainian conflict is a war Russia is very unlikely to lose. And neither the US nor European NATO troops have sufficient resources to win a war with boots on the ground. 

    Russian missiles are currently superior, but anything can happen in a nuclear conflict.

    In a nuclear war, there is no winner, and that could be the end of the world, so it is not worth speculating about the outcome of such a war.

    THE TRIUMPH OF DEATH

    Peter Bruegel painted the “Triumph of Death” in 1562. 

    Currently, the world, and especially the West, is on a path to geopolitical and economic destruction.

    No one knows how this will end. Even if it takes years, the world is unlikely to be the same once these two cycles have run their course. 

    I have already stated that the end of the current economic cycle will be devastating for the world but bearable relative to the worst outcome of the war cycle. 

    I had a hope that Trump would settle the Ukrainian situation if the US Neocons didn’t manage to escalate it severely before January 20. 

    However, the Middle East conflict, with Iran involved, makes the situation much more complex, even with Trump’s best intentions. 

    I always believe in finding solutions, but it is hard to be optimistic when the two Cycles of Evil prevail so strongly. 

    At least anyone who has savings should take action to protect these against the coming implosion of financial assets. 

    MARKETS

    Stocks in the US are massively overvalued. 

    The Buffett Indicator, US Stocks to GDP, is at 208%, an all-time high.

    Just a normal correction would be a 50% to 75% fall.

    The Price Earnings Ratio of Nasdaq stocks is 49X. 

    A decline of at least 80%, like in the early 2000s, is likely. 

    Obviously, bubbles can always grow bigger before they implode. 

    However, the risk of a market collapse sometime in the next few months is extremely high.

    Inflation will rise rapidly, as will interest rates, driven by money printing. 

    The US 10-year treasury will greatly exceed 10%, as in the 1970s. 

    WEALTH PRESERVATION 

    Finally, gold will continue to reflect the destruction of the dollar and most currencies. 

    Gold in US dollars is up 10X in this century. It is likely to rise by multiples from here as money dies. I explain why in this article: THE CASE FOR GOLD IS INCONTROVERTIBLE.

    Gold must be held in physical form and outside the financial system with direct access to your gold. And preferably in a safe jurisdiction outside your country of residence. 

    Finally, especially in periods of crisis, helping others and having a close circle of family and friends is more important than all the gold in the world. 

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/12/2024 – 21:45

  • A New Chapter Of The Bible Was Found Hidden Inside 1,750-Year-Old Text
    A New Chapter Of The Bible Was Found Hidden Inside 1,750-Year-Old Text

    Via The Mind Unleashed,

    Hidden for centuries, a forgotten chapter of the Bible has emerged from the shadows of history. Researchers, armed with ultraviolet light and meticulous scholarship, have uncovered a 1,750-year-old text that offers a fresh glimpse into the evolving nature of scripture. This find isn’t just a historical curiosity; it’s a profound insight into how faith and tradition were shaped in early Christianity.

    Preserved in an ancient Syriac manuscript, the chapter challenges long-held assumptions about biblical texts and their seemingly static nature. With its subtle variations and expanded narrative, this rediscovery raises compelling questions: What does this mean for the modern understanding of faith? And how many more hidden chapters might still be waiting to be found?

    Unearthing a Lost Piece of Biblical History

    In a groundbreaking intersection of technology and ancient history, scholars have uncovered a hidden chapter of the Bible within a 1,750-year-old Syriac manuscript preserved in the Vatican Library. Using ultraviolet (UV) light, researchers revealed traces of erased writing—a palimpsest—buried beneath layers of overwritten text. This painstaking process illuminated an earlier version of scripture, lost to time but now reintroduced to the world.

    The manuscript, part of the Syriac translations of the Bible, is more than just a relic. It represents a key moment in Christianity’s history, when scribes worked tirelessly to preserve scripture under challenging conditions. Early Christians relied on Syriac texts to disseminate their teachings across cultural and linguistic boundaries, making this find a window into their lived experiences.

    What makes this discovery especially remarkable is its collaborative nature. Historians, linguists, and scientists pooled their expertise to decode the faded script, each stroke of ink offering clues to a story untold for nearly two millennia. This isn’t just a triumph for biblical studies; it’s a testament to the enduring power of curiosity and innovation to uncover humanity’s shared past.

    The Hidden Chapter: What We Know So Far

    The newly unveiled chapter offers an expanded version of Matthew 12, a passage where Jesus and his disciples are criticized for picking grain on the Sabbath. In this version, subtle textual variations bring fresh theological nuances to light, emphasizing compassion and mercy over rigid observance of religious laws. While the core message aligns with established teachings, these differences hint at the dynamic and adaptive nature of early Christian scripture.

    Written in ancient Syriac, one of the earliest languages used to transmit biblical texts, the chapter provides a rare glimpse into Christianity’s early cultural diversity. Syriac was instrumental in spreading scripture beyond its Jewish origins, tailoring messages to resonate with varied linguistic and cultural communities. This adaptation reflects the pragmatic approach of early Christians, who shaped their sacred texts to meet the needs of a rapidly growing faith.

    What’s particularly striking is the role of early scribes. Far from being passive transcribers, they actively engaged with the material, reinterpreting and preserving it in ways that reflected their own spiritual and societal realities. This hidden chapter, with its emphasis on mercy, reveals a faith not rigidly bound to dogma but alive with reinterpretation and evolution—a window into the beliefs and priorities of communities navigating the complexities of their time.

    The Technology That Unveiled the Forgotten Chapter

    It’s hard to believe that something written almost 2,000 years ago could still be hiding in plain sight. But that’s exactly what happened here. Using ultraviolet light, researchers managed to reveal a forgotten chapter of the Bible, hidden beneath layers of overwritten text on an ancient manuscript. It’s like uncovering a secret message written centuries ago, invisible to the naked eye but waiting to be found.

    The process wasn’t exactly a walk in the park. Think about it—this manuscript is old, fragile, and irreplaceable. Every move had to be precise, every scan done with the utmost care. Months of work went into piecing together faint traces of erased ink, with experts from all over—historians, linguists, scientists—working side by side. It’s amazing to think that this discovery wouldn’t have been possible even a few decades ago. The tools they used, like UV imaging, are giving us new ways to see the past in ways we never thought possible.

    But here’s what really gets you thinking—what else is out there? If something as groundbreaking as a hidden chapter of the Bible can be uncovered, what other secrets might still be lying in wait? This is more than a cool tech story; it’s a reminder that history always has more to give, as long as we keep asking the right questions.

    A Manuscript’s Journey Through Time

    Think about this for a second: early Christians lived in a world where their beliefs could literally get them killed. Their sacred texts weren’t just important—they were lifelines, hidden and protected at all costs. That’s the world this 1,750-year-old Syriac manuscript comes from. Imagine scribes painstakingly copying and preserving these words, knowing the risks they faced if they were caught.

    Back then, parchment wasn’t exactly easy to come by. It was expensive, rare, and, honestly, every bit as valuable as the words written on it. To make the most of it, scribes would scrape off old texts and reuse the material—creating what we now call palimpsests. It’s kind of wild to think that their recycling efforts accidentally preserved traces of history that they probably thought were gone for good.

    Here’s another fascinating detail: this manuscript is written in Syriac. It’s one of the earliest languages used to spread Christianity and shows how the faith started to move beyond its Jewish roots. Syriac wasn’t just a language—it was a tool that helped Christianity adapt and grow, reaching new communities and cultures. That’s what makes this discovery so powerful. It’s not just about words on a page; it’s about the lengths people went to protect and share their beliefs.

    And now, centuries later, we’re uncovering their story. You can almost picture the hands that wrote and rewrote this text, working in secret, determined to pass on what they believed mattered most. It’s a humbling reminder of just how much history can hide beneath the surface—literally—and how much these ancient voices still have to say.

    What Scholars Are Saying: A New Lens on Scripture

    This hidden chapter of the Bible has sparked lively debates among scholars. Many see it as a fascinating window into how early Christian communities understood and adapted scripture. The chapter’s emphasis on mercy over strict adherence to religious laws aligns with Jesus’ teachings but adds a fresh perspective to familiar passages. This nuance suggests early Christians may have tailored scripture to address the unique challenges of their time.

    At the heart of the debate is the question of why this chapter was erased. Some scholars suggest it might have been excluded as church leaders worked to formalize the biblical canon, streamlining texts to unify doctrine. Others argue that its omission could simply reflect the practical realities of the time, with scribes overwriting older texts due to the scarcity of parchment. Whatever the reason, the discovery underscores the dynamic and evolving nature of early Christianity.

    Ultimately, this find is about more than one chapter. It’s a reminder that the Bible, far from being a static document, was shaped over centuries by human hands and decisions. For scholars and believers alike, the chapter offers a chance to reexamine the past while raising new questions about the stories still waiting to be uncovered.

    Hidden Truths, Endless Possibilities

    The discovery of this hidden Bible chapter is more than a historical footnote—it’s a vivid reminder of how much the past still has to teach us. From the resilience of early Christian communities to the evolving nature of scripture itself, this find opens a window into a world where faith and history were deeply intertwined. It also shows how modern technology can breathe life into ancient artifacts, revealing secrets thought lost to time.

    But this is likely just the beginning. Who knows what other forgotten chapters, erased writings, or hidden narratives are still waiting to be uncovered? Each discovery invites us to ask new questions, challenge old assumptions, and deepen our understanding of the stories that have shaped human history. Whether it’s faith, curiosity, or a little of both driving the search, one thing is certain—history still has plenty of mysteries left to share.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/12/2024 – 20:05

  • Marc Andreessen Gives Insider Peek At DOGE Decisions, Helping Trump Pick The Next Administration
    Marc Andreessen Gives Insider Peek At DOGE Decisions, Helping Trump Pick The Next Administration

    Billionaire venture capitalist Marc Andreessen gave a wide-ranging interview to Free Press’s Bari Weiss, confirming his involvement with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and sharing behind-the-scenes insights on working with President-elect Donald Trump. Andreessen discussed his role in assisting Trump with assembling the next administration and provided a glimpse into what it’s like to spend time with the incoming commander-in-chief. During the two-hour conversation, Andreessen also revisited his experience with Biden administration officials, claiming the government expressed the orwellian desire to take “complete control” over AI development in the United States. 

    “I’m an unpaid volunteer,” Andreessen said when asked by Weiss about his reported involvement. A recent report from The Washington Post revealed that Andreessen, along with fellow Silicon Valley titans Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, is contributing to the ambitious program. Andreessen outlined DOGE’s two chief objectives: slashing spending and reducing regulations.

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    “There’s basically two big parts to it,” Andreessen explained. “One is they’re going to do a top-to-bottom review of government spending, and they’re going to cut as much cost as they possibly can. They have a whole theory and strategy on that.”

    “In conjunction with that and related to it, they’re going to do the same thing for regulations,” the billionaire continued. “They’re going to do a top-to-bottom review of the regulatory—what they call the regulatory state or the administrative state.”

    “The connective tissue there, that they don’t talk about in public, is actually quite important. A lot of the reaction of the Doge from institutional Washington is like, well, that’s impossible, you can’t do that; there are all these laws, statutes, and regulations,” he added.

    Andreessen, along with his A16z co-founder Ben Horowitz, endorsed Trump during the final stretch of the 2024 election. Since Trump’s victory, Andreessen revealed to Weiss that he has spent a great day of time at Mar-a-Lago and the Palm Beach area, assisting the 47th leader of the free world with assembling his administration.

    While Andreessen said he has spent “maybe half [his] time” at Mar-a-Lago since the election, he is quick to clarify his position:

    “I’m not claiming to be in the middle of all the decision-making, but I’ve been trying to help in as many ways as I can,” the tech titan told Weiss. Andreessen explained that his contributions focus on areas where his expertise aligns with Trump’s agenda, including tech policy, business, and economic development. “When I talk about these things, it’s around, as I said, tech policy, business, economics, and then, you know, the health of the country, the success of the country,” he noted.

    Andreessen shared his observations of Trump’s warm personal approach, highlighting qualities that he believes are often overlooked by his Democrat critics.

    “Everybody says this who meets with him, but he’s an incredible host,” Andreessen remarked. “For however people think, whatever, he’s an incredible host. He runs his own private worlds.”

    What stood out most to Andreessen was Trump’s ability to connect with people from all walks of life.

    “He treats everybody the same and talks to everybody,” Andreessen said. “He will happily talk to distinguished visitors about who the Vice President should be, and then he’ll ask the caddy.”

    Reflecting on his involvement in the transition process, Andreessen noted the exceptional caliber of candidates he encountered. “The caliber of a lot of the people that I’ve met has been very high,” he said, adding that recent appointments, particularly at the next level down in staff positions, have included “very impressive people.”

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    Addressing concerns about whether qualified individuals might hesitate to join a Trump administration due to the controversies surrounding his previous term, Andreessen said he has observed the opposite trend: “I think the flow of qualified people from outside the system now is actually much stronger.”

    Yet another mainstream media narrative busted.

    Addressing also reiterated that his support for Trump stemmed from a series of “horrifying” meeting in which Biden officials expressed plans to control AI.

    “They said, look, AI is a technology basically that the government is going to completely control,” Andreessen revealed. The officials explicitly discouraged the idea of entrepreneurial ventures in AI, stating, “Don’t start, don’t do AI startups… it’s not something that we’re going to allow to happen.”

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    According to the billionaire, the officials conveyed that AI innovation would be concentrated among “two or three big companies… working closely with the government,” with startups effectively barred from the space. “We’re going to basically wrap them in a government cocoon, protect them from competition, control them, and dictate what they do,” Andreessen paraphrased, highlighting the stark divergence from the open-market approach that has historically driven tech innovation.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/12/2024 – 19:40

  • Operators Of LAX Restaurants Face A $30 Hourly Wage
    Operators Of LAX Restaurants Face A $30 Hourly Wage

    By Peter Romeo of Restaurant Business,

    The City Council of Los Angeles is scheduled to consider a proposal on Dec. 11 to raise the minimum wage for workers employed in the restaurants at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to $30 an hour.

    The initiative slated for consideration calls for increasing the minimum wage to $25 an hour no later than six months after traffic in the airport resumes the levels of 2019, or before air travel dropped precipitously because of the pandemic. That threshold is expected to be reached possibly this year, meaning the increase would come in 2025.

    The minimum would then rise by $1 every July until the pay floor reaches $30 an hour.

    The minimum permissible wage for the workers is currently $19.25.

    Hotel employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement hammered out with the city during the first quarter of 2024 would also be eligible for the raises. The trigger for those workers would be hitting the occupancy rate enjoyed by city hotels in the pre-pandemic days of 2019.

    Workers in several dozen hotels would be affected.

    The Airport Restaurant & Retail Association, a trade group for airport concessionaires, called the proposal “a bridge too far.” It noted that the proposed increases would amount to a 56% wage hike over a four-year period for the eligible employees.

    According to the association, the wages of airport-restaurant employees have been soaring. The lift is coming in part because of the additional challenges someone working in an airport restaurant is forced to address. For instance, their trip to work can easily take 45 minutes because they have to traverse the airport and contend with security screenings. Someone working in a streetside facility may need only 10 minutes to get to the job, the group stressed.

    In addition, nearly 70% of airport concession workers are covered by collective bargaining agreements.

    The proposal to be considered by the City Council is the result of what labor authorities called segmental bargaining, or negotiating a labor contract across a group of employees doing similar work across a multitude of employers.

    Segmental bargaining came to the restaurant industry in April with the creation of the Fast Food Council, a nine-person panel empowered by the state to set wages for fast-food employees who work for a restaurant with at least 59 sister branches nationwide. The council consists of four workers’ representatives and four employers, with a neutral government worker wielding a ninth and potentially tie-breaking vote.

    Simultaneous with the creation of the council, the minimum wage for covered fast-food workers rose to $20 an hour on April 1, from a previous floor of $16.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/12/2024 – 19:15

  • "Polar Vortex" Is Upon Us: Arctic Outbreaks To Round Out December
    “Polar Vortex” Is Upon Us: Arctic Outbreaks To Round Out December

    It’s almost that time of year when a polar vortex split occurs, displacing cold Arctic air from the Earth’s North Pole into Canada and spilling into the Lower 48. 

    Data from Bloomberg shows that mentions of “polar vortex” in corporate media typically begin to surge in late December or the first half of January, signaling that the countdown has begun. 

    On Wednesday, private weather forecaster BAMWX pushed out new weather models on X, showing confidence is growing for a polar vortex split to occur for the Lower 48. 

    “The stage is set for Arctic outbreaks to round out December and kick start the new year!” BAMWX wrote on X. 

    BAMWX said, “More favorable trends for stronger cold fronts in week 2. I don’t see any signs of a consistent torch in the eastern US. Ensembles cannot resolve the +TNH & +PNA pattern right now making them consistently too warm late week 2.” 

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    Michael Clark, chief meteorologist for BAMWX, was confident about the incoming polar vortex.

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    Clark also sees a more active precipitation pattern for the eastern half of the US. 

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    “The persistence in the PNA and the TPV (500mb tropospheric polar vortex location is the reason we believe the storms can easily pull down the Arctic air behind them,” BAMWX said. 

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    The eastern half of the US appears to be setting up for a cold Christmas. 

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    And possibly a white one…

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    “Both GFS and ECMWF AI model data hinting at a bigger storm threat ~22nd of Dec,” BAMWX wrote in a forecast.

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    Here’s more from Clark in a video titled “Stage set for ARCTIC OUTBREAKS to start 2025” … 

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/12/2024 – 18:50

  • Trump Says RFK Jr. Will Study Possible Link Between Childhood Vaccines And Autism As HHS Secretary
    Trump Says RFK Jr. Will Study Possible Link Between Childhood Vaccines And Autism As HHS Secretary

    Authored by Jeff Louderbeck via The Epoch Times,

    President-elect Donald Trump said on Dec. 8 that he will give Robert F. Kennedy Jr. the freedom to investigate the potential link between vaccines and autism if the latter gains Senate confirmation to become Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS).

    Kennedy has said for years that autism is likely tied to childhood vaccines.

    He was nominated to serve as HHS secretary by Trump last month and has promised sweeping changes to agencies under the HHS, like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

    The NIH supports and funds research into autism, as well as potential new vaccines.

    Kennedy told The Epoch Times in September that he would revamp the NIH to focus on the causes of autism, autoimmune diseases, and neurodevelopment diseases instead of developing drugs and serving as an incubator for pharmaceutical products.

    In the Dec. 8 interview with Meet The Press, Trump noted that autism cases have increased in recent decades. When asked if Kennedy would explore the issue, Trump said he is “open to anything.”

    “When you look at some of the problems, when you look at what’s going on with disease and sickness in our country, something’s wrong,” Trump said.

    “I think somebody has to find out. If you go back 25 years ago, you had very little autism. Now you have it.”

    CDC information shows that around one in 36 American children today has an autism diagnosis, compared to one in 150 in the year 2000.

    Fighting chronic disease, improving children’s health, and addressing corporate influence on government agencies were vital parts of Kennedy’s campaign platform when he ran for president as a Democrat and then as an independent.

    Kennedy suspended his presidential campaign and backed Trump in August. He told The Epoch Times that it was a “heart-wrenching decision” and a necessary step toward achieving his mission of saving Americans from the chronic disease epidemic.

    Under the “Make America Healthy Again” campaign, Kennedy intends to curtail what he calls the chronic disease epidemic by addressing the so-called “corporate capture” of federal health agencies and removing toxic chemicals from the nation’s food supply, among other objectives.

    Leading to announcing his presidential bid in April 2023, Kennedy was chairman of Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit organization devoted to removing toxic exposures that harm children and promoting vaccine safety.

    Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks to reporters at the media filing center and spin room at the Pennsylvania Convention Center ahead of the presidential debate between Republican nominee former President Donald J. Trump and Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia on Sept. 10, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

    He co-founded the World Mercury Project in 2016 with the intent to remove neurotoxic mercury in fish, medical products, dental amalgams, and vaccines; and make sound science the driver of public policy, according to the Children’s Health Defense website.

    The World Mercury Project became Children’s Health Defense in 2018. The organization’s four pillars include advocacy, education, litigation, and science.

    On Dec. 4, Kennedy submitted his letter of resignation from CHD.

    “One of my most important priorities is to have the agencies I oversee provide better access to minority scientific and public policy views,” he wrote.

    “I promise you and the members of CHD to bring a new openness and inclusion to the health and science part of the government, both in receiving input from the public and all stakeholders, and disseminating information and the data collected by these agencies.”

    Several Republicans have praised Trump’s move to nominate Kennedy as HHS secretary.

    Some critics opposed the nomination because they considered Kennedy to be anti-vaccine or anti-science—characterizations that Kennedy has said are not true.

    Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) called Kennedy a conspiracy theorist and said that “he will destroy our public health infrastructure and our vaccine distribution systems.”

    Peter G. Lurie, president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said in a statement that the center “opposes this nomination“ and that ”nominating an anti-vaxxer like Kennedy to HHS is like putting a Flat Earther at the head of NASA.”

    Kennedy has consistently said that he isn’t against vaccines and that he advocates vaccine safety and informed consent.

    For parents and vaccine safety advocates like MaryJo Perry and Scott Shoemaker, extensively studying potential links between childhood vaccines and autism is long overdue.

    “I don’t understand the hysteria over his plan to thoroughly study the issue and finally settle it,” said Perry, who is president of Mississippi Parents for Vaccine Rights. “Why would anyone be afraid of knowing the truth?”

    Shoemaker’s son was diagnosed with autism at the age of 15 months, and he said he reversed the condition by removing toxic metal poisoning.

    “Shouldn’t we as parents want to know whether or not what we are allowing to go into our children’s bodies is safe?” said Shoemaker, who is president of Health Freedom Ohio.

    A video documenting the changes that he posted in 2019 was removed by Facebook, he told The Epoch Times.

    “My son had an MMR shot. He was in bed for two weeks when he got home. At the time, I wasn’t concerned because the doctor said before the shot that some kids have problems with it and they might feel sick,” Shoemaker said.

    “He was different after the shot. He didn’t talk or look us in the eye. It was hard to get his attention. I experienced what most parents of vaccine-injured children experience from medical professionals. We are gaslit and told they don’t know what caused the autism, but it’s not the vaccines that caused the problem.”

    Signed by President Ronald Reagan, the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NCVIA) of 1986 eliminated potential liability of vaccine manufacturers because of vaccine injury claims. Perry and Shoemaker would like to see pharmaceutical companies held liable if their products injure recipients. They also hope that, under Kennedy, the CDC’s vaccine schedule is addressed.

    According to Children’s Health Defense, there has not been a double-blind placebo-controlled safety study on infant vaccines.

    “That needs to happen,” Perry told The Epoch Times. “There is no liability and no accountability for pharmaceutical companies. That needs to change.”

    Perry said that she believes no vaccine should be mandated.

    “If it’s good and safe, parents will use it. You won’t have to coerce parents if it’s good and safe,” she said.

    Shoemaker agrees.

    “The bottom line is we want the truth. We want safe products for our kids. We don’t want big pharma to just say vaccines are safe and effective and they can’t show non-partisan studies,” he said.

    “We’re told by government agencies that the science is settled, but that is contrary to the purpose of science—to test, retest, study, and evolve.”

    Shoemaker said Kennedy is the right person to bring the changes parents like him would like to see.

    “He is not tied to big pharma. He just wants the truth and he is someone who is not afraid to do what is needed to get to the truth,” Shoemaker said.

    Kennedy will face confirmation hearings with the Senate Finance Committee, which is scheduled to be led by Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho). The full Senate will vote on his nomination if he is approved by that panel.

    Kennedy said he believes little will change until the influence of giant or private corporations on the FDA, the CDC, and the Department of Agriculture is addressed.

    During an interview with The Epoch Times last year, he explained his stance.

    “I’ve never been anti-vaccine. People should have choice, and that choice should be informed by the best information possible,“ he said. ”I’m going to ensure that there are science-based safety studies available and people can make their own assessments about whether a vaccine is good for them.”

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/12/2024 – 18:25

  • World's Largest Asset Manager Suggests Up To 2% Is "Reasonable" Bitcoin Portfolio Allocation
    World’s Largest Asset Manager Suggests Up To 2% Is “Reasonable” Bitcoin Portfolio Allocation

    The world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, said a portfolio allocation of up to 2% is “reasonable” for investors who wish to hold Bitcoin, in their latest Investment Perspectives report.

    They begin the report by noting that “bitcoin cannot be compared to traditional assets,” but from a portfolio construction perspective, Samara Cohen (CIO of ETFs) and her team suggest that the so-called “Magnificent 7” group of mega-cap tech stocks is a useful starting point.

    “Those stocks represent single portfolio holdings that account for a comparatively large share of portfolio risk as with bitcoin.

    In a traditional portfolio with a mix of 60% stocks and 40% bonds, those seven stocks each account for, on average, about the same share of overall portfolio risk as a 1-2% allocation to bitcoin.

    We think that’s a reasonable range for a bitcoin exposure.”

    As with gold, bitcoin can be driven by sentiment, narratives and momentum – both up and down.

    Why not more, they ask (and answer):

    “Going beyond that would sharply increase bitcoin’s share of the overall portfolio risk.”

    With approximately $11.5 trillion in assets under management (and manager of the largest spot BTC ETF, iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which holds net assets of nearly $54 billion), they are worth listening to.

    According to BlackRock, investors “need to think about Bitcoin’s expected returns in a different way: it has no underlying cash flows for estimating future returns. What matters: the extent of adoption.”

    “Bitcoin may also provide a more diversified source of return,” BlackRock said, adding:

    “We see no intrinsic reason why Bitcoin should be correlated with major risk assets over the long term given its value is driven by such distinct drivers.”

    Longer term, BTC “could potentially also become less risky – but at that point it might no longer have a structural catalyst for further sizable price increases,” the report said.

    Instead, “investors may prefer to use it tactically to hedge against specific risks, similar to gold.”

    Launched in January, spot BTC ETFs emerged as 2024’s most popular investment vehicles, breaking $100 billion in net assets in November. 

    As CoinTelegraph reports, these surging inflows from institutional investors could cause “demand shocks” in 2025, driving up BTC’s spot price, according to a Dec. 12 report by Sygnum Bank.

    “Our analysis shows how even relatively modest allocations from this segment can fundamentally alter the crypto asset ecosystem,” Sygnum said.

    The report, dubbed ‘Sizing Bitcoin in portfolios’, was released by BlackRock Investment Institute on Dec. 12.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/12/2024 – 18:00

  • 'USA' Chants Roar As Trump Rings NYSE Bell After Being Named TIME 'Person Of The Year'
    ‘USA’ Chants Roar As Trump Rings NYSE Bell After Being Named TIME ‘Person Of The Year’

    Donald Trump has been crowned TIME magazine’s Person of the Year after reclaiming the presidency, marking him as only the second U.S. president in history to serve non-consecutive terms. The announcement came on Thursday, placing Trump at the pinnacle of a contentious list of global influencers.

    “Trump’s political rebirth is unparalleled in American history,” TIME wrote in an announcement, after speaking with the President-elect ahead of the announcement.

    Trump dubbed his campaign “72 Days of Fury” after a term that Trump himself coined. This win sets Trump apart as a political figure of singular historical significance, having first held the title in 2016 when he initially seized the presidency from Hillary Clinton.

    Trump’s political rebirth is unparalleled in American history. His first term ended in disgrace, with his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results culminating in the attack on the U.S. Capitol. He was shunned by most party officials when he announced his candidacy in late 2022 amid multiple criminal investigations. Little more than a year later, Trump cleared the Republican field, clinching one of the fastest contested presidential primaries in history. -TIME

    The competition for this year’s title was fierce, with Trump edging out other high-profile names such as Vice President Kamala Harris, his tech mogul supporter Elon Musk, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Catherine, Princess of Wales. Notably, Musk was the magazine’s pick back in 2021.

    Reflecting on his tumultuous path to victory, Trump’s year included overcoming significant challenges: a stark clearing of the GOP field, a conviction in a New York courtroom, and surviving not one, but two assassination attempts.

    The campaign saw surprising alliances, including consolidations of support from unexpected quarters such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Elon Musk, alongside a dramatic shift in the Democratic nomination.

    According to TIME, Trump’s win gave him the “political capital to address the sources of American discontent at home and abroad” Trump himself suggested a bold agenda, including plans to pardon Jan. 6 political prisoners.

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    “It’s going to start in the first hour … maybe the first nine minutes,” Trump told the outlet.

    The Person of the Year title, a tradition since 1927, is not necessarily a mark of honor but rather a recognition of influence. TIME has historically selected presidents during their election victories, with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris jointly receiving the nod in 2020, and other repeat honorees including Barack Obama and George W. Bush.

    Trump’s victory lap included ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange in Manhattan, where chants of “USA’ broke out…

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    Trump is the first president to ring the bell since Ronald Reagan.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/12/2024 – 17:44

  • The Evaporation Of The Obama Mystique
    The Evaporation Of The Obama Mystique

    Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness,

    Barack Obama had long been rumored as the catalyst for the 2020 Biden nomination—and thereafter played the whispering puppeteer behind the subsequent lost Biden administration years.

    As such he and his coterie proved the virtual architects of the Biden administration, one of the most unpopular and failed presidencies in American history.

    Recall earlier that after a flailing candidate Joe Biden lost the first three 2020 primaries and caucuses, his inert campaign was headed nowhere.

    Barack Obama and fellow Democratic insiders abruptly engineered the withdrawal of his rival 2020 presidential candidates: hard left but likely sure-loser candidates, including Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Pete Buttigieg.

    The Obamas ignored or withheld from the public their own firsthand knowledge that Biden was suffering from signs of dementia.

    Instead, they found Biden’s cognitive decline and his former concocted reputation as workingman’s Joe useful as a veneer for a veritable Obama third-term, “phone it in” administration. Or as wistful Obama once conditioned his dream of a third term—”If I could make an arrangement where I had a stand-in, a front man or front woman, and they had an earpiece in.”

    The Obamaites then got their wish for four years of enacted hard-left directives that they could only have dreamed of while in actual power.

    But their radical menu since 2021 had divided and nearly wrecked the nation—hyperinflation, 12 million illegal aliens, a ruined border, spiraling crime, a shattered foreign policy of appeasement, the popular backlash against DEI/Woke/trans chauvinism, partisan lawfare, and weaponization of the government.

    And the ruling radicalism beneath the Biden facade eventually cost the Democrats nearly everything—the presidency, the House, and the Senate.

    An inert Biden is departing office with a 36 percent favorability rating in a recent Emerson poll. His Democratic nominee replacement, losing presidential candidate Vice President Harris, also has virtually vacated her office with 40 days left of her tenure.

    Failed candidate Harris has been roundly faulted by staffers and donors for blowing through some $2 billion in assorted 2024 campaign money.

    She ended up doing worse against Trump than Biden himself had in 2020.

    Many Democrats believe that they might have done just as well had Biden stayed on the ticket even in his vastly diminished state.

    The Obamas were further blasted for nullifying the wishes of 14 million primary voters by forcing Biden off the ticket—ironically in the same backroom, anti-democratic manner they had cleared the way for him in 2020.

    Obama emerged from his comfortable retirement to hit the 2024 campaign trail, schooling the country that President-emeritus Donald Trump was a dictator, a fascist, a tyrant, and, of course, a “racist.”

    The more Trump polled even with, or ahead of, Kamala Harris, the more an exasperated and ignored Obama talked down to supposedly low-information voters.

    But by the time Harris lost the election, voters had tuned out a nagging and patronizing Obama—and his stale, now-dated hope-and-changey boilerplate speeches.

    What Obama did not mention, but what the voters knew, was that the border was more secure under Trump than during either the Obama or Biden tenure.

    Vladimir Putin invaded countries during the Obama and Biden administrations but stayed put on Trump’s watch.

    Barack Obama’s bizarre vision of a new Middle East had sought to empower Iran as a supposed counterweight against moderate Arab nations and our ally Israel.

    Years ago, Obama invited the Russians into Syria, empowered dictatorial Syria, berated Israel nonstop, and all but ignored the terrorist violence of Iran’s surrogate terrorists of Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.

    But after October 7, Israel retaliated to the mass slaughter of Jewish civilians with all-out war against Hamas and Hezbollah—rendering these once feared terrorists nearly impotent.

    In an exchange of air attacks with Iran, Israel showed the world that Iran was as militarily weak as its chanting and threats were tiresome and shrill.

    Iran is now tottering on the brink, as its terrorist appendages—including most recently the Assad dynasty—are melting away.

    Israel and the moderate Arab regimes are in ascendance, as the entire crazy Obama-envisioned Middle East agenda melts away.

    The 2024 anemic Democratic campaign and the Trump electoral college and popular vote victories—combined with record defections of Hispanic and African-American voters from the Democratic Party to Trump—proved a resounding rejection of the Obama legacy and his surrogates’ left-wing visions.

    Yet after the people spoke in the election, the more Obama whined that democracy itself had failed him. Voters, he remonstrated, who disagreed with him were written off as racist and sexist.

    Obama again harped that constituents did not know what was good for them.

    And then, the disappointed former community organizer suddenly disappeared—pondering to which of his own four mansions his private jet would fly him home to commiserate.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/12/2024 – 17:40

  • Conspiracy Fact: IG Report Confirms FBI Had Dozens Of Informants In Jan 6 Crowd
    Conspiracy Fact: IG Report Confirms FBI Had Dozens Of Informants In Jan 6 Crowd

    Just in time for the Trump pardons, DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz revealed on Thursday that there were 26 ‘confidential human sources’ (CHSs) in Washington DC on Jan. 6, 2021.

    While the presence of FBI informants on J6 was known, the exact number had never been confirmed.

    And because they were CHS’s and not badge-carrying Agent Smiths, Politico decided to run with this piece of absolute propaganda.

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    Of note, CHS’s have contributed to the prosecution of members of the Proud Boys and other people who were present on J6. According to Horowitz’s report, all but three of the informants were in there “in connection with” the protest and other events that took place that day.

    Four of the informants entered the Capitol, while 13 other entered restricted Capitol grounds despite not being authorized to do so.

    As the Epoch Times notes further,

    Of the 26 sources who went to Washington in connection with the protest and other events, two were tasked to report on subjects whom the FBI had learned were traveling to the nation’s capital for the events. A third informant had been tasked with reporting on people traveling to Washington for the events after notifying a handling agent about planned travel to Washington.

    The other 23 informants had not been tasked by the FBI with traveling to Washington. Thirteen of this subset informed their handling agent in advance of the trips, while the other 10 did not. None of the 23 were found to have engaged in illegal activity.

    Some lawmakers noted that none of the informants who entered the Capitol or the restricted grounds have been prosecuted.

    The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, which has charged more than 1,500 people with crimes related to the breach, told the inspector general that the office “generally has not charged those individuals whose only crime on January 6, 2021 was to enter the restricted grounds surrounding the Capitol … and we have treated the CHSs consistent with this approach.”

    The inspector general’s investigation was launched in 2021, but paused in 2022 to avoid conflict with ongoing criminal investigations and prosecutions. The probe resumed in 2023. By then, the inspector general’s office knew that multiple reports had been released on Jan. 6, and endeavored to focus on an area that it felt “has not yet been thoroughly reviewed by other entities.”

    Other Findings

    Horowitz said that the review found the FBI took significant and appropriate steps leading up to Jan. 6 to prepare for its role that day, which was a supporting capacity.

    The preparation included trying to identify known domestic terror subjects who planned to travel to Washington for the certification of electoral votes.

    After the Capitol was breached, the FBI was able to deploy agents to help clear the building and help the U.S. Capitol Police secure the perimeter.

    “We found that the FBI effectively carried out its tactical support function on January 6,” the report stated.

    The inspector general’s office also concluded that the FBI should have canvassed field offices for intelligence from the confidential informants before Jan. 6. Such an action would have helped both the FBI and other agencies prepare for the day, the inspector general said. The report quoted Paul Abbate, the FBI’s deputy director at the time, as saying the lack of a canvass was a “basic step that was missed.”

    In a letter dated Dec. 11, the FBI told the inspector general’s office that it disagrees with “certain of the factual assertions in the report regarding the manner of specific steps, and the scope of the canvass undertaken by the FBI in advance of January 6.”

    The agency agreed with the recommendation that the FBI look into the processes and procedures it uses to prepare for events that could involve domestic security issues.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/12/2024 – 17:20

  • Russia Dodged A Bullet By Wisely Choosing Not To Ally With The Now-Defeated Resistance Axis
    Russia Dodged A Bullet By Wisely Choosing Not To Ally With The Now-Defeated Resistance Axis

    Authored by Andrew Korybko via substack,

    Putin made the right choice, which was always driven by his rational calculation of what was in Russia’s objective interests as a state, not due to “Zionist influence” like some in the Alt-Media Community now ridiculously claim to defame him after being mad that he didn’t lift a finger to save the Resistance.

    The Iranian-led Resistance Axis has been defeated by Israel. Hamas’ terrorist attack on 7 October 2023 prompted Israel’s collective punishment of the Palestinians in Gaza, which set into motion a series of conflicts that expanded to Lebanon and Syria. Israel has also bombed Yemen and Iran. Hamas’ and Hezbollah’s leaderships were destroyed, leading to a ceasefire in Lebanon, while the Assad government was just overthrown by a Turkish-backed terrorist blitz that severed Iran’s military logistics to Hezbollah.

    These outcomes were already surprising enough for those who believed the late Nasrallah’s claim that “Israel is weaker than a spider web”, but many were shocked that they occurred without Russia lifting a finger to save the Resistance, with whom they thought that it had allied against Israel long ago. That second-mentioned false notion will go down in infamy as one of the most successful psy-ops ever conducted against the Alt-Media Community (AMC), and ironically enough, by its own top influencers.

    It was explained in early October “Why False Perceptions About Russian Policy Towards Israel Continue To Proliferate”, which readers should review for more detail, but which can be summarized as top AMC influencers telling their audience what they thought they wanted to hear for self-interested reasons. These include generating clout, pushing their ideology, and/or soliciting donations from well-intentioned but naïve members of their audience depending on the personality involved.

    The preceding analysis also lists five related ones about Russian policy towards Israel since the start of the West Asian Wars, including this one “Clarifying Lavrov’s Comparison Of The Latest Israeli-Hamas War To Russia’s Special Operation”, which itself links to several dozen others. All of them also reference this May 2018 report about “President Putin On Israel: Quotes From The Kremlin Website (2000-2018)”. All of these materials rely on official and authoritative Russian sources to arrive at their conclusions.

    They prove that Putin is a proud lifelong philo-Semite who never shared the Resistance’s unifying anti-Zionist ideology, instead always expressing very deep respect for Jews and the State of Israel. Accordingly, as the final decisionmaker on Russian foreign policy, he tasked his diplomats with balancing between Israel and the Resistance. To that end, Russia never took either’s side and always remained neutral in their disputes, including the West Asian Wars.

    The most that he ever personally did was condemn Israel’s collective punishment of the Palestinians, but always in the same breath as condemning Hamas’ infamous terrorist attack on 7 October 2023. As for Russia, the most that it ever did was repeat the same rhetoric and occasionally condemn Israel’s strikes against the IRGC and Hezbollah in Syria, which Russia never interfered with. Not once did it try to deter or intercept them, retaliate afterwards, or give Syria the capabilities and authorization to do so either.

    This was due to the deconfliction mechanism that Putin and Bibi agreed to in late September 2015 shortly before the Syrian operation. It was never confirmed for obvious diplomatic reasons, but these actions (or rather lack thereof) suggested that Putin believed that Iran’s anti-Israeli activities Syria posed a legitimate threat to Israel. For that reason, Russia always stood aside whenever Israel bombed Iran there, but Russia still sometimes complained due to Israel’s attacks formally violating international law.

    It’s an objectively existing and easily verifiable fact that Russia’s opposition to Israel’s regional activities, be they in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, or Iran, always remained strictly confined to the political realm of official statements. Not once did Russia ever threaten to unilaterally sanction Israel, let alone even remotely hint at military action against it as punishment. Russia won’t even symbolically designate Israel as an “unfriendly state”, though that’s because it doesn’t abide by US sanctions and won’t arm Ukraine.

    Therein lies another fact that most in the AMC were either unaware of or in denial about and it’s that Israel isn’t the US’ puppet otherwise it would have already done those two things long ago. It’s beyond the scope of the present piece to explain this, as well as why the Biden Administration has tried to destabilize and overthrow Bibi, but this analysis here dives into the details and cites related articles. The point is that Russian-Israeli ties remain cordial and these two are far from the foes that some thought.

    It therefore never made sense to imagine that Putin, who considers himself to be the consummate pragmatist, would burn the bridge that he personally invested nearly a quarter-century of his time building with Bibi between their two nations. After all, Putin boasted in 2019 that “Russians and Israelis have ties of family and friendship. This is a true common family; I can say this without exaggeration. Almost 2 million Russian speakers live in Israel. We consider Israel a Russian-speaking country.”

    He was speaking before the Keren Heyesod Foundation, one of the world’s oldest Zionist lobbying organizations, during its annual conference in Moscow that year. Whenever members of the AMC were confronted with these “politically inconvenient” facts from official and authoritative sources such as the Kremlin’s own website, they spun a “5D chess master plan” conspiracy theory alleging that he was just “psyching out the Zionists”. Top influencers also aggressively “canceled” anyone who brought this up.

    The end result was that these false perceptions of Russian-Israeli relations as well as Putin’s own views towards this subject continued to proliferate unchallenged through the AMC, thus leading to the impression that they were secretly allied with Iran due to their allegedly shared anti-Zionist ideals. This notion became a matter of dogma for many in the AMC and correspondingly turned into an axiom of International Relations for them. Anyone who claimed otherwise was smeared as a “Zionist”.

    It’s now known after Russia didn’t lift a finger to save the Resistance that they were never actually allies. Some of those that still can’t accept that they’ve been lied to by trusted AMC influencers who duped them for self-interested reasons (clout, ideology, and/or soliciting donations) now speculate that Russia “betrayed” the Resistance and “sold out to the Zionists” even though Russia was never on either’s side. If they don’t soon shake off their cognitive dissonance, they’ll detach themselves further from reality.

    In retrospect, Russia dodged a bullet by wisely choosing not to ally with the now-defeated Resistance Axis since it would have needlessly ruined its relations with Israel, the undisputable victor of the West Asian Wars.

    Putin made the right choice, which was always driven by his rational calculation of what was in Russia’s objective interests as a state, not due to “Zionist influence” like some in the AMC now ridiculously claim to defame him after being mad that he didn’t lift a finger to save the Resistance.

    The takeaways from this are several: 1) Putin and his representatives don’t play “5D chess”, they always say what they truly mean; 2) Russia isn’t anti-Israel nor anti-Zionist, but it also isn’t anti-Iran nor anti-Resistance either; 3) the AMC is full of charlatans who, for self-interested reasons, tell their audience whatever they think they want to hear; 4) their audience should thus hold them to account for lying about Russian-Israeli and Russian-Resistance relations; 5) and the AMC requires urgent reform.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/12/2024 – 17:00

  • South Korean Defense Chief Sent Drones To Pyongyang To Spark Retaliation, Justify Martial Law: Lawmakers
    South Korean Defense Chief Sent Drones To Pyongyang To Spark Retaliation, Justify Martial Law: Lawmakers

    Former South Korean former defense chief Kim Yong-hyun ordered a swarm of drones to North Korea’s capital with hopes of provoking an attack that could be used to justify a declaration of martial law by President Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korean legislators have alleged. Meanwhile, ahead of an expected weekend impeachment vote, Yoon used an address to the nation to promise that he would fight “until the very last minute” against being removed from power.  

    Kim was arrested on Tuesday for his alleged role in aiding Yoon’s attempt to impose military rule, suspend civil liberties and remove checks and balances — and attempted suicide shortly after midnight on Wednesday. Previous reports pointed to Kim’s deployment of troops to prevent lawmakers from convening after Yoon’s shocking Dec. 3 declaration of martial law. If true, the sensational new allegation from Park Beom-kye of the opposition Democratic Party suggests an entirely different layer of dangerous complicity.     

    Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun has been accused of sending drones to North Korea’s capital to provoke a response that could be used to justify a martial law declaration

    “The Defense Counterintelligence Command, where former commander Yeo In-hyung – a junior to Kim at the same high school – was posted, appears to have planned [the drone deployment],” said Park in remarks in the parliament on Monday, according to The Telegraph. Citing a “credible military source,” he later told reporters that the “drone operation appears to have been part of a larger plan, potentially tied to preparations for the martial law decree.”

    In October, the North Korean government said it had detected multiple South Korean drones that were sent to Pyongyang to shower the capital city with propaganda leaflets. North Korea published a photo of what appears to be a drone that had crashed into a group of trees. At that time and again this week, the South Korean government declined to confirm or deny the accusation. 

    This October photo of a crashed drone was released by the North Korean government, which said it was sent from South Korea 

    Park’s suggestion that Kim and Yoon may have conspired to provoke a North Korean military response — with an accompanying risk of the loss of South Korean lives — adds an explosive new dimension to the country’s ongoing political crisis that followed the declaration of martial law.  

    In April, Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP) was routed in elections that saw the Democratic Party take over the country’s assembly by a significant margin. In the ensuing months, mounting tensions took various forms, including an impasse over the 2025 budget and Democrats’ attempt to impeach top prosecutors.  On Dec. 3, Yoon stunned South Korea and the international community with a late-night declaration of martial law. In his announcement, Yoon railed against “shameless pro-North-Korean anti-state forces who are plundering the freedom and happiness of our citizens…I will eliminate anti-state forces as quickly as possible and normalize the country.”

    Soldiers and police immediately surrounded the National Assembly, but 190 of the 300 members of parliament managed to unanimously vote to annul the martial law declaration. Yoon retracted it and apologized, but the repercussions have continued to unfold since then. Defense chief Kim resigned upon being charged, was taken into custody on Tuesday and attempted to kill himself hours later. The country’s top two law enforcement officers have also been arrested, and police have made multiple attempts to search Yoon’s office.  

    Protesters at South Korea’s National Assembly demand Yoon’s resignation (Han Myung-Gu/EPA via Al-Jazeera)

    An impeachment vote last weekend failed in the face of a boycott by the ruling People Power Party (PPP), but the Democratic Party has announced it will move for impeachment again on Saturday, and some PPP members are now voicing their support. 

    On Thursday, Yoon returned to the kind of fiery rhetoric he used in his martial law announcement, calling the Democratic Party “a monster” composed of  “anti-state forces.”

    “I will fight to the end to prevent the forces and criminal groups that have been responsible for paralyzing the country’s government and disrupting the nation’s constitutional order from threatening the future of the Republic of Korea…The opposition is now doing a sword dance of chaos, claiming that the declaration of martial law constitutes to an act of rebellion. But was it really?”

    Yoon portrayed his martial law move as a legitimate use of government authority which should be exempt from the investigations that have been directed at it. He also claimed soldiers and police were sent to the parliament to keep order, not to thwart legislators.  

    According to Associated Press, opposition parties control 192 of the National Assembly’s 300 seats. With impeachment requiring a two-thirds majority, that means pro-impeachment forces will need to win over eight members of Yoon’s PPP. Significantly, PPP chairman Han Dong-hun has called for members to send Yoon packing. Yoon’s fiery Thursday speech has helped stir discord in his party. When Han told a party meeeting that Yoon’s remarks “a confession of rebellion,” he received angry jeers from Yoon backers, who told him to be quiet.   

    Polymarket speculators are convinced Yoon will leave office within the next few months. The “yes” contract on a departure before April 1 is going for 80Âą. Bettors are less convinced that he’ll be out by year-end, with the “yes” on that version priced at only 12Âą.  

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/12/2024 – 16:40

  • Chicago Mayor Proposes 11 Tax- And Fee-Hikes As Part Of 2025 Budget
    Chicago Mayor Proposes 11 Tax- And Fee-Hikes As Part Of 2025 Budget

    By Dylan Sharkey of Illinois Policy

    Chicago is on the verge of adding $233.9 million in new tax hikes as part of the city’s $17.3 billion budget for 2025, if aldermen pass Mayor Brandon Johnson’s proposals.

    Johnson’s tax increases include hikes in property taxes, personal property leases, the city shopping bag tax and the tax on streaming services. Hikes are hitting vehicles with more speed cameras, parking taxes and rideshare fees.

    These have already passed the City Council Finance Committee, meaning it could pass the full council by the end of the week. The bulk of the tax hikes will come from:

    • $68.5 million: Property tax hike, down from Johnson’s original $300 million ask which was met with a unanimous “no” vote by the city council.
    • $128.1 million: Hiking personal property lease tax, including on cloud computing, to 11% from 9%.
    • $12.9 million: Increasing the amusement tax on streaming and tickets to live events to 10.25% from 9%.
    • $11.4 million: Increase number of speed cameras in the city.
    • $5.1 million: Raising paper and plastic, single-use shopping bag tax by 3 cents to 10 cents total.
    • $7.9 million: Other fees and taxes, including on parking and rideshares.

    Find your city council member and tell them Chicago taxes are already too high. The new budget is due by the end of the year, so they could vote on the hikes in a matter of days.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/12/2024 – 16:20

  • Al Sharpton Pocketed $1M In Bonuses From Nonprofit Tied To Kamala Scandal
    Al Sharpton Pocketed $1M In Bonuses From Nonprofit Tied To Kamala Scandal

    Authored by Luis Cornelio via Headline USA,

    MSNBC host Rev. Al Sharpton is yet again facing new criticism amid a report that revealed he awarded himself nearly $1 million in bonuses through his tax-exempt nonprofit, the National Action Network (NAN). 

    According to Fox News, Sharpton reported several compensation bonuses within his nonprofit that at times exceeded his base salary as evident in the non-profit’s tax filings. 

    In 2016, he paid himself $437,355 for “bonus & incentive compensation,” far more than his annual salary of $250,000. This practice seemingly began in 2014 when he granted himself $64,000. 

    In 2018, Sharpton received a bonus of $159,596, in addition to his $324,000 salary for that year. He also listed $563,352 in “other reportable compensation” that same year. 

    In 2021, he awarded himself a $278,503 bonus on top of his $348,174 salary, which amounted to 80 percent of his base pay. Over just seven years, Sharpton pocketed $940,053 in so-called compensation and bonuses. 

    It is not immediately clear whether such bonus practices are typical in other nonprofits. It is also unclear how often the IRS scrutinizes these generous bonuses. 

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    Sharpton did not immediately respond to requests for comments from Fox News. However, this is not the first time Sharpton’s financial affairs have come under scrutiny.

    In November, Sharpton came under fire after his non-profit accepted a $500,000 donation from Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign ahead of a soft interview he conducted with her. 

    These donations, which came in the form of two $250,000 donations, were made in September and October and only became public after Harris lost the 2024 election to President-elect Donald Trump. 

    The Washington Free Beacon reported that the Harris donation to Sharpton’s non-profits blindsided MSNBC. “MSNBC was unaware of the donations made to the National Action Network,” a spokesperson told the Free Beacon. 

    An unnamed current MSNBC employee rebuked Sharpton’s acceptance of the donations, calling the affairs “another level of nonsense” and straight up “weird.” 

    “Harris could have given Al Sharpton an interview, and it would have gone the same way. But what are you paying for? 
 There’s no way that this can’t seem weird,” the employee added. “Everybody knows who Al Sharpton is 
 but this feels like a bridge too far. A big bridge too far 
 This is not landing well. This has a bit of a dirty feel to it 
 These things happen and they don’t bounce around MSNBC all that much. Like people just don’t care.” 

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    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/12/2024 – 15:45

  • Canadian Dollar Tumbles After Turdeau (sic) Reportedly Weighs Export Tax On Uranium, Oil
    Canadian Dollar Tumbles After Turdeau (sic) Reportedly Weighs Export Tax On Uranium, Oil

    In a cute show of strength, Canada has flexed its tiny muscles for a second day in a row and in what it believes is an attempt to intimidate the Trump admin, has threatened to cut off its biggest customer from the one thing that keeps Canada’s economy running (hint: it’s not illegal aliens or illicit Chinese real estate funs): exports.

    According to Bloomberg, Canada is examining the use of export taxes on major commodities it exports to its largest trading partner – the United States – including uranium, oil and potash, to retaliate if incoming president Trump carries out his threat to impose broad tariffs.

    Today’s threat comes one day after Ontario premier Doug Ford (brother to infamous, and now deceased, Toronto mayor Rob Ford) also flexed what little muscles he has under that copious shell, and suggested that the province would cut off electricity exports to the US over Trump’s tariff threat (which amounts to some 14 million MWh, or enough to power to large data centers).

    Citing officials familiar with the discussions inside Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government, Bloomberg reports that export levies would be a last resort for Canada. Retaliatory tariffs against US-made goods, and export controls on certain Canadian products, would be more likely to come first.

    But commodity export taxes, which would drive up costs for US consumers, farmers and businesses, would be a real option if Trump decides to start a full-scale trade war, said the Bloomberg sources.

    The government of Turdeau, who recently hobnobbed with Trump at Mar-A-Lago exuding a self-indulgent smarminess found only among fanatical supporters of Fidel Castro, may also propose giving itself expanded powers over export controls as part of a scheduled update on the country’s fiscal and economic situation to be released on Monday. But since Turdeau’s government is already socialist, will anyone know the difference.

    Even though the US is essentially self-sufficient, Canada remains the largest external supplier of oil to the US as some refineries depend on buying cheaper Canadian heavy crude and have few alternatives to it (all that would be required to make Canadian oil imports redundant, is a few billion in refinery capex spending). As a result, the US Midwest may be hit by higher costs. Fuel makers in the region rely on Canada for almost half of the crude they turn into gasoline and diesel. Of course, if Canada doesn’t export its oil, its economy which is far less diversified, will be hit far harder if it were to voluntarily exclude its largest trading partner.

    Canadian uranium is also the biggest foreign source of fuel for US nuclear power plants, and potash from the country’s western provinces is a huge source of fertilizer for American farms. Meanwhile, the US Department of Defense has prudently been investing in Canadian projects to secure sources of cobalt and graphite and reduce reliance on Chinese supply chains.

    For those reasons, analysts have said they expect Trump will exempt commodities from his threat to place 25% levies on goods from Mexico and Canada, and focus instead on using tariffs against their manufacturing industries. In Canada’s case, that includes the auto manufacturing, aerospace and aluminum sectors, which are centered in Ontario and Quebec, where about 60% of Canadians live.

    It’s unclear if that would change things: Turdeau’s government (sic) would have no choice but to respond if Trump simply exempted energy while hitting all other Canadian products, said Bloomberg sources, adding that’s a scenario that could prompt the use of export taxes by Canada.

    But for the prime minister, going down this path would cause serious political divisions within Canada. Oil, uranium and potash production are concentrated in the western provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Those provinces are the strongest voter base for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, and their provincial governments are staunch right-wing opponents of Trudeau.

    In short, while Turdeau may retaliate in a Trump trade war, such an action will likely be his last.

    “It’s a terrible idea,” Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said when asked about the possible use of export taxes.

    “I don’t support tariffs on Canadian goods and I don’t support tariffs on US goods because all it does is make life more expensive,” Smith said. “Instead, we’re taking a diplomatic approach and we’re meeting with our allies in the US.”

    Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said export taxes “are the wrong approach and Saskatchewan will vehemently oppose the federal government imposing export taxes on our potash, uranium or oil.”

    The market, however, does not have patience to see how all this plays out, and sent the loonie to a two year low, with the USDCAD surging to 1.420, the highest since the April 2020 depths of the covid crash.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/12/2024 – 15:23

  • Understanding The Anger Over Healthcare In One Picture
    Understanding The Anger Over Healthcare In One Picture

    Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

    Healthcare costs have soared. Obamacare failed to live up to its promises. And my lead image dramatically understates the problems with costs…

    Data from the BLS, chart by Mish

    Changes Since 1983

    • CPI: 208 percent
    • Medical Care Services: 505 percent
    • Hospital Services: 975 percent
    • Medical Care Commodities: 308 Percent

    Changes Since Obamacare Started

    • CPI: 41.28 percent
    • Medical Care Services: 77.98 percent
    • Hospital Services: 77.98 percent
    • Medical Care Commodities: 29.94 percent

    Understanding BLS Calculations

    The numbers look bad but they are much worse than they look because of the way the BLS calculates the CPI.

    On all CPI calculations, the BLS only counts costs directly paid by consumers.

    To the extent corporations and Medicare are obscuring more of the costs, the CPI numbers are understated.

    Health Insurance Coverage 2023

    • Employment-based insurance: 54.5% of the population
    • Medicare and Medicaid: 18.8% of the population
    • Direct-purchase coverage: 9.9% of the population
    • TRICARE (Active Military Service): 2.4% of the population
    • VA and CHAMPVA coverage: 1.0% of the population 

    The above is an AI-generated response. It totals 86.6 percent.

    Census. Gov says that in 2022, 92.1 percent of people, or 304.0 million, had health insurance at some point in the year.

    Those in various Medicare plans have seen smaller increases than those buying insurance for themselves.

    And the cost of direct pay is outrageous. Large corporations can get better deals than smaller ones.

    The BLS averages this all in to arrive at the numbers posted in the chart. Heaven help anyone paying for their own insurance who gets cancer or other serious needs.

    Rolling the Dice

    Obamacare penalizes young and healthy for the benefit of those older and with conditions.

    Young adults not working for a company that provides health care benefits frequently opt out. No one can blame them.

    ObamaCare Con

    The Wall Street Journal discusses the ObamaCare Con

    Progressives are at last acknowledging that ObamaCare is a failure. They aren’t doing so explicitly, of course, but their social-media screeds against insurers, triggered by last week’s murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, suggest as much. “We’ve gotten to a point where healthcare is so inaccessible and unaffordable, people are justified in their frustrations,” CBS News medical contributor CĂ©line Gounder said during a Friday segment on the roasting of health insurers.

    Remember Barack Obama’s promise that if you like your health plan and doctor, you could keep them? Sorry. How about his claim that people with pre-existing conditions would be protected? Also not true. The biggest howler, however, was that healthcare would become more affordable.

    Grant Democrats this: The law has advanced their political goal of expanding government control over insurers, in return for lavishing Americans with subsidies to buy overpriced, lousy products. (One might observe that Democrats are driving a similar Faustian bargain to induce automakers to produce more electric vehicles.)

    One problem is that simply having insurance doesn’t change people’s behavior. It does, however, cause them to use more care. This is a particular problem in Medicaid, since beneficiaries often rush to the emergency room for nonemergencies because they don’t have deductibles or co-pays.

    Another problem: The nearly 100 million Americans on Medicaid or tightly regulated and generously subsidized exchange plans struggle to find doctors to treat them. Physician access for Medicaid patients has long been limited owing to the program’s low reimbursement rates.

    It has gotten worse since ObamaCare expanded eligibility, as states have tried to hold down Medicaid costs by reducing reimbursements. A 2019 study found that patients were only half as likely to get an appointment with a doctor compared with privately insured patients before the law passed. Post-ObamaCare, they were less than one-third as likely. Medicaid is insurance in name only.

    Patients with exchange plans hardly fare better. Affordable Care Act plan networks include on average only 40% of local physicians and 21% of those employed by hospitals. Patients must pay significantly more out of pocket to see out-of-network doctors. If you find a doctor in network, there’s no guarantee he’ll continue to be. Insurers are narrowing coverage to keep down costs.

    They are also hiking deductibles, which this year averaged $5,241 for a typical plan. That’s up from $2,425 in 2014. Although subsidies reduce how much people with ObamaCare plans pay toward their premiums, they are stuck paying out of pocket until they hit their deductible.

    Most healthy young people never do. That means their insurance is worthless except in the event of a catastrophic emergency, which was the gist of recent rants against insurers. Perhaps they should take up their grievances with Mr. Obama, since his law’s mandates and regulations are to blame.

    ObamaCare requires plans to cover myriad government-determined “essential benefits” regardless of whether people need them. It also prohibits insurers from charging higher premiums based on a patient’s health-risk factors and limits their ability to do so for older people. The young and healthy are thus required to subsidize their elders, while taxpayers are required to subsidize everyone on the exchanges.

    The WSJ noted “states have tried to hold down Medicaid costs by reducing reimbursements.”

    Everyone else pays more because if it. Wait times and the struggle to find a doctor who takes Medicaid are not factored into the CPI at all.

    ‘This Is A Warning’: Warren, Sanders Address Sympathy For UnitedHealthcare CEO Killing

    The Huffington Post reports ‘This Is A Warning’: Warren, Sanders Address Sympathy For UnitedHealthcare CEO Killing

    Two of the biggest critics of the U.S. health care system condemned the assassination of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO Brian Thompson while calling out “vile” insurance company practices aimed at maximizing profits.

    “The visceral response from people across this country who feel cheated, ripped off, and threatened by the vile practices of their insurance companies should be a warning to everyone in the health care system,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) told HuffPost in an interview on Tuesday when asked about the cold response to Thompson’s death, which included celebratory posts on social media.

    “Violence is never the answer, but people can be pushed only so far,” Warren added. “This is a warning that if you push people hard enough, they lose faith in the ability of their government to make change, lose faith in the ability of the people who are providing the health care to make change, and start to take matters into their own hands in ways that will ultimately be a threat to everyone.”

    After drawing some criticism for her remarks, Warren clarified her comments in a statement provided to HuffPost on Wednesday.

    “Violence is never the answer. Period,” the senator said. “I should have been much clearer that there is never a justification for murder.”

    Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called Thompson’s killing “outrageous” and “unacceptable” before similarly criticizing insurance company practices.

    “I think what the outpouring of anger at the health care industry tells us is that millions of people understand that health care is a human right and that you cannot have people in the insurance industry rejecting needed health care for people while they make billions of dollars in profit,” Sanders said.

    Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) also criticized “vile” social media posts for celebrating an “assh*le that’s going to die in prison.”

    “If you gun someone down that you don’t happen to agree with their views or the business that they’re in, hey, you know, I’m next, they’re next,” he added. “And people want to celebrate it. It’s twisted.”

    It’s Twisted

    Government meddling is one of the reasons healthcare is so expensive.

    Obamacare failed across the board. And it did so by creating big pools of those who overpay and underpay.

    Let’s not mince words. People who smoke ought to pay more for healthcare because they are a higher risk. Those who are grossly overweight ought to pay more as well.

    Medicaid encourages emergency visits by paying primary care doctors so little that the doctors refuse new patients.

    To avoid lawsuits, doctors perform more tests than necessary. Fraud is rampant. Paperwork is excessive.

    “Medicare for All” would enhance problems in all of the above.

    No Skin in the Game

    Customers who have already reached their max out of pocket deductibles have no skin in the game. And that’s a huge problem.

    According to Medicare.Gov “No Medicare drug plan may have a deductible more than $505 in 2023. Some Medicare drug plans don’t have a deductible. In some plans that do have a deductible, drugs on some tiers are covered before the deductible.”

    Once deductibles are reached, sometimes in one month, consumers have no incentive to shop around.

    Other customers, unaware of cost differentials, fill prescriptions on the basis of convenience, that being the nearest pharmacy.

    Denver Health at “Critical Point” as 8,000 Migrants Make 20,000 Emergency Visits

    January 24, 2024: Denver Health at “Critical Point” as 8,000 Migrants Make 20,000 Emergency Visits

    The Denver hospital system is turning away local residents because it is flooded with migrant visits.

    Medicaid Expansion Was Supposed to Pay for Itself, Instead Hospitals Are Closing

    March 9, 2024: Medicaid Expansion Was Supposed to Pay for Itself, Instead Hospitals Are Closing

    10 states did not fall for the Medicaid expansion trap under Obamacare. The rest are suffering. Private payers (you, one way or another) make up the loss.

    Medicaid does not pay enough to cover hospitals’ costs, meaning hospitals need to make up for the shortfall by charging private payers more.

    This was one of the easiest “I Told You So” advance predictions in history.

    Best of all, we have a decade of data to prove it thanks to ten states that resisted the trap.

    Hospitals Turn to Pay In Advance, In Full

    May 9, 2024: Hospitals Turn to Pay In Advance, In Full

    If you are in the hospital emergency room, and that’s where most people without insurance go, then you get treated. Otherwise, many hospitals are turning to pay in advance for services.

    Nonpayment a Huge Problem

    It’s interesting to note that hospitals want payment in advance for births. Most illegals just walk in and never pay for anything.

    Nonpayment is one of the reasons costs are soaring for everyone who does pay.

    Obama claimed Medicaid expansion would pay for itself.

    Whenever you hear that claim please run. Free government handouts are never free and most often backfire completely.

    As long as we are going to have Medicare, and no politician will ever get rid of it, It would behoove Medicare and insurers to require the cheapest cost alternative on all drugs. That would force competition and eliminate fraudulent collusion.

    US consumers are subsidizing the rest of the world. I would put an end to that by allowing drug imports.

    The Right to Die

    It’s an uncomfortable topic, where demagoguery about “death squads” abounds, but we need to have a talk about the right to die and how much money we spend prolonging a terminal patient’s life, in massive pain, for a few weeks or months.

    I have made my wishes known. I do not want to be kept alive by heroic means if the quality of my life is expected to be grim. That’s a personal decision.

    At the national level, we must face this very uncomfortable question: Should we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars keeping someone alive whose life expectancy is 3 months? 6 months? a year?

    I say no to all for those without insurance, and no for me personally, regardless.

    Also, hospitals should be free to turn away those without insurance. We need tort reform to cut down legal expenses.

    When consumers have no skin in the game or not enough skin in the game, no one other than the insurers are interested in reducing costs.

    That is the fundamental problem with US healthcare. Senators Warren and Sanders proposals would make everything worse.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 12/12/2024 – 15:05

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