Jun 05

Today’s News 5th June 2024

  • Does Poland Fear That Ukraine Might One Day Make Irredentist Claims Against It?
    Does Poland Fear That Ukraine Might One Day Make Irredentist Claims Against It?

    Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

    The argument can be made that the national security pretexts upon which President Duda vetoed the Sejm’s bill to make Silesian a regional language concern the threat of Ukrainians exploiting this proposed precedent to revive their country’s post-World War I claims to parts of modern-day Poland.

    It was explained last month how “The Sejm’s Approval Of Silesian As A Regional Language Should Prompt Deep Reflection From Poles”, but then President Andrzej Duda from the previous conservative-nationalist government vetoed the new liberal-globalist coalition’s bill at the end of May. His official website explained the reasons here, which mostly concern the widely held scientific view that Silesian is just a dialect of Polish, not its own language like Kashubian which was granted regional status in 2005.

    None of the media that reported on this thought much of the national security arguments that he shared against making Silesian a regional language.

    Duda worried that representatives of other ethnolect groups could be emboldened by the precedent set by granting Silesian this status and warned that these processes could be exploited from abroad to divide Poland. He then concluded by declaring that “cultivating the native language serves to protect the preservation of national identity.”

    Although Duda implied that Russia could meddle in Poland through these means when he wrote that these threats could be “related to the war being waged on the eastern border”, the case can more compellingly be made that Ukraine poses a much greater danger to his country. The southeastern part of modern-day Poland used to be part of the “Ruthenian Voivodeship” during the Commonwealth era and comprised a significant number of folks who’d nowadays be called Ukrainians.

    It was on this former administrative and enduring demographic basis that the short-lived “West Ukrainian People’s Republic” claimed some of these same lands and even those a bit further westward along the Carpathian Mountains.

    The “Ukrainian People’s Republic” also claimed other more northerly parts of modern-day Poland’s eastern border on the same pretext that they were mostly populated by people that Kiev considered to be more Ukrainian than Polish.

    During the Second Polish Republic, efforts were made to (largely unsuccessfully) Polonize the Ukrainians (some of whom later terrorized and genocided Poles), and then many were exchanged with the USSR for Poles living in Soviet Ukraine after World War II changed the borders. Other exchanges with Soviet Belarus and Lithuania, as well as the expulsion of Germans, led to the “Polish People’s Republic” becoming the first ethno-religiously homogenous Polish state since Mieszko I’s founding of Poland in 966.

    This new demographic state of affairs remained in place up until 2022, after which a few million Ukrainians flooded into Poland, a sizeable number of whom still remain there. Although they’re scattered throughout the country, responsible members of the state like Duda – whose party admittedly facilitated this process for the purpose of turning Ukraine into its “junior partner” – fear that they might resettle in their formerly claimed border regions and one day agitate for “union” with Ukraine.

    Unlike Silesian, their language is universally recognized as distinct from Polish, so the stage would be set for Ukrainians to exploit linguistic pretexts per the proposed Silesian precedent to get the state to extend them a degree of cultural autonomy as the first step towards political autonomy sometime in the future.  Two of Kiev’s official positions over the past year show that Poland can’t rule out the scenario of its neighbor weaponizing this process against it.

    Zelensky’s senior advisor Podolyak declared last August that “[Poland] will remain [our closest partner and friend] until the end of the war. After it’s over, of course, we will have a competitive relationship, of course, we will compete for various markets, consumers, and so on. And, of course, we will clearly adopt pro-Ukrainian positions, protect these interests, fiercely defend them.” The prediction of post-conflict competition between these two doesn’t bode well for Poland’s territorial integrity as was explained.

    Several months later in January, Zelensky signed a decree “aimed at preserving the ethnic identity of Ukrainians in Russia”, specifically within the parts of his neighbor’s modern-day borders that were previously claimed by the “Ukrainian People’s Republic”. A similar decree could be signed with regards to Poland if their predicted post-conflict competition worsens, in which case Poland’s territorial integrity would definitely be threatened via the fifth column of Ukraine’s potentially border-dwelling nationals.

    Poland couldn’t rely on the US or the German-led EU for support in that event since both have interests in turning Ukraine into their joint bastion of influence on the continent after the conflict finally ends. They’d sell Poland out in a second to advance what their decisionmakers consider to be their national interests. Ukrainian losses in the east and south to Russia could therefore be compensated by gains in the West at Poland’s expense, though not right away of course, but sometime in the future.

    Polish politicians like returning Prime Minister Tusk and his ruling liberal-globalist coalition would eagerly go along with this since they’ve already comprehensively subordinated their country to Germany, which has its own interests in Ukraine. Their ideology also predisposes them to thinking that it wouldn’t make a meaningful difference if they lost those lands since the partial open borders regime with EU-aspirant Ukraine by that point would render the consequences for many people moot for the most part.

    It’s only those more responsible members of the state like Duda, whose party facilitated the large-scale migration of Ukrainians into Poland as was earlier written, who care enough about Poland to deny Ukraine the legal pretext for advancing its possibly revived claims per the proposed Silesian precedent. It’s these sensitive national security reasons upon which he vetoed the bill to make Silesian a regional language, which have everything to do with latent Hybrid War threats posed by Ukraine, not Russia.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 06/05/2024 – 02:00

  • Lest We Forget The Tiananmen Square Massacre On This Day In 1989
    Lest We Forget The Tiananmen Square Massacre On This Day In 1989

    On the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests, human rights supporters continued to speak up about the democratic uprising that was brutally suppressed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on June 4, 1989.

    The incident led to a massive death toll among unarmed students, and for decades, the CCP has systematically censored all information related to the massacre.

    “People commemorate the ‘June 4 Incident’ because it symbolizes universal values such as democracy, freedom, human rights, and peaceful protest. It stands as a bloody testament to the courage and resistance of the Chinese people,” said Du Wen, the former executive director of the Legal Advisory Office of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Government, now in exile in Europe.

    He told the Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times that his generation remains nostalgic about the June 4 incident even though it is nearly impossible to find any trace of it inside China, where any discussion of it is taboo.

    As Mary Hong reports, that large-scale democratic movement provided the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) with an excellent opportunity to peacefully transition from autocracy to democracy. At that time, the young students did not make any demands regarding the CCP’s power itself. Their demands were solely for freedom of the press and speech, expressing dissatisfaction only with the corruption among the CCP elite. The interest of young students in national affairs was largely due to the enlightened thinking and reformist spirit of two successive CCP General Secretaries, Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang.

    However, CCP elders, represented by Chen Yun, believed that the students’ calls for freedom and democracy challenged the very foundation of CCP rule. Consequently, the hardliner Deng Xiaoping ordered the violent suppression of the democratic movement. While this temporarily stabilized the regime, the opportunities that the democratic movement presented to both the CCP and China were lost.

    The wound of history is still bleeding. China continues to pay a heavy price for the massacre. The issues that the students demanded the CCP address at that time did not disappear, instead, they have accumulated over history. The massacre made the CCP’s perceived legitimacy even more fragile in the eyes of the people. Many say that the CCP lost its legitimacy because of the “June 4th” massacre. I have always disagreed with this view. The CCP regime forcibly seized power from the Republic of China with the blatant military intervention of the Soviet Union. Claiming legitimacy for something taken by force is itself absurd and laughable. Moreover, the Chinese people never had the opportunity to question the legitimacy and effectiveness of the CCP’s governance. Objectively speaking, since 1949, the Chinese people have tacitly accepted a new regime imposed on them, thus the existence of the CCP regime at most holds a semblance of reasonableness. However, in the minds of the Chinese people, this reasonableness was significantly damaged by the “June 4th” massacre.

    What is reasonable is real, and what is real is reasonable.

    It can be asserted that if there were to be another political upheaval, the CCP would find itself in a difficult position, unable to save itself.

    At that time, the Chinese people would not be as compliant as they were in 1989 and might very well seize the opportunity to overturn the CCP’s rule.

    When we observe the massacre 35 years ago within the context of the global landscape, it becomes clear that Deng Xiaoping’s drastic measures to maintain the CCP’s rule and power were met with tacit acceptance by then-U.S. President Bush.

    Although the CCP briefly faced diplomatic isolation, Deng Xiaoping’s resoluteness prevailed over the weak and short-sighted West.

    We must also clarify that the 75 years of suffering endured by the Chinese people under the CCP’s iron rule were not the choice of the Chinese people but were imposed on them by former U.S. President Harry Truman and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.

    This imposition began with former U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt’s betrayal and sellout of wartime ally the Republic of China at the Yalta Conference, which allowed Stalin to occupy Northeast China.

    President Truman’s China policy further aided the CCP in sweeping across the entire Chinese mainland, plunging the Chinese people into the horrors and ravages of communism.

    Today, we remember June 4th. Although we commemorate it every year, we must clearly recognize the harsh reality: its impact on changing China’s existing autocratic system is extremely minimal, resonating only with a small, determined minority of Chinese democracy campaigners. The struggle between the Chinese people and the CCP is akin to a battle between humans and beasts, a war between people and demons, with almost no chance of success or victory. Despite this, we continue to pursue the day when the Chinese people can free themselves from the CCP’s brutal autocratic rule with perseverance.

    Under Xi Jinping’s leadership for the past 12 years, China’s national conditions have been regressing at an unprecedented speed and scale. The achievements of forty years of economic reform have been completely eroded. Politically, the country is experiencing a “Cultural Revolution 2.0,” reminiscent of Mao Zedong’s era. Social morals have decayed, and the collapse of Chinese society and the sudden fall of the CCP’s autocratic regime seem imminent. This represents a political opportunity for significant change in China.

    Coincidentally, the world is also beginning to regress and retreat. The United States, once a post-war beacon of democracy, freedom, and civilization respected and admired worldwide, has morally collapsed. Justice in the world is severely lacking, and the world is rapidly plunging into an abyss. This outcome is a result of the global trend, driven by the development and evolution of the world socialist and communist movements, spurred by malevolent forces, beyond human ability to reverse.

    Where is the world headed? There is a sense that God has already issued a warning. If humanity does not awaken and change its course, the angry God may once again unleash a great flood to prevent human depravity.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/04/2024 – 23:40

  • These Are The 10 Deadliest Animals For Humans
    These Are The 10 Deadliest Animals For Humans

    While running into wild animals in a forest can seem like the worst situation for humans, there are plenty of other animals that are far deadlier than large predators.

    Visual Capitalist’s Pallavi Rao ranks the top 10 deadliest animals by the number of people killed per year.

    Data for this visualization and article is sourced from BBC Science Focus.

    Spreaders of Diseases are Deadliest for Humans

    Mosquitoes, of course, are the reigning champions on the toll they take on humans. Every year they kill more than 700,000 people through a multitude of deadly diseases—dengue, yellow fever, and malaria.

    By some estimates, mosquitoes are responsible for the deaths of half of all the humans that have ever lived.

    Meanwhile, humans are (almost) their own worst enemies. Every year, nearly 400,000 homicides take place, making humans the second-deadliest animal for other human beings. And this doesn’t account for all the human-caused accidents that result in fatalities.

    At fourth place, dogs may be our best friends, but as a carrier of the deadly rabies virus, they end up fourth on the list of top 10 deadliest animals.

    Rounding out the top five are assassin bugs, which spread the parasite that causes Chagas disease, a condition that can go untreated for years and can result in serious complications that make it life-threatening.

    Large mammals, including lions, hippos, and elephants round out the top 10. Interestingly, bears kill around one person a year on average and wouldn’t be anywhere close to making this list of the deadliest animals.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/04/2024 – 23:15

  • Student Debt Cancellation Is Extremely Unfair – Here Are 10 Reasons Why…
    Student Debt Cancellation Is Extremely Unfair – Here Are 10 Reasons Why…

    Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

    A recent Tweet by Elizabeth Warren and a short rebuttal to her inspired this post. Let’s take a look at the Tweet and my 10 reasons.

    Deeply Unfair

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    10 Reasons Why Student Debt Cancellation is Unfair

    1. It is unfair to those who sacrificed to pay off their student loans and it’s unfair to those who foot the bill.

    2. It is an upward transfer of wealth. The plumber pays for someone  else’s college education.

    3. It encourages going to college when there might be better choices such as learning a trade. And It creates incentive to take on new student loans.

    4. It is blatant election year bribe to college students and college graduates.

    5. It creates creates a moral hazard for college administrators to sell useless degrees creating another overhang of new student debt.

    6. It creates a moral hazard for students who might feel that their debt should be forgiven in the future

    7. It subsidizes poor decision-making such as majoring in useless degrees including gender studies, anthropology, archeology, art history, music, culinary arts, fashion design, philosophy, etc.

    8. The president has no power to forgive student loans. Doing so creates another precedent for presidential rule by decree. This is too big a financial decision not to involve Congress. The current student loan program was authorized by Congress and contains no such authority to the president.

    9. Biden is openly flouting the Supreme court, another dangerous precedent.

    10. Free money is highly inflationary.

    Laughable Explanations to Difficult Question

    Everything this president does is inflationary. Yet, Biden and economists refuse to admit this.

    January 11, 2024: Is Inflation Down? That’s What President Biden Says

    February 20, 2024: The CBO Revised the Cost of Biden’s Energy Policies Up by $466 Billion

    April 12, 2024: How the Inflation Reduction Act Failed to Reduced Electricity Costs in Pictures

    May 11, 2024: What’s the Inflation Rate Under Biden vs 7 Previous Presidents?

    Any Questions?

    Addendum

    I left out a key point.

    As a Senator Biden sponsored a law that made it so student debt could not be discharged  in bankruptcy.

    Then he was buying donations from the big banks who run their credit card operations out of Delaware.

    Now he is buying votes.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/04/2024 – 22:50

  • Seasonal US Gun Demand Slides To Pre-COVID Lows 
    Seasonal US Gun Demand Slides To Pre-COVID Lows 

    Bloomberg data shows that the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) checks are at their lowest level for this time of year since pre-Covid. This data suggests that the gun-buying bubble, which peaked during the Covid and BLM riots, continues to deflate until the next round of Marxist groups spark riots in America.

    US unadjusted criminal background checks dropped 10% to 2.13 million in May. This is the lowest level in eight months, and compared with the same month a year earlier, down 17% from 2.55 million.

    On a seasonal basis, this is the lowest May level since May 2019 and well below the 5-year average. 

    NICS data is a proxy for gun sales because there is no national database tracking firearm purchases. 

    That said, gun and ammo stocks, such as Sturm Ruger & Co. Inc. and Smith, Wesson Brands Inc., and Ammo Inc., have positively correlated with rising NICS and falling NICS. 

    What will spark the next panic buying? 

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/04/2024 – 22:25

  • Toxic Biosolids Threaten U.S. Farmland And Livestock
    Toxic Biosolids Threaten U.S. Farmland And Livestock

    Authored by Kurt Cobb via oilprice.com,

    Many years ago a civil engineer explained to me the wisdom of taking solid biological residues from sewage treatment plants—dubbed biosolids—and using them on farm fields and garden plots. After all, nature intended for human wastes to return to the soil to replenish it in the same way animal manure has long been used to fertilize farm fields.

    “What about all the industrial chemicals that end up in wastewater,” I asked. He replied that these weren’t significant enough to be concerned. I was skeptical.

    Fast forward to last week when the U.S. Congress took up a proposal to allocate $500 million to compensate farmers whose livelihoods have been undermined by applying biosolids—what most of us call sewage sludge—to their cropland. It turns out that those biosolids have poisoned both land and livestock across the United States. The ostensible concern is so-called “forever chemicals,” ones used to make such products as Teflon, firefighting foam, stain-resistant upholstery and water-resistant sports gear. These chemicals are linked to “cancer, liver damage, decreased fertility, and increased risk of asthma and thyroid disease.” They are dangerous to human and animal health even at very low levels. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this year proposed limiting certain of these chemicals to less than 10 parts per trillion in drinking water. In two cases, the proposed limit is 4 parts per trillion.

    A recent study of 2,500 human subjects showed that nearly all of them have PFAS chemicals—the formal name for this group of chemicals which number in the thousands—in their blood. Some 1,593 water systems in the United States are known so far to be contaminated. These chemicals ought to have the description “everywhere chemicals” added to their name.

    But believe it or not, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to contamination of biosolids. A 2022 report on chemicals found by EPA’s examination of biosolids around the country lists 726 chemicals. These include chemicals used in pesticides, drugs, cosmetics, and flame retardants as well as dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (widely used in electric transformers and highly carcinogenic).

    For many years the EPA has assured farmers that biosolids are safe. The agency is still promoting them as a way to improve the fertility of the soil. (Inquisitive readers might like to know that organic agriculture regulations prohibit the use of biosolids or sewage sludge of any kind.)

    The biosolids issue demonstrates clearly why the so-called circular economy is an impossibility in a modern industrial society. The chemicals produced by the modern economy are too many—over 150,000 by a recent count—and too easily dispersed to be segregated from the waste stream.

    That’s just the way the chemical industry likes it. It would be exceedingly expensive to prevent all leakage of toxic chemicals into the environment—and downright counterproductive in the case of pesticides and herbicides which must be broadly dispersed to be effective. And, it would be considerably more expensive to find substitutes that are nontoxic and biodegradable. No one in the chemical industry is going to do either of these things if they don’t have to.

    Ask yourself how many times the chemical industry and their mouthpieces in universities have told us not worry about chemicals in the environment. The concentrations are too small to hurt us, they say. Then, ask yourself whether you want to sit down to a meal of grains grown using biosolids and meat and milk products from animals dining on those same grains. Yum!

    By Kurt Cobb via Resource Insights

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/04/2024 – 22:00

  • "This Is Horrifying": Baltimore County Releases Illegal Alien Sex Offender, Defying DHS' Detainer Request
    “This Is Horrifying”: Baltimore County Releases Illegal Alien Sex Offender, Defying DHS’ Detainer Request

    Local media outlet Fox 45 News revealed a convicted sex offender and illegal alien was released by Baltimore County officials, blatantly ignoring the federal government’s request to keep the criminal in jail. This stunning act of defiance in the progressive-controlled Baltimore metro area raises serious questions about their commitment to public safety, upholding law and order, and adherence to the federal government.

    Fox 45 spoke with the US Department of Homeland Security about 25-year-old Raul Calderon-Interiano, who was convicted of a fourth-degree sex offense and second-degree assault in April by a Baltimore County judge.

    The illegal alien was sentenced to six years in prison, but the judge suspended all of his prison time. 

    Despite federal immigration officials filing a “detainer” for the officials in the county to keep the illegal alien in custody, the Baltimore County Detention Center released him anyway after his prison sentence was suspended. 

    US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) told Fox 45 News in a statement, “Calderon-Interiano will remain in ICE custody pending his removal from the United States.” 

    A separate Fox 45 investigation found that Baltimore County officials regularly ignore detainer requests from the federal government to keep illegal aliens in custody.

    ICE data shows the county ignored about 70% of detainers in 2023.

    Del. Nino Mangione, R-Baltimore County, responded to the Fox 45 report, saying, “This is a horrifying, disgusting and outrageous story about how flawed our immigration system is.” 

    Mangione continued: 

    “This is yet another example of a question being asked too often, why in the hell is a person like this in our county and how did they get into our country to begin with?  And the irresponsible action of the Office of Refugee Resettlement is mind blowing to me.

    “What we need at ICE is an Office of Immediate and Permanent Deportation to remove these people from our country permanently. 

    “We have a liberal Democrat crisis that has been created by those who have no respect for the rule of law, border security, human decency, or the safety and security of American citizens.  Yet, the Democrats sit on their hands, make excuses, and do nothing year after year.

    This is their fault and their fault alone!” 

    There is absolutely no logical reason for the progressive county to let this illegal alien. Not one.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/04/2024 – 21:35

  • OPEC+ Switches Strategy To Defend Market Share
    OPEC+ Switches Strategy To Defend Market Share

    By John Kemp, senior energy analyst

    Oil futures prices have fallen to the lowest level for four months and calendar spreads have slumped after OPEC⁺ ministers signalled their intention to start increasing production from the fourth quarter of 2024.

    Front-month Brent futures closed at $78 per barrel on June 3, the first day of trading following the OPEC⁺  ministerial meeting held on June 2, up just $2 per barrel compared with the same time last year.

    Brent’s six-month spread slumped to a backwardation of $1.50 per barrel (56th percentile for all months since 2000) from an average of $2.85 (78th percentile) in May and $4.86 (95th percentile) in April.

    Inter-month spreads for the remainder of 2024 and through 2025 have all softened as traders anticipate increasing OPEC⁺ production will eliminate any threat of shortages or a fall in inventories.

    Following a hybrid meeting held in Riyadh and online, OPEC⁺ announced voluntary output cuts amounting to 2.2 million barrels per day (b/d) would be extended until the end of September 2024. But the cuts will then be gradually phased out on a monthly basis over the final quarter of 2024 and the first three quarters of 2025.

    The planned production increases are subject to the caveat it can be “paused or reversed subject to market conditions”, ministers said. But it is nonetheless an enormous increment – equivalent to roughly 18 months of normal growth in global oil consumption.

    Inevitably, prices have fallen.

    STRATEGY SHIFT

    The scheduled production increases mark a change of strategy by OPEC⁺, led by Saudi Arabia, which had previously focused on depleting excess inventories and driving prices towards $100 per barrel.

    Instead, the group has switched its focus to stabilising, or even regaining, some of the market share it has lost in the last two years to rival producers in the United States, Canada, Brazil and Guyana.

    Repeated official and voluntary production cuts by Saudi Arabia and other OPEC⁺ members have failed to lift prices (though they probably averted a more severe decline).

    Instead they have thrown a lifeline to higher-cost producers in the western hemisphere, encouraging them to maintain and even increase output.

    Dwindling OPEC⁺ market share has simply become too painful and contentious to sustain; it brings uncomfortable reminders about Saudi Arabia’s role as a swing producer in the early 1980s.

    The scheduled increases are intended to signal there is a limit to how far Saudi Arabia and its closest allies will cut production on their own to support prices and they do not accept cuts are permanent.

    To stabilize and recapture market share, OPEC⁺ needs slower growth in rivals’ output and faster growth in consumption. Both imply lower prices to enforce a slowdown in drilling, stimulate fuel use, and make room for more OPEC⁺ crude.

    Extra production also implies inventories will be higher than previously anticipated, explaining the sudden slump in spreads.

    The Brent spread for the fourth quarter of 2024, when the first production increases are scheduled, slid to 89 cents per barrel on June 3 from $1.58 on May 28 and as much as $2.51 at one point in April.

    The spread for the whole period between September 2024 and September 2025 slid to $3 on June 3 from $5 on May 28 and more than $8 in early April.

    ROOM FOR MORE OIL

    For OPEC⁺ to pump more, others must pump less, other things equal, and that requires lower prices to force a production slowdown, especially in the price-sensitive and short-cycle U.S. shale sector.

    Pre-announcing increases in OPEC⁺ production is intended to forestall further increases in output by the U.S. shale sector, partly through signalling and partly through lower prices themselves.

    By deferring the first production increases until October, and making them conditional on future market conditions, OPEC⁺ ministers have given themselves some flexibility.

    Scheduled production increases can be deferred again if oil consumption growth fails to accelerate, inventories remain comfortable and prices stay under pressure.

    But OPEC⁺ has signalled an important shift in the direction of policy. Having repeatedly thrown the shale sector a lifeline in 2023, OPEC⁺ is preparing to squeeze it again in 2025.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/04/2024 – 21:10

  • Delaware Hides Embezzlement Plot For Over A Year
    Delaware Hides Embezzlement Plot For Over A Year

    Authored by Adam Andrzejewski via RealClearWire,

    Topline: A Delaware employee stole $181,000 from the state’s Department of Labor early last year, but the public didn’t find out until this April. The truth was only revealed after the WHYY News public radio station contacted the Delaware Department of Labor following a tip.

    Key facts: Unemployment insurance administrator Michael Brittingham allegedly stole the money from the Delaware Unemployment Compensation Fund, according to WHYY.

    The State of Delaware hired Brittingham in February 2019. That summer, he was sentenced to two years in prison for stealing almost $43,000 from his homeowner’s association by writing checks to a company he owned, NEWAGE Management LLC, the news outlet reported.

    Instead of being fired by the state, Brittingham had his jail time turned into probation and even earned multiple job promotions while still serving his sentence. The state Department of Labor bizarrely blamed it on the fact that employees are expected to “self-report” criminal convictions in a statement to WHYY News.

    Brittingham’s salary doubled from $35,000 to $70,000 in that time span, according to records at OpenTheBooks.com.

    Brittingham then allegedly pulled the same check-writing scheme on a much larger scale. In January 2023, he instructed his staff to issue two tax refunds to NEWAGE Management LLC: one for $86,827 and another for $94,357

    He was caught by his colleagues once they realized the business’s address matched the one listed on Brittingham’s 2019 arrest warrant.

    Brittingham took his own life in April 2023 shortly after an investigation was opened.

    Background: The theft is just one part of larger issues with Delaware’s Department of Labor. Its $390 million unemployment fund was deemed to be “unauditable” in a state report issued this year.

    Independent auditors took the “unprecedented” step of issuing a “disclaimer of opinion” on the unemployment insurance fund, meaning its accounting practices are so poor that they could not determine whether its financial statements are accurate.

    But the auditors’ report did not mention the theft. Even now, the state refuses to tell WHYY News whether the investigation has been closed.

    Critical quote: “I’m not sure how or why they tried to keep it quiet other than they don’t want to bring attention to the fact that everything is really screwed up,” Laura Henderson, a tax collection manager at the state’s Unemployment Insurance Office, told WHYY News.

    “We would love for there to be transparency. For us to just put it out in the open like, ‘Hey, we’re drowning and let’s come up with a plan here.’”

     The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/04/2024 – 21:10

  • In National IQ Test, Biden Does 'We Gotta Secure The Border!' Routine
    In National IQ Test, Biden Does ‘We Gotta Secure The Border!’ Routine

    Update (1443ET): President Ron Burgundy read what is perhaps the most audacious attempt to trick Americans into believing the exact opposite of reality – namely, that he didn’t cause the border crisis, Republicans are the reason it isn’t fixed, and he’s here to save the day.

    A national IQ test, if you will.

    And he’s off! To some kind of a start…

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    Oh…

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    Former President Trump responded to this attempted sleight of hand, saying that “The truth is that Crooked Joe Biden’s Executive Order won’t stop the invasion…it will actually make the invasion worse.”

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    After shredding Donald Trump’s ‘xenophobic’ Executive Orders on border security his first day in office more than three years ago, resulting in what some estimate to be upwards of 20 million illegal migrants pouring into the United States (which Trump plans to deport), President Joe Biden is quietly signing an executive order on Tuesday aimed at slowing migrant crossings.

    Joe BidenPhotographer: Hannah Beier/Bloomberg

    As we noted on Friday, the EO would slash asylum claims by roughly two-thirds of where they stand today – and would cap the number of daily encounters at an average of 2,500 crossings per day (or 912k per year), however Biden would allow mass asylum claims to resume once border encounters fall to around 1,500 per day.

    US Border Patrol recorded approximately 4,300 daily encounters in April – which of course doesn’t include ‘gotaways’ – those who enter the US without notice.

    The move comes three months after the White House said Biden was no longer considering using executive action to secure the border.

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    According to Bloomberg, lawmakers and others have been invited to a Tuesday afternoon event at the White House.

    The order is Biden’s most aggressive move yet to address the crisis on the US-Mexico border, which has seen record levels of migrants and taxed communities across the country struggling to deal with the influx of new arrivals. A bipartisan Senate plan that would have given Biden similar powers was blocked by Republicans at Trump’s behest earlier this year, denying the president a political win and prompting him to act unilaterally.

    Tuesday’s order is politically risky. It will invite criticism from Biden’s left flank, which has blasted moves to ramp up deportations as an inhumane approach to the crisis. That has the potential to stymie his efforts to shore up an electoral coalition already riven by divisions over his handling of the Israel-Hamas war and overarching concerns over his age and fitness to serve a second term. -Bloomberg

    The Biden administration’s move underscores how the administration has been compelled to act just months before the 2024 US election – as it’s become a centerpiece issue for Republicans on the campaign trail. Donald Trump has been constantly hammering Biden over the border as polls continue to show that voters think the border and immigration are critical issues.

    The Executive Order is also timed to reflect an effort to deter a seasonal increase in crossings that typically occurs each summer and early fall (right before the election), and comes as Mexico welcomes a new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, who was elected on Sunday. She doesn’t take office until Oct. 1, and it’s unknown what actions she will take on the border situation.

    In recent weeks the Biden administration has taken other steps to tighten immigration rules. Last month, they proposed a rule that would allow the US to expedite the expulsion of certain undocumented migrants trying to claim asylum.

    According to the report, Biden will use Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act – which Trump invoked – which are anticipated to invite legal challenges.

    House Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News Sunday that the move is “too little too late,” adding “The only reason he’s doing that is because the polls say that it’s the biggest issue in America.”

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    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/04/2024 – 20:43

  • The Ghost of COVID Past Looms Over Gen Z Voters
    The Ghost of COVID Past Looms Over Gen Z Voters

    Authored by Sam Raus via RealClearPolitics,

    More than 40 million Gen Z voters will be eligible to vote this November. For context, that’s more eligible voters than the population of California. And while often characterized as extremely progressive, college kids could shock Boomers with their presidential ballots. This fall, the iPhone generation might ultimately seek accountability for the leaders responsible for school closures, social distancing, and vaccine mandates.

    As mainstream media zeroes in on Trump’s conviction in the New York hush money case, figures like Anthony Fauci, Andrew Cuomo, Phil Murphy and Gavin Newsom are largely let off the hook. Pandemic memories have taken a back seat to hot-button issues including abortion, the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, the Ukraine-Russia war, immigration, Trump’s and Biden’s personal struggles, and economics. But the social and academic fallout of “Zoom University” lingers in young voters’ minds as they see graduations canceled and cities littered by protestors yet again.

    Reckoning with the COVID era offers an opportunity for leadership in 2024. While the Dobbs decision overshadowed pandemic policies in the 2022 midterms, this fall, elected officials should highlight the fallout of quarantine regulations, emphasizing the lasting impact of prolonged social isolation, financially irresponsible aid packages, and more.

    Over the past year, Congress revisited the stain left on America by the pandemic. Once deemed a conspiracy theory, information on the potential Wuhan lab origins of the coronavirus was declassified last year after President Biden signed Sen. Josh Hawley’s unanimously passed COVID-19 Origin Act of 2023. This past week, legislation introduced by Sen. Eric Schmitt, Rep. Troy Balderson, and Rep. Kevin Hern aims to review the misallocation of COVID relief money by the Department of Treasury in response to inflation concerns. A bipartisan bill by Sen. Gary Peters seeks to create a permanent “Government Spending Oversight Committee” to replace the temporary “Pandemic Response Accountability Committee.”

    While news headlines and social media overlook the by-products of COVID-19, legislators from both parties seem engaged in discussions over the fiscal mismanagement and various socioeconomic consequences of closing life as we knew it. Although foreign relations and culture wars are expected to dominate voters’ attention, Americans remember what happened only yesterday, particularly those who saw formative years ripped away by pandemic politics. Legislators up for reelection in November would be wise to pick up on this and call for accountability for COVID-19 failures and transparency going forward.

    Biden likely will frame his administration as a “return to normal,” given that he took office as vaccines began to roll out for the elderly and lockdown restrictions eased across the country. Nevertheless, the White House strikes no distance from Democratic governors such as Gov. Newsom and Gov. Murphy who endorsed school closures and vaccine mandates. As the president already struggles with youth voters due to his careful alignment with Israel and vaccine skeptic progressives flocking to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Biden campaign may want to pass on tapping Newsom or Murphy as surrogates this cycle.

    Conversely, Gen Z voters may prove more sympathetic than expected to outspoken lockdown critics like Gov. Greg Abbott and Gov. Ron DeSantis. Despite sharing firm disagreements on cultural issues, most notably abortion and LGBT issues, droves of young people – myself included – fled the Northeast and California for an in-person college experience in the South. If Republicans want to make amends with the next generation of American voters, they should start by emphasizing depolarized topics such as quality education, social opportunities, and mental health.

    Whether they’re running for president or lower office, candidates in 2024 should adopt stronger rhetoric condemning the fiscal and public health fecklessness of four years ago. Legislation is needed to ensure transparency in scientific research, the defense of civil liberties, and the preservation of economic prosperity. Furthermore, future Congress and White House cabinet members have a social responsibility to better question authority, rushed conclusions, and media narratives. A shadow of the pandemic lurks over this election. The ultimate victors will be those who leverage it.

    Don’t underestimate the fury of a graduate scorned.

    Sam Raus is a Young Voices Contributor studying public relations and political science at the University of Miami. His commentary has appeared in RealClearDefense, The Daily Caller, The National Interest, and RealClearWorld, Follow him on Twitter: @SamRaus1

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/04/2024 – 20:20

  • Report Details US Troop 'Land Corridors' In Event Of European Ground War With Russia
    Report Details US Troop ‘Land Corridors’ In Event Of European Ground War With Russia

    NATO has a plan in place for rapid deployment of its forces in the scenario of a future Russian attack on Europe. It includes the development of “land corridors” which can be used to rush some 300,000 troops — mostly American soldiers — to front line positions in order to defend against a Russian invasion.

    High-ranking British military sources described to the Telegraph that the plan entails troops landing at key European ports whereupon they would move east along pre-planned routes to counter potential Russian attacks.

    Lt. Gen. Alexander Sollfrank, chief of NATO’s Joint Support and Enabling Command (JSEC), described to the UK publication, “Huge logistics bases, as we know them from Afghanistan and Iraq, are no longer possible because they will be attacked and destroyed very early on in a conflict situation.”

    Port of Rotterdam file image, identified as a key arrival point for US troops in event of major war in Europe.

    The logistics and troop transport corridors would originate in places like Greece, Italy, Turkey, The Netherlands, Norway – and the port of Rotterdam, a key northern European hub, is specifically named. Lines like the Germany-Poland railway are also mentioned in the report – all of which would theoretically allow rapid deployment of US forces to any NATO territory being threatened (based on Article 5 common defense).

    Separate alarmist reports in UK media have been warning that the West should prepare for war with Russia at some point in the next two decades, connected with ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

    For example, a prior March report in The Telegraph claimed that President Putin has a “paranoid obsession” with stoking conflict and provoking Western allies.

    “Now that Russian President Vladimir Putin has secured his historic fifth term in office, it is patently clear that he will devote his next six-year spell at the Kremlin to pursuing his paranoid obsession of confronting the West,” that prior stated.

    As for the Telegraph’s latest Tuesday revelation of the NATO land corridors — with the somewhat loud and sensationalist headline of “Nato land corridors could rush US troops to front line in event of European war” — the reality is that big picture contingency plans like this have been on US and NATO planners’ shelves since the Cold War.

    But without doubt they are getting dusted off amid the continued escalation of the Ukraine proxy war…

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    According to some of the further planning details laid out by The Telegraph and its military sources:

    If Nato forces entering from the Netherlands are hit by Russian bombardment, or northern European ports destroyed, the alliance is set to shift focus to ports in Italy, Greece and Turkey. From Italian ports, US troops could be carried via land through Slovenia, Croatia to Hungary, which shares a border with Ukraine.

    Similar plans exist to transport forces from Turkish and Greek ports through Bulgaria and Romania to reach the alliance’s eastern flank. Plans are also being drawn up to transport troops via ports in the Balkans, as well as through Norway, Sweden and Finland.

    Lt Gen Sollfrank was further quoted as saying, “Ukraine suffers very much from these Russian long-range missile attacks on the logistic systems” – underscoring the importance of troop movements which would be out of reach of Russian systems.

    The report includes visuals tracking ‘land corridors’ for Western troops en route to confront Russian forces in a future scenario…

    Source: The Telegraph

    In the wake of the Telegraph report some pundits are saying this means WW3 is “starting now”… and while indeed at this point the world could already be witnessing the beginning phases (especially when historians look back), there’s yet some escalatory steps remaining before missiles start flying over Europe. Hopefully saner minds prevail, even if at the last minute (though we don’t have a lot of faith in this).

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/04/2024 – 19:56

  • The Apartment Construction Boom Ends, Major Economic Impact Ahead
    The Apartment Construction Boom Ends, Major Economic Impact Ahead

    By Mish Shedlock of Mishtalk

    Interest rates are too high for many projects to start. Some started projects are in trouble. Let’s discuss the ramifications.

    The Wall Street Journal reports Developers Sit on Empty Lots After Historic Apartment Boom

    During the biggest apartment construction boom in decades, a growing number of developers can’t make the numbers work to get started on their project, or can’t get the money to complete them. Higher interest rates, tighter lending conditions and flattening rents in parts of the country have left property companies from California to Florida waiting for financing that might not come soon.

    The amount of time the average apartment project spends between construction authorization and when construction begins has risen to nearly 500 days, a 45% increase from 2019, according to property data firm Yardi Matrix.

    “We certainly are seeing a decline in construction,” said Robert Dietz, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders. “Deals and financing have dried up.”

    Some decline was inevitable. About half a million new apartments opened in 2023, the most in 40 years. Based on what is already under construction, analysts expect a similar number to be completed in 2024.

    But banks have other issues that keep them from lending as much to apartment builders this year. Many regional banks are souring on the commercial real-estate loans already on their books. 

    “Their current portfolios are getting marked down and they don’t have that much to lend,” said David Frosh, chief executive of Fidelity Bancorp Funding, a California real-estate lender.

    That means developers need to raise more cash from investors to build. But many investors are more cautious today, as rent growth flattens and new projects look less profitable at today’s higher interest rates and construction costs. 

    “The numbers don’t add up,” Frosh said.

    Housing Starts vs Completions Looks Ominous for the Economy

    On May 16, 2024, I commented Housing Starts vs Completions Looks Ominous for the Economy

    Housing completions have surpassed housing starts. History suggests bad things follow. But what’s happening this time?

    Starts Minus Completions

    Whether it’s all completions or just multi-family that matters the most, it doesn’t look very good either way.

    Economic Ramifications

    • Slowdown in construction employment.
    • Slowdown in loans.
    • Writeoffs on struggling projects. The WSJ mentioned several. There will be many.
    • Apartment construction loans will add to the misery of regional banks suffering on commercial real estate loans.
    • Huge slowdown in durable goods needs coming up: Appliances, furniture, light fixtures, etc.

    This is happening as a major slowdown in EVs is also underway.

    ISM Manufacturing New Orders and Backlogs in Steep Contraction

    Yesterday, I noted ISM Manufacturing New Orders and Backlogs in Steep Contraction

    The Manufacturing ISM was in contraction for 16 months went positive for a month and is contracting again for two months with order backlogs falling for 20 months.

    Order backlogs have plunged. New orders are sinking. This will impact employment. The economy is now struggling on multiple fronts simultaneously.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/04/2024 – 19:30

  • Dershowitz: Trump Could Fast-Track His Appeal To Supreme Court
    Dershowitz: Trump Could Fast-Track His Appeal To Supreme Court

    Retired Harvard Law Professor and Jeffrey Epstein’s former attorney Alan Dershowitz thinks that former President Trump has a path to expedite his conviction to the US Supreme Court before the November presidential election.

    Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in order to conceal ‘hush money’ payments to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election.

    In a Friday interview with Megyn Kelly, Dershowitz suggested that Trump’s legal team should immediately push to get their appeal heard before the New York Court of Appeals, asking them to bypass the Appellate Division – which, Dershowitz suggested, are elected and more likely to work against Trump.

    “The Appellate Division or Manhattan judges that are elected and they don’t want to have to face their families and say you were the judge who allowed Trump to become the next President of the United States. They don’t want to be Dershowitz’ed,” he said, referring to the fact that he defended Trump during his first impeachment trial in the Senate.

    “They don’t want to be treated in New York, the way I have been treated in Martha’s Vineyard and Harvard and New York because I defended Donald Trump, so they should skip the Appellate Division.”

    And so, to avoid the politicized Appellate Division, Trump’s attorneys should ask the Court of Appeals for an expedited appeal while preparing to argue in front of the US Supreme Court that the Manhattan case was rushed to try and get a verdict before the election. 

    Dershowitz further suggested that the Supreme Court has an obligation to review the case before the election so that the American public has resolution.

    As Tom Ozimek of the Epoch Times notes further, Dershowitz has in the past accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg of unfairly building the case against the former president by using a novel legal theory to elevate misdemeanor business falsification charges into a felony by alleging that the records fraud was carried out to conceal an underlying crime. In the Trump case, the underlying crime that was alleged was seeking to interfere in the 2016 election by using non-disclosure agreements to prevent unfavorable media coverage about an alleged affair with adult film actress Stormy Daniels that the former president has denied.

    Mr. Dershowitz said that Trump attorneys should consider supporting their petition to the New York Court of Appeals by highlighting two issues, with the first relating to the fact that the state’s highest court recently reversed Harvey Weinstein’s rape conviction because the trial judge prejudicially allowed testimony on allegations unrelated to the case.

    The retired law professor alleged that Judge Juan Merchan “improperly” allowed irrelevant salacious details of President Trump’s alleged tryst with Ms. Daniels to be admitted into the record, while also raising the so-called “missing witness” issue.

    The second point that Mr. Dershowitz said would bolster a petition for an expedited review to the New York Court of Appeals is that the judge allegedly didn’t instruct the jury properly on why prosecutors didn’t call former Trump Organization CFO Alan Weisselberg to testify in the case. The judge was open to having Mr. Weisselberg testify but the prosecution didn’t call him, framing him as an unreliable witness due to earlier perjury charges in an unrelated case, while the defense also didn’t call him, citing the fact that prosecutors had undermined his credibility.

    Mr. Dershowitz argued that failure to call Mr. Weisselberg left a hole in proving the case because it was expected that his testimony would have undermined some of the claims from another witness, former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who testified against the former president.

    “Number two, I think would be the failure to give an instruction on the missing witness,” Mr. Dershowitz said. “The way the judge and the prosecution handled Allen Weisselberg really denied the defendant the right to a presumption that the only reason he wasn’t called was because he would not have corroborated the very important testimony, lying testimony of Michael Cohen.”

    Mr. Dershowitz said those two issues are what Trump attorneys should highlight in their request for an expedited appeal.

    “This is a winnable appeal,” he insisted.

    The Epoch Times was unable to reach Trump counsel for comment on Mr. Dershowitz’s remarks.

    The guilty verdict made President Trump the first former president in U.S. history to be convicted of a crime.

    Other Legal Experts Weigh In

    Hans von Spakovsky, senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation’s Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, told The Epoch Times that he shares frustration expressed by critics of the verdict, including the House speaker, at what he described as an obvious “miscarriage of justice.”

    Mr. von Spakovsky said that the prospect of the Supreme Court getting before the appeals process plays out in New York state courts is not realistic.

    “There are certainly issues that give the Supreme Court jurisdiction over the state court conviction, given the fundamental violation of Donald Trump’s substantive due process rights under the U.S. Constitution in the way the trial judge and prosecution mishandled the case,” he said. “But I don’t believe the Supreme Court will take the case until the state appeals process is exhausted.”

    Jonathan Emord, a constitutional law and litigation expert, told The Epoch Times that he believes that the trial violated President Trump’s due process rights and was “riddled with bias” but that he, too, sees little hope for Supreme Court intervention until the New York Court of Appeals has weighed in.

    “The fact of the matter is that a trial violated President Trump’s due process rights and was riddled with bias, evidentiary rulings that deprive him of a full and fair opportunity to present his case,” he said.

    “On the merits, there really is no foundation for a legal basis for decision because it’s a novel theory of law that’s been applied,” Mr. Emord said of the way the case was brought by Mr. Bragg.

    Asked why Mr. Johnson suggested that the Supreme Court should step in at an earlier-than-normal stage of the appeals process, Mr. Emord suggested it’s because of “exceptional circumstances.”

    “He’s arguing that there are exceptional circumstances that would warrant the Supreme Court to intervene and while there certainly are exceptional circumstances, I suspect that the Supreme Court would not intervene in the first instance, but would allow an appellate court in New York to issue a determination,” he said.

    Short of a successful appeal, President Trump could now be facing such penalties as jail time, probation, or fines.

    Sentencing in the case has been set for July 11, just four days before the Republican National Convention where President Trump will be formally designated as the Republican presidential nominee.

    While there are no laws barring President Trump from running for the White House as a convicted felon, an overturned verdict before Election Day would likely boost his chances of victory.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/04/2024 – 19:05

  • This Guy Encapsulates How Everyone Feels When Fauci Complains About Being Harassed
    This Guy Encapsulates How Everyone Feels When Fauci Complains About Being Harassed

    Authored by Steve Watson via modernity.news,

    Anthony Fauci got the verbal smacking of his life in Congress Monday from several GOP representatives on the COVID Select Subcommittee, but there was one guy who out did them all with some epic trolling while sitting directly behind him.

    Brandon Fellows encapsulated how everyone else reacted when Fauci began complaining about the harassment he has received by letters, email and texts for his role and actions during the pandemic.

    Fauci claimed he has received “credible death threats” and that they increase every time someone claims he is responsible for the death of people all over the world.

    He also claimed that it requires him to have “protective services.”

    While Fauci complained, Fellows pulled ‘boo boo’ faces behind him.

    Watch:

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    Fellows sat for some time behind Fauci before he was asked to leave the hearing, prompting Fellows to tell Fauci that he belongs in prison.

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    Fellows subsequently posted about the incident on Facebook:

    It turns out that Fellows was convicted earlier this year to three years in prison for entering the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and was on supervised release.

    This made leftists freak out even more.

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    Fellows responded.

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    Fauci himself addressed Fellows’ presence at the hearing during a softball fawning interview with CNN host Kaitlin Collins. Fauci exclaimed “What’s somebody like that doing at a hearing about COVID?”

    He also complained about the “vitriol” directed his way during the hearing, particularly from Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene, which we highlighted earlier.

    During the hearing, Fauci was also subjected to a six minute berating by former White House physician Dr. Ronny Jackson.

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    The verbal lectures didn’t deter Fauci from declaring that the unvaccinated are “responsible” for an “additional 200,000 to 300,000 deaths” from COVID in the U.S.

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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, 06/04/2024 – 18:40

  • Queens Couple Finds $100,000 In Safe At Bottom Of Corona Park Lake While 'Magnet Fishing'
    Queens Couple Finds $100,000 In Safe At Bottom Of Corona Park Lake While ‘Magnet Fishing’

    A couple “fishing” with a magnet at a lake in Corona Park made the ultimate catch this weekend, pulling up a metal safe with approximately $100,000 in it from the bottom of the water, according to a new report from NY1. 

    NY1 reported that “‘Magnet Fishing’ enthusiasts lower high-powered magnets into bodies of water, and hoist them out to see what sticks.” In this case, something stuck. 

    James Kane and Barbie Agostini, both from Queens, did just that on Friday of last week and felt something heavy on the end of their line after a while. When they pulled the line up, they discovered an old safe. 

    “It was two stacks of freaking hundreds. Big stacks,” Kane said. He added the bills were “soaking wet, pretty much destroyed”. 

    Sadly, however, the money looked to have been ruined by the water, the New York Post added. 

    Kane, a seasoned magnet fisherman, remarked that he and Agostini have encountered numerous safes in the past, typically finding them empty except for some plastic bags that once contained money. 

    Kane admitted he cursed out loud in surprise. Agostini didn’t believe him at first.

    “He showed me and once I saw the actual dollars and the security ribbons I lost it,” Agostini said.

    “I guess the finders keepers rule worked for us,” Kane said. He noted that the couple called the police but there was no way to identify who owned the safe, which they guessed was probably stolen. 

    The couple started magnet fishing during the pandemic. “We were borded during covid lockdown and I’ve always had this itch to become a treasure hunter … so we discovered something called magnet fishing,” Kane concluded. 

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/04/2024 – 18:15

  • Biden, Trump Test Executive Privilege With Claims
    Biden, Trump Test Executive Privilege With Claims

    Authored by Sam Dorman via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    The 2024 election cycle has resurfaced longstanding debates over presidential power and how much independence the executive enjoys from other branches of government.

    (Illustration by The Epoch Times, Getty Images, Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)

    Executive privilege, which refers to presidents’ withholding communications from other branches, has come under scrutiny with issues surrounding both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. The idea behind executive privilege is that presidents should have freedom to speak with advisers without fear of retaliation over the content of their comments.

    George Washington University law professor W. Burlette Carter told The Epoch Times via email: “Executive privilege is designed to allow presidents the broadest freedom to speak and act in the presidency in pursuit of the public good.”

    President Trump has asserted executive privilege before and after leaving office. Two of his associates—former White House advisors Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon—were sentenced to jail for refusing to comply with congressional subpoenas while citing executive privilege.

    President Trump has tried asserting privilege over several areas, including correspondence related to Jan. 6, in order to challenge subpoenas of his former aides for a grand jury probe into Jan. 6, over his financial records, and over boxes of documents he transferred from Mar-a-Lago to the National Archives.

    President Joe Biden, meanwhile, has asserted executive privilege over the audio recordings of his two-day interview with special counsel Robert Hur, who was investigating his handling of classified documents.

    The executive privilege claims from both have raised questions about when its assertion is legally valid, as well as how much other branches can demand of the executive.

    What Is Executive Privilege?

    Executive privilege isn’t explicitly granted in the Constitution but derives from the document’s general concept of separation of powers.

    Executive privilege is thought to have been asserted since the beginning of the Republic. The nation’s first president, George Washington, refused to cooperate with Congress’s request for information on his negotiations in the Jay Treaty with Great Britain.

    The concept of executive privilege was more firmly outlined in two Supreme Court cases involving former President Richard Nixon. Those cases—United States v. Nixon in 1974 and Nixon v. General Services Administration in 1977—collectively established that Congress could require storage of presidential records, and that the president’s interests in privilege must be balanced against those of the entities seeking the records.

    Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) questions Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel Christopher Schroeder as he testifies about executive privilege doctrine at the U.S. Capitol on Oct. 18, 2022. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

    In United States v. Nixon, the Supreme Court underscored the legal importance of executive privilege by stating that it “is fundamental to the operation of Government, and inextricably rooted in the separation of powers under the Constitution.”

    Since George Washington, multiple administrations have cited executive privilege over sensitive materials.

    Most recently, Attorney General Merrick Garland cited U.S. v. Nixon in a May 15 letter requesting that President Biden assert privilege over the audio of his interview with Mr. Hur rather than complying with subpoenas from two House committees.

    The same decision clarified, however, that generalized interests in confidentiality weren’t enough for presidents to assert executive privilege over evidence needed for “the fair administration of criminal justice.”

    Court decisions involving President Nixon have clarified that the privilege is limited and that presidents themselves aren’t the final arbiters of how far it extends. Rather, as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said in Nixon v. Sirica, the judicial branch has ultimate say over its applicability.

    What Does Executive Privilege Protect?

    The controversies surrounding investigations into both President Biden and President Trump have illustrated the somewhat messy debate over what executive privilege actually protects.

    It’s a long-debated question that hinges on the nature of the executive’s activities and the interests other branches have in its communications.

    These interests can vary but Congress may want to obtain information in order to better craft legislation. The judiciary, meanwhile, could be seeking that information for prosecutions.

    According to Ms. Carter, former presidents were able to assert executive privilege only “in cases alleging personal liability of the President for criminal or civil behavior.”

    She said that could occur “only so long as the action claimed to be privileged was in the course of performing presidential duties.”

    “Now if the president walks outside the White House and shoots someone after having a conversation about that plan, that is a different matter. No privilege during or after the presidency,” Ms. Carter said.

    Former special counsel Robert K. Hur testifies in front of a video of President Joe Biden at the U.S. Capitol on March 12, 2024. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

    The distinction between official and unofficial acts of presidents reached the Supreme Court this year but with a different aspect of executive power—that of presidential immunity. In April, the Supreme Court heard oral argument over President Trump’s claim that he enjoyed immunity from prosecution for the official acts that the Department of Justice (DOJ) had indicted him for in Washington.

    The court will issue its decision in June and experts speculate that the justices will issue a refined definition of presidential immunity to cover official acts while directing the district court to parse out which of President Trump’s acts fell under that classification.

    Trump’s Privileges and Immunities

    It’s unclear how the ruling will eventually parse President Trump’s activities on and leading up to Jan. 6, 2021.

    Regardless, in distinguishing between official and non-official acts, the court could prompt consideration about how both executive privilege and presidential immunity apply to certain aspects of the DOJ’s indictment.

    Pacific Legal Foundation Vice President Jim Burling said President Trump will likely face an “uphill battle” if he tries to assert executive privilege over communications in his Washington case.

    “He is going to have to prove whatever he did on January 6—he was acting as president rather than a former candidate or a losing candidate,” he told The Epoch Times.

    In his Washington trial, President Trump’s defense attorneys might claim that he was relying on the advice of his aides or attorneys in making some of his decisions. One of his attorneys, John Lauro, has already made this argument on television, saying that President Trump thought he was following the advice of his attorney.

    Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told The Epoch Times that if President Trump raises that type of defense, he might be forced to waive executive privilege, which extends to White House aides.

    Mr. Rahmani said the special counsel’s office may also try to force President Trump to waive attorney-client privilege. Both forms of privilege, he suggested, could hinder the prosecution’s ability to make its case.

    “For the prosecution to prove that Trump conspired to defraud the United States … they really need to get inside his head and prove that he knew … that he lost the election and that he intended to overturn the results anyway,” Mr. Rahmani said.

    Former President Donald Trump leaves after addressing members of the media following the verdict in his trial in New York City on May 31, 2024. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

    Weighing Executive and Legislative Interests

    “Once the privilege is asserted, the court weighs the interests of the various groups involved,” Ms. Carter said.

    “Remember, just because the DOJ says there was a crime does not prove there was a crime. And congressional investigations can be quite political. In both situations, the privilege holder’s rights and the purpose of the privilege must be considered.”

    In issuing a subpoena for President Biden’s audio files and other documents, House Republicans told the attorney general in February that the materials served Congress’ interest in oversight of the DOJ, its ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Biden, and potential legislation reforming special counsel investigations.

    The White House responded on May 16 by telling House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) they lacked a legitimate need for audio recordings as the administration had already given Republicans documents relevant to Mr. Hur’s investigation—including transcripts of his interviews with President Biden and his ghostwriter Mark Zwonitzer.

    “The absence of a legitimate need for the audio recordings lays bare your likely goal—to chop them up, distort them, and use them for partisan political purposes,” White House Counsel to the President Edward N. Siskel wrote the committee chairs in a letter.

    Mr. Garland also raised concerns in his May 15 letter that granting the Committees’ requests for the audio recordings would chill cooperation in future high-profile investigations such as Mr. Hur’s.

    Supreme Court Weighs In

    Democrats controlled the House from 2019 through 2022, which gave them leadership over committees that could issue subpoenas for President Trump—which they did for his tax returns and other financial information, as well as records related to the Capitol breach on Jan. 6, 2021.

    Read more here…

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/04/2024 – 17:50

  • China's Chang'e-6 Blasts Off From Moon's Far Side With Rock Samples 
    China’s Chang’e-6 Blasts Off From Moon’s Far Side With Rock Samples 

    China’s Chang’e-6 spacecraft has collected 2 kilograms (or about 4.4 pounds) of lunar rocks and soil from the moon’s far side. The spacecraft lifted off on Tuesday and has begun its journey back to Earth. This marks the first time any spacecraft has accomplished this lunar soil extraction from the moon’s far side as China aims for a crewed mission to the lunar surface by 2030.

    State-run media outlet Xinhua News Agency reports Chang’e-6 blasted off from the lunar surface on Tuesday morning and is expected to connect with an orbiter before returning rock samples to Earth. 

    If the spacecraft does not burn up on the descent into Earth’s atmosphere, this would be the first time any space agency has collected samples from the moon’s far side. The spacecraft is expected to return to Earth on June 25. 

    Xinhua described the mission as “an unprecedented feat in human lunar exploration history.” 

    The spacecraft touched down on the lunar surface on Sunday. By Monday, a drill and robotic arm had been deployed to extract rock and soil samples. 

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    By Tuesday morning, the spacecraft blasted off from the lunar surface. 

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    The lunar samples collected by Chang’e-6 from the moon’s far side hold huge scientific value. They could potentially provide scientists worldwide with insights into the origins of our solar system. 
     

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/04/2024 – 17:25

  • Israel Says Fires Under Control After Nearly 2,500 Acres Scorched By Hezbollah Attacks
    Israel Says Fires Under Control After Nearly 2,500 Acres Scorched By Hezbollah Attacks

    Via The Cradle

    Fires continued to blaze across Israel’s north on Tuesday as a result of Hezbollah rockets and drones fired at the Galilee and Golan Heights over the past few days. Israeli firefighting services said on Tuesday morning that most of the large fires were under control but that teams were still battling the flames. 

    The Israeli fire department said its firefighters were “working hard to protect communities and property,” adding that there was no threat to lives or infrastructure at the current time. 

    Fires burning near Kiryat Shmona on Monday, via AFP

    Over 30 firefighting teams were deployed to extinguish the flames. As a result of the fires, major roads in the Galilee remain shuttered. 

    The fire service also said nearly 990 acres of land were burned near Amiad. Israel’s Ziv Medical Center said early Tuesday in the northern city of Safad said it treated six reserve soldiers and five settlers for injuries and smoke inhalation. 

    The fires burned across Mount Adir, Kfar Giladi, Kiryat Shmona, and other areas. The fire service said it was still working to contain flames in Keren Naftali, which had broken out the day before. 

    The city of Katzrin, known as the Israeli capital of the occupied Golan Heights, was also subjected to intense flames.

    New satellite imagery from the European Commission’s Sentinel-2 satellite showed a massive swathe of scorched land just south of Katzrin. Hezbollah had targeted the Katzrin area with a rocket barrage on Sunday. 

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    On Monday, fires that initially broke out as a result of Hezbollah attacks over the weekend spread rapidly across the Israeli north. Hezbollah launched several more attacks on Monday and Tuesday.

    Footage from Monday evening showed several areas in the north engulfed in flames and firefighters struggling to contain their spread. 

    Middle East Eye meanwhile writes:

    The far-right Israel Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, which is also a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet, said on Monday that Israel should set up a security zone that extends into southern Lebanon.

    Writing on social media site X, Smotrich said that “the new strategy being spearheaded by the war cabinet is going up in flames for hours and blowing up in our faces. A year ago, the defense minister said that we will send Lebanon back to the Stone Age. Mr. Prime Minister, Mr. Defense Minister, Mr. Chief of Staff: That time has come“.

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    Over 2,470 acres (over 10 square kilometers) of land have been scorched as a result of Hezbollah’s recent attacks, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority said on 3 June. 

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/04/2024 – 17:00

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Jun 04

Today’s News 4th June 2024

  • Italy Pipes Up Against NATO Escalation As Court Ruling Could Cut Off Russian Gas Sooner Than Expected
    Italy Pipes Up Against NATO Escalation As Court Ruling Could Cut Off Russian Gas Sooner Than Expected

    Authored by Conor Gallagher via Naked Capitalism,

    A Russian construction worker speaks on a mobile phone during a ceremony marking the start of Nord Stream pipeline construction in Portovaya Bay (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky, File)

    An opaque legal ruling could, in a roundabout way, soon halt all pipeline deliveries of Russian gas to Austria – and therefore Italy. Coupled with the ongoing disruptions in the Red Sea, the economic consequences for Europe’s second-largest industrial location could be dire.

    In late May, an undisclosed European court handed down a ruling that in a roundabout way could force Austria’s main gas company OMV (Österreichische Mineralölverwaltung or Austrian Mineral Oil Administration) to stop paying for Russian gas.

    Some background:

    This all goes back to the West’s “freezing” of hundreds of billions of Russian foreign assets in 2022. In light of that move, Putin introduced the “gas for roubles” program so that payments and clearing on its gas exports would be under the control of the Russian Central Bank and therefore unable to be frozen or stolen by the West.

    Many European countries/companies refused to comply and loudly complained that Putin was cutting off the gas.

    Meanwhile, some countries and companies in central Europe were “allowed” by the EU to continue importing Russian gas due to difficulties in updating their legacy energy infrastructure or some other reason. So companies like Austria’s OMV agreed to pay in roubles and continue to import the Russian gas and often send it on to the countries that threw a fit over the gas for roubles program.

    Now, here we are two years later, and it looks like OMV is going to be forced to stiff Gazprom on payments and redirect that money to European energy companies who refused to pay in roubles.  What little details of the case that are known are this from Upstream:

    …European companies led by Germany’s Uniper and RWE filed arbitration claims in Sweden, Switzerland and Luxembourg against the Russian company’s European trading subsidiary, Gazprom Export, seeking multibillion-dollar compensation payouts.

    OMV said on Wednesday that its remaining supplies from Gazprom may be under threat due to “a foreign court ruling” obtained by “a major European company” relating to the 2022 halt in supplies.

    Neither the court nor the company was identified.

    However, OMV said the court ruling contains an injunction ordering Gazprom’s remaining European customers to divert their payments for received Russian gas to the accounts of the “major European company”, as enforcement of the compensation is deemed impossible in Russia.

    OMV said that, if enforced, the ruling will require its OMV Gas Marketing & Trading subsidiary “to make payments under its gas supply contract with… Gazprom Export” to “the European energy company instead of sending them to Gazprom Export”.

    “However, it is currently not known to OMV whether and when such an enforcement might occur,” it added.

     Naturally, since Gazprom would not be receiving money for its natural gas, it would no longer deliver it to Austria. Despite the obviousness of that response, all the headlines read like this:

    OMV of course says that it would still be able to supply customers with volumes from non-Russian sources through its “extensive diversification efforts in recent years,” but at what cost? At least one prediction has European natural gas prices jumping 18 percent, and that’s on top of the significant rises over the past two years. There’s a reason that Austria kept importing from Russia and is now the EU country that relies the most on Russian gas. As always, it’s cheap and reliable.

    For comparison, OMV just signed long-term deals with BP and US-based company Cheniere Energy to import a combined nearly 2 million tons of LNG per year through a terminal in The Netherlands. The deals don’t begin until 2026 and 2029, respectively, and the contractual price will be pegged to market prices, which is the obvious disadvantage compared to set prices in long term contracts with Russia.

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    Sure, the increased energy prices will hit the poorest Europeans hardest and reduce their quality of life, but hey, it’s good for US LNG companies.

    The fact is, this is bad news for Austria, and maybe more importantly from an EU-wide perspective, for the bloc’s second largest industrial center: Italy. Both countries have been trying to prepare for a halt to Russian gas supplies at the start of the next year when the current gas transit agreement between Russia and Ukraine expires. Officials in Kiev have repeatedly made it clear that will be the end of Russian gas flowing through Ukraine.

    That the cutoff date might now come sooner than expected just adds insult to injury. As OMV talks up its diversification efforts, it only has to look to Italy to see how difficult that process can be. With the ongoing tensions in the Red Sea and the Middle East causing disruptions in LNG deliveries Rome is in a major bind despite long pretending otherwise.

    Italy has Algeria to the south, which was going to increase gas and oil exports. Italy had the LNG facilities and was going to be part of “the continent’s new economic growth engine.”

    But that plan to transform the country into a gas hub for Europe, already on shaky ground, started to go up in flames in the Red Sea months ago. Italian PM Giorgia Meloni’s predecessor, the unelected former Goldman Sachs man Mario Draghi, was one of the biggest proponents of the EU’s doomed Russia policy and pushed the energy hub idea, which was seamlessly picked up by Meloni.

    It was never all that well thought out in the first place.

    In 2021, Russian imports accounted for 23 percent of Italian fuel consumption with gas depended on more heavily (about 40 percent of imports), but it was said Italy was well-positioned to manage the loss of Russian fuels due its proximity to North Africa. Italy quickly began looking south across the Mediterranean as part of the EU-wide turn to Africa in search of energy replacements for Russian oil and gas. Algeria was going to increase the flow of gas through an existing pipeline, and the countries plan to build another pipeline.

    Here were Italy’s calculations from a March 2022 piece from Hellenic Shipping News:

    Italy consumed 29 billion cubic metres (bcm) of Russian gas last year, representing about 40% of its imports. It is gradually replacing around 10.5 bcm of that by increased imports from other countries starting from this winter, according to Eni.

    Most of the extra gas will come from Algeria, which said on Sept. 21 it would increase total deliveries to Italy by nearly 20% to 25.2 bcm this year. This means it will become Italy’s top supplier, provide roughly 35% of imports; Russia’s share has meanwhile dropped to very low levels, Descalzi said this week.

    The rest of the shortfall was to be made up of LNG shipments from Angola, Egypt, Mozambique, Qatar, and of course the United States.

    Rome was using billions of euros coming from the EU’s green fund, the REPowerEU plan, and the Covid recovery fund to completely wean itself off Russian gas and turn the country into a hub, mainly with LNG storage facilities. The government rushed through a 5 billion cubic meter capacity (bcm) LNG terminal project in Tuscany with the Draghi government appointing a special commissioner with near-absolute powers that allowed the project to proceed despite court challenges.

    In December, Italy’s gas grid operator Snam completed a $400 million deal for another floating 5 bcm LNG storage and regasification facility that will be based on Italy’s northeastern coast, which will bring the country’s total to 28 bcm.  In September of 2022, Reuters declared that the “energy crisis sires new European order: a strong Italy and ailing Germany.”

    The Italian government patted itself on the back and said it was the “best in Europe” on energy security.

    While gas made up about 51 percent of Italy’s total electricity generation in 2022 (the highest level in Europe), more than 95 percent of it was imported from overseas, and the problem was the math was overly optimistic going forward.

    The Transmed system connecting Algeria and Italy wasn’t even operating at full capacity in 2022 when Italy began to believe it was going to be able to ramp up deliveries. There were major Algerian production issues, including infrastructure problems and the need to divert gas to meet increasing domestic demand for electricity.

    Marco Giuli, a researcher at the Brussels School of Governance in Belgium, told Natural Gas Intelligence at the time that “the additional 9 Bcm from Algeria by 2023 is unrealistic, especially considering that Algerian supplies to Italy increased by 80% between 2020 and 2021, Giuli said.

    Here we are in 2024 and Algeria’s gas exports to the EU have actually declined:

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    So with LNG problems due to the Red Sea disruptions and less than hoped for from Algeria,  what did Italy do in response? It started getting more gas from Russia via Austria:

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    Now, it looks like Russian supplies could be cut off even sooner than expected, and with Israel announcing its destruction of Gaza will continue until the end of the year, that means the Red Sea will remain a no-go zone. So Italy, Austria and others will be stuck with limited LNG options, which means prices will likely be ridiculously high due to scarce supply. Meanwhile, Italian factory activity continues to contract as it has been doing for the majority of the time for the past two years.

    The vise tightening in Italy could be playing a role in Italian politicians piping up about the insanity of US/NATO escalation against Russia. Consider the following signs that Italy wants to get off the escalator in recent weeks:

    • In early May Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto slapped down French President’s Emmanuel Macron’s flirtation with the idea of sending Western troops to Ukraine.
    • Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani declared that Italy is not at war with Russia and will not send troops.
    • Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini said that NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg should recant his statements about using Western weapons to attack inside Russia’s pre-2014 borders, or he should resign. The full comment: “Never attack Russia,” says Salvini, who adds: “If they want to go and fight in Ukraine, let Stoltenberg, Emmanuel Macron and all the bombers who want war go there. Ukraine or using our weapons to kill in Russia is madness. Either this gentleman who speaks on my behalf, since he speaks on behalf of NATO, either apologizes or resigns. Because the Italian people did not give you any mandate to go and shoot in Russia”.

    Unfortunately for the Italian people and especially the working class who have to bear the brunt of the pain from the economic war against Russia, the pushback against further escalation is too little, too late.

    The Italian public has consistently shown some of the lowest support levels in Europe for Project Ukraine, and those numbers have been consistently falling as research shows that half of Italians are struggling to make ends meet.

    Productive sectors of the economy have never been on board, and some political figures on the right like Salvini’s League and Berlusconi’s Forza Italia have periodically spoken out against escalation, but any attempts at a rational cost-benefit analysis or even maintaining some sort of cultural dialogue with Russians is met with hysteria from the liberal centrists in Italy (the real left has been mostly stamped out).

    It’s a major shift for Italy, which long enjoyed close ties with Russia. The two countries remained strong business partners until recent years. For example, Italy shared manufacturing know-how, such as on civil aircraft and helicopter projects, as well as the modernization of rail transportation, and Russia had the energy. Many mid-sized Italian businesses, especially in areas like agricultural manufacturing, were also eager to get into the emerging Russia market. They’re now doing what they can to stay there. Italian exports to Türkiye, for example, have jumped 87 percent over the last two years with much of that increase likely attributable to the effort to bypass sanctions.

    But now the gas is soon to be completely cut off and the US is cracking down on countries like Türkiye and their role in sanctions evasion.

    The whole Project Ukraine has always been a lose-lose proposition for Italy. Go against it and fall victim to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s “tools,” which would have likely included yanking the nearly $200 billion in Covid recovery funds going to Rome along with other financial difficulties orchestrated from Brussels. Despite a big part of her appeal being her earlier pro-sovereignty positions, Meloni pledged fealty to the EU, NATO, and the US after her 2022 election. That decision, too, now has Italy in a massive bind. And despite Meloni rolling over, von der Leyen’s “centrist” pro-Project Ukraine coalition partners in Brussels are now threatening to block the latter from a second term running the EU Commission if she tries to bring Meloni’s party into the center-right European People’s Party in the EU Parliament.

    And that pretty much sums up Italy’s past thirty years of involvement in the European project.

    For three decades Italy has been one of the most eager adopters of EU-prescribed neoliberal reforms. Leaders in Rome complain but say there’s no choice.

    For decades public assets have been sold off. American private equity is currently feasting on the country with CIA-connected KKR nearing completion of its acquisition of Telecom Italia’s fixed line network. More are to come as the sell-off must go on, the leaders in Rome complain but obey.

    Most Italians’ standard of living keeps falling, but that only proves more market-friendly reforms are needed, Brussels says. Italian leaders complain but oblige. One can only wonder why.

    Dipartimento delle Finanze

    And now what was left of Italian manufacturing is being killed so that US energy companies can make a killing delivering LNG, but Russia bad, they say.

    And no doubt, despite these recent protestations over further escalation with Russia, when the US demands its European vassals wade ever deeper into the Ukrainian morass, the government in Rome will moan and wail as they order working class Italians to the front lines.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 06/04/2024 – 02:00

  • Malinen: Start To Prepare For The Unthinkable
    Malinen: Start To Prepare For The Unthinkable

    Authored by Tuomas Malinen via GnSEconomics.com,

    DEPRCON WARNING

    Nuclear Threat (Free)

    These are the lines none of us would have ever wanted to write, but we have to. The current situation in and around the war in Ukraine has opened a path, which could lead to a nuclear confrontation.

    Ukraine has struck another early-warning (over-the-horizon) radar, this time in Orenburg region, near Orsk, some 1500 km from Ukraine. This radar did not even look at the direction of Ukraine, which makes the strike an act of madness, or something sinister.

    These strikes to the Russian early-warning system can serve only two aims:

    1. Ukrainian leadership is desperately trying to fully commit NATO to the war in Ukraine, or

    2. Strikes are a preparation for nuclear strikes to Russia by the U.S.

    Needless to say that the latter is extremely speculative. However, it is one of the two motives that can be established for the strikes. Alas, we have to acknowledge its existence. We have gone through the former in our previous warning.

    What is more is that, according to Kremlin, the U.S., the U.K. and France would have deployed ground-based intermediate and short-range missile system to Ukraine. These systems were previously banned by the INF (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces) Treaty from which President Trump withdraw the U.S. in February 2019, citing Russian non-compliance and missiles developed by China.

    These missile systems can be used to strike deep into Russia. The risk is that, if Ukraine would continue to target the early-warning system of Russia, at some point Kremlin would simply be forced to act, because it would seriously undermine their nuclear deterrence.

    Nuclear deterrence operates on three dimensions: time, distance and altitude, in addition to the actual arsenal of nuclear weapons. Time and distance are crucial for the response (retaliation, effectively) and altitude where missiles fly, is crucial for anti-missile and other defense systems to operate. Over-the-horizon radars are crucial for all three dimensions, as early warnings give authorities time, distance and altitude to react and enact defensive measures. If they are taken out, or their ability to detect an approaching intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) seriously hindered, modern nuclear deterrence simply fails. This is the reason, why Kremlin would be forced to react if the early-warning system of Russia would become compromised by a foreign party (Ukraine/NATO). This applies also to the U.S. and all other nuclear powers. Everybody would eventually be forced to react under such a threat.

    There are naturally other options than just a nuclear strike for Kremlin, but they all would need to be major, which would enflame the conflict further. If Kremlin would choose to enact a nuclear strike, it would probably use a tactical nuke, which is smaller than a strategical nuke (e.g., an ICBM), and hit a military target, like an airbase.

    This is why we (with an extremely heavy heart) issue a warning of a possible nuclear strike in Europe. This warning is effective for the time being.

    We don’t present any estimated likelihood for it, at this point at least, as it would be macabre. However we note that, while the likelihood is probably not very high at the moment, if strikes to Russian early-warning system continue, it will grow rapidly.

    While still unlikely, we urge you to start to prepare for the unthinkable.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/03/2024 – 23:25

  • Where Smoking Is Still Popular
    Where Smoking Is Still Popular

    Although the proportion of people smoking cigarettes is gradually declining globally, in some countries the habit is still highly prevalent.

    As Statista’s Anna Fleck reports, according to data from a Statista Consumer Insights survey, conducted between January and December 2023, roughly 36 percent of urban Indian respondents said that they smoke cigarettes at least occasionally.

    In China, the share is even higher, with 42 percent saying the same.

    Infographic: Where Smoking Is Still Popular | Statista

    You will find more infographics at Statista

    Tomorrow, May 31 is World No Tobacco Day.

    This year’s theme is “Protecting children from tobacco industry interference”, aiming to encourage governments around the world to shield young people from tobacco marketing tactics in the hope of reducing future cases of addiction.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/03/2024 – 23:00

  • Fentanyl Mixed With Potent Animal Sedative Is All The Rage
    Fentanyl Mixed With Potent Animal Sedative Is All The Rage

    Authored by Matt McGregor via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Various forms of fentanyl. (Courtesy of the University of Houston)

    Public health authorities are warning of a new fentanyl drug concoction laced with a veterinary sedative more potent than previous cocktails.

    According to a libertarian drug policy analyst, the emergence of this new drug continues an acrimonious relationship between illicit substances and law enforcement’s attempt to control them that began in the first chapter of the War on Drugs: Prohibition.

    Both cities of Chicago and Philadelphia have issued health alerts warning of the drug medetomidine being mixed with fentanyl after an increase in overdoses.

    According to the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH), medetomidine is more potent than xylazine, also a veterinary sedative that has made it into street narcotics labeled the “zombie drug.”

    “Multiple associated drug samples from the West Side of Chicago tested positive for elevated levels of medetomidine,” the CDPH said. “Medetomidine has not previously been detected in Chicago, although it has recently been detected in Philadelphia. In Chicago, medetomidine has been detected in combination with fentanyl, heroin, xylazine, alprazolam and nitazenes.”

    Medetomidine is similar to Precedex in humans and can cause respiratory depression, the CDPH said, adding that its effects can’t be reversed by Naloxone, a medication that restores breathing after an overdose.

    According to a May press release from The Center for Forensic Science Research & Education, among the effects of medetomidine are muscle relaxation, sedation, and hallucinations, which can lead to severe adverse reactions.

    The Department of Public Health for the City of Philadelphia reported in its alert that the drug has appeared in Maryland, Ohio, Florida, and Canada.

    It has been identified in drug samples in Philadelphia from April to May, the alert said.

    ‘Iron Law on Prohibition’

    Dr. Josh Bloom, director of chemical and pharmaceutical science at the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH), wrote in a May 2024 article on medetomidine that “attempts to rein in illicit fentanyl or control the chemicals used to synthesize it resulted in even more dangerous drugs” that have prompted the appearance of drugs like xylazine and medetomidine. 

    “Another day another more dangerous street drug in an unwinnable war,” Dr. Bloom said.

    Dr. Jeffrey Singer, a health policy analyst with the libertarian Cato Institute, told The Epoch Times that the emergence of this new drug is unfortunate, but not unexpected.

    “This is what we call in the drug policy field the ‘Iron Law of Prohibition,’” Dr. Singer said, further explaining that this is a theory proposing that when law enforcement cracks down on illicit substances, their potency and danger only increases.

    As an example, Dr. Singer points to the prohibition era from 1920 to 1933 when people turned to harder concentrations of alcoholic beverages when they could no longer legally obtain beer and wine.

    Another more modern example, he said, is people bringing liquor into stadiums where beer and wine aren’t allowed because the smaller volumes are easier to smuggle.

    “Prohibition incentivizes whatever is being prohibited,” Dr. Singer said.

    When drug enforcement agencies cracked down on prescription opioids during the Obama administration, heroin then became cheaper and easier to obtain, he said.

    Later, fentanyl was used because it increased the potency of heroin and made it easier to smuggle in smaller sizes, he said.

    “What really set things off was the pandemic because the border closures and supply chain issues made it difficult to get opium,” he said.

    It was also hard to get the supplies used to make opium into heroin, so the cartels began to deal only in fentanyl, which can be synthesized and reproduced in a lab, he said.

    “There wasn’t a problem getting the supplies for this because you can make it in a lab and you don’t have to grow anything,” he said. “When the pandemic was over, the cartels just stuck with fentanyl because it’s easier.”

    Never Enough

    But it’s never enough, he said, so the cartels started adding xylazine to increase the potency of fentanyl, and now the more potent medetomidine.

    “After that, there will be something else,” he said. “There’s always something else.”

    There’s already a new class of synthetic opioids, he said, called nitazenes, which is considered 40 times more potent than fentanyl.

    “It’s a game of cat and mouse, and it’s going to go on and on until lawmakers realize they can’t win the War on Drugs,” he said.

    Federally Legalized; State Regulated

    According to Dr. Singer, prohibited drugs should be federally legalized like alcohol, with it left up to the states to decide if they want to criminalize them.

    If drugs are legalized, age, public use, and driving while under the influence restrictions could be imposed.

    “Essentially, we should follow the model we used when we ended alcohol prohibition,” he said. “When I buy an alcohol product in the liquor store, I never worry that it might be tainted with some other drug, like fentanyl, or that it might be of greater percentage alcohol than it states on the label.”

    He added that government obstacles should be removed from groups seeking to provide harm-reduction strategies to drug users.

    “Harm reduction strategies will be needed whether or not prohibition is ended,” he said.

    ‘Transnational Organizations’

    Dr. Singer added that he prefers to no longer call those trafficking drugs “cartels.”

    Instead, he refers to them as “transnational organizations.”

    “Our drug war has made them so powerful and so wealthy that though some of their leaders may be headquartered in some places like Mexico, these cartels have begun partnering with cartels in other countries,” he said.

    Plan Columbia, the 1999 U.S. foreign aid initiative to combat Colombian drug cartels in Columbia, only moved the cocaine trade to Central America and Mexico, he said.

    “In fact, cocaine has never been more abundant and cheap than it is now, so all they’ve done is move it from one place to the other, and it’s not stopping,” he said.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/03/2024 – 22:35

  • How US College Students Feel About Their Finances
    How US College Students Feel About Their Finances

    Student debt in the U.S. has ballooned to over $1.7 trillion, burdening millions of Americans with financial stress. Rising tuition costs and stagnating wages are considered to be the major drivers of this issue.

    To gain insight into how this is affecting students, Visual Capitalist’s Marcus Lu visualized the results of WalletHub’s Student Money Survey.

    This survey was conducted in 2024 with a nationally representative sample of 210 students. Results were normalized by gender and income.

    Data and Key Findings

    Student wealth surveys can provide unique insights into the financial preparedness of younger Americans.

    Starting with post-grad fears, it appears that the majority of students are afraid of either not finding a job, or paying off their debt.

    Some of these worries could subside in the future, as the federal government appears committed to cancelling federal student debt.

    The latest news came on May 22, 2024, when the Education Department announced it would cancel $7.7 billion for borrowers who received Public Service Loan Forgiveness, which includes professions like teachers and nurses.

    Regardless, 77% of students surveyed believed that their tuition was a good investment.

    Not Learning Enough

    Another highlight from this study was that nearly half (49%) of students feel that their school does not do enough to teach them about personal finance.

    When survey respondents were asked to choose which topic they wished they had learned more about, the most common answer was “How to do my taxes”.

    If you enjoy posts like these, check out Mapped: Personal Finance Requirements by State, which visualizes where high school students are required to take a personal finance course.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/03/2024 – 22:10

  • "I Was Offered Assisted Dying Over Cancer Treatment": Broken Canadian Healthcare System Is Killing Patients
    “I Was Offered Assisted Dying Over Cancer Treatment”: Broken Canadian Healthcare System Is Killing Patients

    Authored by Ian Birrell via UnHerd,

    Allison Ducluzeau with her doctor after receiving treatment.

    Two years ago, over the Thanksgiving holiday, Allison Ducluzeau started to feel pain in her stomach. At first, she assumed she had eaten too much turkey, but the pain persisted. A couple of weeks later, she saw her family doctor who requested CT scans, although none were sorted. Soon after, as the agony worsened, her partner insisted she went to the emergency unit at their local hospital on Vancouver Island. Finally, doctors confirmed the couple’s worst fears: she was almost certainly suffering from advanced abdominal cancer.

    Allison, then 56, later learned that she had stage 4 peritoneal carcinomatosis, an aggressive condition. By the time she saw a specialist early last year, he warned that she might only live a few months longer: chemotherapy tended to be ineffective for her cancer, buying a bit more time at best, and she was inoperable. Instead, she was told to go home, sort out her papers, and decide if she wanted medical assistance in dying.

    Unsurprisingly, Allison was devastated. “I could barely breathe — I went in there hoping to come out with a treatment plan but was just told to get my will in order.” That night was the worst of her life as she broke the shattering news to her son and daughter at her home in Victoria. “I told them I might only live for another two months,” she recalled. “If I’d not had my children, I might have accepted MAID [medical assistance in dying] — but when I saw the effect on them, having just been through the deaths of my own parents, it made me dig really deep.”

    So, determined to find help, she researched her condition, spoke to doctors as far away as Taiwan, flew to California for scans and eventually travelled to Baltimore for treatment. She had discovered that patients could be given debulking surgery to reduce their cancer, followed by targeted use of heated chemotherapy — yet back in Canada, she could not get even an initial telephone chat with a surgeon who performed such operations for two months. Aided by her tight circle of friends and relatives, she raised almost half the $200,000 cost for the operation by crowdfunding. By the time she managed to see an oncologist in her home province of British Columbia, she was already on the road to recovery.

    Today, Allison is in remission. She lifts weights daily, and goes running and cycling. She recently married her partner on a beach in Hawaii in front of her children. But she remains infuriated that Canadian doctors offered to kill rather than treat her. “The way it was presented was shocking,” she told me. “I was disgusted to be offered MAID twice. Once I was even on the phone, when I was on my own having just come back from Baltimore. It left me sobbing.”

    As the debate over assisted dying heats up in Britain, with Keir Starmer promising a free vote on the matter if he wins the general election, and with politicians in Jersey approving plans for its use only last week, we should take notice of Allison’s case. For she does not share the ethical or religious concerns held by many opponents of euthanasia. Nor does she oppose Canada’s 2016 MAID reform; she agreed with her father five years later that it was an “appropriate” option for his intensifying pain after many years of prostate cancer.

    But she has deep worries about assisted dying being offered by doctors in a health system that is floundering — especially with inadequate and overwhelmed oncology services when cancer patients comprise almost two-thirds of the soaring numbers of citizens opting for MAID. “We do not have a good standard of care here, especially for cancer — and that is why it is so dangerous to have MAID, especially when it can be used to take a bit of pressure off physicians and the government.” She knows of three other cancer patients whose families fear they died needlessly — including the person whose home she bought after downsizing to pay her medical bills in the US.

    Allison’s very existence challenges those who argue that Britain — with its flailing health and social care systems, shamefully long waiting lists and historically poor cancer survival rates — should rush headlong into legalisation of assisted death. So, what would she tell those advocating for the reform? “I would tell Britain to only accept assisted dying when the health service is fixed — otherwise it is a very dangerous step to take. We deserve decent and timely care rather than offers of faster death.”

    “I would tell Britain to only accept assisted dying when the health service is fixed.”

    Like her, I have no qualms over the ethics of assisted dying as an atheist — but huge concerns over its realities. This is based on my reporting on the issue from the pioneering nations of Belgium and the Netherlands, with evidence of the implications for vulnerable groups, especially those already suffering medical discrimination and societal marginalisation. One study last year, for instance, revealed eight Dutch people were subjected to euthanasia simply because they felt unable to live with their learning disability or autism, along with 16 other closely related cases. Disturbingly, many included being lonely as a central cause of their unbearable suffering.

    Yet until talking to Alisson, I had not considered the implications of injecting this irreversible reform into a struggling healthcare system. In British Columbia, faced with growing waiting lists and corrosive healthcare bureaucracy, there have been reports of a number of cancer patients forced to resort to MAID. Samia Saikali, for instance, a 67-year-old grandmother in Victoria, chose to end her life that way after waiting more than 10 weeks to see a specialist. “The word cruel comes to mind,” said her daughter Danielle, pointing out that, with aggressive cancer, this delay can be the difference between having a shot at life or certain death. “Cruel to be given such a terrible diagnosis and then told to just wait and sit and wait.”

    Yet studies indicate that Canada’s cancer care and survival rates are better than the UK, where waiting lists rose every year over the past decade. The NHS target for starting treatment after diagnosis is 62 days, showing how complacency is built into the British health system. But even this dismal target is missed for more than one-third of patients, despite there being evidence that each month of delay reduces the survival chances by about 10%. One study earlier this year into why British survival rates have fallen behind countries such as Canada found the average wait in Scotland for chemotherapy was 65 days — and 81 days for radiotherapy in Wales.

    Concerns have been highlighted by Canadian bioethics professor Jaro Kotalik, co-editor of the first full analysis of his country’s reform, who warned British MPs last year that MAID seems to be more and more “a way to compensate for lack of resources and reduce healthcare costs”. He added that palliative care “appears to be a casualty of MAID” with reduced access, leaving some patients to feel that assisted dying was their only option since “their suffering has been inadequately addressed or because they perceive that their families or social supports would carry an excessive burden”.

    “MAID has become a way to compensate for lack of resources and reduce healthcare costs.”

    Kotalik maintains that there had been far too little investigation or oversight of MAID since its introduction. “There is no real governance of this national programme, which relies for the purpose of collecting information about applicants and deaths entirely on self-reporting by providers,” he said. “I’m concerned about the possibility of people choosing MAID without the full or correct diagnosis, especially in cancer when oncologists are not involved. Options for a cancer patient should not be assessed just by a general practitioner or nurse practitioner so I worry patients are not fully informed about alternative options with different treatments and more comfortable outcomes.”

    Such warnings become even more pertinent in light of the surging MAID toll on Vancouver Island, a haven for wealthy retirees with its beautiful beaches, forests and mountains. Euthanasia campaigners often reject claims that reform leads to a “slippery slope”, although numbers keep rising and icriteria have been expanded in nations that led the way. In the Netherlands — which in 2002 pioneered assisted dying for patients — it accounts now for one in 20 fatalities, with 58 couples dying together last year and the rules extended to include terminally ill children.

    Canada has also seen MAID cases soar each year — and once again, protections have been eroded. In 2021, the central rule that natural death had to be “reasonably foreseeable” was removed. Latest figures disclosed that 13,102 people ended their lives under the scheme in 2022, a rise of 30% over the previous year despite postponement until 2027 of the controversial expansion to people with chronic mental illness. The country is catching up fast on Holland’s rate with 4.1% of deaths aided by doctors. Its annual MAID report also revealed that more than one-third of those choosing to die felt themselves a burden on family, friends or caregivers. Inevitably, there have been significant controversies with reports of pressurised fatalities involving disabled, elderly and impoverished citizens.

    Meanwhile, the rate of MAID cases under Vancouver Island’s health authority is more than twice as high as the rest of Canada; indeed, it may well be the world’s highest since it accounts for almost one in 10 deaths. I heard various explanations for this, ranging from the struggling state of the region’s cancer services through to a history of legal, social and medical activism in support of euthanasia.

    Prominent practitioners include Stefanie Green, founding president of the Canadian Association of MAID Assessors and Providers, who has assisted more than 400 deaths. She spent two decades as a family doctor focusing on maternity and new-born care before turning to assisted dying. “I’d always been interested in the intersection between medicine and ethics,” she told me. “The more I looked into it, the more I was drawn to it. The skill set was almost identical. It required a knowledgeable person to take people through a natural event. I would be with them during a very intimate event. It would take time to build up the trust. It is intense, it is intimate, there are the family dynamics.”

    When I asked if medically induced death was really “a natural event”, she insisted that “the death is imminent” before adding that she found the work deeply moving. “Patients are grateful, families are grateful, and I am facilitating their final wishes. I am certain in all the cases they are 100% eligible, both legally and medically. The work is done properly. It is not for me to decide on their situation. It is their personal autonomy.”

    Green is both passionate and proud of her work: intriguingly, she faces far more protests over the single day a week she spends performing infant circumcisions from campaigners who argue it is an infringement of the child’s rights. She agrees, however, that patients such as Allison have every right to feel disappointed. “She should feel aggrieved that the Canadian health system is not working efficiently and failed her. I will also demand better resources with more doctors and nurses. The government has failed — but that is not reason to cancel the MAID programme. It needs to be delivered carefully and cautiously.” Likewise, she agrees society often fails people with disabilities. “We must act to remedy this — but this shouldn’t mean we cancel desired, needed, legal medical services.”

    Green stresses that MAID requires people to make their own request to terminate their lives. “It cannot be triggered by anyone else. It cannot be coerced — subtly or explicitly. It must be consistent with their own values; they must demonstrate capacity. It is far, far more common to see people coerced out of their request for MAID than to have someone show up who has been coerced into making this choice — which we then note and find them ineligible.”

    This debate is a moral minefield, with emotive and valid arguments on both sides. There is, however, a global drift towards legalisation of assisted dying, from Ecuador to Germany. In Britain, as lawmakers across the Channel prepare to debate assisted dying, YouGov polling suggests similar legislation would be backed by 44% of voters, although 31% remain unsure — and surveys have suggested twice as many people with disabilities would be concerned by a change in the law as support it, despite claims from campaigners to the contrary.

    Christopher Lyon, a social scientist at the University of York, believes Britain should be very cautious in following Canada’s lead after witnessing his father’s assisted death in a drab Victoria hospital room in the summer of 2021. He was left highly disturbed by the experience, believing his father failed to meet the correct criteria for being moved rapidly to the category of “reasonably foreseeable” death, as well as being depressed and possibly drunk when giving consent. “It was absolutely horrific,” he said. “Britain would be wrong to go down this path. You see some people making the same arguments as in Canada about personal autonomy, control and the right to make decisions to end your life. It is perhaps a choice for people in very rare cases with extreme and unmanageable suffering at the very end of life, which is not what we see in Canada. But there is no doubt the evidence points towards a slippery slope with widening access — although it is really more of a cliff face. Ultimately, I doubt any assisted death system can be made safe.”

    Lyon told me he was neutral on this issue before seeing his 77-year-old father die. “It is horribly hard to see your father in distress being killed by a doctor with no attempt to help. It is almost indescribable. It came across as so cruel — but also so avoidable.”

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/03/2024 – 21:45

  • High-Flying Commodity Sectors Set to Keep Climbing
    High-Flying Commodity Sectors Set to Keep Climbing

    By Farah Elbahrawy, Bloomberg markets live reporter and strategist

    Outperforming mining and energy stocks are set for further gains as a constructive backdrop for commodity prices and demand is set to support earnings.

    Basic resources and energy shares have outpaced the benchmark over the past three months, despite May’s drop in crude prices. Strategists are turning increasingly positive, with shareholder payouts and a wide discount to the market supporting the case for the sector.

    JPMorgan’s Mislav Matejka said miners’ earnings-per-share will be supported by gains in industrial commodity prices by the second half of the year. He also likes the energy sector “which offers strong cash flow generation, attractive dividend yield, and is a geopolitical hedge.”

    Profits are set to recover after stalling for two years, with analysts expecting the European energy and materials sectors to gain in 2025, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence.

    Morgan Stanley analysts led by Martijn Rats retain an attractive industry view as the structural outlook for energy companies over the coming years “continues to be in good shape.” They expect oil prices will trend higher this summer as seasonal demand strength creates a deficit in crude balances.

    The case for energy stocks is also underpinned by their massive shareholder payouts. Companies like Shell and BP doubled down on making buybacks a priority this earnings season. European companies are expected to return over €600 billion ($652 billion) to shareholders this year, a decade-high, and energy firms are set to be one of the biggest contributors. Investors are also monitoring a wave of mergers and acquisitions in the sector.

    Another team of Morgan Stanley analysts including Alain Gabriel is also positive on metals and mining stocks in Europe, saying miners trade at a steep discount to the market relative to history. “A stable demand environment and continued focus on supply stress continues to underpin a solid commodity price environment,” they said.

    Societe Generale strategists including Manish Kabra said equities rather than metals are now a more attractive way to play the boom in commodity prices. “The current rise in metal prices suggests an inflection in EPS momentum ahead for the mining sector,” he said, adding his team prefers miners to energy stocks.

    China’s recovery is another driver investors are closely monitoring, with mixed signals emerging in recent days. Official data showed the country’s factory activity unexpectedly contracted in May, a warning sign from the area of the economy that Beijing is most reliant on to drive growth. A different poll showed manufacturing activity expanded.

    One of the key risks for commodity shares “is the lack of momentum in industrial activity in China and the property sector,” Liberum strategist Susana Cruz said. “That, added to a slowdown in the US economy reduces the upside for the sector,” though improving momentum in Europe could support demand in the second half of the year.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/03/2024 – 21:04

  • Louisiana Bill Authorizing Physical Castration For Sex Offenders Heads To Governor’s Desk
    Louisiana Bill Authorizing Physical Castration For Sex Offenders Heads To Governor’s Desk

    Authored by Matt McGregor via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry (C) speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Jan. 22, 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

    A proposed bill that would enforce surgical castration as opposed to chemical castration for those convicted of rape has advanced in the Louisiana legislature.

    The bill is now headed to Republican Gov. Jeff Landry’s desk to be signed or vetoed.

    Senate Bill 371, sponsored by state Sen. Regina Barrow, a Democrat, would sentence those 17 and older who have been convicted of the rape of a victim under the age of 13 to be physically castrated.

    It passed in the state House 74–24 and in the Senate 29–9.

    “Proposed law further provides that the procedure is contingent upon a determination by a court-appointed medical expert that the defendant is an appropriate candidate for surgery, which determination must be made within 60 days of imposition of sentence,” the bill reads. “Proposed law further provides that when the offender is sentenced to a period of incarceration or confinement, the procedure must be performed no later than one week prior to the release of the offender.”

    The Department of Public Safety and Corrections would oversee the procedure; however, it “will not be performed if not medically appropriate.”

    “Proposed law further provides that if an offender fails to appear or refuses to undergo the procedure, the offender may be charged with failure to comply with the court order and sentenced to imprisonment for between three and five years, without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence,” the bill states.

    Expands on Previous Castration Law

    According to state law, voluntary castration for people convicted rape date back to 2008, when the legislature passed legislation that sentenced a sex offender “to be treated with medroxyprogesterone acetate, or MPA.”

    “However, in lieu of treatment with medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA), the court may order the defendant to undergo physical castration provided the defendant file a written motion with the court stating that he intelligently and knowingly, gives his voluntary consent to physical castration as an alternative to the treatment,” the act states.

    The new legislation proposed by Sen. Barrow expands on the previous act by authorizing a judge to order a physical castration to those convicted of a sex offense in which the victim was 13 or under, according to the bill.

    In April, 54-year-old Glenn Sullivan pleaded guilty to four counts of second-degree rape of a 14-year-old that resulted in her pregnancy, according to a press release from Louisiana District Attorney Scott Perrilloux.

    As a part of his sentence, Mr. Sullivan will be physically castrated, in addition to serving 50 years in prison.

    “The case stems from a July 2022 Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office investigation,” the press release said. “A young woman told detectives that Sullivan had raped her multiple times when she was just 14-years-old. As a result, the juvenile became pregnant, and a DNA test that was ordered during the course of the criminal investigation proved Sullivan had impregnated her.”

    The press release stated that Mr. Sullivan had also allegedly groomed her and threatened her family to prevent her from speaking out.

    “So many of these types of cases go unreported because of fear,” Mr. Perrilloux said. “The strength it must have taken for this young woman to tell the truth in the face of threats and adversity is truly incredible.”

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/03/2024 – 20:55

  • Cycling Has Shifted To A Higher Gear Since COVID
    Cycling Has Shifted To A Higher Gear Since COVID

    Commemorated on June 3 each year, World Bicycle Day is celebrated to promote the benefits of cycling and recognize its importance as a simple, affordable and environmentally friendly mode of transportation.

    The United Nations declared this observance in April 2018 to highlight the bicycle’s role in fostering sustainable development, health and well-being, encouraging governments and societies to embrace cycling as a means to reduce pollution and enhance the quality of life in urban and rural areas alike.

    In the United States, a firmly car-centric society, the bicycle plays a relatively minor role compared to large parts of Europe, where people are much more likely to rely on their bikes for everyday transportation. During the Covid-19 pandemic, however, which forced gyms to shutter and public transportation to suspend operations, millions of Americans re-discovered bicycles as a safe, socially-distanced form of physical exercise and transportation. The bike boom hit retailers unprepared, causing new bicycles to become a scarce commodity, exacerbated by the fact that global bicycle supply was also constrained due to Covid-19.

    As Statista’s Felix Richter shows in the chart below, according to inflation-adjusted figures published by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Americans spent $5.3 billion on bicycles and accessories in 2020, up from an average of $4.7 billion between 2015 and 2019.

    Infographic: Cycling Has Shifted to a Higher Gear During Covid-19 | Statista

    You will find more infographics at Statista

    The trend continued in 2021, when consumer spending on bicycles and accessories grew past $6 billion, surpassing the pre-pandemic average by almost 30 percent. Looking at the past two years, consumer spending on bicycle gear has plateaued at that level, fueling hopes that the industry could remain in a higher gear compared to pre-Covid days.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/03/2024 – 20:30

  • Software Update "Glitch" Blamed For NYSE Market Break That Sparked Berkshire Wipe Out, Trading Halt Cascade
    Software Update “Glitch” Blamed For NYSE Market Break That Sparked Berkshire Wipe Out, Trading Halt Cascade

    Update (8:00pm ET): In a flashback to the early 2010s when markets broke on a daily basis, we are back to blaming “glitches” for broken markets and flash crashes.

    Hours after a new generation of traders experienced a partial market flash crash that wiped out the entire market cap of Berkshire Hathaway and halted trading on about 40 other stocks after their circuit breakers were triggered, Bloomberg reports that the culprit was a “glitch” during a software update early on Monday.

    The disruption, the third such episode to hit otherwise peaceful US markets in the past week, was resolved after roughly 45 minutes when the Consolidated Tape Association, whose systems are operated by a NYSE subsidiary, reverted to a backup data center running a different software version. NYSE said it will cancel the bad trades in Berkshire Hathaway and is reviewing the erroneous halts to determine whether to cancel any of those.

    The forced pauses, which began shortly before 9:45 a.m. in New York, came as CTA was rolling out a change in the software that governs which opening prices display on the Securities Information Processor, the feed that consolidates bid and ask quotes made on various exchanges.

    As noted earlier, about a dozen trades in Berkshire Class A shares went off at $185.10 around 9:50 am ET before trading was halted. The stock closed Friday at $627,400. NYSE said any trade between 9:50 and 9:51 at or below $603,718.30 will be canceled. NuScale Power had a similar glitch, with trades that printed at about 99% below the prior price.

    The sudden disruption did not affect Nasdsaq-listed shares and had minimal impact on the broader market, though it came as trading infrastructure adapts to one-day settlements from two, known as T+1. A glitch Thursday left the S&P 500 Index without live pricing for more than an hour. Two days earlier, an exchange had problems interfacing with the data dissemination feed.

    “A little weird, but almost undoubtedly coincidental,” said Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers LLC, of the NYSE issue after last week’s S&P 500 Index glitch. “We’ve gotten used to huge amounts of uptimes without exchange incidents, so when a couple of glitches in a row occur it is notable.”

    “I would assume that those bad trades will be broken,” Jonathan Corpina, NYSE floor trader and senior managing partner at Meridian Equity Partners, told Bloomberg. “I’m more curious how did this happen? I understand what happened, but I want to understand how?”

    The limit up-limit down trading bands typically govern when stocks are paused for volatility. The SIP is a single data feed where regulatory bodies process and consolidate bid and ask quotes and trades from all US exchanges. Equities trading in the US is executed on more than a dozen exchanges, with all of the bid and ask orders consolidated on data feeds that are distributed worldwide. NYSE, which is owned and operated by Intercontinental Exchange Inc., operates multiple exchanges including NYSE Arca and NYSE American.

    The firm consolidates order data from various exchanges at the Consolidated Tape Association. Together, those constitute Tapes A and B. Nasdaq Inc., owner of the Nasdaq exchanges, operates a separate consolidated feed known as Tape C. Volumes on American exchanges are calculated by adding the three tapes.

    As Bloomberg notes, the disruptions are reminiscent of a confusing episode in January 2023, when a staffer at the New York Stock Exchange’s backup data center in Chicago left a backup system running in an error that led to wild price swings for hundreds of stocks when the market opened.

    “Whether a coincidence or not, it is certainly causing a pile of confusion on the street for the second session out of the last three,” Dave Lutz, head of ETFs at JonesTrading, said in a message.

    * * *

    Update (12:02pm ET): After a cascade of circuit breakers pushed various NYSE stocks and instantly halted trading, the Exchange said in an email that the technical issue with industrywide price bands published by the CTA SIP has been resolved and all systems are currently operational.

    • All impacted stocks have reopened
    • Price band issue has been resolved
    • Issue triggered trading halts in a number of NYSE listed stocks

    As we noted earlier, the technical error at the New York Stock Exchange resulted in numerous erroneous trading volatility halts, including for Berkshire, Chipotle and Abbott :abs, and odd trades in at least two stocks early in the cash session Monday. Bloomberg adds that the forced pauses, which began shortly before 9:45 a.m. in New York, were resolved not long after 11 a.m. and the stocks resumed normal trading, according to statements from NYSE. The firm said a technical issue with the “industry-wide” price bands published by the Consolidated Tape Association Securities Information Processor led to the halts.

    As we also noted earlier, trades Berkshire Hathaway/A shares appeared to go off at mistaken prices. About a dozen trades showed shares changed hands at $185.10 around 9:50 a.m., a discount of 99.97% to Friday’s closing price of $627,400. NuScale Power had a similar glitch, with trades that printed at about 99% below the prior price.

    “It’s very confusing that it’s happening in just a few shares,” said Jonathan Corpina, senior managing partner at Meridian Equity Partners, who typically works on the floor of the NYSE. “I would assume that those bad trades will be broken.”

    A representative for NYSE declined to comment on the matter beyond the exchange’s market status update page. Intercontinental Exchange Inc. is the owner of the New York Stock Exchange.

    The limit up-limit down trading bands typically govern when stocks are paused for volatility. The SIP is a single data feed where regulatory bodies process and consolidate bid and ask quotes and trades from all US exchanges. The sudden disruptions Monday come just days after a glitch left the S&P 500 Index without live pricing for an hour, and as the market adapts to quicker settlement times for US stock trades.

    “A little weird, but almost undoubtedly coincidental,” said Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers LLC, of the NYSE issue after last week’s S&P 500 Index glitch. “We’ve gotten used to huge amounts of uptimes without exchange incidents, so when a couple of glitches in a row occur it is notable.”

    Chipotle was down 1.2% at 9:44 a.m. New York time when it was halted. Abbott gained as much as 1.9% on Monday. Halts are normally triggered by a series of factors, most commonly for rapid and large changes in price and volume. Chipotle resumed trading at 10:21 a.m. in New York and was down about 2.5%.

    * * *

    Something snapped just after 9:40 am, when as the market was still reeling from the latest idiotic move in meme stonks, we just saw one of the world’s largest companies – Berkshire Hathaway – wipe out just about 100% of its value and crash to basically zero…

    … amid a cascading wave of trading halts sparked by a break at the NYSE:

    • *MULTIPLE NYSE STOCKS SHOWING VOLATILITY TRADING HALTS

    … which the exchange quickly admitted it was at fault for.

    • *NYSE EQUITIES INVESTIGATING REPORTED TECHNICAL ISSUE

    The full list of halts can be found on the NYSE site and includes the following names:

    Among other notable names that crashed and were halted on a Limit Up, Limit Down Circuit breaker were Chiptole, BMO, NuScale.

    And while we wait to learn what exactly caused today’s “market break” which may have just afforded us a glimpse of true market values, we can only reminds readers of the immortal words of the Big Lebowski:

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/03/2024 – 20:20

  • Magnesium Deficiency Linked To Metabolic Syndrome – Here's How To Boost Intake
    Magnesium Deficiency Linked To Metabolic Syndrome – Here’s How To Boost Intake

    Authored by Zena le Roux via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    (Sergey Neanderthalec/Shutterstock)

    In our pursuit of optimal health, an often-overlooked mineral has quietly emerged as a potential game-changer: magnesium.

    More than half of the American population—with some estimates suggesting a staggering 75 percent—are failing to meet the recommended dietary intake of this vital nutrient, possibly hurting their metabolic health.

    The Myriad Roles of Magnesium in the Body

    Magnesium is essential for optimal bodily function, acting as a cofactor in numerous enzymatic reactions. It regulates cardiovascular physiology, stress responses, inflammation, and hypertension and enhances glycemic control when combined with vitamin D, making it crucial for metabolic health. Magnesium deficiency is prevalent among obese individuals.

    Common symptoms of magnesium depletion include muscle cramps, headaches, eye twitches, insomnia, fatigue, irritability, and a sensation of a “lump” in the throat, Dr. Nathali Morrow-van Eck, a functional-integrative general medical practitioner in Pretoria, South Africa, told The Epoch Times. These symptoms stem from magnesium’s role in supporting the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) brain system, essential for relaxation and stress reduction.

    Magnesium also activates the COMT gene, a protein-coding gene that helps with anxiety management and hormone metabolite detoxification (the body’s process of eliminating byproducts).

    With magnesium involved in over 300 bodily functions, deficiency signs often manifest subtly, initially affecting energy production processes, Katrina Farrell, a registered nutritional therapist, told The Epoch Times.

    The Magnesium–Metabolic Syndrome Connection

    A 2024 study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism examined the link between magnesium depletion and metabolic syndrome. The analysis of 15,565 participants revealed that the likelihood of developing metabolic syndrome increased by almost one-third for every incremental rise in the magnesium depletion score.

    This correlation persisted across diverse populations, regardless of behavioral or sociodemographic factors, suggesting that addressing magnesium deficiency could be a preventive measure against metabolic syndrome, whether through dietary modifications or supplementation.

    Magnesium plays a crucial role in various aspects of digestive health. It helps with producing digestive enzymes, nutrient absorption, and peristalsis, the wave-like motion that propels food through the digestive tract. Insufficient magnesium can lead to constipation and bloating.

    Continuously low magnesium levels affect insulin function, rendering it less effective and impeding metabolism. As a result, magnesium deficiency can contribute to weight-management challenges, Type 2 diabetes, and prediabetes, according to Ms. Farrell.

    Experimental magnesium deficiency in rats has been linked to inflammation, hypertriglyceridemia (high levels of triglycerides in the blood), and changes in lipoprotein metabolism, according to a scientific review published in Magnesium Research. Magnesium’s impact on intracellular calcium homeostasis may be a unifying factor connecting stress and inflammation and may be behind their potential contribution to metabolic syndrome.

    Magnesium is vital for insulin and glucose metabolism because it facilitates insulin receptor function, acting as a cofactor for enzymes involved in glucose breakdown and oxidation and regulating insulin secretion. Low magnesium levels can lead to insulin resistance and impaired glucose uptake by cells, thereby disrupting overall metabolism and increasing the risk of metabolic disorders like Type 2 diabetes.

    Why Are We Not Getting Enough Magnesium?

    Magnesium depletion has become increasingly prevalent, attributed to various factors in modern lifestyles, Ms. Farrell said.

    Contemporary farming methods have led to declining magnesium levels in our food supply. Additionally, processed foods, ubiquitous in today’s diets, often lack sufficient magnesium content. Alcohol and certain medications, such as proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), usually prescribed for chronic acid reflux, can deplete magnesium reserves.

    Excessive caffeine consumption can also deplete magnesium levels.

    Stress is another major culprit behind magnesium depletion, Ms. Farrell added. During periods of stress, the body releases magnesium as part of the stress response. Consequently, whether acute or chronic, stress can rapidly deplete magnesium levels.

    Research published in The Clinical Biochemist Reviews suggests that serum magnesium levels fluctuate with different types of exercise. Levels tend to increase after brief, maximal exercise but decrease following endurance exercise.

    How to Increase Magnesium Intake

    Diet is crucial for obtaining sufficient magnesium, Ms. Farrell said.

    Grain refining and food processing diminish magnesium content, leading to up to an 85 percent reduction. Boiling magnesium-rich foods also results in significant magnesium loss. Opting for raw, whole foods provides a natural and potent source of the mineral.

    Ms. Farrell advocates a “food-first” approach, emphasizing nuts, seeds, and leafy greens in daily meals to boost magnesium intake. She also recommends Epsom salt baths, magnesium body lotions for relaxation and rejuvenation, and exploring magnesium supplements tailored to people’s needs.

    Dr. Morrow-van Eck recommends both oral and transdermal magnesium products. A person’s absorption of dietary magnesium from the gut can range from 24 percent to 76 percent. The absorption rate primarily depends on the individual’s magnesium status rather than their intake. When the body’s magnesium level is lower, a higher percentage of dietary magnesium is absorbed.

    For oral supplementation, she prioritizes optimal doses of the most bioavailable forms, such as magnesium threonate, glycinate, and citrate. For targeted relief, she suggests applying transdermal magnesium chloride and massaging it into areas of concern for optimal absorption.

    The Limitations in Assessing Magnesium Levels

    Optimal health outcomes often result from a balanced and varied diet that provides a spectrum of essential vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients, Ms. Farrell said. She noted that the effects of nutrients are often enhanced or modulated by the presence of other nutrients rather than their operating independently.

    An example is the relationship between vitamin D and magnesium. While vitamin D relies on magnesium for transportation and activation, magnesium plays a pivotal role in various bodily functions, including gut health, immune function, and skin health. Low magnesium levels can hinder vitamin D’s effectiveness even if one has sufficient vitamin D levels.

    Regarding magnesium assessment, Ms. Farrell advises against relying solely on blood tests, as magnesium is primarily stored in organs and bones, not in the bloodstream. Blood tests, therefore, do not provide a complete picture. She suggests that considering symptoms, habitual alcohol consumption, or high levels of stress might better indicate whether more magnesium is needed.

    Possible Side Effects

    While magnesium from dietary sources poses no significant risks, excessive magnesium intake through dietary supplements may lead to adverse effects such as diarrhea, nausea, and abdominal cramping, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Diarrhea is commonly associated with magnesium chloride, gluconate, carbonate, and oxide. People with impaired renal function or kidney failure are particularly susceptible to magnesium toxicity, which typically occurs when serum concentrations surpass 31.35 to 47.02 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL), or 1.74 to 2.61 millimoles per liter (mmol/L). Also, several medications can influence magnesium levels or interact with magnesium supplements.

    To optimize efficacy and minimize interactions, separate the intake of magnesium supplements and oral bisphosphonates by at least two hours. This precaution is essential as magnesium supplements can impede the absorption of bisphosphonates like alendronate (Fosamax), commonly prescribed for osteoporosis treatment.

    To avoid potential interaction, take specific antibiotics either two hours before or four to six hours after consuming magnesium-containing supplements. This timing is critical because magnesium can form insoluble complexes with certain antibiotics.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/03/2024 – 20:05

  • E-Trade May Ban 'Roaring Kitty' From Platform For Market Manipulation
    E-Trade May Ban ‘Roaring Kitty’ From Platform For Market Manipulation

    ETrade has had enough of the stock shenanigans of meme stock guru Keith Gill, also known as Roaring Kitty, who just happens to be a client of the online brokerage now owned by Morgan Stanley. Gill’s non-stop promotion of GameStop on social media, coupled with giant trades, raised concerns about potential stock manipulation. This could force E*Trade to dump the retail trader, according to Wall Street Journal sources.

    The scale of Gill’s online influence, with millions of followers across various social media platforms, and his active promotion of the struggling video game retailer, has sparked concern among executives at the Morgan Stanley-owned trading platform. The firm is uncomfortable with Gill’s presence on the trading platform, as it could attract unwanted attention, given his significant reach. 

    That power created concerns he can pump up a stock for his own benefit. Their debate includes whether his actions amounted to manipulation and whether or not the firm is willing to risk drawing the attention of his meme army by removing him, according to people familiar with their internal discussions. -WSJ 

    With the SEC unable to decide how to approach the bizarre pump (and dump), and whether to classify Gill’s unique social media style as market manipulation, brokerages are now taking action into their own hands.

    The sources confirmed what became public knowledge late on Sunday, namely that Gill bought a “large volume of GameStop options on E*Trade” before the first pump in May. 

    Morgan Stanley employees, knowing that Gill is a customer, looked at his E*Trade account, according to people familiar with the matter. That sort of monitoring of clients is routine.

    The employees saw he had purchased call options before the tweet, the people said. A call option gives a trader the right to buy the stock by a certain date at a stated price. At least some of those options expired that week, one of the people said. That meant Gill’s trades likely generated profits thanks to the stock move his tweet generated.

    Gill’s trading continued, likely loading up with equity and short-term options ahead of Sunday’s posting of his E*Trade account. He showed GME stock valued at $115.7 million, $65.7 million in GME short-term options, and $29 million in cash.

    The post alone on Reddit triggered a stock frenzy in GME on Monday but quickly faded late into the session.

    The people said the debate about Gill as a client at Morgan Stanley began three weeks ago, around the time of the first GME pump. They said no decision has been made yet. 

    One of the biggest red flags around the first pump was GME’s ability to slam the market with an offering of 45 million shares, allowing the company to raise $933 million, and sparking speculation that Gill was working alongside the company.

    Meanwhile, sentiment around Gill is shifting: far from the “authentic” retail daytrading beacon that he became in early 2021 when his foray into the historic Gamestop short squeeze sparked the meme stock frenzy, his latest AUM which is clearly in the hundreds of millions “appearing more like manipulation without a solid thesis”, has prompted speculation that far from working for himself, Gill may be in cahoots with one or more hedge funds…

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    … while established voices such as Clifford Asness slammed the “internet scammer” whose “coming back to pump and dump again is insane. It’s a cult. It’s an angry clueless cult (are there other kinds) angry about nonexistent scams and following ridiculous cult leaders.“

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    But what may be the most damning twist in this latest episode of meme stonk mania is that the other OG of the daytrading movement, Dave Portnoy himself, asked if he is a big mark for Roaring Kitty.

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    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/03/2024 – 19:40

  • Trump Makes Big Promise On Gaza War To UFC Superstar Khabib
    Trump Makes Big Promise On Gaza War To UFC Superstar Khabib

    Via Middle East Eye

    Former US president Donald Trump appears to have made his biggest and boldest campaign promise yet. During a Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event in Newark, New Jersey on Saturday, the 2024 presidential hopeful vowed that he would stop Israel’s devastating war in Gaza when confronted by former mixed-martial artist and UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov.

    Following Islam Makhachev submission victory over Dustin Poirier for the Lightweight Championship, Nurmagomedov, who serves as a coach for Makhachev, was heard telling Trump: “I know you will stop the war in Palestine.”

    Trump, who routinely touts his support of Israel but has also been critical of the war on Gaza, responded by saying: “We will stop it. I will stop the war.”

    The clip was shared widely on X, formerly known as Twitter, and has since made rounds on other social media platforms to much praise. “Love seeing Khabib tell Trump to stop the genocide,” said former UFC fighter and anti-war activist Jake Shields.

    “Overall I like Trump much more than Biden but his unequivocal support for Israel is a deal-breaker for me. Almost all of his funding comes from ultra zionist so he’s unlikely to switch directions but still good hes hearing it.”

    “Bro just accomplished more than all of our Arab leaders in this war,” another user said. “This is what you call using your voice and name to call for change,” another added. 

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    Others, however, were quick to point out that Trump’s statements and actions whilst in office did not inspire much confidence. “Trump won’t do it. He literally gave the Golan Heights to Israel. Moved the embassy to Jerusalem. He will sell the US out for Israel. Always,” one user wrote on X. 

    “He just said two weeks ago that Israel should be allowed to finish the job,” posted another. “He says one thing and then the complete opposite the next day. This is how everyone is able to project what they want to hear onto him.”

    Israel’s war on Gaza, now nearing its ninth month, has turned much of the enclave, which is home to more than two million Palestinians, into an uninhabitable hellscape. Whole neighborhoods have been erased. Homes, schools and hospitals have been devastated by air strikes and scorched by tank fire. 

    Nearly the entire population is reported to have fled their homes, and those who remained in northern Gaza are on the verge of famine. More than 36,000 people have been reported killed, the great majority of them women and children, according to Gaza Health Ministry figures. Thousands more are missing or presumed to be dead under the rubble.

    ‘Most pro-Israel president’

    Trump’s comments come amid increasing frustration among staffers within the Biden administration and US voters at the president’s handling of the war, with a growing number of staff resignations and reports of internal dissent. 

    However, while experts say the surge of “uncommitted” voters in the Democratic primaries is sending Biden a message that his administration’s policy on Gaza will cost him ahead of the presidential election in November, Trump’s ability to court voters on Palestine is limited.

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    Trump has repeatedly labelled himself the most pro-Israel president in US history, noting his decision to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and his backing of Israel’s claim to sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights – something “nobody even asked for”.

    In an interview with Real America’s Voice, Trump previously said: “Any Jewish person that votes for Biden does not love Israel and, frankly, should be spoken to.” He added that he does not understand “how a Jewish person can vote for Biden or a Democrat because they are on the side 100 percent of the Palestinians”.

    Earlier this month, he reportedly told donors during a closed door meeting that he would pursue a zero-tolerance policy US college campus protesters, adding he would deport those who weren’t US citizens. 

    “If you get me elected, and you should really be doing this. If you get me reelected, we’re going to set that movement back 25 or 30 years,” he reportedly said. Earlier on Saturday, Trump, who was recently found guilty on 34 felony charges in his “hush money trial,” was welcomed with deafening roars of adulation when he made his way into the Prudential Center alongside UFC CEO Dana White.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/03/2024 – 19:15

  • The India Stock Story Is More Than Just What Happens This Week
    The India Stock Story Is More Than Just What Happens This Week

    By Ven Ram, Bloomberg markets live reporter and strategist

    Stock markets in India have run away with the idea of voters giving the green light for further economic reform, but gains may moderate toward the end of the day.

    The Sensex has run up 3% after exit polls showed a decisive majority for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party. The scale of the rally suggests that traders have priced in a landslide victory, but given the inconsistent nature of exit polls, some traders may be inclined to take money off the table ahead of the actual election results due on Tuesday. With the markets having priced in the best outcome, there is little room for upside surprise from here.


     
    Elections results aside, valuations — while not overexuberant — sound a note of caution. The Sensex offers a prospective earnings yield of about 4.75%, lower than an average of 5.33% that has prevailed historically. The Nifty offers 4.85%, compared with a mean of 5.52%.

    However, beyond the here and now, stocks in India are bound to fare well. Before today’s effervescent rally, the market cap of the nation’s shares was some $4.7 trillion, a number that is commensurate with the size of its economy.

    Data last week showed that gross domestic product rose 7.8% in the three months through March, compared with a forecast of 7% — a margin of beat that is isn’t common in mature economies and ones that are as big as India’s. Indeed, given the frantic pace of growth, S&P Global forecasts that the domestic economy will grow from $3.5 trillion in 2022 to $7.3 trillion by 2030 to emerge as the world’s third largest.

    The S&P has, meanwhile, affirmed the nation’s foreign- and local-currency debt rating to positive, opening the path toward a higher rating over the next couple of years. That, together with expected interest rate cuts from the central bank, will bring down companies’ cost of capital, boosting margins.

    The rupee has rallied on the back of exit polls, but the Reserve Bank is likely to absorb excess inflows to build its reserves — meaning I don’t expect unmitigated gains. The currency’s stability, however, augurs well for foreign investors repatriating money, adding another reason to be bullish on the nation’s stocks over the longer term.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/03/2024 – 18:50

  • Massive Australian Truck Convoy Protests Live Sheep Export Ban
    Massive Australian Truck Convoy Protests Live Sheep Export Ban

    Authored by Monica O’Shea via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    A truck drives on a road in Albany, Western Australia, on April 19, 2024. (Susan Mortimer/The Epoch Times)

    A huge truck convoy has descended on Western Australian (WA) roads to protest the Labor government’s ban on live sheep exports.

    More than 1,350 trucks registered to participate in the rally in Perth to send a message to the government about the proposed ban.

    Large trucks with signs “keep the sheep” and “stand with our farmers” were seen on Perth highways on May 31, while onlookers displayed a banner with the words “we love farmers.”

    This comes after the Labor Party introduced legislation to parliament on May 30 that will stop live sheep from being exported from Australia by sea from May 1, 2028.

    The Export Control Amendment (Ending Live Sheep Exports by Sea) Bill 2024 (pdf) amends the Export Control Act 2020 and will delegate sheep to the “permanently prohibited exports” list.

    Shadow Assistant Trade Minister Rick Wilson joined WA Livestock and Rural Transporters Association vice president Ben Sutherland at the convoy.

    “This grass roots movement is gaining momentum and getting overwhelming support in the city as well as the regions,” Mr. Wilson said.

    Mr. Wilson seconded an urgent motion in the House of Representatives seeking a parliamentary inquiry into the decision on May 30.

    “It’s an absolute disgrace, no consultation from the minister or any of the members of the Labor Party with Western Australian farmers,” he said in a video.

    “They’ve made this unilateral announcement, and [it] is now in the parliament in the process of becoming law.”

    WA Livestock and Rural Transporters Association vice president Ben Sutherland, a co-organiser of the rally, and Liberal MP Rick Wilson MP. (Supplied)

    Petition Now Has 33,500 Signatures

    A Keep the Sheep petition against the ban has received 33,500 signatures online at the time of publication.

    “Our campaign is bigger than just politics, it’s about people’s lives and livelihoods,” the group said. “The sheep industry has been the backbone of rural towns for over a hundred years and will soon disappear.”

    The Australian Livestock Exporters’ Council (ALEC) CEO Mark  Harvey-Sutton also rode in the cab of a truck as part of the rally in Perth.

    Mr. Harvey-Sutton said he was pleased to stand together with farmers uniting to have the “disastrous policy” reversed.

    “We know that people across WA support farmers and truckies. We know that West Australians agree that the government destroying livelihoods during a cost of living crisis is unfair,” he said.

    “We won’t stop fighting this ban and it will be an election issue for the Government in Western Australia and beyond.”

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    National Farmers Federation president David Jochinke said the prime minister, agriculture minister, and all parliamentarians need to take a “good look” and what unfolded in Perth.

    “This is a grassroots farmer demonstration of historic proportions,” he said.

    Mr. Jochinke said the convoy in Perth shows the governments have underestimated rural communities and their support for farmers, and voter intelligence.

    “I think people in WA and across Australia will start to wake up to the grubby political deal that’s been done here,” he said.

    “To those convoying today: farmers across Australia are with you. Your willingness to stand up and defend our sector is bloody legendary, and this is just the start.”

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    Explanation for the Live Sheep Ban

    Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said the Australian sheep industry now has the time, support, and certainty it needs to plan effectively for the future

    “We have put $107 million on the table to ensure those affected by the phase out are well-positioned and ready when the trade ends in May 2028,” he said.

    “This is a policy that invests in the future of the Australian sheep industry.”

    Mr. Watt added the government had promised the phase out would not take place in this term of Parliament, and setting an end date of May 1, 2028, fulfils that commitment.

    “While live sheep export numbers have plummeted in the last 20 years, now contributing just 0.1 percent of all national agricultural exports, sheep meat exports are going through the roof.”

    “Australia is now the largest exporter of sheep meat to the world, with nearly $4.5 billion in chilled and frozen sheep meat exported in 2022-23 alone.”

    Mr. Watt was under pressure to investigate the live sheep ban further on May 30, with the Nationals and Liberal Party attempting to bring about an inquiry in the lower house of Parliament.

    Following this, Minister Watt said “of course there will need to be” a Senate inquiry into the legislation on May 30.

    In response, Nationals Leader David Littleproud said Minister Watt had promised a Senate inquiry just “hours” after an inquiry into the same crucial issue was voted down in the House of Representatives.

    Mr. Littleproud said a future Coalition government will “reinstate the live sheep export trade.”

    WA National MLA Mia Davies also took part in the convoy, explaining she was heading to town to let everyone know Albanese needs to do the right thing by WA and “keep the sheep.”

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    In a post to X on May 31, Mr. Watt said Aussie meat exports have soared in just one year of our Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement.

    Mr. Watt shared an image showing beef exports are up 429 percent to $51.8 million and sheep meat exports have risen 19 percent to $100.1 million.

    “It’s delivering for Aussie farmers, workers, and consumers,” he said.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/03/2024 – 18:25

  • Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano Erupts In Area That Was Dormant Since 1974
    Hawaii’s Kilauea Volcano Erupts In Area That Was Dormant Since 1974

    Kilauea, one of the most active volcanoes in the world, is erupting again, and this time in an area that has been inactive for half a century. Alert levels have been raised across Hawaii Volcanoes National Park as there are concerns the eruption could flare up again despite only lasting six hours on Monday. 

    The US Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said the eruption was about 1 mile south of the Kilauea caldera inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The last time this area experienced an eruption was in December 1974. 

    “Glow is visible in webcam imagery, indicating that lava is currently erupting from fissures,” the US Geological Survey said. 

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    HVO raised the Volcano Alert Level for ground-based hazards from a “watch” to a “warning.” The aviation color code in the surrounding area has been elevated from “orange” to “red.”

    Fox News Weather spoke with scientists who say there’s no telling how long the current eruption will last. 

    Before the eruption, USGS reported earthquake swarms on Sunday as magma moved beneath the surface. 

    In 2023, Kilauea erupted in January, June and September. An eruption in 2018 destroyed 700 homes. 

    “From 1983 to 2018, all of the activity came from two vents,” said Michael Poland, a geophysicist with the USGS, who spoke with The New York Times. 

    Poland continued, “Since 2018, it has gone away from a period of steady eruptions. Now it has discrete, usually shortish eruptions happening in several different places. Now we’re getting eruptions happening in places we haven’t seen in 50 years.”

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/03/2024 – 18:00

  • Rubio's Coastal Grill Closing 48 Locations In California Due To "Rising Costs Of Business In The State"
    Rubio’s Coastal Grill Closing 48 Locations In California Due To “Rising Costs Of Business In The State”

    Rubio’s Coastal Grill, best known for its fish tacos, is shuttering 48 locations in California due to the “rising cots of business in the state”, according to a new report from ABC 10. 

    The business, based in Southern California, announced the closures in a statement this weekend that read: “Making the decision to close a store is never an easy one.”

    It continued: “Rubio’s Coastal Grill…after a thorough review of its operations and the current business climate, has decided to close 48 underperforming locations in California as of May 31, while keeping 86 stores in California, Arizona and Nevada open.”

    Jot Condie, president and CEO of the California Restaurant Association, warned that these closures could just be the beginning for the state: “Daily headlines have chronicled job losses, reduced working hours, restaurant closures and higher prices for California’s inflation-weary consumers as a direct result of this minimum wage hike.”

    He continued:  “Feedback from our members suggests this has become a breaking point for many small restaurant businesses.”

    ABC reported that Condie believes more closures will follow if the state follows through on plans for an $18 minimum wage, which will be on the ballot for voters to decide on this November. 

    Rubio’s closed 48 locations, including 11 in Northern California, 24 in Los Angeles, and 13 in San Diego.

    The El Dorado Hills Town Center branch reportedly missed several rent payments, leading to a dispute with the landlord. The center issued a three-day eviction ultimatum to Rubio’s, which closed the site the day after receiving the notice, according to town center spokeswoman Dawn Bricker.

    Bricker noted the business essentially fled overnight. Rubio’s confirmed the closure but did not comment on potential legal actions by the town center.

    The company was founded in 1983 in San Diago and is headquartered in Carlsbad, California. 

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/03/2024 – 17:40

  • Israel Pounds Aleppo In Fresh Attack, Iranian IRGC Casualties Confirmed
    Israel Pounds Aleppo In Fresh Attack, Iranian IRGC Casualties Confirmed

    Israel launched major airstrikes on the northern Syrian city of Aleppo in the overnight hours, which killed an Iranian military adviser, and possibly more Iranian militia members, as well as civilians.

    “At approximately 12:20 AM at dawn on Monday, the Israeli enemy launched an aerial attack with missiles from a direction of southeast Aleppo, targeting a number of points in the vicinity of Aleppo city, and the army air defenses intercepted the aggression’s missiles and shot down some of them,” Syrian state SANA said.

    Via AFP

    “The aggression led to the martyrdom a number of civilians, and some material losses to the property,” the report added.

    Hours after the initial overnight and early morning reports of the attack, Iranian state media confirmed the death of an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officer.

    “During last night’s attack by the Zionist regime on Aleppo, Saeed Abyar, one of the IRGC advisers in Syria, was martyred,” confirmed Iran’s Tasnim news agency.

    But there are unverified reports that many more were killed. The opposition-linked, anti-Assad war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that 16 members of pro-Iran groups were killed in the attack. The main strike location was reportedly at a copper smelting plant and weapons warehouse in the Aleppo countryside. 

    SOHR has documented forty-four Israel attacks on Syria in 2024. This includes:

    “32 airstrikes and 12 rocket attacks by ground forces, during which Israel targeted several positions in Syria, destroying nearly 92 targets, including buildings, weapons and ammunitions warehouses, headquarters, centres and vehicles. These strikes killed 164 combatants and injured 69 others…”

    Days ago, Israel bombed the coastal Syrian city of Baniyas, killing a girl along with ten other civilians, local reports said. 

    Below: unverified footage of the aftermath of the overnight strikes…

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    In the initial days and weeks after Oct.7, Syria had lobbed several rockets toward the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, which left no casualties. Much of the Syrian populace has meanwhile become frustrated and expressed growing anger that the Russian military, which has long had a significant presence inside Syria (especially since 2015), has not done more to try and intercept inbound Israeli jets. But Israel often mounts its attacks from over Lebanese airspace.

    “Moscow strongly condemns these aggressive actions, which come in gross violation of Syria’s sovereignty and basic rules of international law,” Russia’s foreign ministry announced Monday. “Such use of force, which in the current tense regional situation can lead to extremely dangerous consequences and trigger a large-scale armed escalation, are unacceptable.”

    Tensions are soaring especially in the wake of Israel’s April 1st brazen attack on Iran’s embassy in Damascus, which left a high ranking IRGC General and several other Iranian officers dead. Additionally, in southern Lebanon Hezbollah has been upping its attacks on Israel in recent days and weeks. Hezbollah is closely allied with Damascus and Tehran.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/03/2024 – 17:20

  • Lacking Finesse, Lacking Mindfulness
    Lacking Finesse, Lacking Mindfulness

    Submitted by QTR’s Fringe Finance

    While I can count on one hand the number of captivating in-person conversations I’ve had over the last few months (years?), today I lucked out and was gifted a few minutes to catch up on life with someone I genuinely find interesting and feel heard by.

    We ruminated about what was new in our lives and traded ideological cliff notes. At one point, we broached the subject of the beauty of simplicity in life.

    Readers of my free, near daily blog and listeners of my podcast know that for years, I’ve been partially ascribing the decay of Western civilization, led by the political left, to our belief that overanalyzing and overthinking the excruciating minutiae of “problems”—whether they be day-to-day issues, political, social or otherwise— can be effective.

    Instead, I’ve argued, our obsession of identifying “intellectual solutions” has thrown the engine of evolution into reverse. Like the Titanic, we don’t just come to a dead stop and start regressing as a society in a way that’s so obvious that it’s easy to recognize. Rather, progress slowly erodes, then civilization reaches an evolutionary standstill, and only then do we start to slowly regress—tearing down the principles, values, and educational foundations of society little by little.

    In 2024, we are a nation of people whose evolutionary biology stands at stark odds with the world of abundance that surrounds us. What would Cro-Magnon man think of problems like choosing between a Diet Coke and Coke Zero at a car dealership vending machine while trying to determine whether to buy a Chevy Suburban or a Cadillac Escalade? Or which filter to use when taking your 21st selfie of your dog for the day — and then whether you should post it on Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram or all three?

    These are slightly different than the nuanced issues we had to worry about thousands of years ago and, therefore, evolved equipped to deal with.

    It is this widening gap between our age-old hardwiring and modern-day societal expectations, led by sociological and cultural cornerstones like Jerry Springer, Brazilian butt-lifts and The Golden Bachelor, that has caused us to lose sight of what living in a calm state or having a satisfied mind means.

    For Cro-Magnon man, calm was food that night, a warm fire and not dying. End of list.

    Today, calm is something we desperately tell ourselves we feel when we reach a certain number of social media followers, despite never snapping out of the anxious and panicked state we are in. Calm comes in 1.7 second increments, when a dopamine hit from a bite of a Cheesy Gordita Crunch™ and a sip of a Mountain Dew Baja Blast™ futilely attempts to register in any way on our biologically hijacked rewards system, only to have the same success of that of an infant who has yet to take their first steps trying to scale Everest.

    And our modern day inability to find calm and satisfaction is what drives people (myself included) to moments of feeling like they aren’t good enough, aren’t doing enough, aren’t getting what they are entitled to and aren’t being recognized or making a difference.

    As a result, many people constantly living in a panicked state spend their days looking for the thing they think is going to “fix” them and bring them a feeling of content, despite the harsh reality that real equanimity can only come from within. Rather than being introspective, and courageously looking deeply into oneself, people push themselves toward career goals, relationship goals, material things and the like. They keep up with the Joneses. They develop addictions. They buy sh*t on Amazon.

    Thoughts of “fixing” become fixations, and fixations become patterns—patterns which many people continue stuck in for the rest of their lives, regardless of whether they achieve the things they set out for in the first place.

    Similarly, many people fall into the trap of trying to “solve” not just their own problems, but all of the world’s problems. Others become determined to figure out the meaning of life as a whole, striving to comprehend the entire compendium of all human knowledge with very real-sounding aspirations of fixing the world — which are ironically just layered over compensating for their own unprocessed insecurities.

    And why not? It’s something we’re told as a kid: you can change the world.

    🔥 40% OFF FOR LIFE: Using this coupon entitles you to 40% off an annual subscription to Fringe Finance for as long as you wish to remain a subscriber.

    I’m not saying that an individual effort can’t alter the course of history, but I am saying it has given people a false sense of their ability to control the world around them.

    I quote the legendary George Carlin, talking about “saving the planet”:

    We’re so self-important. Everybody’s going to save something now. Save the trees, save the bees, save the whales, save those snails. And the greatest arrogance of all: save the planet.

    Save the planet? We don’t even know how to take care of ourselves yet. I’m tired of this sh*t. I’m tired of f*cking Earth Day. I’m tired of these self-righteous environmentalists, these white, bourgeois liberals who think the only thing wrong with this country is that there aren’t enough bicycle paths.

    Besides, environmentalists don’t give a sh*t about the planet. You know what they’re interested in? A clean place to live. Their own habitat. They’re worried that some day in the future they might be personally inconvenienced. Narrow, unenlightened self-interest doesn’t impress me.

    The planet has been through a lot worse than us. Been through earthquakes, volcanoes, plate tectonics, continental drift, solar flares, sun spots, magnetic storms, the magnetic reversal of the poles … hundreds of thousands of years of bombardment by comets and asteroids and meteors, worldwide floods, tidal waves, worldwide fires, erosion, cosmic rays, recurring ice ages … And we think some plastic bags and some aluminum cans are going to make a difference?

    The planet isn’t going anywhere. We are! We’re going away. Pack your sh*t, folks. We’re going away. And we won’t leave much of a trace, either. Maybe a little Styrofoam.

    The planet will be here and we’ll be long gone. Just another failed mutation. Just another closed-end biological mistake. An evolutionary cul-de-sac. The planet will shake us off like a bad case of fleas. The planet will be here for a long, long, long time after we’re gone, and it will heal itself, it will cleanse itself, ’cause that’s what it does. It’s a self-correcting system. The air and the water will recover, the earth will be renewed.

    And if it’s true that plastic is not degradable, well, the planet will simply incorporate plastic into a new paradigm: the earth plus plastic. The earth doesn’t share our prejudice toward plastic. Plastic came out of the earth. The earth probably sees plastic as just another one of its children.

    Could be the only reason the earth allowed us to be spawned from it in the first place. It wanted plastic for itself. Didn’t know how to make it. Needed us. Could be the answer to our age-old egocentric philosophical question, “Why are we here?”

    Plastic, asshole.

    The key point is: we aren’t in control, no matter how much we would like to be.

    And when people fail to recognize that surrendering control is truly the path towards peace of mind, they substitute it with various stages of pseudo-intellectual faux-academic white noise in the form of focusing on an obscure topic, subdividing it into the smallest possible parts where it retains properties of the idea, then analyzing it further into sub-subatomic particles of human thought.

    In other words, they overthink sh*t. They spend 470 pound-feet of brain torque for a problem that could be solved by a distracted 11 year old playing Xbox in the next room, riffing off the top of his head and carelessly yelling out ideas like his mom just called him for dinner and he’s yelling back “one more minute!”

    People who can’t surrender control redline that engine and arrive at their own “solutions” that not only fail to adhere to the guardrails of logic but often times wind up as a vortex of reason and the polar opposite of common sense.

    How else would a smart and highly evolved civilization arrive at “solutions” like segregated college campuses to fight racism, taking on more debt to pay off our national debt, taxing unrealized gains, setting up injection sites to end drug use and letting criminals out on cashless bond while defunding the police to make us safer?

    These social non sequiturs are the result of what our idea of an “intellectual” is now.

    In days past, thought leaders had simple solutions to even the most complex problems that have been irrefutably time-tested, like when Einstein figured out that e=mc². No one challenged that solution as being too simple because it’s just 5 characters long and no one has “fixed” it further because it just works.

    Even philosophy had an elegant simplicity about it, which is why many people now looking to find a state of calm wind up going back and reading Buddhist texts, stoicism, or transcendentalists. Philosophers like Marcus Aurelius, Thích Nhất Hạnh, Emerson and Thoreau are proof you could think deeply and arrive at simple, powerful, yet humble and understated observations.

    “Life is available only in the present moment.” – Thích Nhất Hạnh

    But today, accolades are distributed not based on the merits of ideas regardless of how much anthropological jargon is used, but based on the ideas that are the most complicated and esoteric sounding, regardless of how effective and reasonable they are.

    In fact, for all the lotus tattoos and yoga retreats, it appears to me that mindfulness and simplicity is often cast aside by many modern day “intellectuals” who incorrectly believe there are no simple or easy solutions to complex problems and that people who think otherwise are simply unenlightened, undereducated bumpkins.

    During the course of our conversation today, my friend also asked me about religion. It took me a second to try and put into words why I have a belief in a power greater than myself — but eventually, the answer arrived: it creates a circuitous loop of logic in my mind that offers me permission to myself to not worry about things that are out of my control. From there, that allows me to live in a simpler, more mindful, and calm manner than I otherwise would.

    A week or two ago, I wrote an article examining the flawed logic, general uselessness, and cowardice of today’s activists, regardless of cause.

    When I watch a couple of teenagers deface a 200-year-old priceless work of art, when I see groups like “Queers for Hamas,” or when I see protesters having visible issues controlling their rage as they scream wildly into the open air about whatever their particular grievances are, I don’t see people that are calm and satisfied. I see people who are genuinely scared and suffering in their lives, only to have turned to the school of over-intellectualization and panic for an “answer” that will very likely make whatever their issue is worse instead of better.

    “Activism is a way for useless people to feel important, even if the consequences of their activism are counterproductive for those they claim to be helping. and damaging to the fabric of society as a whole.” — Thomas Sowell

    For these people, the school of appreciating every day just because we’re alive and breathing simply doesn’t exist. They are held prisoner and tortured by an insatiable, unexplainable dissatisfaction that they can’t put their finger on. For them, there is no stopping and giving thanks — there is only an irrational, synthetically engineered baseline feeling of whatever oppression is trendy that week that feeds off of their insecurities and anxieties like a malnourished tapeworm.

    Which brings us to the present day political sphere, where Donald Trump leads Joe Biden in polls heading into the summer before the election.

    The problem now for many “intellectuals” on the left side of the political aisle is they have over-analyzed themselves into a collective cult of both sociological regression and decadence that is so obvious that many people who would otherwise be in the center of the aisle can’t help but notice. Then, they’ve congratulated themselves for it, given each other awards and convinced themselves they’re geniuses.

    For example, Paul Krugman actually thinks this is funny:

    I wouldn’t worry about the “dibs” on that one Paul. I’m not exactly sure it’s going to be first in line to be ripped off and used royalty free without attribution by a world famous comedian, if you know what I’m saying.

    I’ll level with the left. The Democratic Party is right about some things when it comes to Donald Trump: he can be an asshole, he’s said some chauvinistic sh*t over the years, he’s a cutthroat businessman, he’s a narcissist, and he lies.

    But herein lies the failure of finesse by the left. They don’t have the simplicity of mind to recognize that their targeted ends of keeping Trump out of office do not justify the far more egregious means that they employ.

    Now, many parts of the nation that simply saw an asshole, narcissist and liar a couple of years ago are now seeing an asshole, narcissist and liar who was all but framed for being a traitor, impeached twice for frivolous reasons, has been dragged through the mud by the media every single day that he’s been in the political sphere, and who now is facing 34 felony charges for a private contract that was entered into 10 years ago over an immaterial amount of money — at the same time crime across the country has been all but legalized by liberal district attorneys.

    New York DA Alvin Bragg has spent his career decriminalizing crimes but, in Trump’s case, has elevated a misdemeanor past the statute of limitations to 34 felony counts. Georgia DA Fani Willis has accused Trump of corruption while handing out taxpayer cash and high-prestige job titles to her boyfriend. The recent Trump trial was justified by our current president last week by saying that “nobody is above the law”, but the body of corruption and criminality contained on Hunter Biden’s laptop alone makes it clear that actually, there are some people who are very much above the law.

    It’s a page right out of the aforementioned overanalytical fixation pattern book.

    And while I’ve always thought the term “Trump Derangement Syndrome” was idiotic, the left isn’t doing themselves any favors. The hyperbolic term alludes to a level of cognitive distortion where all bearings and calibration of what is right and wrong fall by the wayside of an obsession to “fix” the problem of Donald Trump.

    Taking a criminal charge that would otherwise not have even been prosecuted and turning it into an legal circus act that could see the leading candidate for president theoretically serve prison time not only shows an unhealthy pattern of obsession with “fixing” the problem the left erroneously believes they have the solution to, it shows a complete and total lack of finesse and the mindfulness that could work well to revive the Democratic Party and its base.

    Like him or not, Donald Trump brings with him a host of simple policy solutions that aren’t overthought, at a point where we don’t have the luxury of any more time for intellectual masturbation or unnecessary complexity: close the border to stop illegal immigration! Put more police on the street and remove lenient DAs to tackle petty crime! Drill f*cking holes in the ground to bring oil prices down!

    The left wants to argue the fact that Trump is a caveman, with caveman ideologies. But the truth is they have “overthought” us so far off the path of reason, that the solutions our nation requires are really are that simple.

    So easy a caveman could do it.

    So I ask: If a person arguing that Donald Trump is unhinged is correct, but that person is five times more unhinged than Trump is, which of the two are going to look like they’re making the most sense when you step back, squint your eyes, and look for clarity in the political Magic Eye puzzle?

    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. These positions can change immediately as soon as I publish this, with or without notice. 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 sh*t wrong a lot. I mention it twice because it’s that important.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/03/2024 – 17:00

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Jun 03

Today’s News 3rd June 2024

  • Macron Gathering European Coalition To Send Military Trainers To Ukraine
    Macron Gathering European Coalition To Send Military Trainers To Ukraine

    French President Emmanuel Macron is busy working behind the scenes on a controversial new initiative to assemble an army of troops from NATO countries to be sent to Ukraine.

    For now, the plan is to send the Western soldiers in the capacity of trainers and military advisers for Ukraine’s armed forces, with the training likely to take place in the West of the war-ravaged country, or at least far from the front lines.

    Via Reuters

    “Paris has been working for a while now with the Ukrainians on this,” a person familiar with France’s initiative told The Financial Times. But the plan hasn’t been launched formally by NATO leadership.

    “The strong view is that it makes sense, technically… But it won’t be a Nato initiative,” the source explained. This as a number of NATO countries have voiced reluctance or even outright disapproval, fearing unnecessary confrontation with Russia and runaway escalation that would put Western troops directly in harm’s way.

    According to more details of Macron’s plan via FT:

    President Emmanuel Macron is expected to unveil France’s plan to send army trainers next Thursday when he hosts Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Normandy along with other leaders, including US President Joe Biden, on the 80th anniversary of the D-Day, according to people familiar with the matter.

    Macron’s proposal would entail French soldiers training Ukrainian personnel for tasks including demining operations or repairing and maintaining military equipment. It could end up involving dozens or hundreds of troops. 

    Already, the hawkish anti-Moscow Baltic states of Estonia and Lithuania appear to have signed onto Macron’s plan. As of a month ago, Estonia said it was “seriously” discussing sending troops to Ukraine.

    The French government has since said it is working with Kiev to try and understand their exact needs in terms of training and advisory operations.

    German Chancellor Olaf Scholtz was among the first who tried to caution against a ‘boots on the ground’ scenario starting back in February. “What was agreed among ourselves and with each other from the very beginning also applies to the future, namely that there will be no ground troops, no soldiers on Ukrainian soil sent there by European countries or NATO states,” he had said.

    Meanwhile, some NATO states are busy abandoning all pretense…

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

    Interestingly, Russian state media is pointing to recent words of Kiev officials to claim that French troops area already en route to Ukraine. According to RT:

    The first group of French military instructors are on their way to Ukraine, senior Ukrainian MP Aleksey Goncharenko said on Friday. This comes just days after Ukraine’s top commander, Aleksandr Syrsky, announced that he had completed paperwork facilitating the presence of French personnel in the country.

    “My sources informed me that the first group of French instructors is already on its way to Ukraine,” Goncharenko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament and delegate to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday evening.

    Russia has warned it will target NATO personnel and equipment found in Ukraine, and so all of this brings with it the real risk of triggering the NATO Article 5 common defense treaty, which some hawkish Western leaders would argue requires going to war with Russia.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/03/2024 – 02:45

  • Ruling Party 'Obliterated' In South Africa Election
    Ruling Party ‘Obliterated’ In South Africa Election

    Authored by Darren Taylor via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    People hang out in the street in the Alexandra township on May 31, 2024 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

    “South Africa’s a new country today, but I’m really afraid of that. We don’t know what that looks like,” Pieter Fourie, a middle-aged, middle-class man walking his shaggy Alsatian through autumn leaves on a street in Melville, Johannesburg, said.

    His younger companion, Sally Kruger, sighed.

    “For many years we prayed to get rid of the ANC [African National Congress]. We watched as it destroyed our beautiful country,” she said, gesturing toward a gaping pothole filled with muddy water.

    “But now that the ANC’s fallen so badly, so fast, in such a shocking way, I’m finding it hard to find a reason to celebrate.”

    Ms. Kruger’s voice trailed off, almost drowned out by screeches from a flock of African ibises.

    “I mean, look at what’s rising to replace it!” she exclaimed. “Something even worse. We were in trouble under the ANC. Now we’re in even bigger trouble.”

    The couple’s insightful musings reflect the concerns of many citizens in Africa’s largest economy, and its most developed democracy, as the implications of the May 29 election filter through the suburbs, townships, and villages of this “Rainbow Nation” of 62 million.

    The ANC, in power since Nelson Mandela led it to a sweeping victory in South Africa’s first multiracial, multiparty poll in 1994 to end white minority apartheid rule, has captured less than 40 percent of the vote, with almost all ballots counted.

    The stunning result is reverberating around the world and was predicted by only one survey in the runup to the election.

    Most polls had support for the ANC at about 45 to 48 percent.

    That outcome would’ve still pushed it into a coalition government, but one that would’ve enabled it to continue exerting dominance in terms of policy direction with support from a few small parties over which it could wield its authority.

    Now, if it’s to hold on to a semblance of power, the ANC will have to form a coalition with a larger opposition party, or parties, which it won’t be able to push around.

    By law, the new government must be announced within 14 days, so it doesn’t have much time to negotiate its way back into the Union Buildings.

    The ANC’s potential partners could not be more different.

    Voters wait in line at night outside the city hall voting station in Durban on May 29, 2024. South Africans vote on May 29, 2024, in what may be the most consequential election in decades. (Zinyange AuntonyY/AFP via Getty Images)

    On the one side is the centrist Democratic Alliance (DA), which has won 22 percent of the vote and up until now has been the official opposition.

    The DA is led by a middle-aged white man, John Steenhuisen, who’s often accused by the ANC of wanting to preserve “white privilege.”

    The DA is pro-business and pro-West, and wants to end affirmative action and replace it with “merit-based” employment, privatize state-owned companies, and weaken the “untrammeled” power of ANC-affiliated labor unions.

    These policies are “poisonous,” to the ANC, the party’s secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula, said in an interview with The Epoch Times shortly before the election.

    On the other side of the chasm are two radical leftist parties led by charismatic, allegedly corrupt black men who once vowed to “die for the ANC”: Umkhonto we Sizwe (MKP), whose figurehead is former President Jacob Zuma, 82, and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), whose “commander-in-chief” is Julius Malema, 43.

    Together, the MKP, with 15 percent, and the EFF, with a little less than 10 percent, have won almost a quarter of votes cast.

    If they form a coalition, they could replace the DA as the official opposition.

    The MKP and EFF are “natural bedfellows,” according to professor Dirk Kotze, governance expert at the University of South Africa in Pretoria.

    People walk in front of the National Ballot results board showing live voting results at the IEC National Results Center on May 30, 2024 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

    Both are “proudly Marxist” and, like the ANC, are fervent supporters of regimes in China, Russia, Iran, and Zimbabwe.

    Both accuse the ANC of “selling out” to white capitalists.

    Both advocate seizing white-owned land, including farms, and “nationalizing” mines and banks.

    MKP and EFF say all forms of private wealth must be “equally redistributed” among South Africa’s estimated 27 million poor people, mostly black.

    Both want to cut trade ties with Western countries in favor of closer cooperation with a “Multipolar World Order” led by Beijing.

    Both have made statements vilifying white citizens; Mr. Malema has twice been found guilty of racist hate speech against white people.

    Should the ANC choose to partner with one, or both, of these extremist parties to form a coalition government, financial experts say it’ll trigger taxpayer and investor flight and herald the collapse of South Africa’s economy, which is built on gold, platinum, an advanced banking system, and agriculture.

    “There’s a faction inside the ANC that remains pro-Zuma and actually admires Malema and agrees with EFF and MKP policies,” Melanie Verwoerd, an independent political analyst and former ANC member of parliament, said.

    Electoral Commission of South Africa officials empty a ballot box during the vote counting process at Addington Primary School voting station during South Africa’s general election in Durban on May 29, 2024. (Rajesh Jantilal/AFP via Getty Images)

    “Then there’s a more moderate part of the ANC, under [current President] Cyril Ramaphosa, that realize the terrible implications of signing up with either MKP or EFF,” she told The Epoch Times. “This part will prefer to go into coalition with the DA, but they probably don’t have the upper hand at the moment because the ANC under Ramaphosa has performed so poorly in the election.”

    Mr. Steenhuisen told The Epoch Times the DA “remains willing to listen to the reasonable people still left” in the ANC.

    “We’ll do what’s best for all South Africans,” he said. “We must keep the country out of the hands of the extremists. We must believe them when they tell us exactly what they’ll do with power. They’ll sow racial hatred. They’ll steal private property. They’ll launch a pogrom against white people and legal and illegal African migrants. They’ll sell the country to the Chinese and Russians. They’ll sink more millions into poverty by antagonizing Western investors and trade partners. They’ll make the ANC’s corruption look like small change.”

    ANC’s implosion

    Mr. Kotze told The Epoch Times the ANC has been a “victim of its own folly and blindness.”

    “It’s still a political force in South Africa, but no longer a force to be reckoned with,” he said. “This election has obliterated it.”

    Mr. Kotze added that voters had “lambasted” the ANC for 20 years of “consistent failures” on almost all fronts, including governance, the economy, and law enforcement.

    “Things started well under Mandela, and things were quite good for a while under [President Thabo] Mbeki,“ he said. ”But when Mbeki started losing control of the ANC around the mid-2000s, to people who just wanted to steal and had no idea how to govern, that’s when South Africa’s downward trajectory began.”

    In the months leading up to the May 29 vote, political think-tanks, analysts, and experts branded it the most significant in 30 years.

    The ANC was badly wounded, they said, broken by a criminal class within its ranks that had stolen billions of rands, its corruption and mismanagement bankrupting state-owned enterprises to such a degree that ports and railways no longer work, electricity outages plunging South Africa into darkness and economic paralysis on a daily basis.

    An Electoral Commission of South Africa official holds up a marked ballot during the vote-counting process at the Norwood school polling station in Durban on May 29, 2024, during South Africa’s general election. (Gianluigi Guercia/AFP via Getty Images)

    “Entire towns have been wiped off the face of the earth by the maladministration of ANC municipalities,” Prince Mashele, of South Africa’s Centre for Politics and Research, said.

    Failure to curb violent crime, including a murder rate that now stands at 84 per day, also dealt it a “death blow,” he said.

    Mr. Kotze said the ANC’s black economic empowerment and “cadre deployment” policies have made people close to the ruling party extremely rich but failed to pull millions out of extreme poverty, reflected in the world’s highest “real” unemployment rate, 41 percent.

    Going into the election, though, Mr. Ramaphosa would only acknowledge that his party had made “a few mistakes,” never explaining exactly what those mistakes were, and never apologizing.

    “That was a huge miscalculation on his part,” Mr. Mashele said.

    As the election approached, the ANC remained confident, in public at least, that voters would elect it back into government by a “large majority,” in Mr. Ramaphosa’s words.

    “South Africans know we are the only ones who can improve their lives,” the president said at a rally in Soweto.

    Mr. Kotze said the ANC’s “arrogance harmed it immensely” in the election.

    Even when the scale of the destruction suffered by the party became clear on May 31, senior ANC official Gwede Mantashe, one of Mr. Ramaphosa’s closest aides, told journalists: “Leave predictions and polls aside. Votes are still flowing in. I’m optimistic we’ll easily reach more than 50 percent.”

    Women cast their votes at a polling station in Auckland Park on May 29, 2024, in Johannesburg. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

    Amid the melee of the results hub of South Africa’s Independent Electoral Commission near Johannesburg, analyst Wayne Sussman told The Epoch Times: “When counting began at pace on Thursday, I confidently projected the ANC would end on 45 percent. To have the ANC now at around 40 percent, with almost all results declared, tells you the tale of the damage suffered by Africa’s oldest former liberation movement. This is a party that got 70 percent of the national vote in 2004! Its implosion has been amazing. A historic new era of coalition governance has begun, and it’s probably going to be extremely volatile and chaotic.”

    That volatility and chaos has already begun: News that the ANC will have to form a coalition government, and the uncertainty this will bring, has caused prices of shares in major South African companies and the value of the rand to plummet.

    A week ago, the rand was trading at 18 to the United States dollar; now it’s at almost 19.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 06/03/2024 – 02:00

  • Girls Are Getting Their Periods Earlier, And They’re More Irregular Than Past Generations
    Girls Are Getting Their Periods Earlier, And They’re More Irregular Than Past Generations

    Authored by Megan Redshaw, J.D. via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    (Aleksandra Suzi/Shutterstock)

    Young girls are starting their first periods earlier than they have in previous decades—a shift associated with adverse health outcomes later in life.

    A new study published on May 29 in JAMA Network Open revealed that the median age at menarche has remained relatively stable at around 12 years, and the proportion of girls starting menstruation before age 11 has significantly increased over time.

    Menarche, or the first menstrual period, marks the beginning of the monthly hormonal cycle and reproductive lifespan. Additionally, it signifies the end of female puberty.

    Researchers with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Apple Women’s Health Study examined data from more than 71,000 U.S. women born between 1950 and 2005, encompassing various ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds. They aimed to determine the age at which these women experienced their first menstrual cycle and how long it took for their cycle to become regular.

    The study found that nearly 16 percent of women born between 2000 and 2005 started their menstrual cycles between ages 9 and 11, compared to almost 9 percent of those born between 1950 and 1969. Additionally, researchers observed an increase in the number of women experiencing irregular menstrual cycles for three years or more after menarche.

    When stratifying trends by race and ethnicity, participants who were Asian, Hispanic, non-Hispanic black, or of other or multiple races or ethnicities were consistently more likely to experience early menarche than non-Hispanic white participants.

    An exploratory analysis of a subset of 9,865 participants estimated that 46 percent of the trend could be attributed to body mass index—a measure of a person’s body fat based on height and weight. The authors noted that obesity is a risk factor for early-onset puberty and that childhood obesity is on the rise in the United States, which could explain the trend toward earlier menarche. However, it’s unknown to what extent changes in early BMI affect the trend. The underlying cause of the remaining 54 percent experiencing early menarche remains unclear.

    Menstrual Cycle Considered Vital Sign of Health

    The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) considers the menstrual cycle to be a vital sign of overall health, and irregularities can indicate underlying health issues, such as hormonal imbalances, thyroid disorders, or other medical conditions. The menstrual cycle also involves the immune system as uterine immune cells undergo substantial changes and facilitate the thickening and thinning of the uterine lining.

    According to ACOG, girls typically have their first period between 12 and 13 years of age, but it takes a few years for menstrual cycles to become regular. Until then, adolescents may experience irregular periods as their bodies adjust to new hormonal patterns.

    Early Periods May Cause Health Problems

    A growing body of evidence, including the current study, links early menarche and a longer time to regularity with an increased risk of health conditions, such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes, asthma, multiple sclerosis, metabolic conditions, and all-cause mortality.

    A 2021 study published in the Annals of Epidemiology found that earlier menarche in girls and a longer time to reach menstrual regularity were associated with an increased risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality. Girls who started their first period at age 11 or younger were at an increased risk of death from diabetes, breast cancer, and other cancers compared to those who had their first period at 13 years.

    A 2021 study in Cancer Research found that early exposure to sex hormones associated with early-onset menstruation is associated with an increased risk of seven cancers in middle-aged women.

    A 2020 systematic review and meta-analysis of 28 studies in PLOS Medicine found that girls who experience earlier menarche have an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance in adulthood.

    In a meta-analysis of eight prospective studies involving 4,553 subjects with endometrial cancer, researchers found that an earlier age of menarche is associated with an increased risk of endometrial cancer. Likewise, a previous study by the same authors found a “statistically significant inverse association” between ovarian cancer and later menarcheal age.

    Evidence also suggests early menarche may enhance multiple sclerosis disease activity in children. In a Canadian prospective study, researchers found a 36 percent decrease in the probability of having a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis for each year menarche was delayed, although a delayed-onset menstrual cycle accompanies its adverse health problems.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 06/02/2024 – 23:20

  • US Secret Service Reacts To Trump’s Criminal Conviction
    US Secret Service Reacts To Trump’s Criminal Conviction

    The US Secret Service on Friday said that Donald Trump’s conviction in his ‘hush money’ trial will have “no bearing” on whether the agency will protect him.

    Surrounded by campaign staff and members of the U.S. Secret Service, former U.S. President Donald Trump (C) waves to supporters as he visits the Iowa Pork Producers Tent at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa, on Aug. 12, 2023. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

    According to the agency, “today’s outcome has no bearing on the manner in which the United States Secret Service carries out its protective mission,” adding that “our security measures will proceed unchanged,” the Epoch Times‘ Jack Phillips reports.

    Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts for falsifying business records in connection with a 2016 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. He will face sentencing on July 11, during which Judge Juan Merchan could toss the former president in jail. Prosecutors have not indicated whether they will push for this, while Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg (who downgraded 60% of felonies in his district to misdemeanors, while elevating a an obscure, rarely prosecuted crime to a felony in Trump’s case).

    As the Epoch Times notes, several weeks ago, the Secret Service issued a similar statement to The Epoch Times regarding how it would handle the former president’s security if he were jailed, coming after Judge Merchan warned him that he would be prepared to send him to jail over comments that he said violated his earlier gag order.

    On May 8, the agency responded to questions about how the Secret Service would respond if President Trump were jailed, saying that “under federal law, the United States Secret Service must provide protection for current government leaders, former Presidents and First Ladies, visiting heads of state and other individuals designated by the President of the United States.”

    That comment also didn’t go into specifics about how it would handle security. At the time, the spokesperson did not respond to a question about whether a Secret Service agent could be stationed in a cell with the former president.

    “For all settings around the world, we study locations and develop comprehensive and layered protective models that incorporate state-of-the-art technology, protective intelligence, and advanced security tactics to safeguard our protectees,” the spokesperson said. “Beyond that, we do not comment on specific protective operations.”

    The lead attorney for President Trump, Todd Blanche, told CNN that he thinks the former president should not face prison time, in part due to his age. President Trump, 77, also has no prior convictions, he noted.

    “There’s a system in place where you rely on precedent, and somebody like President Trump should never, never face a jail sentence based on this conduct,” Mr. Blanche said.

    “And it would just kind of confirm what we’ve been saying all along,” he continued. “And a lot of people say that we’re wrong and that we’re missing key pieces. But if other 77-year-old, first-time offenders would never be sent to prison for this conduct.”

    Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg downgraded 60 percent of his felony cases to misdemeanors in 2023.

    The charge he was convicted of, falsifying business records, carries a maximum sentence of four years in prison. Others convicted of that crime often receive shorter sentences, fines, or probation, but the judge in the case said during jury selection that President Trump faces a potential jail sentence.

    After the conviction was handed down on Thursday evening, Judge Merchan set the sentencing date for July 11, or four days before the start of the Republican National Convention. President Trump is the presumptive GOP nominee for president.

    Incarceration would not prevent President Trump from campaigning or taking office if he were to win during the November election. He also will not be jailed ahead of his sentencing.

    After two days of deliberation, a jury of New Yorkers found President Trump guilty of all 34 criminal counts he faced for falsifying documents to cover up payments to Stormy Daniels in the final days of his successful 2016 campaign. The former president pleaded not guilty, denied allegations from Ms. Daniels about an affair, and said the payments were standard legal expenses.

    Falsifying business documents is normally a misdemeanor in New York, but prosecutors in District Attorney Bragg’s office elevated the case to a felony on the grounds that President Trump was concealing an illegal campaign contribution.

    He still faces three other criminal prosecutions, but the New York verdict could be the only one handed down before Americans vote, as the other cases have been tied up in legal wrangling. President Trump has pleaded not guilty in all four cases, which he says are politically motivated.

    “If this can happen to me, it can happen to anyone,” he posted on social media, describing the New York trial as “rigged.”

    National opinion polls show President Trump locked in a tight race with President Joe Biden, and one in four Republican respondents in an April Reuters-Ipsos poll said they would not vote for him if he were convicted of a felony by a jury.

    Allen Zhong and Reuters contributed to this report.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 06/02/2024 – 22:45

  • China Ramps Up Warning On Bond-Buying Frenzy With PBOC Selling in Focus
    China Ramps Up Warning On Bond-Buying Frenzy With PBOC Selling in Focus

    By John Liu and Zheng Wu, Bloomberg Markets Live reporters and strategists

    Three things we learned last week:

    1. China’s central bank gave its strongest warning yet against overheating in the government bond market. A paper backed by the People’s Bank of China said the monetary authority is ready to sell bonds if needed and suggested a reasonable range for the 10-year yield should be 2.5% to 3%.

    PBOC’s repeated warnings against what it deems as excessively low yields have largely been shrugged off by investors. Unconvinced by China’s economic recovery and housing rescue plans, bond bulls have been betting the central bank will have to do more, such as lowering interest rates and even turning to the controversial step of quantitative easing.

    Investors may have to take it more seriously this time. The PBOC has every reason to be concerned over falling interest rates. While cheaper borrowing costs have benefits, a yawning yield gap with the US is adding pressure on the yuan and fueling bearish sentiment toward Chinese assets — raising the risk of capital outflows.

    The central bank may want to root out expectations of aggressive monetary easing. Such speculations have led to an influx of money into the bond market, draining bank deposits and funds available for the real economy. It may perhaps be sending a subtle message to the Ministry of Finance that the the heavy-lifting of growth should come from the fiscal side.

    2. China’s factory activity unexpectedly contracted with the official manufacturing purchasing manager index falling to 49.5. While more focus was given to the sudden weakness, the non-manufacturing gauge also flashed a warning with a slower-than-expected expansion. Together, they put in doubt the ability of China to reach the growth target of around 5% this year.

    China’s recovery this year has largely been driven by export-oriented firms as domestic consumption is weighed down by the real estate slump. That pillar of strength is at risk of losing its mojo as trade tensions rise along with more protectionist measures against Chinese products. Persistent demand weakness may also be starting to erode production strength, according to Citi analysts.

    While stock market reaction was muted right after the PMI data release, key equity gauges ended Friday in the red while the yuan also slipped against the dollar. The weakness in eco data tends to draw mixed reaction among investors, with some seeing it as a positive signal for more policy support while others regard it as just another reason to sell Chinese assets.

    3. Last week started with renewed excitement over property support as top-tier cities joined the easing bandwagon, but the upbeat mood didn’t last long. A Bloomberg Intelligence index tracking China’s developer stocks slid around 6% in the five days through Friday, taking its loss since a May 17 high to roughly 19%.

    Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou lowered requirements for home downpayments and cut the minimum rates charged for mortgages, following through on the central government’s aid for the embattled property sector. The fact that property shares fell despite the easing measures from China’s biggest cities shows the bar to satisfy frustrated investors is getting higher and higher.

    The mood is more cautious among fixed-income managers, who pay closer attention to the developers’ credit risks. They say the sector is not out of the woods yet, with their refinancing options limited ahead of near-term maturity walls. As the chorus grows for even more policy support, it’s unclear how and when the property crisis can be solved. The country has the equivalent of 60 million unsold apartments, which will take more than four years to sell without government aid, according to Bloomberg Economics.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 06/02/2024 – 22:37

  • 5 Ways Fed Medicine Is Worse Than The Disease
    5 Ways Fed Medicine Is Worse Than The Disease

    Via SchiffGold.com,

    Central bank monetary tactics have proven to be a toxic remedy, amplifying rather than curing economic ailments. Like a surgeon whose operation only worsens the patient’s condition, central banks administer policies that do more harm than good. Here are five ways central banks leave a legacy of financial turmoil.

    The following article was originally published by the Mises Institute. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Peter Schiff or SchiffGold.

    Central banks’ monetary policies are the most perverse government intervention. Their consequences are dire, last for a very long time, and people don’t perceive them as problems or don’t comprehend the damage they are doing. Monetary policy (monetary expansion and artificially low interest rates) has five main consequences that harm overall living standards.

    1. Price Inflation

    This is the most obvious consequence, and yet, it is very misunderstood by voters. If the money that is effectively circulating in the economy (i.e., M1 and M2, or for a better perspective, the true money supply) increases, price inflation tends to increase. The expansion of the money supply destroys consumer purchasing power and makes people poorer over time.

    2. Bigger Government

    Government spending and indebtedness are intensified due to expansionary monetary policies (since central banks buy government bonds). More resources are allocated to pay for politicians’ and bureaucrats’ luxurious lives and for government programs that, at their best, are more expensive compared to a free market solution. Governments don’t have an incentive to allocate the resources efficiently (since they can just raise taxes, go deeper into debt, or print money), so anything that it does ends up being more expensive than it would have been without monetary intervention.

    3. Financial Assets Become Overpriced

    Monetary policy is behind the major financial crisis and its precedent asset bubbles.

    The stock market is overpriced because artificially low interest rates raise the present value of corporations’ future earnings, making their stocks go higher without having sound fundamental indicators. Artificially low rates also incentivize people to go into debt to buy stocks, which raises their prices. Plus, some central banks (like the Bank of Japan and the Swiss National Bank) have stocks on their balance sheets, which also appreciates their prices due to the artificial demand.

    Real estate prices are inflated as well. Houses and buildings are what Rothbard would call “higher order” goods due to their very long capital structure. He notes,

    The supply of funds for investment apparently increases, and the interest rate is lowered. Businessmen, in short, are misled by the bank inflation into believing that the supply of saved funds is greater than it really is. Now, when saved funds increase, businessmen invest in “longer processes of production,” i.e., the capital structure is lengthened, especially in the “higher orders” most remote from the consumer.

    Overpriced real estate assets also turn houses, apartments, and commercial properties into an asset class (something to invest in and, in theory, protect oneself from the very inflation that caused the real estate prices to go up in the first place) rather than what they would be if it wasn’t for the government’s meddling: houses and apartments for living, and commercial properties for economic activities, either by renting or buying.

    4. Economic Inequality

    This one is linked to our previous argument. Thanks to loose monetary policy, financial assets appreciate without being backed by proper fundamentals. Richer people (the ones who have the most financial assets) get even richer not because their investments are improving companies’ productivity (providing more or better goods and services), but because their assets are being inflated by monetary policy.

    The financial market turns out to be less accessible for the average Jane and Joe due to the following:

    • Stocks are more expensive and risky and therefore less attractive for one who can’t afford to lose a lot of money.

    • The bond market is also less attractive since their prices go higher due to the artificial demand from the new money supply; hence, its rates go lower. This makes the bonds attractive for people who want to buy them as a speculation on their price (if rates go even lower, their prices go up and the investor makes a profit). Alas, since bonds are expensive, average people can’t afford the risk.

    • Financial markets become more complex since there are a lot more tricky instruments (like derivatives) to deal with market volatility (which would be lower if not for government poking) or to increase returns (not without higher risks). And the use of such instruments by asset managers makes their expenses and fees go higher, which also increases their required minimal investments (excluding the less-fortunate people from the game). Side note: government regulations for financial markets, like the ones of agencies like the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (yes, this is a private corporation, but it is a monopoly imposed by the government) and the Securities and Exchange Commission, also increase required minimal investments.

    So, the average Jane and Joe have fewer tools to get richer. And this keeps getting worse as long as central banks keep up with their dovish monetary policy.

    Housing also becomes less affordable, and average people must sacrifice a lot more (and for a much longer time) to save for buying a home. What would be a simple task turns into a long and tiresome effort. This diminished the number of first-time homebuyers, and young people had to delay it. But now, even people in their thirties are living with their parents or other relatives. And homelessness is increasing in major cities like Los Angeles and Lisbon (both foreigners and Portuguese people).

    5. Higher Time Preference Equals Less Economic Growth and More Indebtedness

    Artificially low interest rates destroy the incentive for savings. In many cases, even if price inflation is low, the return on savings does not compensate for the time that people didn’t use the money. The overall time preference gets higher. People are not willing to wait to spend their money. If there is no return, they might as well party right away.

    Indebtedness also increases for consumption instead of being used for investments that would increase productivity and economic growth. This also makes prices go higher than they would be because higher productivity tends to lower prices, and this process is, best-case scenario, delayed by lower savings. In other words, governments don’t let deflation (which would make prices go lower over time) happen.

    Price inflation itself also creates an incentive to spend right away (since the purchasing power gets lower every year), and artificially low interest rates make the money market (which would be an easy tool people could resort to for parking their savings) not attractive. And, since overall time preference is higher, most people don’t settle for just preserving their purchasing power (which sometimes can be achieved with gold). They want a fast and high return, a dangerous combination. So, they go to the stock market, which is overpriced thanks to a loose monetary policy, which was covered earlier.

    Conclusion

    Government interventions through central banks are the most destructive and yet the least understood by most people. It is a bad enough problem to deal with on its own, and even harder to do so when people fail to perceive its damage. Central banks are the source of most evils in the economy.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 06/02/2024 – 21:00

  • Nvidia CEO Nvidia's Jensen Huang Reveals New AI Chip Slated For 2026
    Nvidia CEO Nvidia’s Jensen Huang Reveals New AI Chip Slated For 2026

    At the 2024 Taipei International Information Technology Show, better known as Computex, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang highlighted the endless possibilities surrounding artificial intelligence. He unveiled plans for new AI accelerator chips, signaling the company’s shift from graphics cards to AI chips. 

    In March, Nvidia unveiled the $70,000 Blackwell B200 GPU chip, the “world’s most powerful AI chip.” On Sunday, Huang told the audience about the Rubin AI chip slated for 2026. He said the new chip would use HBM4, the next iteration of the essential high-bandwidth memory. 

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    Huang stressed that companies that fail to embrace AI will be left behind. He said companies can only manage the “computation inflation” of ever-expanding data needs through AI chips. 

    Combining two processors on a personal computer is already standard practice for increasing computational power, but try this at a data center…

    “We add a GPU, a $500 GPU, to a $1,000 PC, and the performance increases tremendously,” he said, adding, “We do this in a data center. A billion-dollar data center, we add $500 million worth of GPUs, and all of a sudden, it becomes an AI factory.”

    “The more you buy, the more you save. This is the CEO’s math. It is not accurate, but it is correct!” the executive told the audience. 

    Huang’s new chip unveiling comes ahead of Monday’s cash session in New York. The company’s shares are inching closer to the $3 trillion valuation mark.

    TechRadar’s John Loeffler had a running blog during Computex, commenting on Huang’s speech. One big takeaway from Loeffler is Nvidia’s transformation from a graphics card company to an AI chip company. 

    They [Nvidia] are no longer a graphics company, as Jensen reportedly told employees several months back, and every Nvidia keynote and live stream I’ve watched in the last year and a half really just reinforces that fact.

    Nvidia is absolutely, 100% going to become an AI chip company, and whatever gaming appendage sticks around for a few years will become less and less of a focus for the company.

    There’s nothing particularly wrong with that, to be honest. Nvidia is printing money hand over fist selling AI hardware to OpenAI, Google, and all the rest, so from a business perspective, it makes perfect sense. It’d be the height of madness not to position yourself at the center of an industry that’s giving you 10x better returns than what you were doing before.

    Its AI revenue, even if AMD and Intel eventually produce AI data center hardware that offers genuine competition to whatever Nvidia is producing down the road, is still going to dwarf whatever money its GeForce products bring in. GeForce might continue for some time, especially on mobile devices where RTX chips can be a way to interface with Nvidia’s broader AI ecosystem, but I think in the end, the consumer graphics market is going to come down the AMD and Intel. I just don’t see Nvidia’s heart being in the consumer graphics game any longer.

    Loeffler continued:

    If it helps Nvidia sleep better at night to call what its making now GPUs, they’re the ones with the $2 trillion valuation, they can do as they like. But there’s a part of me, the life-long PC gamer part of me, that feels like Nvidia has decided that the PC gamers that initially propelled the company to success two decades ago don’t really matter anymore.

    Huang didn’t offer many specifics on the new chip that will begin shipping in 2026. However, during an earnings call earlier this year, the exec said the chip giant will design new platforms annually, down from every two years. 

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 06/02/2024 – 20:25

  • Trump Campaign Raises Staggering $200 Million Since Thursday Conviction
    Trump Campaign Raises Staggering $200 Million Since Thursday Conviction

    If Democrats needed further confirmation that prosecuting Donald Trump on an obscure misdemeanor elevated to a felony just for him… (while the same DA reduced 60% of felonies to misdemeanors last year), the Trump campaign has raised over $200 million since Thursday’s verdict in the former president’s New York ‘hush money’ trial.

    Of that, $70 million was from small donors, and 30% of the total were first-time donors to a political campaign, Eric Trump told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on Sunday.

    “I mean, these are Americans who are p*ssed off, said the younger Trump. “They’re coming out of the woodwork and they want to support a guy that they just believe is getting bamboozled by a system.

    “We saw it with Impeachment one, we saw it with Impeachment two, we see it where they weaponize every liberal DA and AG across the country with one intent: To take him down, to slander him, to ruin his reputation, to try and divide his family, to try and bankrupt him, to throw him in jail, to do whatever the hell they can do,” he added.

    “America sees through it. They know exactly what’s going on.”

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    As the Post Millennial notes further;

    The $200 million was raised in a matter of just three days, which far surpasses any amount raised by President Biden’s campaign in a similar time frame. Within 24 hours of President Trump’s guilty verdict, the Trump campaign received $53 million in donations. The Biden campaign raised a total of $51 million for all of April.

    According to a Friday statement by Trump campaign officials Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, “Biden and his Democrat allies have turned our legal system into a political tool, and Americans from every corner of the country have had enough,” adding “This momentum is just getting started and together, as President Trump stated perfectly, Americans will render the real verdict on November 5.”

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 06/02/2024 – 19:15

  • Good Thing Markets Don't Close At 2:30 pm
    Good Thing Markets Don’t Close At 2:30 pm

    By Peter Tchir of Academy Securities

    Good Thing Markets Don’t Close at 2:30 pm

    Sometimes weeks shortened by holidays are painful to follow. It somehow seems difficult to get a good sense of flows and momentum. In addition, last week had a dearth of economic data, at least until Friday. Let’s be honest, when we are looking at Treasury auction results for direction, we are in a market devoid of much else going on.

    The market did seem to digest the news that a former president and presumptive nominee was found guilty of felonies. At some point, markets are likely to focus on the election. The one thing I’m reasonably sure about regarding the election is that as the campaigning begins in earnest, it will not be great for Treasuries. Neither candidate/party seems particularly interested in doing anything about the ballooning national debt and that will weigh on markets yet again.

    Other factors such as “okay” inflation data will also impact Treasuries. We crawled back into our 4.3% to 4.5% range, but largely on a simply atrocious Chicago PMI report. While we can all agree that neither Chicago, nor Manufacturing are as important to the nation as they once were, it is at least mildly disturbing that we surpassed the 2001 trough (though we are marginally higher than the 2008/2009 and COVID troughs).

    Which brings me to the chart of the day.

    The Nasdaq 100 dropped about 300 points on the week or about 1.5%. Not horrible, but late into the day on Tuesday and late into the day on Friday (which also happened to be month-end), the Nasdaq 100 gained about 470 points (about 2.5%). Now, maybe the “hockey stick” save into the close on Tuesday is explicable, but we saw those gains fade as the week progressed. However, Friday’s action seemed bizarre at best. Presumably, it was due to some sort of month-end rebalancing, but it was hardly something that a continued rally seems likely to be based on.

    That is in addition to some of the moves (up and down) highlighted in yellow, that seem almost random. Sure, some can be tied to a specific headline, but many just seem to be reactions to flows.

    I’m increasingly worried about a lack of “true” liquidity in the markets. Sure, algos create a perception of liquidity (one that can be used in reasonable size), but those pockets of liquidity seem to disperse more and more frequently.

    Without a doubt, in a quiet tape, the relentless buying from share repurchases has helped, but that didn’t seem to work last week.

    One thing that caught me somewhat by surprise was that going back to March 1st, the S&P 500 is up 2.4%. No, I’m not surprised that despite all the hype and relentless “all-time high” headlines, stocks are barely up over the last 3 months. What surprised me (a little) was that the utilities sector was by far the best performing sector in the S&P 500 (up a whopping 16.4% over that period).

    We have stretched the AI Deputization theme to its limit. Yes, data centers are being built. More and more computing power is also being built. They will need energy to run, but I suspect that will take time and the markets are “compressing” time. We’ve pulled forward lots and lots of expected cashflows and benefits from AI. NVDA remains strong and is up over 30% since March 1st, but even the AI leadership doesn’t seem broad and has relied on utilities. That all seems “stretched” to me.

    We continue to see large stocks react 10% (or far more) to earnings, which I interpret to be a function of options and a lack of true liquidity.

    Maybe we will grind higher again, but markets seem stretched, leadership is flagging, and we should get some interesting data this week. I care far less about the inflation data and far more about the data pointing to economic activity and the consumer.

    The May jobs data should be really interesting. From a “seasonal” perspective, it should pick up summer hiring in the Northeast. I continue to wonder if our “seasonal” adjustments no longer match the reality of a country where the demographic mix and manufacturing/service hubs have changed over time (away from the Northeast). Maybe the corollary of Chicago doesn’t matter, but is this why we’ve been overstating jobs due to seasonality, which is no longer accurate?

    Bottom Line

    I expect “American Exceptionalism” to be sorely tested this coming week with the onslaught of data (jobs in particular).

    I’m increasingly nervous that we are about to undergo another round of selling pressure in Treasuries. Foreign bond yields are getting more attractive, the deficit is concerning, and China (amongst others) needs to raise money to fund stimulus. However, I think the economic data will outweigh that and keep us drifting back towards 4.3% on 10s.

    Equities got the “stick save” on Friday, but I think that will fade and every attempt to rally on lower yields that are a result of weaker data will fade. I just don’t see a third “save” coming and it won’t matter that markets don’t close at 2:30 pm, because there won’t be the late day rally!

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 06/02/2024 – 18:40

  • German Policeman Dies After Intervening In Stabbing At Anti-Islam Rally
    German Policeman Dies After Intervening In Stabbing At Anti-Islam Rally

    Update (2000ET): A 29-year-old German police officer who was repeatedly stabbed during an attack at an anti-Islam rally in the city of Mannheim has died of his wounds after having been “stabbed several times in the area of the head.”

    The policeman was previously identified as Rouven L. by German media and was being kept alive by a heart-lung machine

    The officer, identified as Rouven L in German media, underwent emergency surgery following the attack and was placed in an artificial coma, only to die of his injuries on Sunday, the Daily Mail reports.

    German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that he was “deeply saddened” by the officer’s death.

    “His commitment to the safety of all of us deserves the highest recognition,” Scholz posted on X.

    *  *  *

    A shocking video has exploded across social media showing a man stabbing anti-Islam activist and politician, 59-year-old Michael Stürzenberger, during a campaign event in Mannheim.

    As Remix News’ John Cody reports, the bloody and chaotic video shows the man running amok among campaign staff, who are wearing blue jackets, while the man stabs any victim in his sight.

    The campaign workers scramble to stop the man, who also stabbed a police officer in the neck.

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    News reports indicate that the suspect has already been shot and killed by police, although the suspect’s death has not been confirmed by all news outlets. In one frame of the video, the man can clearly be seen plunging his knife into the neck of a police officer.

    Police say the victim was campaigning and providing “educational information” in the lead-up to the attack in the city square.

    Stürzenberger is an anti-Islamic political activist who is a member of the Citizens’ Movement Pax Europa, who earlier served in the Munich Christian Socialist Union (CSU) and as the chairman of the Freedom party, a small party which is now dissolved. He publishes an anti-Islamic blog.

    He is well known for producing a citizens’ petition against the construction of a mosque in Munich. He was convicted for “insulting an officer” and “denigration of religious teachings.”

    He has also been under surveillance in the past, with the Bavarian State Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) listing Stürzenberger in its report related to “Islamophobia relevant to the Protection of the Constitution.”

    The stabbing incident comes just one week before EU parliament elections.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 06/02/2024 – 18:30

  • A "Restaurant Apocalypse" Is Starting To Sweep Across America, And That Is Really Bad News For The U.S. Economy
    A “Restaurant Apocalypse” Is Starting To Sweep Across America, And That Is Really Bad News For The U.S. Economy

    Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

    You can get a really good idea how the U.S. economy is doing by watching restaurants in your area.  When the economy is booming, restaurant parking lots are full and chains are feverishly establishing new locations.  But when the economy is struggling, restaurants get a lot less traffic and poor performing locations get shut down.  Sadly, in 2024 it appears that a “restaurant apocalypse” has started to sweep across America.  Most people have very little discretionary income to spend as a result of our cost of living crisis, and that is particularly true for our young adults.  Americans under the age of 40 love to eat out, but these days most of them are experiencing financial stress, and this is having an enormous impact on the restaurant industry.

    In 2023, visits to sit-down restaurants dropped by about five percent compared to 2022…

    Americans are eating out less as inflation weakens the dollars in their pocket, which is leading to some harsh consequences for restaurants across the country.

    Visits to sit-down restaurants were down nearly five percent in 2023 from the year prior, according to location analytics firm Placer.ai.

    So this is a trend that has stretched on for over a year.

    People just aren’t eating out as much as they once did.

    As a result, we are seeing a wave of closures all over the country.  Even in the Big Apple, large numbers of restaurants are being shut down…

    Even big metropolitan areas in the US known for their great dining spots are struggling to maintain an environment where it’s profitable to run a restaurant.

    Eater NY reported that over 40 bars and restaurants closed in New York City from December 2023 to January 2024, with some of the owners saying business simply never picked up after the COVID lockdowns in 2020.

    When times get tough, difficult decisions need to be made.

    After closing 46 restaurants last year, Applebee’s has decided to close another 35 locations this year…

    Applebee’s is to close another 35 further locations this year, after shutting 46 in 2023.

    The restaurant chain has shut at least three locations so far this year and has plans to close even more, president Tony Moralejo said in an earnings call on Wednesday.

    Closing restaurants was ‘an incredibly difficult decision’ and a ‘last resort’ for the company, Moralejo said.

    And I am very saddened by what has happened to Boston Market.

    At one time they had almost 1,000 locations all over the United States, but now the entire chain is about to go belly up…

    In the case of Boston Market, a chain that once had nearly 1,000 locations nationwide, the company’s death has been slow, but the pace of its demise has picked up over the past few months.

    Now, with its store count continuing to dip, the chain seems to have reached the end even if it won’t confirm that given that there no longer appears to be anyone around to make that decision.

    Boston Market owner Jignesh “Jay” Pandya was recently denied Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time and has been barred from filing again for six months. That leaves his company, which faces massive financial obligations, unable to gain court protection from its creditors.

    Our ongoing inflation crisis is the primary reason why this is happening.

    Consumers simply have a lot less discretionary income now.

    Meanwhile, restaurants are facing much higher costs…

    Jessica Dunker, the president and CEO of the Iowa Restaurant Association, said the reason restaurants are shuttering is because the cost of goods is up 30 percent and they are having to shell out higher wages to keep staff on.

    Unfortunately, things aren’t going to get any better any time soon.

    For example, the cost of orange juice is expected to go up dramatically because of a very bad harvest in Brazil…

    Breakfast lovers are in for another jolt as orange juice prices surge to near-record levels. A new report released on Friday indicates that Brazil, the leading global exporter of OJ, is facing its worst harvest in over three decades. This alarming development compounds existing issues in Florida’s citrus groves, which have been plagued by disease and are experiencing collapsing production levels to the lowest in decades.

    Fundecitrus wrote in a note that Brazil will produce 232.4 million boxes—each weighing about 90 pounds—for the growing season this year. That’s a 24% collapse from a year earlier and the lowest production levels in 36 years.

    We have reached a point where the vast majority of Americans just can’t afford to eat out on a regular basis.

    Needless to say, that is really bad news for fast food chains like McDonald’s.

    At one time, serving middle class families was their core business.

    But now most middle class families just can’t afford to eat at McDonald’s very often.

    In a desperate attempt to lure them back, McDonald’s will soon introduce a five dollar meal deal…

    McDonald’s is looking to launch a $5 meal in the US in a move to bring back price-sensitive customers.

    The meal includes four items, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg and Restaurant Business. Customers would choose between two of the chain’s signature burgers — a McChicken or a McDouble — and get four-piece McNuggets, fries, and a drink. The $5 promotion would last for a month, Bloomberg reported.

    So they are going to bring back affordable food for one month.

    That’s just great.

    Unless they make the five dollar meal deal permanent, I don’t expect that it will make much of a difference.

    Consumers are really hurting right now.  In fact, consumer sentiment just fell to the lowest level in six months…

    Consumer sentiment plunged to the lowest level in six months as price increases reaccelerated, according to the latest University of Michigan survey of consumers, released Friday.

    Additionally, consumers are bracing for even higher price increases in the year ahead compared to readings from prior months, the survey found.

    The gauge, which is closely tracked by the Biden administration, plunged 13% from April’s 77.2% reading, to 67.4%. That’s the biggest one-month drop since mid-2021. Economists polled by FactSet were expecting consumer expectations to fall to just 76.9%.

    As I have discussed previously, the American people are deeply pessimistic about the economy at this stage.

    And they have good reason to be pessimistic, because even though our politicians in Washington are engaging in an unprecedented spending spree in a desperate attempt to keep the economy propped up, the truth is that the wheels are starting to come off and tremendous chaos is ahead.

    Ed Dowd agrees that big trouble is coming during the months ahead.  He just told Greg Hunter that he expects the U.S. economy “to take a nosedive sometime in the next 12 months”…

    What happens to the Biden economy? Dowd says, “The economy is going to take a nosedive sometime in the next 12 months. The real economy is not doing well. . . . The only thing that has been holding up the GDP growth is government spending. We are spending $1 trillion every 100 days. That’s adding $1 trillion to the deficit. The only job creation is government jobs, and they don’t actually add to the economy. . . . Reports are coming out now that the low-income consumer is getting absolutely hammered. McDonald’s talked about it in their most recent earnings call. . . . So, low-income and the middle-class are getting squeezed while the rich continue to plug along.”

    I agree.

    Of course we don’t have to wait for the economy to come apart at the seams, because that is already happening.

    At one time, the entire world marveled at the greatness of the mighty U.S. economy, but our leaders have completely wrecked it.

    There is no way that we are going to be able to avoid disaster, and so I would encourage you to prepare for very hard times while you still can.

    *  *  *

    Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 06/02/2024 – 17:30

  • Making Over $141K, Minneapolis Mayor Thanks Biden For Student Loan Forgiveness
    Making Over $141K, Minneapolis Mayor Thanks Biden For Student Loan Forgiveness

    If you weren’t already infuriated by Joe Biden’s exploitation of the federal student loan program as a means of buying votes and redistributing wealth, this should do the trick. 

    On Wednesday, Minneapolis Mayor Melvin Carter — who earns makes takes $140,814 a year before benefits — rushed to Twitter to thank President Biden for erasing his remaining student debt, sharing a screen shot showing his outstanding balance had turned to zero. 

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    The latest drip in the fiscal Chinese water torture that’s being inflicted on responsible, productive Americans came earlier that day, with Biden announcing he was cancelling another $7.7 billion of debt. With that, the total such debt wiped away by his administration has reached $167 billion.  

    After emphasizing that the average beneficiary of Biden’s self-serving abuse of taxpayers has had $35,000 in debt forgiven, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre fielded a challenging question from, of all sources, NBC News. Correspondent Peter Alexander asked, “Why don’t those individuals who didn’t receive $35,000 in debt cancellation deserve a $35,000 check from other Americans for what other means they would want to use it?” 

    Jean-Pierre’s struggle to rationalize the debt-forgiveness fiesta resulted in a comical, leftist word-salad: 

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    Most notably, Jean-Pierre said, “We’re talking about folks who are in debt who are literally being crushed.” We doubt that characterization applies to Mayor Carter, who’s pulling in $141K by himself in a two-income household — not counting a city-taxpayer-furnished car, cell phone, pension and deferred compensation. 

    If he was being “literally” crushed, it’s safe to say it’s because he and his OB/GYN nurse wife made a series of poor financial decisions. Either way, he doesn’t deserve to have his net worth elevated by distributing the cost to other members of society — including future ones. And neither does anyone else. 

    In early April, Biden announced a five-pronged proposal for even more student debt forgiveness. A UPenn-Wharton analysis pegged the cost at $84 billion, and noted that the proposal would “relieve some longer-term student debt for about 750,000 households making over $312,000 in average household income.” 

    We’re guessing Team Biden might have mixed feelings about Mayor Melvin’s tin-eared, highly-public thank you. It’s not playing well in Peoria… 

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    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 06/02/2024 – 16:55

  • The Ideological Battle Behind The US Debt Crisis
    The Ideological Battle Behind The US Debt Crisis

    Via SchiffGold.com,

    The U.S. national debt is at 34.7 trillion dollars. If you laid that many dollar bills end-to-end, it would wrap around the Earth 134,599 times. That’s enough to travel to the sun and back 17 times. Suffice it to say, we’re in a pickle.

    America is slowly approaching the precipice of debt default. This is no minor dilemma. A default could cause approximately 8 million jobs to be lost. In other words, the bill would come due.

    For many politicians, the debt crisis is not a pressing concern. At least not enough to take measures to fix it. The Biden administration passed a 1.2 trillion-dollar infrastructure bill in 2021, adding 256 billion dollars to the budget deficit over the next ten years. Biden has also forgiven 167 billion dollars in student loans during his tenure, which was financed through increased government spending. Despite already being one of the most indebted countries in the world, politicians continue to dig the U.S. into an even deeper hole. The problem is not simply a monetary one.

    There is an ideological battle underlying our descent into debt.

    The ideas that have caused America’s current debt crisis were birthed during the Great Depression. In 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt issued a series of spending measures that were intended to stimulate economic activity in what was called the “New Deal.” FDR spent over 950 billion (inflation-adjusted) dollars on the program while being touted as an economic “savior.” The deal was promoted as what released America from the bonds of the recession. In reality, it made the problem worse.

    A study conducted by two UCLA economists found that the New Deal actually extended the Great Depression by seven years. By artificially increasing wages while unemployment remained rampant and below projected recovery rates, FDR’s program harmed economic health. Simply pumping money into the economy wasn’t the fix-all solution it was advertised to be.

    This is no surprise. Simply increasing the amount of money in the economy does not increase the total amount of goods and services. It only increases the demand for a stationary supply, which necessarily results in a price increase. Instead of stimulating true economic development, unrestricted government funding has led to an inflationary trap. And yet we keep spending, suppressing the symptoms while worsening the underlying problem.

    Another flaw of increasing government spending is its inefficiency relative to private markets. Look no further than the Pentagon’s $640 toilet seat. Government officials don’t have the proper incentives to spend money wisely. Instead, their wasteful spending is bankrolled by tax dollars, debt, and increases in the money supply. Between 2020 and 2022, the money supply alone increased by over 40%. Consequently, inflation burgeoned to 7% and 6.5% in 2021 and 2022 respectively.

    Government spending is a slippery slope. Once a private entity becomes dependent on a public sector paycheck, it will keep coming back for more. In return, politicians get more control over the lives of their constituents. The decision to increase taxes, the money supply, or the national debt to fund more spending is rooted in an ideology of increased government intervention.

    The thinkers who originated Western political philosophy believed that government was meant to protect life, liberty, and property, and nothing more. The modern American regime has drastically overstepped these bounds and instead spends trillions of dollars on niche issues while citizens pay the price in the form of inflation, higher taxes, and debt.

    At the heart of the issue is the belief that politicians can spend your money better than you can. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. Political leaders only have to cater to the current populus to stay in power, and thus have a heavy tendency to overspend in the present and let future generations pick up the pieces. But the bill is coming due. Experts estimate the U.S. has approximately 20 years to change its spending policies or it will have to default on its debt. We are descending into an economic crisis of our political leaders’ design. While excessive spending appears beneficial in the present, the American people always pay the price.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 06/02/2024 – 16:20

  • Netanyahu Accepts Johnson's Invitation – First Foreign Leader To Address Congress A 4th Time
    Netanyahu Accepts Johnson’s Invitation – First Foreign Leader To Address Congress A 4th Time

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted an invitation to address both houses of Congress, after House Speaker Mike Johnson issued a formal invitation on Friday, with the backing of fellow Democrat leaders. 

    Netanyahu boasted that he will be the first foreign leader in history to make four such appearances there. “I am moved by the privilege of representing Israel before both houses of Congress, and of presenting, to the representatives of the American people and the entire world, the truth about our righteous war against those who seek our destruction,” an acceptance statement by the Israeli prime minister’s office said.

    Back in 2011: Politico

    The invitation leader had also been signed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. They said “we join the State of Israel in your struggle against terror, especially as Hamas continues to hold American and Israeli citizens captive and its leaders jeopardize regional stability.”

    “For this reason, on behalf of the bipartisan leadership of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate, we would like to invite you to address a Joint Meeting of Congress.”

    However, some House and Senate Progressives are expected to boycott Netanyahu’s address, including Senator Bernie Sanders.

    Sanders issued a statement saying “It is a very sad day for our country that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been invited – by leaders from both parties – to address a joint meeting of the United States Congress.”

    “Netanyahu is a war criminal. I certainly will not attend,” Sanders added. Indeed it is also the first time that a leader who has an arrest warrant out by the Hague-based ICC has addressed Congress and the American people.

    All of this is happening at a deeply strained moment for US-Israel relations. Israel’s military has plunged deep into Rafah, violating prior red lines issued by Biden. Also, Netanyahu appears to have slammed the door on Biden’s publicly backing the current ceasefire deal on the table.

    Other Progressive Congressional members say they will ask hard questions during his visit:

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    The Israeli PM has vowed that the military operation in Gaza won’t stop until Hamas no longer has military or governing capacity. He has said he won’t withdraw troops until the group is eliminated.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 06/02/2024 – 15:45

  • Maher: If Trump Goes To Jail There Will Be A Racial Civil War
    Maher: If Trump Goes To Jail There Will Be A Racial Civil War

    Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

    HBO ‘Real Time’ host Bill Maher has predicted that if Donald Trump is sentenced to any prison time, there will be a civil war that will quickly evolve into a race war because of MAGA supporters.

    “Here’s the key question: Is he going to go to jail? Would this judge dare do that?” Maher said, adding “And should he? I heard some people say if his name wasn’t Donald Trump he would definitely get jail time.”

    “MAGA nation will go nuts. I don’t know if that’s a reason to or not to do something, but they will,” Maher continued during the discussion with former Obama chief strategist David Axelrod.

    Maher went on to suggest that “because the judge’s name was Juan,” putting Trump in jail would lead to racial political violence.

    “Everything becomes racial in this country. That’s partly because of our horrible, despicable racial past, partly because some of that racism lives on in the present and some of it because the far left makes everything racial. But that’s what it’s going to be.” Maher further posited.

    “A civil war in this country, I’m sorry to say, becomes a race war. That’s the sad truth about this country,” the host continued, adding “And if they put him in jail, I mean, the first thing his supporters are going to say is, ‘Oh, that’s what it is.’ A Black district attorney. You know, all these people who are the district attorneys, they’re black. The judge was not White. This is what it is.”

    Watch:

    As we highlighted earlier this week, former US Attorney for the District of Utah Brett L. Tolman is adament that Judge Merchan will give Trump jail time.

    “This judge has considerable power now, on July 11th he has the power to take Trump forthwith, he can take him, put him in custody right then and he can do it for whatever period of time,” said Tolman, warning that despite there being a range of sentencing, “the rules are out the window, who knows what this judge will do.”

    “I predict he will give him some jail time, I think he will fine him, he’ll give him a stern lecture and then he’ll promptly plan his retirement and a book deal,” concluded Tolman.

    *  *  *

    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
    Sun, 06/02/2024 – 15:10

  • "Nothing To Do With World Events": Two Unarmed Minuteman III ICBMs Slated For Launch Next Week
    “Nothing To Do With World Events”: Two Unarmed Minuteman III ICBMs Slated For Launch Next Week

    The US Air Force Global Strike Command is preparing to conduct two separate tests of unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles from north Vandenberg Space Force Base in California next week. 

    “Consistent with previous test launches, this routine, unarmed ICBM test launch will validate and verify the effectiveness, readiness and accuracy of the weapon system,” Vandenberg Space Force Base wrote in a statement. 

    Here are the tests:

    • The first test is scheduled for June 4 from 12:01 a.m. to June 4, 2024, 6:01 a.m., Pacific Time from north Vandenberg.

    • The second test is scheduled for June 6 from 12:01 a.m. to June 6, 6:01 a.m., Pacific Time from north Vandenberg.

    Test re-entry vehicles are expected to travel approximately 4,200 miles southwest of California to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. 

    “A previous test launch slated for February 2024 had to be postponed due to some needed repairs at Reagan Test Site,” said Col. Chris Cruise, 377th Test and Evaluation Group commander.

    Cruise continued, “This summer’s test launch was already scheduled so it made sense to do them both while all the necessary personnel were in place. The launches were scheduled well in advance and have nothing to do with world events.”

    Late last year, America’s 450 ICBM silos across five states began a major $96 billion overhaul – part of a nuclear modernization effort. The military as a whole is being modernized as war rages on in Eastern Europe and is set to possibly expand with the Biden administration ‘green-lighting‘ Ukraine to strike inside Russia with US weapons. The conflict between Israel and Hamas is another concern, as well as instability in the South China Sea. 

    The rise of a multi-polar world signifies that the war cycle is accelerating.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 06/02/2024 – 14:35

  • Boeing Enters 'New Territory' With Federal Probe, Possible Criminal Charges
    Boeing Enters ‘New Territory’ With Federal Probe, Possible Criminal Charges

    Authored by Jacob Burg via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    When a door panel ripped off an Alaskan Airlines flight after takeoff on Jan. 5, Boeing’s fortunes changed overnight.

    (Illustration by The Epoch Times, Getty Images)

    Had the company gone just two more days without an incident, it would have satisfied a settlement to avoid criminal prosecution by the Department of Justice (DOJ).

    Instead, the accident triggered investigations by federal agencies and congressional hearings. The incident also renewed public scrutiny of Boeing and the 737 MAX 8 crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed everyone on board and led to criminal charges for the company.

    Boeing has since seen a significant financial fallout, reporting a $355 million loss and a near-50 percent drop in deliveries in the first quarter alone. The company also faces plummeting stock values and canceled orders from multiple airlines since the Jan. 5 incident.

    The DOJ ended months of speculation on May 14 with a court filing alleging that Boeing violated its 2021 deferred prosecution agreement. The company failed to “design, implement, and enforce a compliance and ethics program to prevent and detect violations of the U.S. fraud laws.”

    The DOJ will meet with the crash victims’ families on May 31 before announcing its intentions with Boeing’s case by July 7.

    According to career pilots, aviation safety experts, and attorneys who spoke with The Epoch Times, how Boeing violated the agreement and the possible consequences are complicated.

    To stay competitive, Boeing needed to design a new plane that could fly to destinations such as Hawaii with less fuel. The company’s competitor, Airbus, was edging out the market with new, more fuel-efficient jets.

    Instead of designing a brand new plane, which would have required extensive pilot training from the airlines that buy them, raising the jet’s price, Boeing opted to release an upgraded version of its 737 jet, the 737 MAX. It has larger, more powerful engines that are installed farther forward on the plane’s wings, which causes the nose to push up higher during takeoff.

    Boeing compensated with a new flight control software called Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), which automatically lowers the nose to avoid midair stalling. Federal regulators said Boeing didn’t tell the airlines or the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) the extent of the software, how it controls the plane in the background, and how to disable it.

    Planes also use angle of attack vanes, or indicators, to tell the computer whether the jet is ascending or descending at the right pitch angle. Before the 737 MAX, these indicators were wired to two sensors in case one malfunctioned during flight—because of damage from a bird strike, for instance. On the original 737 MAXs, the angle of attack indicators were wired to a single sensor, causing the flight control software to assume that the plane was in critical danger if either indicator malfunctioned.

    American Airlines pilot captain Pete Gamble (L) and first officer John Konstanzer conduct a pre-flight check in the cockpit of a Boeing 737 Max jet in Grapevine, Texas, on Dec. 2, 2020. (LM Otero/AP Photo)

    During the 2018 and 2019 fatal flights, the MCAS system kept pitching the nose downward with faulty angle-of-attack data, likely from a damaged angle of attack vane. Because Boeing didn’t properly disclose the software nuances and how to disable it to the airlines, the pilots took more than 10 seconds to respond. Federal guidelines expect pilots to respond to such as situation in four seconds to avoid a catastrophe.

    Boeing also didn’t overhaul the flight control software until after the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines crash, which was five months after the 2018 Lion Air crash. The FAA responded by grounding all 737 MAX jets for nearly two years to ensure compliance with regulations.

    “The MCAS accidents were pure, 100 percent money accidents,” said Shawn Pruchnicki, aviation safety expert and assistant professor at Ohio State University’s Center for Aviation Studies.

    “They killed 346 people over money and nothing else.”

    Disclosing the flight control software would have forced airlines to order new training for their pilots before using the 737 MAX, thus raising the sales price.

    The DOJ, the FAA, and the House Transportation Committee initiated separate investigations into the crashes. All implicated the MAX’s flight control software and Boeing’s decision to withhold this information from regulators, airlines, and pilots, which meant that pilots didn’t respond in time in both fatal 737 MAX 8 crashes.

    Boeing didn’t respond to a request for comment.

    How Was Boeing Charged?

    The DOJ charged Boeing on Jan. 7, 2021, with conspiracy to defraud the United States, particularly the FAA’s Aircraft Evaluation Group.

    The U.S. government stated that Boeing deliberately withheld details of its flight control software from the FAA and airlines. Boeing maintained that two of its 737 MAX Flight technical pilots were responsible for deceiving federal regulators about the MCAS flight control software.

    The government then brokered a deferred prosecution agreement with Boeing, a form of criminal settlement in which charges can be dismissed if the defendant fulfills certain obligations within a stated timeframe.

    Boeing had to accept responsibility for the acts that led to criminal charges and pay a total of $2.5 billion, which included a $243.6 million penalty and a $500 million fund to compensate the families of the 2018 and 2019 737 MAX crash victims.

    However, Boeing also had to stay in compliance for three years from the day the agreement was signed, Jan. 7, 2021.

    During this period, the company had to avoid committing any federal felonies, could not deny responsibility for the charges, and was required to implement a “compliance and ethics program designed, implemented, and enforced to prevent and detect violations of the U.S. fraud laws throughout its operations.”

    Boeing was two days from the end of its probationary period when the Alaskan Airlines panel blew out.

    An unpainted Boeing 737 MAX aircraft is parked at Renton Municipal Airport near the Boeing Renton facility in Renton, Wash., on July 1, 2019. (Lindsey Wasson/Reuters)

    Alleged Violation

    The DOJ’s May 14 letter states that Boeing failed to “design, implement, and enforce” the compliance and ethics program required under the terms of the settlement. However, the agency did not explicitly say whether the Alaskan Airlines incident or any others from 2024 were linked to Boeing’s lack of a compliance and ethics program.

    Robert Clifford, lead attorney for the families of the 2018 and 2019 crash victims, told The Epoch Times that the DOJ hasn’t informed him or the families of the acts or incidents that led to Boeing’s breach of the agreement.

    “We hope to learn details of the investigation and government plans going forward,” he said.

    “Obviously, the events of 2024, such as Alaska Air, have caused greater focus on Boeing’s compliance and the scrutiny of the government, but we await word on the exact details that led to the finding of [the] breach.”

    The DOJ also wrote in the letter that it reserves the right to find Boeing in violation of other terms of the agreement until July 7, when it will announce how the agency intends to proceed with the case.

    Possible Criminal Charges

    The DOJ could pursue multiple pathways if it criminally prosecutes Boeing.

    Neama Rahmani is a former federal prosecutor who once worked for the aerospace company. He told The Epoch Times that the DOJ could issue a “massive fine,” require an independent monitor to “ensure that Boeing is complying with its obligations under the agreement,” or prosecute individuals in the company, such as CEO Dave Calhoun.

    Mr. Rahmani explained that going after individuals at the company requires a higher bar of proof. He said prosecutors could use a text message between high-level executives admitting to fraud, for example.

    Read more here..

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 06/02/2024 – 14:00

  • OPEC+ Agrees To Extend Collective Output Cuts Until End Of 2025
    OPEC+ Agrees To Extend Collective Output Cuts Until End Of 2025

    As we previewed last month, OPEC+ agreed to extend its oil production cuts well into 2025, while also setting a timeline for gradually winding down some of those curbs later this year.

    As reported by Bloomberg, the agreement reached in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Sunday exceeds market expectations in some ways, extending so-called “voluntary” cuts from key members including Saudi Arabia and Russia well into next year. However, it also begins rolling back those supply reductions in October, earlier than some OPEC-watchers had assumed.

    The OPEC+ agreement prolongs roughly 2 million barrels a day of cuts, which have played a key role in supporting crude prices above $80 a barrel this year but were set to expire at the end of June. The curbs will continue in full in the third quarter then be gradually phased out over the following 12 months, according to a statement from the Saudi Energy Ministry.

    This is how Energy Intel’s Amina Bakr summarizes the latest OPEC+ deal:

    1. The group will extend its collective cuts (a mix of voluntary and group cuts) which amount to around 3.6 million bpd until the end of 2025.

    2. The 8 states which offered the 2.2 million bpd voluntary cuts will extend those till q3 2024. After that they will start being back production gradually from October 2024 till September 2025, subject to market conditions.

    Highlights from the agreement: the UAE received an upward adjustment to 300k to its baseline which is now 3.5 million bpd

    Another highlight is that the baseline revisions have now been pushed back to 2026, and that’s because some countries like Russia are under embargo and the independent companies are not able to have access to data to support the assessment process.

    Do not underestimate the level of cohesion that is required to reach this complex policy which will be in place for the next year and a half.

    And this is what the phase out of the voluntary cuts will look like:

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    Prior to the meeting, traders and analysts had widely expected OPEC+ to prolong its supply reductions in order to offset soaring output from its rivals, with some predicting they would be maintained until the end of 2024. Under the new agreement, the eight nations participating in these additional curbs will have added about 750,000 barrels a day to the market by January.

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    Crude prices had slumped in the past month as Middle East tensions faded and amid a fragile economic outlook in China and doubts about the pace of interest-rate reductions in major industrialized economies. Brent futures settled at $81.62 a barrel on May 31, a drop of 7.1% for the month.

    Those “voluntary” cuts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies were in addition to an earlier group-wide agreement capping crude output at about 39 million barrels a day, which ran until the end of this year. The alliance said in a statement that it also agreed to prolong that accord to the end of 2025.

    “It removes a significant chunk of oil from our balances both this year and next,” said Amrita Sen, director of research and co-founder of Energy Aspects Ltd. The deal “keeps OPEC+ in charge of the market.”

    Sunday’s deal suggests OPEC+ leader Saudi Arabia, which hosted the meeting in its capital after initial plans for a gathering in Vienna were canceled, is attempting to strike a balance between supporting crude markets and easing the production restraints against which some members have chafed repeatedly.

    Lower oil prices this year have improved the economic outlook by offering some relief to central banks grappling with persistent inflation. Yet they also threaten revenue for producers like Saudi Arabia, which needs prices close to $100 a barrel to fund the ambitious spending plans of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the International Monetary Fund estimates.

    In parallel to the OPEC+ meeting on Sunday, the Saudi government completed a $12 billion sale of shares in state oil giant Aramco, raising funds to help pay for a massive economic transformation plan.

    As Bloomberg notes, the agreement temporarily resolves “a potentially fraught debate on some nations’ oil capacity. The alliance had commissioned an external review of its members capabilities with the intention of resetting baseline production levels used to measure cuts in 2025.”

    Several major exporters were seeking to have their levels upgraded, possibly posing a risk to the group’s efforts to stabilize world markets. The deadline for completion of that process has now been pushed back by a year to November 2026. However, the UAE was given a 300,000 barrel-a-day boost to its production target for next year, making it the clear winner from Sunday’s negotiations.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 06/02/2024 – 13:25

  • The Deepfake Privilege? The Justice Department Makes Startling Claim To Withhold the Biden-Hur Audiotape
    The Deepfake Privilege? The Justice Department Makes Startling Claim To Withhold the Biden-Hur Audiotape

    Authored by Jonathan Turley,

    We have been discussing the dubious constitutional basis for President Joe Biden withholding the audio tapes of his interview with special counsel Robert Hur. I have previously written that the claim of privilege makes little sense when the transcript of the interview has already been released. It seems curious that Biden is claiming to be the president “who cannot be heard” in withholding the audio version.

    It just got wackier as the Justice Department seeks to create a new type of “Deepfake privilege” that would effectively blow away all existing limits on the use of the privilege when it comes to audio or visual records of a president.

    Multiple committees are investigating Biden for possible impeachment and conducting oversight on the handling of the investigation into his retention and mishandling of classified material over decades. Classified documents were found in various locations where Biden lived or worked, including his garage. The mishandling of classified material is uncontestable. Broken boxes, unprotected areas and lack of tracking are all obvious from the photos.

    Biden made the situation even worse with a disastrous press conference in which he attacked Hur and misrepresented his findings.

    Hur’s ultimate conclusion that Biden’s diminished cognitive abilities would undermine any prosecution left many dumbfounded. After all, the man who is too feeble to prosecute is not only running a superpower with a massive nuclear arsenal but running for reelection to add four more years in office.

    From impeachment to oversight to the 25th Amendment (allowing the removal of a president for incapacities), there are ample reasons for Congress to demand information and evidence from the government on these questions. Congress is also interested in looking at repeated omissions for “inaudible” statements. Under this sweeping theory that Biden can legitimately withhold these recordings under executive privilege, any president could withhold any evidence of incapacity or criminality.

    As previously explained, the claim that the audiotape but not the transcript remains privileged is hard to square with precedent or logic. However, now the Justice Department appears to be pivoting with a new claim with a late Friday filing.  The filing obtained by Politico states that the audiotape must be withheld due to the risk that it could be altered by artificial intelligence and passed off as authentic in a deepfake release: “The passage of time and advancements in audio, artificial intelligence, and ‘deep fake’ technologies only amplify concerns about malicious manipulation of audio files.”

    Consider the implications of that argument for a second. It would mean that any visual or audio recording of the President could be withheld due to the danger of digital or other manipulation. It would eviscerate any existing limits on privilege assertions.

    It is also absurd since you could create such fake recordings using the transcript and Biden’s voice from countless interviews through AI programs. The Justice Department acknowledges that obvious logical disconnect by noting that the release would make any fake version more credible.

    “To be sure, other raw material to create a deepfake of President Biden’s voice is already available, but release of the audio recording presents unique risks: if it were public knowledge that the audio recording has been released, it becomes easier for malicious actors to pass off an altered file as the true recording,.”

    The filing is logically and legally absurd. It is also dangerous.

    For a president who is already carefully insulated from questions and controlled in public appearances, the argument would allow staff to completely control any public or, more importantly, congressional review of his actual speech and discourse.

    In seeking to prevent “malicious actors” from altering reality, the government is claiming the right to frame reality as an inherent constitutional prerogative.

    The argument ignores that, if an audiotape is released, it is harder to pass off a fake as genuine. As it stands, actors can claim tapes as leaked or derived from other sources. In the absence of an official tape, such arguments can be difficult to refute.

    The fact that this spurious argument is being made by Merrick Garland’s Justice Department is another disappointing sign that he has abandoned his pledge to remain apolitical in office. This litigation is clearly designed for one overriding purpose: to delay any release until after the election when it cannot harm the President.

    It is the legal version of a deepfake — misrepresenting the law to mislead citizens into believing that they are better off with less information on the credibility and competence of their president.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 06/02/2024 – 12:50

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  • 1 In 9 Children In The US Diagnosed With ADHD, COVID-19 A Potential Factor
    1 In 9 Children In The US Diagnosed With ADHD, COVID-19 A Potential Factor

    Authored by Amie Dahnke via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    (Devonyu/iStock)

    Childhood attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is becoming increasingly common, with a new study revealing that one in nine American kids have been diagnosed with the condition—equating to 7.1 million children.

    Many more children in the U.S. have been diagnosed with ADHD recently. In 2022, there were 1 million more cases compared to 2016, potentially fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on children’s mental health and virtual schooling putting symptoms on display.

    Pandemic Stressors May Have Fueled Rise in ADHD

    The research article, published in the Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, provided insight into how the COVID-19 pandemic potentially influenced ADHD diagnoses. The higher prevalence could reflect “a generally increasing awareness of and pursuit of care for ADHD and/or a reflection of poor mental health among children during the COVID-19 pandemic,” the researchers wrote.

    Previous studies have shown that the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the mental and social well-being of young people, who experienced stressors such as illness and death in the family and community, changes in parents’ work habits, disruptions in school life, decreased social interaction, and increased fear and uncertainty. A 2022 study found that these pandemic-related stressors “can increase symptoms of inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity.”

    The COVID-19 pandemic likely helped encourage an increase in diagnoses, as previously unobserved ADHD symptoms were front and center in households when children attended school virtually, according to the new study.

    Conversely, during the pandemic, schools faced greater challenges in providing support for those students, “may have led more parents to seek diagnoses to ensure access to support for their child,” the research team wrote.

    What It Takes for a Child to Be Diagnosed

    ADHD is one of the most common developmental conditions affecting children in the U.S. In the three-year span before the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly one in 10 children had received a diagnosis. To be diagnosed with the condition, a child must exhibit at least six symptoms of either inattention or hyperactivity-impulsivity for at least six months.

    The symptoms must be severe enough to be “maladaptive and inconsistent with developmental level” or negatively impact social, academic, and occupational activities, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

    Common symptoms of inattention include difficulty maintaining attention during tasks or play, not following instructions, often losing items required for an activity or task (like a pencil for homework), or being forgetful in daily activities.

    Examples of hyperactivity include fidgeting with hands or feet, leaving one’s seat in the classroom or situations where they’re expected to remain seated, or having difficulty playing quietly. Examples of impulsivity include difficulty waiting for their turn or often interrupting others.

    ADHD Gender Gap Narrows

    In the U.S., more boys than girls have typically been diagnosed with ADHD, but new data shows that the gap between the two sexes is narrowing. Before 2022, the boy-to-girl diagnosis ratio was 2:1, while in 2022, it dropped slightly to 1.8:1, according to the study.

    Among children aged 3 to 17 with ADHD, 41.9 percent had mild cases, 45.3 percent moderate, and 12.8 percent severe. Certain factors were linked to more severe ADHD: being aged 6-11 (vs. adolescents), living in households with lower education or income levels, and having a co-occurring mental/behavioral/developmental disorder.

    More white American children are diagnosed with ADHD than minority children, though the research team noted that “with increased awareness, such gaps in diagnoses have been narrowing or closing.”

    Children with public health insurance had the highest prevalence levels, as did children whose caregivers’ highest level of education was high school.

    ADHD in children was most common in the Northeast, Midwest, and South, compared to children living in the West.

    The report notes that the prevalence of ADHD in children is higher in the United States than in other countries. The reason “may be the result of variation in availability of clinicians trained to diagnose and manage ADHD, state and local policies, and regional differences in demographic characteristics,” the research team wrote. Future research could determine the differences between clinical guidelines and practices across countries.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/01/2024 – 23:20

  • These Are The World's Largest Armies In 2024
    These Are The World’s Largest Armies In 2024

    Despite being considered the biggest military force in the world, the United States doesn’t have the largest army in terms of personnel.

    This graphic below, via Visual Capitalist’s Bruno Venditti, shows the top 10 countries by military personnel as of May 2024, including active and reserve personnel, as well as paramilitary forces. It is based on estimates from GlobalFirepower.com.

    Vietnam, India, and South Korea Have the Biggest Armies

    China has the largest standing army, with over 2 million active personnel. With increasing defense spending over the last decades, the country also ranks third in the number of tanks and second in the number of aircraft carriers in service.

    When reserve personnel are included, however, the Chinese military falls behind those of Vietnam, India, South Korea, and Russia.

    Vietnam’s forces include 600,000 active personnel and over 5 million in reserve. This is because Vietnam, along with countries like South Korea and Israel, has a standing policy of conscription for young adults.

    Interestingly, the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine resulted in a massive increase in Ukrainian personnel numbers. Active personnel rose from around 170,000 in 2016 to over 900,000.

    Despite not having the largest army, the U.S. accounts for almost 40% of global military expenditures, with its 2022 spending totaling $877 billion.

    China ranked second in absolute terms, accounting for another 13% of world military expenditure at $292 billion.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/01/2024 – 22:45

  • Our Chemical Facilities Are Vulnerable To Attack
    Our Chemical Facilities Are Vulnerable To Attack

    Authored by Chris Jahn via RealClear Wire,

    If our nation suffers another terrorist attack, it will be hard to argue that the signs weren’t there for us to see. The federal government has expressed growing concern that AI will empower attacks on our water, transportation, and financial systems. The Department of Homeland Security has warned that bad actors are using the technology to develop weapons of mass destruction. We know foreign nationals are illegally crossing our southern border in droves. And the death of Iran’s president could foment international conflict that deepens concerns about attacks in the U.S.

    Congress should be taking every measure to secure our nation’s critical infrastructure. Yet when it comes to chemical production facilities, they have left the door wide open.

    Last summer, legislators allowed a federal security program protecting chemical plants to expire. I hope it doesn’t take an attack on these facilities to show the vital role they play in producing our energy, food, drinking water, computer chips, medicines, cars—you name it. That’s what makes them such an attractive target for terrorists—and that’s why we should do everything in our power to protect them.

    After the September 11th attacks, Congress directed the Department of Homeland Security to create the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards program (CFATS) to address potential terrorist threats to chemical facilities. This helped DHS identify facilities that might be at risk of a potential attack and set national standards for addressing physical and cyber threats. CFATS also provided companies with access to valuable expertise from DHS and important tools to help prevent bad actors from gaining access. It successfully flagged at least 10 individuals with potential ties to terrorism.

    But last July, the Senate blocked the program, allowing it to lapse for the first time in 15 years. More than 80,000 individuals in the chemical industry have not been vetted against the FBI’s terrorist screening database.

    Losing CFATS is like the Transportation Security Administration losing its ability to secure air travel. To be sure, airports and airlines do their own screening. But a federal agency cross-referencing passengers with central databases makes it much more likely that a terrorist trying to evade detection will be stopped before boarding a plane.

    The chemical industry hasn’t been shy about opposing excessive federal regulations, but this is one program that has proven effective. In fact, a recent survey of American Chemistry Council members found that 96 percent support restoring the program, and 85 percent are concerned that failure to do so will compromise security. And this strong support for the program extends beyond industry. Law enforcement organizations, emergency responders, and labor unions have also called on Congress to restore CFATS.

    Our member companies are fully committed to securing their facilities, but the chemical industry should not have to go it alone. Weakening our chemical sector’s security only helps our adversaries. The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved bipartisan legislation last year to keep CFATS active and keep our chemical facilities safe. The Senate must act before it’s too late.

    Chris Jahn is President and CEO of the American Chemistry Council.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/01/2024 – 22:10

  • Alex Soros Gives Dems Propaganda Blueprint For "Convicted Felon" Trump Amid Party Infighting
    Alex Soros Gives Dems Propaganda Blueprint For “Convicted Felon” Trump Amid Party Infighting

    With Democrats high-fiving over the ‘historic’ conviction of their chief political rival, a fight has broken out amongst party leaders over how to gloat over this obvious political lawfare which was allegedly coordinated with the Biden administration, and rife with conflicts of interest.

    Even CNN senior legal analyst, Elie Honig, admitted that Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg (who reduced 60% of felonies to misdemeanors in 2023, yet elevated Trump’s misdemeanors to a felony), wrote in NY Mag: “Here, prosecutors got their man, for now at least – but they also contorted the law in an unprecedented manner in their quest to snare their prey.“

    “The charges against Trump are obscure, and nearly entirely unprecedented. In fact, no state prosecutor — in New York, or Wyoming, or anywhere — has ever charged federal election laws as a direct or predicate state crime, against anyone, for anything. None. Ever. Even putting aside the specifics of election law, the Manhattan DA itself almost never brings any case in which falsification of business records is the only charge.” -Elie Honig

    Now the Democrats are split on how to gloat over this communist show trial – with party establishment figures preaching caution and restraint, and the other side which sees Trump’s guilt as a political gift that should be used as a cudgel.

    Mini-Me Soros Pipes Up

    Arguing in favor of gloating is one Alex Soros, son of George Soros, who visited the Biden White House 14 times since October 2021 according to visitor logs. Young Alex said the quiet part out loud on Friday, suggesting in his infinite wisdom that Democrats should turn take every opportunity to call Trump ‘convicted felon,’ (of course, turning him into an even bigger martyr).

    “Democrats should refer to Trump as a convicted felon at every opportunity. Repetition is the key to a successful message and we want people to wrestle with the notion of hiring a convicted felon for the most important job in the country!”

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    Young Alex was ‘ratio’d’ into oblivion on X (far more comments than ‘likes,’ indicating disagreement). That said, he also has the firepower of his father’s network of organizations to promote whatever he sees fit.

    “As much as I would love to get money out of politics, as long as the other side is doing it, we will have to do it, too,” the millennial said in a WSJ interview last summer. 

    And who could blame amped-up, constitution-shredding Democrats for wanting to capitalize on this headline-sweeping, historic event of their own making?

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    According to Bloomberg data, headlines featuring ‘Bidenomics’ collapsed last year after the Biden administration realized pushing it was a terrible idea. Meanwhile, ‘convicted felon’ has just erupted.

    While Soros, the complex web of OSF groups, the Biden administration, and radical Democrats cheer this weekend, not just because it’s the first day of Pride Month but because of Trump’s conviction, the political assault on the former president was likely overplayed.

    Going deeper into Elie Honig’s analysis via @KanekoaTheGreat:

    CNN Senior Legal Analyst Describes How The Trump Conviction Was A Political Hit Job

    1. “The judge donated money… in plain violation of a rule prohibiting New York judges from making political donations—to a pro-Biden, anti-Trump political operation.”

    2. Alvin Bragg boasted on the campaign trail in an overwhelmingly Democrat county, “It is a fact that I have sued Trump over 100 times.”

    3. “Most importantly, the DA’s charges against Trump push the outer boundaries of the law and due process.“

    4. “The charges against Trump are obscure, and nearly entirely unprecedented. In fact, no state prosecutor — in New York, or Wyoming, or anywhere — has ever charged federal election laws as a direct or predicate state crime, against anyone, for anything. None. Ever.”

    5. The DA inflated misdemeanors past the statute of limitations and “electroshocked them back to life” by alleging the falsification of business records was committed ‘with intent to commit another crime.’

    6. “Inexcusably, the DA refused to specify what those unlawful means actually were — and the judge declined to force them to pony up — until right before closing arguments. So much for the constitutional obligation to provide notice to the defendant of the accusations against him in advance of trial.”

    7. “In these key respects, the charges against Trump aren’t just unusual. They’re bespoke, seemingly crafted individually for the former president and nobody else.“

    8. “The Manhattan DA’s employees reportedly have called this the “Zombie Case” because of various legal infirmities, including its bizarre charging mechanism. But it’s better characterized as the Frankenstein Case, cobbled together with ill-fitting parts into an ugly, awkward, but more-or-less functioning contraption that just might ultimately turn on its creator.”

    Definitely one of those ‘you know it’s bad when’ moments…

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    Here’s what folks on X said in response to Alex’s ratioed post:

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    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/01/2024 – 21:35

  • Elevated Risk Of Epilepsy, Appendicitis In Children After COVID-19 Vaccination: Study
    Elevated Risk Of Epilepsy, Appendicitis In Children After COVID-19 Vaccination: Study

    Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Children who received the AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines faced an elevated risk of epilepsy and appendicitis, according to a new study.

    A boy receives the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in Newcastle upon Tyne, England on Sept. 22, 2021. (Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)

    Pfizer recipients were also more likely to suffer from demyelinating disease or heart inflammation, researchers found.

    Dr. Julia Hippisley-Cox, a professor of clinical epidemiology at the University of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Primary Health Care Sciences, and colleagues obtained data from a national database on COVID-19 vaccination, mortality, hospital admissions, and COVID-19 infections. They wanted to look at the link between COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Moderna with 12 outcomes, including the heart inflammation condition called myocarditis.

    The population of nearly 5.2 million included 1.8 million children aged 5 to 11 and 3.3 million children aged 12 to 17.

    The data examined were through Aug. 7, 2022.

    In the primary analysis, researchers found 12- to 17-year-olds who received Pfizer’s vaccine were at increased risk of myocarditis, with an additional three cases per million versus the expected rate after a first dose, and an additional five cases per million after a second dose, and hospitalization with epilepsy, with an additional 12 cases per million after a second dose. Females in the age group also faced an increased risk of demyelinating disease after receiving a second dose of the vaccine.

    Researchers also identified a “substantially increased risk of hospitalization with epilepsy” among females after receipt of a first dose of AstraZeneca’s shot, with 813 more hospitalizations with epilepsy than expected per million doses, and an elevated risk of appendicitis after a second dose of the vaccine, with 512 excess events per million doses.

    While no excess events were found among Moderna recipients, the study lacked the power to detect statistically significant issues, due to few children in the UK receiving Moderna’s vaccine. Further, no elevated risks of the 12 issues were found among 5- to 11-year-olds.

    A secondary analysis, involving matching some of the vaccine recipients to unvaccinated children, confirmed an increased risk among 12- to 17-year-olds of hospitalization with epilepsy following Pfizer vaccination, and elevated risks of severe allergic shock and appendicitis in the age group following Pfizer vaccination. No increased risks of any outcome were identified among minor Moderna or AstraZeneca recipients. But among a group of 18- to 24-year-olds studied, elevated risks of a number of conditions were found, including myocarditis, immune or idiopathic thrombocytopenia, epilepsy, and acute pancreatitis.

    The study was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research School for Primary Care Research. Multiple authors declared conflicts of interest, including funding from Moderna and AstraZeneca. Limitations included reliance on hospital admission codes and death certificates.

    Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca did not respond to requests for comment.

    The paper was published by Nature Communications.

    The authors said that their findings “support a favorable safety profile of COVID-19 vaccination using mRNA vaccines in children and young people aged 5-17 years.” The Pfizer and Moderna shots utilize messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) technology.

    Dr. Hippisley-Cox, the study’s corresponding author, did not return a request for comment seeking data on the position. The authors cited in part how they found unvaccinated children faced increased risks of some of the outcomes, including multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children.

    Udi Qimron, a professor at Tel Aviv University’s Department of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology, said that the authors wrongly downplayed the risks associated with the vaccines.

    “It’s not surprising to learn that some of the study’s authors have financial ties to Moderna and AstraZeneca and/or have served on various UK and Scottish Government COVID-19 advisory groups. One author was even a member of AstraZeneca’s Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Taskforce and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. The conflict of interest in this case is significant,” Mr. Qimrom, who was not involved in the paper, told The Epoch Times via email.

    “It is concerning that respected scientific platforms are being used to cover up mistakes and wrongdoing, particularly the coercion and immense societal pressure to vaccinate young children. This should never have been done,” he added. “It is disheartening to see scientific journals collaborating with such practices, which undermines public trust in scientific research, especially when it involves the health and safety of children.”

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/01/2024 – 21:00

  • Biden Just Lost The Crypto Vote
    Biden Just Lost The Crypto Vote

    After the recent shocking ETH ETF approval, many hoped that Biden was changing his tune of relentless antagonism toward the crypto industry – TheBlock even went so far as to report that the “Biden campaign ramps up crypto industry outreach in surprising tone shift” – and would not veto the bill overturning the SEC’s SAB 121 which makes it more difficult for entities like banks to custody crypto.

    Well, that didn’t happen.

    Late on Friday, Biden vetoed the bill  that would strike down Securities and Exchange Commission guidance that the crypto industry, the banks and Congress all say has stymied its ability to work with banks. The guidance, known as staff accounting bulletin No. 121, has also drawn pushback from banks since it was published in 2022. Lenders have said it effectively restricts them from scaling up services to hold digital assets on behalf of customers by making it too costly.

    The resolution – which in May passed the House with a vote of 228–182, and then the Senate by a vote of 60-38 as 11 Democrats joined all republicans to smack down Liz Warren fluffer Gary Gensler – would have invalidated the SEC bulletin. Lawmakers backing the resolution, which passed the House in a 228-182 vote, said the guidance limits options for Americans who want to stow digital assets at traditional banks.

    “My administration will not support measures that jeopardize the well-being of consumers and investors,” Biden said in a veto message released Friday evening. “Appropriate guardrails that protect consumers and investors are necessary to harness the potential benefits and opportunities of crypto-asset innovation.”

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    In his statement, Biden added that he was “eager to work with the Congress to ensure a comprehensive and balanced regulatory framework for digital assets” even though both the House and the Senate told him that the bill he just vetoed offered precisely that.

    While the White House earlier this month said it opposed legislation that passed the House establishing a regulatory framework for digital assets – arguing it lacked sufficient consumer and investor protections – it stopped short of a full veto threat, indicating the president was open to negotiations on legislation governing the issue. It turned out all the senile president was “open” to was being manipulated by the anti-crypto militant wing of the Democratic party led by Senator Karen.

    So, much to the chagrin of the entire industry, Biden – who is far too gone to have any idea where he is, let alone with a cryptocurrency is – ended up following the advice of a handful of millitant, anti-crypto socialist luddites led by Elizabeth Warren, a move that will cost him what little support he had left within the crypto space, which has found an ally in candidate Trump (at least until the election that is).

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    Some speculated that the admin’s double U-turn on crypto was prompted by the rigged ruling in the Trump hush money payments case, which allowed Biden to once again show his true anti-crypto colors…

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    …  a decision which will now force the Democrats to come up with even more fake and illegal alien ballots to offset the flood of anti-Biden votes from the crypto industry. Even staunch never-Trumper Anthony Scaramucci said that the “very bad” veto decision will “cost him more than he realizes.”

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    As for Trump, hie recent efforts to court the crypto voters by both hosting an event for his NFT holders and promising to commute the sentence of Silk Road Ross Ulbricht seem to be working despite Trump’s mixed record on crypto.

    But there’s no question about Biden’s record with crypto now. With this veto, Biden has explicitly aligned himself with the losing duo of Gary Gensler and Pocahonatos, and indicated he will continue to have the SEC’s back in their crusade against crypto.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/01/2024 – 20:25

  • "Democracy Is On The Ballot": California Democrats Seek To Prevent Voters From Approving New Taxes
    “Democracy Is On The Ballot”: California Democrats Seek To Prevent Voters From Approving New Taxes

    Authored by Jonathan Turley,

    “Democracy is on the ballot.”

    That mantra of President Joe Biden and other Democrats has suggested that “this may be our last election” if the Republicans win in 2024. A few of us have noted that the Democrats seem more keen on claiming the mantle of the defenders of democracy than actually practicing it. Democrats have sought to disqualify Donald Trump and dozens of Republicans from ballots; block third party candidates, censor and blacklist of those with opposing views; and weaponize the legal system against their opponents.

    Most recently, in California, democracy is truly on the ballot and the Democrats are on the wrong side.

    California has always prided itself on the ability of citizens to vote on changes in the law directly through referenda and ballot measures. That is precisely what citizens are attempting to do with a measure that would require voter approval of any tax increase, including a two-thirds vote for some local taxes. It is called the Taxpayer Protection Act and it is a duly qualified statewide ballot measure slated for the November 2024 ballot.

    The state Democrats are apoplectic over the prospect of citizen control over revenue and taxes.  What was a quaint element of democratic empowerment is now challenging a core vehicle of Democratic power. So Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Democratic leaders have taken the issue to the state Supreme Court to demand that citizens be denied the right to decide the issue.

    In oral arguments, the attorney supporting the challenge explained to the justices that citizens are simply not equipped to deal with the complexities of taxation and should not be allowed to render such a decision.

    In a prior decision, Associate Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar wrote that:

    “Whether the context involves taxation or not, all of these cases underscore how courts preserve and liberally construe the public’s statewide and local initiative power. Indeed, we resolve doubts about the scope of the initiative power in its favor whenever possible and we narrowly construe provisions that would burden or limit the exercise of that power.”

    Half of the Court seemed to be inclined to deny the public the right to decide the question.

    The Court, however, may wait until after the election to render a decision on the limits of democracy in California.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/01/2024 – 19:50

  • Trump's 'Coal Country' Could Supply Nation With 40% Of Lithium Demand 
    Trump’s ‘Coal Country’ Could Supply Nation With 40% Of Lithium Demand 

    America’s transition to a decarbonized economy demands massive base metals and rare Earth minerals. Currently, China dominates the rare Earth mineral market. However, initiatives are already underway by the US federal government to sever reliance on the Chicoms and boost domestic mining and refining abilities. 

    One unlikely area where 40% of the nation’s lithium supply could be sourced from is ‘Trump’s coal country,’ otherwise known as good ole’ Appalachia. 

    According to Justin Mackey, a research scientist at the National Energy Technology Laboratory and PhD student at the University of Pittsburgh, wastewater from oil/gas rigs across the Marcellus Shale formation could supply the nation with 40% of its lithium needs. 

    “This is lithium concentrations that already exist at the surface in some capacity in Pennsylvania, and we found that there was sufficient lithium in the waters to supply somewhere between 30 and 40 percent of the current US national demand,” Mackey told CBS News. 

    Mackey said there are lithium mining operations in the US. But he told local media outlet Pittwire, “This is different. This is a waste stream, and we’re looking at a beneficial use of that waste.” 

    He said finding lithium in water recycled in hydraulic fracking wasn’t difficult, adding, “If you can extract value out of materials, and specifically lithium from this, then you reduce the cost of remediating and handling this waste.” 

    The researcher said future wastewater extractions of lithium from oil/gas rigs in neighboring states, such as West Virginia, Western Maryland, and Ohio, could spark an “economic boom for the region.”

    Trump country has been economically decimated over the last several decades amid de-industrial trends. Death and despair, along with big pharma, helped ignite an opioid and pill epidemic that has killed tens of thousands, if not more. 

    Could Trump’s coal country be primed for revitalization trends and capitalize off decarbonizing trends? If so, then the land across the region could become increasingly more valuable over the coming decade.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/01/2024 – 19:15

  • Strong Indian Purchases Push Asia's Crude Imports To One-Year High
    Strong Indian Purchases Push Asia’s Crude Imports To One-Year High

    Authored by Tsvetana Paraskova via OilPrice.com,

    Record-high crude imports in India have pushed Asia’s oil arrivals in May to the highest level in a year, per data compiled by LSEG Oil Research and cited by Reuters columnist Clyde Russell.

    Asia, the key crude oil importing region and a gauge of oil demand trends, is set to welcome in May 27.81 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil volumes, nearly 1 million bpd higher than the April imports, per the LSEG Oil Research data.   

    Most of the 920,000-bpd growth in Asia’s estimated crude oil imports this month has been thanks to a 710,000-bpd surge in volumes shipped to India, which is back to importing increased volumes of cheaper Russian crude oil.

    India is estimated to see its crude imports jump to a record-high of 5.26 million bpd in May, up by 710,000 bpd from 4.55 million bpd of crude imported in April, according to the data compiled by LSEG Oil Research.

    While India is leading Asia’s crude imports higher, China is again showing signs of weaker import demand. The world’s top crude oil importer is expected to haul in 10.72 million bpd of crude in May, down from the 10.93 million bpd imports in April and the lowest per-day volumes since January, Reuters’ Russell notes.

    The stronger Indian economy compared to China and the renewed appetite from Indian refiners for Russian crude – after hesitation earlier this year when stricter U.S. sanctions on Russia’s oil trade were enforced – have been pushing Indian fuel demand and crude imports higher in recent weeks.

    For example, India is estimated to have boosted its imports of Russian crude to a nine-month high in April, per data Reuters has obtained from industry and shipping sources.

    Moreover, India’s crude oil demand has been growing this year despite consistently higher prices, suggesting that it is more resilient to price rises than some expected. 

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/01/2024 – 18:40

  • Global Cocoa Shortage Much Worse Than Previously Forecasted As Prices Surge
    Global Cocoa Shortage Much Worse Than Previously Forecasted As Prices Surge

    The International Cocoa Organization has admitted that the global cocoa shortage will be significantly larger than previously forecasted. Cocoa prices in New York have rebounded in recent weeks, inching above the $9,330 per ton mark to close the week. 

    First reported by Bloomberg, ICCO forecasted demand will exceed production by 439,000 tons, driven mainly by higher cocoa grinding in consuming countries. This is the second estimate for the current October-September year and is much larger than the February forecast for a deficit of 374,000 tons. 

    “Currently available data reveal that cocoa grinding activities have so far been unrelenting in importing countries despite the record cocoa price rallies,” the ICCO, adding, “As the 2023-24 season progresses, it is certain the season will end in a higher deficit than previously expected.”

    After the ‘great cocoa’ run-up in New York in the first 3.5 months of the year, through the first half of April, from $4,000 a ton to over $12,000 (a record high), prices crashed into May, down 44%. But in the last nine trading sessions, prices have surged to $9,330, or about 39%. 

    The ICCO has increased its estimate for global cocoa grindings to 4.86 million tons, up from the initial forecast of 4.78 million tons, and increased its production projection by 12,000 tons to 4.46 million tons.

    The revised forecast has likely captured the attention of Andurand Capital Management’s Pierre Andurand, who has been bullish on cocoa prices this year. 

    Earlier this month, Andurand joined Bloomberg’s Odd Lots hosts Tracy Alloway and Joe Weisenthal to discuss the cocoa trade. 

    Weisenthal asked the hedge fund manager: 

    So what did your analyst see? Or how was your analyst able to see something in the supply and demand situation that he felt, and you felt, was not being identified by the analysts who cover this closely?

    Andurand responded:

    I think it’s mainly an understanding of how much prices have to move to balance the market. You know, sometimes people can trade that market for like 20 years. They’ve been used to a range of prices and they believe, okay, the top of the range is the high price for example.

    But they don’t really ask themselves what makes that price, right?. And sometimes taking a step back can help. I mean what makes the price is mainly the fact that in the past you would have the supply response if prices were going up. But if now you don’t get the supply response, or the supply response takes four or five years, then you need to have a demand response.

    And a lot of people look at prices in nominal terms. So you hear people saying ‘Oh, we are at all time high prices in cocoa, but that’s because they look at prices in nominal terms. [The] previous high in 1977 was $5,500 something dollars a ton of 1977 dollars, which is equivalent to $28,000 a ton of today’s dollars.

    So we are still very far from previous highs. And so you have to look at a bit more history and understand in the past how prices reacted to a shortage, how long it took to recover the product shortage to actually solve itself. And what’s different today.

    So there’s a ratio that we look at that most people look at, it’s actually the inventory to grindings ratio. So it’s a measure of inventory to demand, what we call grinding is basically industrial companies that take the cocoa beans and they want to make chocolate with it. So it’s a process and some of them make the end product chocolate directly. Some of them sell back the product to other chocolate makers.

    And so basically a typical grinder would take cocoa beans and make cocoa butter and powder with it. And the prices of both those elements also went up even more than cocoa beans, which means that actually we probably had some destocking everywhere in the chain.

    So it looks like demand, when we look at the chocolate makers, the end demand for chocolate didn’t go down at all, it looks to be flat on the year. Grindings look to be down three, three and half percent this year, despite the fact that the end demand is the same in volume, which means that they’ve been destocking cocoa beans actually.

    And so we had destocking everywhere — at the end chocolate level, at the cocoa beans, at the cocoa butter and cocoa powder level. So we had this destocking everywhere on the chain and now we have the largest deficit ever on top of two previous years of deficit. And it looks like next year we will have a deficit.

    So we’re in a situation where we might actually run out of inventories completely. I mean this year we think we will end up with an inventory to grinding ratio — so inventory at the end of the season — of 21%. For the last 10 years we’ve been between 35% and 40% roughly. At the previous peak in 1977 we were at 19% and that’s what drove us to $28,000 a ton, of todays’s dollars.

    If we have another deficit next year, then we might go down to 13%. So I don’t think it’s actually possible. That’s when you really have real shortage of cocoa beans, you can’t get it and that’s when the price can really explode. And so understanding that you have to slow down demand and we know that demand can’t really be slowed.

    So that’s when you can have an explosion [in price]. And remember that these commodity futures, you need to have, they’re actually physically settled. So if somebody wants to take delivery, they have to converge with the price of the physical. If you have no physical, somebody wants to take delivery, the price can go anywhere.

    So it’s a dangerous commodity too short, right? If you have no physical against it. And actually sometimes we read news that the funds have been pushing cocoa prices. It’s actually completely untrue because the funds have been selling since February. They actually went from a length of 175,000 lots, so that’s 1.75 million tons of cocoa lengths, I think it was around like September last year in average, or a bit earlier, to 28,000 lots to 280,000 tons at the moment.

    So they sold more than 80% of their length actually. And the people who’ve been buying the futures from the funds, it’s producers because they’re producing a lot less than they expected.

    So what has been happening in the cocoa market is that you had a reduction of what we call the open interest, where both the longs would use their length and the shorts would use their shorts. And then we get into a market where you have less liquidity because you have less exposure, you have less longs and less shorts, and then the volatility increases.

    So in the past when people were comfortable being, let’s say, having a 100 lots position now because it moves more than 10 times more than in the past, we’re going to have like a 10 lots position, right? So the market became more — due to the fact that we had a massive move and we have a massive deficit, so everybody’s reducing their positions and because of the increased volatility, we have less activity. And that’s what makes the point more volatile as well.

    Andurand reaffirmed his $20,000 price target for later this year or next year… 

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/01/2024 – 18:05

  • What A China-Taiwan Conflict Could Mean For Semiconductors, Gold
    What A China-Taiwan Conflict Could Mean For Semiconductors, Gold

    Via SchiffGold.com,

    American-made weapons will soon be bound for Taiwan, American lawmakers are telling Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, sending shockwaves of uncertainty through electronics and metals markets this week.

    In a pointed “celebration” of Lai’s recent inauguration, Chinese military aircraft and warships have been conducting large-scale drills around the island. China considers Taiwan a strayed member of its territory and hasn’t ruled out the use of force to assert its claim.

    “China will surely be reunified,” Chinese President Xi Jinping said in his New Year’s address. “Compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait should be bound by a common sense of purpose and share in the glory of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”

    Michael McCaul, U.S. House Foreign Affairs Chairman, told Fox that the recent Chinese demonstrations are the most “provocative” yet. If China attacked Taiwan, McCaul predicted during his visit to the region, “it would make Iran shooting into Israel look like child’s play.”

    “I think right now, we will probably lose,” he said.

    One likely victim of such a conflict would be Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, which holds about 70% of the world market share. Total industry value is expected to set a record this year at $630 billion—but that could change if China invades Taiwan and, as McCaul warns, “the island doesn’t have the capacity to defend itself” or its industry.

    “Everybody that has phones, cars—we have advanced weapons systems—everything’s dependent on semiconductors and this island, over time, because we’ve offshored [manufacturing],” McCaul told Fox News Digital. “And the shutdown of what’s happening [in Taiwan], semiconductors, would really shut down the world.”

    Changes in the market for semiconductors mean changes in the market for many base metals, including silicon, germanium, and gallium, all of which are critical components for semiconductor manufacturing. Gold is also a key component of the production process because of its anti-tarnishing properties.

    With a semiconductor shortage could come other electronics shortages, squeezing markets for everything from refrigerators to cell phones to electric vehicles. There’s precedent for such a shakeup, which occurred during the semiconductor shortage of the COVID-19 pandemic—and back then, the economic pandemonium didn’t stop short at consumer electronics.

    “The recent semiconductor shortage isn’t some far-off issue—it affects everyday citizens around the globe,” the Council on Foreign Regulations reported last year. “Supply-chain challenges can yield price hikes for consumers and lost jobs for manufacturers. Companies laid off thousands of workers [during the COVID shortage] because the United States lacked chips.”

    Such a drop in semiconductor production might initially appear to signal a decrease in demand for component metals, like gold. That seems to be the market’s immediate intuition, as shown by mildly ebbing gold prices following the Chinese drills—but a major complicating factor is quickly becoming apparent. China, already one of the world’s largest gold consumers, is busy buying up the precious metal at record rates. The country’s aggressions toward Taiwan will likely continue to drive precious metal prices upward, signaling a second precious metals boom when coupled with the rising market uncertainty and inflation that inevitably follow conflict.

    “China is unquestionably driving the price of gold,” Ross Norman, chief executive of MetalsDaily.com, told the New York Times. “The flow of gold to China has gone from solid to an absolute torrent.”

    Some experts suggest the move to amass precious metal stores could signal preparation for larger Chinese military involvement in Taiwan and increasing avoidance of ties with the U.S. dollar, which may be sanctioned in response to Chinese aggression. In short: China is betting on gold, not the dollar.

    “There is absolutely no question that the timing and the sustained nature of [China’s gold] purchases are all part of a lesson that [the Chinese] have drawn from the Ukraine war,” Jonathan Eyal, associate director of the UK’s Royal United Services Institute, told the Telegraph. “The relentless purchases and the sheer quantity are clear signs that this is a political project which is prioritized by the leadership in Beijing because of what they see is a looming confrontation with the United States.”

    “If [China] get[s] much closer to bullying Taiwan and countries start to move their investments out of China, [the gold reserves] will give them a bit of padding to be able to ride through some of the difficulties,” added Sir Iain Duncan Smith, co-chair of the UK Interparliamentary Alliance on China.

    Meanwhile, the President has signed an aid package with $8 billion earmarked for Taiwan and the surrounding region, a move that aggravated US-China relations and will encourage economically painful sanctions on both sides. Such spending could also pull the trigger on domestic inflation, resulting in the continued weakening of the U.S. dollar even as the Chinese economy is strengthened by its gold reserves.

    This type of monetary policy is why some economists, including Danial Lacalle of the IE Business School in Madrid, are sounding alarm bells at governmental inflation employed as a “policy, not a coincidence.” In this environment, Lacalle warns, it’s a bad idea to bet on inflated currency when choosing investments.

    “Staying in cash is dangerous; accumulating government bonds is reckless; but rejecting gold is denying the reality of money,” Lacalle said.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/01/2024 – 17:30

  • Pro-Palestinian Protesters To "Surround The White House" Next Weekend Over Rafah Strike
    Pro-Palestinian Protesters To “Surround The White House” Next Weekend Over Rafah Strike

    In the wake of a deadly Israeli strike at a tent camp in Rafah last week which produced horrific viral footage of charred corpses, days after the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to immediately halt military operations, and miles beyond Biden’s ‘red line‘ (using US bombs, no less), pro-Palestine, anti-war activists are taking to the White House one week from today.

    Photo: Craig Birchfield

    ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), an anti-war group founded three days after the September 11, 2001 attacks, has launched an event to “Get on a bus to DC” and “Surround the White House for Palestine.”

    “June 8 marks 8 months of US-Israeli genocide of the Palestinian people, and marks the 54th anniversary of the occupation of Gaza. A month ago, Biden said that the invasion of Rafah was a red line. But now, the invasion of Rafah has continued for weeks, has expanded to the entire Gaza Strip, Biden’s red line is nowhere to be seen,” ANSWER wrote on its website. 

    The group continued, “Biden can’t draw the line, but we can. On June 8, we will come together from across the country and surround the White House.” 

    “On June 8th, tens of thousands will show Biden that the people are his red line — we refuse to allow him to continue the genocide against the people of Gaza! Instead of a red line, Biden gave a green light to Netanyahu’s invasion of Rafah by agreeing to send more U.S. bombs and missiles. While the government that speaks in our name arms the genocidal Israeli regime to the teeth, the people want freedom for Palestine,” said Brian Becker, National Director of ANSWER.

    Meanwhile, progressive outlet People’s Dispatch notes that a diverse range of ‘anti-imperialist groups’ are supporting the mass demonstration.

    These include the Palestinian Youth Movement, National Students for Justice in Palestine, U.S. Palestinian Community Network, the People’s Forum, Al-Awda: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, Palestinian Feminist Collective, the ANSWER Coalition, U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights, Arab Resource and Organizing Center, International Jewish Anti Zionist Network, Writers Against the War on Gaza, Healthcare Workers for Palestine, and Palestine Popular University.

    “How many more homes have to be destroyed, how many children need to be killed, until this government takes definitive action to stop Israel’s war crimes. We are tired of hearing that Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken are ‘concerned about the civilian death toll’. If they were really concerned about what Israel was doing, they would suspend all aid and tell Israel to accept one of the many ceasefire deals that is on the table. This genocide needs to end, and Biden has the power to do it,” said Celine Quissiny of the Palestinian Youth Movement.

    The event was teased during closing statements from the People’s Conference for Palestine, where Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) slammed Biden as an “enabler,” threatening that “we aren’t going to forget in November, are we?“

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    The issue continues to stoke the political divide in America – with mainstream Republicans and Democrats drooling over the thought of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu giving a speech at the US Capitol (at the invitation of Speaker Mike Johnson, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell, and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries), while progressive Democrats and anti-interventionist libertarians overlap on this horseshoe issue.

    And here’s why…

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/01/2024 – 16:55

  • US Drivers Overwhelmingly Prefer Gasoline Cars To EVs
    US Drivers Overwhelmingly Prefer Gasoline Cars To EVs

    Authored by Tsvetana Paraskova via OilPrice.com,

    Americans continue to be fans of gasoline-powered vehicles and prefer them to electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrids, a new study by KPMG has shown.

    Assuming all costs and features are the same, just 21% of consumers prefer an EV, the inaugural KPMG American Perspectives Survey found.

    The survey assessed the views of 1,100 adults nationwide to understand their outlook on their personal financial situation and the U.S. economy and their attitudes to energy and automobiles, among other issues.  

    Asked which type of vehicle they want to purchase, assuming costs and features are equal, 38% said standard gas-powered vehicle, 34% picked hybrid, and only 21% an EV. Standard gasoline vehicles are the top preference in the Midwest and Northeast, with 40% and 37% of people preferring them to other types of cars, respectively.

    In addition, consumer expectations for EV charging times during road trips showed a major gap between U.S. consumers and the perception of auto industry executives about consumer preferences, the KPMG survey found.

    A total of 60% of consumers want charging in 20 minutes or less compared to 41% which is what auto executives believe.

    The survey found that fewer consumers are likely to pay for self-driving features and entertainment, compared to safety, Wi-Fi, and a charging locator.  

    Many U.S. consumers resist buying electric vehicles because of politics—Republican voters are likely to have negative opinions about EVs and wouldn’t buy such a car even when they can afford it.

    Most conservative respondents in a Morning Consult poll for The Wall Street Journal view electric cars unfavorably, with 41% saying their opinion is ‘very unfavorable’ and another 20% ‘somewhat unfavorable.’

    Just 31% of people who identified themselves as conservative said they had a favorable view of EVs. This compares with 66% of respondents who identified themselves as liberals and have a favorable opinion of electric cars.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/01/2024 – 16:20

  • Watch: Hezbollah Shoots Down Large Israeli Drone In Expanded Fighting
    Watch: Hezbollah Shoots Down Large Israeli Drone In Expanded Fighting

    Friday saw intensifying fighting on the Israel-Lebanon border as Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets in an expanded assault on northern Israel, some of which were sent to areas never hit before since the conflict started last year.

    On Saturday morning the Lebanese paramilitary group which is allied with Iran issued a statement saying it launched “an air assault using explosive drones against… the Yiftah barracks, targeting the positions of enemy officers and soldiers.”

    Hezbollah described this fresh operation as retaliation for an Israeli drone attack which wounded two Hezbollah members the day prior. Israel’s military had previously announced “two Hezbollah terrorists operating in the region of Majdal Selm were struck by an aircraft” on Friday.

    But later in the day Saturday Hezbollah claimed a big win, having “shot down a Hermes 900 drone which was attacking our people and villages.”

    We are now witnessing a drone war phase of sorts playing out. The large drone downing appears to be confirmed through widely circulating footage on Saturday:

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    “The enemy (Israel) intensified its attacks last night,” Lebanon’s National News Agency reported of heavy overnight fighting. This included “a series of drone strikes… which resulted in deaths, injuries and extensive damage” along the border. 

    This isn’t the first time Hezbollah has claimed a Hermes drone downing. It reportedly happened in early April as well, and there have been claims of several others downed throughout more than six months of conflict.

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    According to Israeli media, “The Hermes 900 is Elbit’s largest drone and has been sold to the Israeli Air Force, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and according to foreign reports, Azerbaijan.”

    “The UAV is a relatively large and expensive drone capable of staying in the air for approximately 30 straight hours,” the report noted. Each Hermes drone is worth around eight to ten million dollars and made in Israel.

    Meanwhile significant damage has been revealed at the 769th Brigade headquarters of the Israeli army in the Kiryat Shmona barracks…

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    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/01/2024 – 15:45

  • Bubble Symmetry: Could The NASDAQ Drop 60% And Round-Trip To 2,500?
    Bubble Symmetry: Could The NASDAQ Drop 60% And Round-Trip To 2,500?

    Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,

    The prospect of a 60% or 80% decline in the NASDAQ index is only horrifying if we stay invested in the index all the way down.

    Speculative bubbles are interesting because they’re never bubbles in real time; they’re only recognized as bubbles after they’ve popped, as we sort through the wreckage of the aftermath. Speculative bubbles are equally interesting for their uncanny display of bubble symmetry and scale invariance, two traits of manias.

    In bubble symmetry, the decline phase is the mirror-image of the manic boost phase, in both time and amplitude. For example, the NASDAQ’s dot-com bubble rose from around 1,100 in early 1997 to a peak above 5,000 in early March 2000, a rise of about 3,900 over three years.

    The bubble-pop phase lasted about three years and covered a decline / round-trip back to around 1,100: a decline of about 77%. The first chart below shows the remarkable symmetry of the bubble’s ascent and collapse.

    Scale invariance refers to the similarity of a 600 point bubble that arises in six months to a 6,000 point bubble that arises over 6 years: if we add a zero to the number of months (time) and the number of points (amplitude), the bubbles retain the same characteristics. Put another way, a speculative mania that lasts a week shares the same characteristics of a speculative mania that lasts a month and one that lasts a year.

    Pulling back to look at the NASDAQ index from 1990 to the present, what’s striking is the modest scale of the dot-com bubble of 1997-2002. What looked like an almost unimaginably lofty peak in 2000 (5,048) now looks like a pipsqueak bubble compared to the current heights (17,032).

    Also noteworthy is the time it took to reclaim the heights of the dot-com bubble. Almost 17 years passed before the index definitively topped its 2000 high of 5,048. But if we measure the purchasing power of $5,000 in 2000 and adjust for officially measured inflation from 2000 to 2018, the index had to top $7,360 to match the 2000 peak, a number it did not reach until early 2018–18 years after the peak.

    Given that the index crashed back to 6,879 in March of 2020, it can be argued that the index didn’t definitively surpass the 2000 high until 2020, fully 20 years after the dot-com peak. That is a soberingly lengthy passage of time to recover the full value of cash invested at the very top of the bubble.

    Now let’s project bubble symmetry on the current NASDAQ bubble. This is a FRED (St. Louis Federal Reserve) chart which doesn’t use nominal price but sets the value of the index on 2/5/1971 at 100. The basics of time duration and amplitude are essentially identical with the nominal price chart.

    If the index follows the symmetry of the 2000 bubble, then we can anticipate a 60% decline by 2028 to the 2020 lows around 6,800. The full retracement of the bubble would occur by about 2032-33 with a decline to the base of the bubble, around 2,500–an 85% drop from the 2024 peak.

    I’ve laid out a classic A-B-C-D pattern with a proposed narrative that tracks 1) systemic inflation and 2) the decay to zero of the Federal Reserve and Treasury’s ability to “save” the stock market with financial alchemy. I’ve made the case for sustained, systemic inflation here many times, and also made the case for diminishing returns on pumping newly issued currency into the financial system to artificially boost equities.

    The prospect of a 60% or 80% decline in the NASDAQ index is only horrifying if we stay invested in the index all the way down. Those with no stake in the index will be mere observers. Since 93% of all stock ownership is concentrated in the top 10% households in the U.S., and the bottom 90% have relatively little invested directly or indirectly via pension funds and retirement funds, the full weight of this decline–which history suggests is inevitable–will fall on whomever believes such a decline is impossible and a turnaround is, well, just around the corner.

    Those of us who lived through the 2000 bubbles experienced a trial run of all the emotions and market actions to come: the euphoria of easy, ever grander profits, the anxiety of the first decline, and then the swings from relief to fear as sharp recovery spikes wiped out those betting on a further decline before dropping to new lows.

    If inflation is now systemic, then we can anticipate the hope-anxiety cycle will follow the “inflation is tamed / inflation is roaring back untamed” narrative. So the current peak of the happy narrative priced to perfection collapses when inflation doesn’t vanish, then recovers sharply when inflation temporarily recedes, and the the next leg down occurs when the next wave of inflation soars to new debilitating heights.

    There are of course counter-arguments: stocks rise in inflationary eras, etc. There were counter-arguments in 2000 as well; many saw the first decline as a “buy the dip” opportunity, after $80 dot-com stocks fell to $40. That they would subsequently fall to $4 or $2 was not anticipated by the herd. That is of course the way bubbles pop: in fits and starts, always offering hope that the dreadful destruction of “wealth” will reverse.

    We don’t control macro-dynamics or markets’ response to these dynamics. We can only choose to be observers or participants, that is, choose our exposure to risk.

    *  *  *

    Become a $3/month patron of my work via patreon.com. Subscribe to my Substack for free

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/01/2024 – 15:10

  • General Dynamics' New 155-Millimeter Shell Factory Opens As War Cycle Kicks Into Higher Gear
    General Dynamics’ New 155-Millimeter Shell Factory Opens As War Cycle Kicks Into Higher Gear

    General Dynamics’ new 155-millimeter artillery shell factory in Mesquite, Texas, is set to produce 30,000 shells per month, according to a New York Times report. This will provide crucial support to the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the first and second lines and bring the US Army closer to its 100,000 shell target goal by 2025. However, this goal remains far behind Russia’s current 155mm shell production capacity of 250,000 rounds per month.

    On Wednesday, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters the new Mesquite shell factory “will significantly increase our country’s ability to manufacture parts that are used to produce artillery ammunition.”

    Kirby said construction at the Mesquite factory began last year with funds allotted by the $95 billion security supplemental passed by Congress last month “to stand up new production lines as part of a national effort to significantly increase the number of artillery shells that we produce every month.”

    At full capacity, the factory will produce 30,000 155mm shells a month. The latest data from NATO’s secretary-general showed that Ukraine fires between 4,000 and 7,000 shells per day. The West is currently depleting 155mm stockpiles, along with other crucial weapons. 

    Shell factories in Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, currently produce about 36,000 155mm shells per month. Once the Mesquite plant reaches its full capacity of 30,000 shells per month, the US Army will be closer to achieving its goal of 100,000 shells per month by 2025. 

    The Biden administration’s disastrous foreign policies have resulted in a chaotic world. From Eastern Europe to the Middle East, these conflicts, some of which are broadening, have resulted in the US dangerously depleting weapon and ammunition stockpiles.

    To correct this, the US and other Western nations have been ramping up defense spending as the war cycle kicks into a higher gear. This has sparked a bull market in defense stocks, as there is no end in sight to conflicts resolving this year. 

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/01/2024 – 14:35

  • Why Consumers Are Angry About The Economy In Five Pictures
    Why Consumers Are Angry About The Economy In Five Pictures

    Authored by Miked Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

    Today the BEA released April data on inflation-adjusted income and spending. Let’s discuss the charts.

    Data from the BEA and BLS, chart by Mish

    Personal Income and Wages Key Points

    • DPI stands for Disposable Person Income. Disposable means after taxes.
    • Real means inflation adjusted.
    • Income includes wages, dividends, rent and all sources of income.

    Workers who don’t receive dividends or rental income view the world as shown by the red lines. Those who have no assets are renters.

    Index of Hourly Wages and Multiple Jobholders

    One reason Disposable Personal Income is up: People need to work multiple jobs just to make ends meet.

    This is also reflected in the blue line in the lead chart.

    Personal Income Four Ways

    Personal Current Transfer Receipts

    The above chart introduces Personal Current Transfer Receipts (PCTR). PCTR is income for which no goods were produced and no work performed.

    PCTR includes Medicare, Medicaid, disability payments, food stamps, rent assistance, and Social Security.

    PCTR is included in Disposable Income in all of the above charts.

    The green line in the above chart shows Real DPI minus PCTR. Please compare the green line to the red line.

    PCTR as a Percentage of Real Personal Income

    Hoot of the Day

    One of the reasons people are angry is the inflation-causing free money ran out. People increasingly have to work multiple jobs to make ends meet.

    CPI Up 0.3 Percent With Rent Still Rising Steeply

    Rent rose another 0.4 percent in April. Food and beverages were flat with food at home declining but food away from home rising.

    CPI data from the BLS, chart by Mish

    Key CPI Points

    • Rent is up at least 0.4 percent for 32 consecutive months.
    • The CPI weighs rent much higher than PCE. That’s why the CPI is up 3.6 percent from a year ago and PCE only 2.7 percent.
    • All of the preceding income charts would look much worse if adjusted by the CPI rather than the PCE price index.

    Please read those points again. The first three income charts are worse than they look if adjusted by the CPI.

    For discussion and additional CPI charts, please see CPI Up 0.3 Percent With Rent Still Rising Steeply

    Rent of primary residence, the cost that best equates to the rent people pay, jumped another 0.4 percent in April. Rent of primary residence has gone up at least 0.4 percent for 32 consecutive months! 

    Home Prices Hit New Record High, Don’t Worry, It’s Not Inflation

    The Case-Shiller national home price index hit a new high in February. Economists don’t count this as inflation.

    This is a bonus image.

    Case-Shiller national and 10-city indexes via St. Louis Fed, OER, CPI, and Rent from the BLS

    On May 2, I sarcastically commented Home Prices Hit New Record High, Don’t Worry, It’s Not Inflation

    That chart is one month stale now. We hit another new record in March.

    The Fed’s Preferred Inflation Measure, PCE, Shows No Further Progress

    More weakening: Real (inflation-adjusted) Income and spending was negative in April. The PCE price index remained flat at 0.3 percent for the month and 2.7 percent for the year.

    Chart from the BEA, annotations by Mish

    Earlier today I noted The Fed’s Preferred Inflation Measure, PCE, Shows No Further Progress

    This post contains four charts related to personal income and outlays discussed above.

    Anger Synopsis

    Consumers are angry, and it’s reflected in the polls. I have been discussing the reasons for angry consumers all year.

    But Biden and most economists still don’t get it. They think the economy is doing well. Tell that to renters looking to buy a home, stuck with rent going up month after month.

    People Who Rent Will Decide the 2024 Presidential Election

    On April 20, I wrote People Who Rent Will Decide the 2024 Presidential Election

    Who Are the Renters?

    The answer is younger voters and blacks.

    The Apartment List 2023 Millennial Homeownership Report shows Millennial homeownership seriously lags other generations.

    Generation Z homeownership is dramatically lower still.

    And according to the National Association of Realtors, the homeownership rate among Black Americans is 44 percent whereas for White Americans it’s 72.7 percent.

    That’s the largest Black-White homeownership rate gap in a decade.

    Will the Conviction of Trump Matter?

    I doubt it. People will vote with their pocketbook.

    For discussion of the political side, please see Trump Found Guilty – a Travesty of Justice for America

    If you are not interested in politics, please ignore that link and focus on the rest of this post.

    Returning to the economy, inflation will finally come down when rent abates but there will be a price. The price is recession.

    I expect a recession this year. It will not surprise me at all if a recession started in 2024 Q2, perhaps April.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/01/2024 – 14:00

  • Netanyahu Quickly Slams Door On Biden's Major Gaza Ceasefire Plan: "Non-Starter"
    Netanyahu Quickly Slams Door On Biden’s Major Gaza Ceasefire Plan: “Non-Starter”

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the door shut on President Biden’s new appeal urging both Israel and Hamas to accept the new ceasefire plan set before both sides. As we detailed earlier, Biden’s Friday afternoon speech was mostly about pressuring Israel to end the war. The message was clear at a moment the Democratic president faces dissent and pushback from his base headed into a tight November election: “I urge Israel to stand behind this deal, despite whatever pressure comes,” he emphasized.

    But coming a mere hours later, Netanyahu has made it clear there will be no permanent ceasefire in Gaza until Hamas is completely eradicated. He went so far as to say the current deal being pushed hard by the White House is a “non-starter”.

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    “Israel’s conditions for ending the war have not changed: The destruction of Hamas military and governing capabilities, the freeing of all hostages and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel,” Netanyahu said.

    “Israel will continue to insist these conditions are met before a permanent ceasefire is put in place. The notion that Israel will agree to a permanent ceasefire before these conditions are fulfilled is a non-starter,” he added.

    Remarking on the significance, Times of Israel observed that “His comments, in a rare statement published on the Sabbath and only in English, came after United States President Joe Biden announced Friday that Israel had proposed a three-phase deal for a ceasefire in Gaza in exchange for Hamas releasing hostages, told the terror group to accept it and urged the Israeli government to stand behind it.”

    Much of Biden’s speech had appeared geared toward convincing Netanyahu and the Israeli public to not drift into the more hardline positions of hawkish officials like Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. Biden had even claimed Hamas is no longer capable of carrying out an Oct.7-style terror attack again.

    He had said in the major televised address: “I know there are those in Israel who will not agree with this plan and will call for the war to continue indefinitely. Some are even in the government coalition. They’ve made it clear they want to occupy Gaza, they want to keep fighting for years, the hostages are not a priority for them.”

    Well… this grand White House ‘pressure’ initiative didn’t even last a full 24-hours…

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    This has also been a message of the ongoing anti-Netanyahu protests in Tel Aviv led by the hostage victims’ families. But Netanyahu’s office had made it clear right away that Israel’s military policy would not be dictated from Washington (despite the billions in annual US defense aid given). Israel media has detailed: 

    A US official later said the Israeli proposal was a highly detailed three-to-four-page document. It was apparently approved by the war cabinet — compromising Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and minister Benny Gantz — but presumably not yet presented to the wider security cabinet, of which far-fight ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich are members, and on whose support Netanyahu depends for his coalition’s majority.

    Immediately after the speech,  Netanyahu — whom Biden avoided naming — released an initial statement saying that “The Israeli government is united in the desire to return our hostages as soon as possible and is working to achieve this goal.”

    Netanyahu’s “non-starter” comment is a slap in the face to the White House, which has made largely empty threats about reigning in Israeli policy in Gaza. 

    Biden now finds himself between a rock and a hard place in an election year and his Gaza policies are deeply unpopular among many Democrats. The intractable conflict and his handling of it has threatened to sink his chances going up against Trump as both campaigns kick into high gear. Israel’s military has in the last days expanded its Rafah ground operations, and has now moved into most parts of the southern city.

    Tyler Durden
    Sat, 06/01/2024 – 13:25

  • Three Quarters Of US Voters Say Country Is "Out Of Control" Under Biden; New Poll Finds
    Three Quarters Of US Voters Say Country Is “Out Of Control” Under Biden; New Poll Finds

    Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

    A whopping three quarters of voters say the US is “out of control” and on the “wrong track” under the Biden administration, according to a poll.

    A Hart Research/Public Opinion Strategies/NBC News survey reveals that 73 percent of voters overall hold the opinion, making it the highest on record under any president since the tracking began.

    The last time the number was this high, it was under George W. Bush in 2008, with 70 percent. The Obama administration had 65 percent expressing the same opinion.

    The poll also found, like most others, that Trump is leading Biden in six of the seven swing states, including Wisconsin, where some other polls have recorded Biden having a narrow lead.

    The survey also discovered that non-white voters are turning away from Democrats, and to the Republican Party. In the past four years, non-white voters have shifted approximately 40 points in favour of the GOP.

    Republican pollster Bill McInturff highlighted that 41 percent of registered voters now identify as Republicans, and 40 percent as Democrats. By comparison, in 2016, Democrats had a seven point advantage.

    As we highlighted yesterday, Democratic operatives have claimed the Party is in full blown “freak out” mode over Biden’s decline.

    A majority of Democrat voters still want Biden replaced with another candidate just months before the election.

    On Wednesday, Biden failed to fill a high school gymnasium in Philadelphia, with the school kids themselves filling up the empty space. 

    *  *  *

    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, 06/01/2024 – 12:50

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Today’s News 1st June 2024

  • Get Up, Stand Up, Don't Give Up The Fight: Know Your Rights Or You Will Lose Them
    Get Up, Stand Up, Don't Give Up The Fight: Know Your Rights Or You Will Lose Them

    Authored by John & Nisha Whitehead via The Rutherford Institute,

    “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.”

    – Thomas Jefferson

    If America’s schools are to impart principles of freedom and democracy to future generations, they must start by respecting the constitutional rights of their students.

    Take the case of Lucas Hudson.

    With all the negative press being written about today’s young people, it’s refreshing to meet a young person who not only knows his rights but is prepared to stand up for them. 

    Lucas is a smart kid, a valedictorian of his graduating class at the Collegiate Academy at Armwood High School in Hillsborough County, Fla.

    So, when school officials gave Lucas an ultimatum: either remove most of his speech’s religious references from his graduation speech—in which he thanked the people who helped shape his character, reflected on how quickly time goes by, and urged people to use whatever time they have to love others and serve the God who loves us—or he would not be speaking at all, Lucas refused to forfeit his rights.

    That’s when Lucas’s father turned to The Rutherford Institute for help.

    In coming to Lucas’ defense, attorneys for The Rutherford Institute warned school officials that their attempts to browbeat Lucas into watering down his graduation speech could expose the school to a First Amendment lawsuit.

    Thankfully for Lucas, the school backed down, and he was able to deliver his speech as written.

    It doesn’t always work out so well, unfortunately.

    Over the course of The Rutherford Institute’s 42-year history, we have defended countless young people who found themselves censored, silenced and denied their basic First Amendment rights, especially when they chose to exercise their rights to free speech and religious freedom.

    In case after case, we encounter an appalling level of ignorance on the part of public school officials who mistakenly believe that the law requires anything religious be banned from public schools.

    Here’s where government officials get it wrong: while the government may not establish or compel a particular religion, it also may not silence and suppress religious speech merely because others might take offense.

    People are free to ignore, disagree with, or counter the religious speech of others, but the government cannot censor private religious speech.

    Unfortunately, you can only defend your rights when you know them, and the American people—and those who represent them—are utterly ignorant about their freedoms, history, and how the government is supposed to operate.

    As Morris Berman points out in his book Dark Ages America, “70 percent of American adults cannot name their senators or congressmen; more than half don’t know the actual number of senators, and nearly a quarter cannot name a single right guaranteed by the First Amendment. Sixty-three percent cannot name the three branches of government. Other studies reveal that uninformed or undecided voters often vote for the candidate whose name and packaging (e.g., logo) are the most powerful; color is apparently a major factor in their decision.”

    More than government corruption and ineptitude, police brutality, terrorism, gun violence, drugs, illegal immigration or any other so-called “danger” that threatens our nation, civic illiteracy may be what finally pushes us over the edge.

    As Thomas Jefferson warned, no nation can be both ignorant and free.

    Unfortunately, the American people have existed in a technology-laden, entertainment-fueled, perpetual state of cluelessness for so long that civic illiteracy has become the new normal for the citizenry.

    In fact, most immigrants who aspire to become citizens know more about national civics than native-born Americans. Surveys indicate that half of native-born Americans couldn’t correctly answer 70% of the civics questions on the U.S. Citizenship test.

    Not even the government bureaucrats who are supposed to represent us know much about civics, American history and geography, or the Constitution although they take an oath to uphold, support and defend the Constitution against “enemies foreign and domestic.”

    For instance, a couple attempting to get a marriage license was recently forced to prove to a government official that New Mexico is, in fact, one of the 50 states and not a foreign country.

    You can’t make this stuff up.

    Those who gave us the Constitution and the Bill of Rights believed that the government exists at the behest of its citizens. The government’s purpose is to protect, defend and even enhance our freedoms, not violate them.

    It was no idle happenstance that the Constitution opens with these three powerful words: “We the people.”

    Those who founded this country knew quite well that every citizen must remain vigilant or freedom would be lost. As Thomas Paine recognized, “It is the responsibility of the patriot to protect his country from its government.”

    You have no rights unless you exercise them.

    Still, you can’t exercise your rights unless you know what those rights are.

    “If Americans do not understand the Constitution and the institutions and processes through which we are governed, we cannot rationally evaluate important legislation and the efforts of our elected officials, nor can we preserve the national unity necessary to meaningfully confront the multiple problems we face today,” warns the Brennan Center in its Civic Literacy Report Card. “Rather, every act of government will be measured only by its individual value or cost, without concern for its larger impact. More and more we will ‘want what we want, and [will be] convinced that the system that is stopping us is wrong, flawed, broken or outmoded.’”

    Education precedes action.

    As the Brennan Center concludes “America, unlike most of the world’s nations, is not a country defined by blood or belief. America is an idea, or a set of ideas, about freedom and opportunity. It is these ideas that bind us together as Americans and have kept us free, strong, and prosperous. But these ideas do not perpetuate themselves. They must be taught and learned anew with each generation.”

    There is a movement underway to require that all public-school students pass the civics portion of the U.S. naturalization test—100 basic facts about U.S. history and civics—before receiving their high-school diploma, and that’s a start.

    Lucas Hudson would have passed such a test with flying colors.

    On graduation day, Lucas stepped up to the podium and delivered his uncensored valedictorian speech as written, without any interference by school censors.

    As Lucas’s father relayed to The Rutherford Institute:

    “In the end, Lucas got to give his entire speech the way he wanted to give it, and everybody was paying attention.  Nobody got hurt.  Nothing bad happened.  It was just a young man using the First Amendment rights to speak his mind regarding his personal beliefs. [Lucas] never thought a few sentences in a speech would create such a controversy in his world, but this speech turned into a defining moment for him.  He will never be the same after this experience, but this permanent change is a good thing.  When it mattered, Lucas stood up for himself, and when those he stood up against tried to push him down, [The Rutherford Institute] came to his aide and backed him up to make it a fair fight. I am comforted to know you are defending the rights of the people.  These fights matter.  Every time you defend the rights of one person, you defend the rights of every person.  You helped my son fight for his rights against the school, and, in doing so, Hillsborough County Public Schools will think twice before infringing on the rights of future students. Your defense of Lucas became an inspiration for the students in his school and sparked a healthy and meaningful debate among the teachers, students, and parents about the value of the First Amendment and the need for limits on government control over our personal beliefs.  You are fighting for good and doing important work.  Don’t ever stop. Thank you, Rutherford Institute, for being there for my son when he needed you most.”

    America needs more freedom fighters like Lucas Hudson and The Rutherford Institute.

    It’s up to us.

    We have the power to make and break the government.

    We the American people—the citizenry—are the arbiters and ultimate guardians of America’s welfare, defense, liberty, laws and prosperity.

    We must act—and act responsibly.

    A healthy, representative government is hard work. It takes a citizenry that is informed about the issues, educated about how the government operates, and willing to make the sacrifices necessary to stay involved.

    As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People and in its fictional counterpart The Erik Blair Diaries, it’s our job to keep freedom alive using every nonviolent means available to us.

    As Martin Luther King Jr. recognized in a speech delivered on December 5, 1955, just four days after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to relinquish her seat on a Montgomery city bus: “Democracy transformed from thin paper to thick action is the greatest form of government on earth.”

    Know your rights. Exercise your rights. Defend your rights. If not, you will lose them.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 05/31/2024 – 23:10

  • These Are The 10 Most Stolen Vehicles In America
    These Are The 10 Most Stolen Vehicles In America

    Since the onset of the pandemic, the U.S. has experienced a surge in vehicle theft rates. In 2023, more than one million vehicles were reported stolen.

    In this infographic, Visual Capitalist’s Bruno Venditti lists the most stolen vehicles in the U.S. last year, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

    Kia and Hyundai Top the List

    In 2023, the Hyundai Elantra, Hyundai Sonata, and Kia Optima topped the list of the most stolen cars in the U.S., breaking the years-long trend of full-size pickups topping the list. Security vulnerabilities in Asian models and social media trends highlighting how to steal these vehicles are some factors for the change.

    Besides Hyundai and Kia models, the list includes full-size pickups and other mid-size cars, such as the Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Honda Accord, Honda Civic, and Ford F-150.

    California accounted for the highest number of vehicle thefts nationwide in 2023, with 208,668 vehicles reported stolen. The District of Columbia had the highest theft rate nationwide, with 1,149.71 thefts per 100,000 people, over three times the national theft rate.

    According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, more than 85% of passenger vehicles reported stolen were subsequently recovered, with 34% recovered within a day.

    If you enjoyed this post, check out Mapped: The Most Dangerous Cities in America. This visualization reveals the most dangerous urban areas in the U.S. in terms of how many violent crimes occur for every 1,000 residents.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 05/31/2024 – 22:35

  • Numbers Behind The Narrative: What Climate Science Actually Says
    Numbers Behind The Narrative: What Climate Science Actually Says

    Authored by Kevin Stocklin via The Epoch Times,

    Most people by now are familiar with the narrative that our planet faces a dire crisis due to rising temperatures.

    In January 2023, former Vice President Al Gore provided a graphic depiction during a World Economic Forum summit, informing attendees that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are “now trapping as much extra heat as would be released by 600,000 Hiroshima-class atomic bombs exploding every single day on the Earth.

    “That’s what’s boiling the oceans, creating these atmospheric rivers, and the rain bombs, and sucking the moisture out of the land, and creating the droughts, and melting the ice, and raising the sea level, and causing these waves of climate refugees,” he stated.

    United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres echoed these remarks at the U.N. Environment Assembly in February of this year, warning: “Our planet is on the brink.

    “Ecosystems are collapsing,” he stated. “Our climate is imploding, and humanity is to blame.”

    Despite ubiquitous reports that there is an overwhelming consensus among scientists in support of this narrative, many scientists, like John Clauser, a 2022 Nobel Prize recipient in physics, see it differently.

    Mr. Clauser stated in 2023 that “the popular narrative about climate change reflects a dangerous corruption of science that threatens the world’s economy and the well-being of billions of people.

    “Misguided climate science has metastasized into massive shock-journalistic pseudoscience,” Mr. Clauser stated. “In my opinion, there is no real climate crisis.”

    How can there be such a vast discrepancy on such an extensively researched topic?

    Having studied the production of climate data for decades, physicist Steven Koonin said he has “watched a growing chasm between what the politicians, the media, and the NGOs were saying, and what the science actually said.”

    “Nobody has an incentive to portray scientific truth and facts,” he told The Epoch Times.

    Mr. Koonin was the undersecretary for science in the U.S. Department of Energy, under President Barack Obama. He is a former physics professor at Caltech and is currently on faculty at New York University.

    He also has expertise in the development of analytical models.

    In 2021, Mr. Koonin published a best-selling book titled “Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What it Doesn’t and Why It Matters.” The book analyzes where climate data comes from and how it makes its way from dense, thousand-page scientific reports into headline news for public consumption.

    The United Nations’ IPCC

    One of the most often cited sources of climate information is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a collection of scientists and government appointees that, according to its website, is dedicated to “assessing the science on climate change.”

    The United Nations and the World Meteorological Organization established the IPCC in 1988.

    The IPCC is both a scientific and a political body. It doesn’t conduct its own research but rather assembles teams of hundreds of scientists in working groups that collect reports from scientific journals regarding climate change, its effects, and what should be done about it.

    About every seven years, an IPCC Working Group called Working Group I synthesizes the latest reports into Assessment Reports (ARs), often several thousand pages thick, which are then reviewed and edited by government appointees from the 195 member nations.

    In 2023, the IPCC released its Sixth Assessment Report (AR6).

    The information on which the ARs is based often has a bias from the start, critics say, because research grants typically fund studies that support the prevailing narrative on climate change, and because scientific journals often avoid publishing studies that suggest climate change is not dire.

    “Any literature that supports alarmism is promoted and any that does not is rejected,” William Happer, professor emeritus in physics at Princeton University, told The Epoch Times.

    According to Mr. Happer, the source of much of today’s climate data comes from “centers whose generous funding would cease if climate hysteria were to abate.”

    In addition, according to Richard Lindzen, emeritus professor of meteorology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who served as one of the scientists on Working Group I in the past, “the IPCC itself is only studying anthropogenic [man-made] climate change.

    “It doesn’t do anything regarding natural climate change,” Mr. Lindzen said, “and that’s a severe technical shortcoming because you can’t do things like attribution unless you know what natural variability is.”

    Despite that, “when you read the [Assessment] Reports, focusing mostly on the science, they’re actually pretty good,” Mr. Koonin said.

    The data presented in the ARs is a relatively sober analysis. However, it provides little support for the narrative of climate catastrophe—at least as far as what has been observed to date.

    Trends in Extreme Weather Events

    Chapter 12 of the AR6 details the IPCC’s assessment of the impact of extreme weather events. The tables provided in this chapter show that extreme weather events that have “already emerged” are limited.

    The report states a “high confidence” of temperature increases in average air and ocean temperatures and incidences of extreme heat in tropical and mid-latitudes.

    It also indicates high confidence in a decrease in arctic sea ice.

    However, it states “low confidence” for any increase in floods, rainstorms, landslides, drought, “fire weather,” cyclones, hurricanes, tornadoes, sand and dust storms, hail, sea level rise, coastal flooding, and erosion.

    It also indicates low confidence regarding a decrease in snow, glaciers, ice sheets, or lake, river, and sea ice, beyond the Arctic region.

    The IPCC’s assessment that such extreme weather events don’t appear to be escalating is supported by the findings of other scientific organizations.

    A 30-year analysis of “tornado trends” by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) found that “the number of strong and violent tornadoes hasn’t varied much since 1970.

    “While the peak in tornado frequency in the early to middle 1970s included the 1974 Super Outbreak, the year with the most tornadoes during that span was 1973!” the NOAA report states.

    It attributed an increase in tornadoes reported in the 1990s to the newly implemented Doppler weather radars, the development of spotter networks, population shifts, the proliferation of cell phone cameras, and “the growing ‘hobby’ of tornado chasing.”

    Likewise, a 2022 report in Nature, found a “declining tropical cyclone frequency under global warming.

    “On average, the global annual number of TCs [tropical cyclones] has decreased by 13 percent in the 20th century compared with the pre-industrial baseline 1850–1900.” the report stated.

    In addition, the Drought Severity Index published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) showed no material increase in droughts in the United States between 1895 and 2020.

    From Data to Narratives

    How do such mundane assessments of the impact of climate change evolve into the narrative that “our climate is imploding” and “oceans are boiling”?

    In two ways: first, the public statements from the IPCC and the U.N. often diverge from what their own ARs actually say; and second, the predictions of a dire future are based on models rather than observations.

    Alongside each new AR, the IPCC also writes condensed Summaries for Policymakers (SPMs) to “inform policymakers what scientists know about climate change.”

    The SPMs distill the voluminous ARs down to a short list of bullet points.

    In addition, the IPCC produces Headline Statements and Press Releases to “provide a concise narrative” on climate change.

    “[The AR] gets boiled down to the Summary for Policymakers, and while it’s drafted by scientists—a small number of them—the governments have to approve the SPM line by line,” Mr Koonin said.

    “And so you already have the potential for, let’s say, non-scientific factors entering.”

    “The SPM itself is 20–30 pages, and the media have to cover that,” he said. “And they typically will cherry pick the most extreme parts of it, so that’s how we get the distortions, and then that is exacerbated by the politicians, seeing opportunity in distortion, and the NGOs,”

    Despite observing no increase in the tornadoes, cyclones, droughts, wildfires, or floods that have been attributed to climate change, the IPCC’s 2023 Headline Statement warns: “There is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all [very high confidence].”

    “This problem [climate alarmism] is especially severe in the summaries for policymakers, which are mostly written by government bureaucrats,” Mr. Happer said.

    “Some of the scientific reviews in the voluminous background material are sound and dispassionate,” he said. “But it is not easy for honest scientists to buck the pressures for alarmism from the political leadership.”

    Rise of Computer Models

    Much of the basis for climate catastrophism comes not from observation but from computer models.

    A study of climate models between 1970 and 2020 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) found that “observed changes in temperature and precipitation have generally been consistent with the changes projected by earlier models.

    “The accurate projections of future climate and hindcasting of past climate makes us confident that models can reliably project changes in the climate,” the USDA report states.

    However, taking a closer look at the climate modeling industry raises questions about how reliable those projections are.

    The IPCC draws up its predictions based on averaged results from dozens of models, which Mr. Koonin says “disagree wildly with one another.”

    In his book, Mr. Koonin notes that the average surface temperatures generated by the models in IPCC reports vary among themselves by around 3 degrees Celsius or three times the amount of warming observed throughout the 20th century.

    The ARs “downplay this embarrassment” by focusing not on the actual temperature predictions, where models diverge, but rather on the predicted change in temperatures, where models are more likely to coincide.

    And then there is the process of “tuning” the models.

    The models typically divide the Earth up into “grid cells,” each a few tens of square miles.

    These grid cells are “tuned” in a process of hard-wiring the results from the cells to manually account for more random elements like cloud formations, storms, or humidity, which the models can’t predict but are material to temperature changes.

    “There are hundreds of such parameters because the climate system is complicated and has many different dimensions,” Mr. Koonin said.

    “And so, as people tune the parameters differently, they get different results.”

    Tuning also helps the models show results closer to observed data, but this highlights another shortcoming of the models—while purporting to predict the future, they often fail to reproduce historical temperatures.

    They also struggle to separate human influence from natural phenomena, all of which elevates the uncertainty of modeled predictions regarding human behavior.

    “If you’re trying—as a politician or NGO or company—to promote a narrative, you don’t want to talk about the uncertainties,” Mr. Koonin said.

    “You just want to say it’s going to be five degrees warmer and the world is going to hell.”

    Living In Denial

    Those who question the narrative of climate catastrophism are often attacked as climate “deniers.”

    “Anyone who willfully denies the impact of climate change is condemning the American people to a very dangerous future,” President Joe Biden stated in November 2023.

    “The impacts we’re seeing are only going to get worse, more frequent, more ferocious, and more costly.”

    Absent the hyperbole, however, what do the numbers indicate about our future?

    “Modest warming since the 1900s; 1.3 degrees [Celsius] at the global level,” Mr. Koonin said.

    “Despite that, by whatever measure you want to use—lifespan, nutrition, GDP, death rates from extreme events—it’s all going in a positive direction.”

    “Sea level rise is continuing at just about a foot a century,” he said. “But the actual and projected economic impacts of warming are in the noise … even the IPCC says it’s small compared to many other things that determine human wellbeing.”

    A 2022 report by the Heritage Foundation, modeling the costs and benefits to the United States of complying with the Paris Agreement and meeting the Biden administration’s goal of reducing GHG emissions to 52 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, predicts these policies would reduce global temperatures by 0.5 degrees at the end of this century.

    “Even with theoretical efficiency, we find the costs of the policy to be staggering,” the report states.

    “The economy would, in aggregate, lose $7.7 trillion of gross domestic product (GDP) through 2040, which is $87,000 per family of four.”

    If the developing world is deprived of the use of fossil fuels, the impact there could be even more severe.

    “The billions of people who don’t have energy, who don’t have modern conveniences, they will be condemned to perpetual poverty,” Mr. Lindzen said.

    “CO2 has played an important role in increasing agricultural productivity, so we’ll see everyone paying more for food and more people starving.”

    “You are already seeing tragic consequences even in the United States, where a whole generation of kids has been told that they have no future,” he said.

    “They’re not having children themselves, because what’s the point of having children in a world that’s going to self-destruct?”

    The Epoch Times contacted the IPCC for comment but didn’t receive a response.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 05/31/2024 – 22:10

  • Russia, Ukraine Swap 150 POWs In First Exchange In Months
    Russia, Ukraine Swap 150 POWs In First Exchange In Months

    Zelensky and his Western backers, especially the US and UK, have long claimed that it’s ‘impossible’ to sit down with Russia at the negotiating table. Zelensky even just six months into the war had vowed not to re-enter negotiations with Moscow until Putin is no longer in power.

    But as if inadvertently illustrating that negotiations are actually very possible and within reach, Ukraine has announced a successful major prisoner swap, which is a first in nearly four months.

    Via Associated Press

    The Friday swap involved each side sending back 75 POWs. A representative for the Ukrainian side, Vitalii Matviienko, said that “Ukraine is always ready” in response to the question of why these swaps had stalled in the last months. But ultimately each side has blamed the other for lack of more rapid progress.

    Like with prior swaps, it was reportedly accomplished with the mediation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). 150 total from both sides were freed in the rare successful deal.

    According to an Associated Press description of the returned Ukrainians:

    The Ukrainian POWs, including four civilians, were returned on several buses that drove into the northern Sumy region. As they disembarked, they shouted joyfully and called their families to tell them they were home. Some knelt and kissed the ground, while many wrapped themselves in yellow-blue flags.

    They hugged one another, breaking into tears. Many appeared emaciated and poorly dressed.

    Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for Treatment of POWs has said that Friday’s swap brings to the total number of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians freed since the war began to 3,210.

    “Throughout all of this time, we have not stopped working for a single day to bring everyone home from Russian captivity,” Ukraine’s President Zelensky stated in the aftermath.  

    His office further described “These are privates, sergeants and officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” and posted images of the newly freed Ukrainians on state social media channels.

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    But about one-third of the former prisoners weren’t in good shape, as international media reports documented that many were injured and disabled, or else seriously ill. However, many also looked fit and well-groomed despite their lengthy captivity.

    The Russian side has also confirmed in a Kremlin statement: “On May 31, 2024, as a result of the negotiation process, 75 Russian servicemen, who were in mortal danger in captivity, were returned from the territory controlled by the Kiev regime. In return, 75 prisoners of war of the Ukrainian armed forces were handed over.”

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 05/31/2024 – 21:45

  • France Foils Planned Attack On Paris Olympics; Israel's Mossad Warns Of Terrorism Ahead Of Games 
    France Foils Planned Attack On Paris Olympics; Israel's Mossad Warns Of Terrorism Ahead Of Games 

    Radical progressive leaders across the Western world, along with leftist non-governmental organizations, are continuing to facilitate an unprecedented migrant invasion into Europe and the US. This poses a significant national security risk as terror threats surge into summer.

    Jumping across the Alantic to Europe, the French interior minister told AP News that security officers foiled an attack ahead of soccer events during the Paris Olympics.

    Gerald Darmanin said in a statement that the members of the General Directorate of Internal Security arrested an 18-year-old man from Chechnya on May 22 on suspicion of being behind a plan to attack soccer events that will be held in the city of Saint-Etienne, southwest of Lyon. -AP

    The report continued:

    The man was preparing an attack targeting the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium in the city of Saint-Etienne that will host several soccer matches during the Summer Games. The planned attack was to target spectators and police forces, the statement said. The suspect wanted to attack the Olympic events “to die and become a martyr,” the statement also said. -AP 

    Besides the person from Chechnya, Israel’s Mossad was quoted by The Jerusalem Post as also saying there are rising threats of terrorism ahead of the soccer events in France. 

    Iran is increasing its support of terror in Europe through proxy criminal groups in the 60-day lead-up to the Paris Olympics, the Mossad revealed on Thursday.

    It highlighted in particular the activities of two criminal groups — FOXTROT and RUMBA — alleging that they were “directly responsible for a violent activity and the promotion of terrorism in Sweden and throughout Europe” and that they receive funds and direction directly from Iran.

    Israel’s spy agency charged that Iran was behind the grenade attack against Israel’s Embassy in Belgium this past weekend and the gunshots near the embassy in Sweden on May 17. –JPost

    In recent days… 

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    Let’s not forget in the US, the terror group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine has been linked to fueling chaos across colleges and universities. Through public records analysis, we have found links with PFLP to one sanctioned Iranian bank. 

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    Remember the warning from the UAE Foreign Minister in 2017…

    The West is beyond compromised. 

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 05/31/2024 – 20:55

  • NRA Hails Supreme Court Ruling On Free Speech Violation By NY Officials
    NRA Hails Supreme Court Ruling On Free Speech Violation By NY Officials

    Authored by Michael Clements via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    The stage for the National Rifle Association Presidential Forum in Harrisburg, Pa., on Feb. 9, 2024. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)

    The National Rifle Association (NRA) is celebrating a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruling that New York State officials violated its First Amendment rights.

    On Thursday, the High Court ruled in National Rifle Association v. Maria T. Vullo that Ms. Vullo and New York State officials used their regulatory authority to coerce insurance companies, banks, and other financial institutions into cutting ties with the Second Amendment advocacy group based on the NRA’s political mission.

    Ms. Vullo was the Superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) when the NRA claims the coercion took place. The DFS is the New York state regulatory agency overseeing banks, insurance companies, and other financial institutions.

    According to the court’s opinion, state officials are free to express their views. They are not free to punish those who do not share their views.

    “A government official can share her views freely and criticize particular beliefs, and she can do so forcefully in the hopes of persuading others to follow her lead,” Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in the majority opinion on May 30.

    “In doing so, she can rely on the merits and force of her ideas, the strength of her convictions, and her ability to inspire others. What she cannot do, however, is use the power of the State to punish or suppress disfavored expression,” she added.

    NRA officials said in a press release that the decision will have far-reaching implications for the First Amendment.

    “This victory is a win for the NRA in the fight to protect freedom,” recently-elected NRA President Bob Barr wrote. “Regulators are now on notice: this is a win for not only the NRA but every organization who might otherwise suffer from an abuse of government power.”

    An NRA lawyer agreed in an email to The Epoch Times.

    “This is a landmark victory for the NRA and all who care about our First Amendment freedom,” William A. Brewer III, who represented the NRA, wrote. “The opinion confirms that New York government officials abused the power of their office to silence a political enemy.”

    Attorneys for Ms. Vullo did not respond by press time to an email seeking comment.

    In court filings, the NRA claimed, Ms. Vullo used public statements, guidance memoranda, “back channel threats,” consent decrees, and multi-million dollar fines to force businesses to drop the NRA as a customer.

    According to the NRA’s petition, in October 2017, DFS, under Ms. Vullo and then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s direction began an investigation into the Carry Guard.

    Carry Guard was an insurance plan promoted by the NRA for people who carried firearms for self-protection. The plan covered certain costs if the policyholder was involved in a legal self-defense shooting.

    The DFS investigation focused on insurance broker Lockton Companies, LLC, which administered the program, underwriter Chubb Limited, and the insurance marketplace Lloyd’s of London.

    A couple of months after the Feb. 14, 2018, shooting at Marjorie Stoneman-Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and while the DFS investigation was still underway, Ms. Vullo sent two memoranda titled “Guidance on Risk Management Relating to the NRA and Similar Gun Promotion Organizations.”

    The April 19, 2018, memos were sent to “New York State Chartered or Licensed Financial Institutions” and “All Insurers Doing Business in the State of New York.”

    Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court pose for their official photo at the Supreme Court in Washington on Oct. 7, 2022. (Front L–R) Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Justices Samuel Alito and Justice Elena Kagan. (Back L–R) Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Ketanji Brown Jackson. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)

    Ms. Vullo wrote, “There is a fair amount of precedent in the business world where firms have implemented measures in areas such as the environment, caring for the sick, and civil rights in fulfilling their corporate social responsibility.”

    She warned of “the social backlash against the National Rifle Association, and similar organizations that promote guns that lead to senseless violence . . .”

    Lawyer Slams State Tactics

    Ms. Vullo pointed out that the companies are in the business of managing risk, “including their own reputational risks. . .”

    Waukesha, Wisconsin-based lawyer and Second Amendment social media influencer Tom Grieve compared New York’s tactics to those used by organized crime in an email to The Epoch Times. He wrote that New York’s case was flawed from the start.

    “I don’t know what is worse: that this issue had to go to the Supreme Court or that this is far from the first or last 2nd Amendment-related case that appears obvious at the outset of this term,” his email reads.

    Mark W. Smith, constitutional attorney and host of the Four Boxes Diner Second Amendment YouTube channel says it’s instructive that the justices considered guidance documents, press releases, and other statements issued by the state and not just direct threats as evidence of coercion.

    “The Court’s 9-0 decision, written by liberal Justice Sotomayor, sends a powerful signal that government officials cannot use threats and inducements based on their regulatory authority to attempt to throttle speech they don’t like,” Mr. Smith wrote in an email to The Epoch Times.

    Sam Dorman contributed to this report.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 05/31/2024 – 20:30

  • "A Full-Scale War Isn't A Foregone Conclusion", Warns Russian Think Tank Head
    "A Full-Scale War Isn't A Foregone Conclusion", Warns Russian Think Tank Head

    Ahead of the “Russia and China: Cooperation in a New Era” conference in Moscow on Thursday, Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) Director General Ivan Timofeev told Russian state-owned news agency Tass about the increasing likelihood of a full-scale war between Russia and the West. 

    “A full-scale war is not is not a foregone conclusion, but unfortunately, its likelihood is growing,” Timofeev said in an interview with Tass. He said, “One option is that there will be a great rise in confrontation between us. At the root of this is the Ukraine issue, as the West continues to provide large-scale military assistance to Kyiv.”

    At a separate meeting on Thursday, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told foreign ministers about the need to allow Ukraine to use Western weapons to penetrate deep inside Russia.

    Timofeev warned about the rising possibility of a direct conflict with NATO:

    “A number of officials, particularly in France and the United Kingdom, have said that individual military units from NATO countries may be deployed to Ukraine. If they take part in military operations against Russian forces, they will become a legitimate target for our army.

    “Let’s hope this possible escalation involves conventional arms and not nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, NATO is spending ten times as much as Russia – if not more – on defense. It’s certainly a dangerous scenario.”

    The RIAC director general continued: 

    “The NATO leadership has made statements that no troops will be sent to Ukraine, and a number of EU politicians have said that this is counterproductive. That means they aren’t united on the issue.”

    Timofeev added:

    “As for Russia, we must take every possible scenario into account. We have the capacity to deter these threats.

    “However, such a scenario will cause irreparable damage to everyone.” 

    He concluded that the West will likely continue assisting Ukraine through weapons and equipment supplies, indicating these “dividing lines between” Russia and the West “may be there for decades.” 

    Daniel Blake, Asia and emerging market equity strategist at Morgan Stanley wrote in a note to clients in April that the shift towards a multipolar world has been underway for the last five years. With that comes a war cycle, and, as we’ve penned before, a splurge in defense spending is bullish for defense companies. 

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 05/31/2024 – 20:05

  • Reuters Claims Trump Supporters Want 'Riots And Violent Retribution' Following Trump Verdict
    Reuters Claims Trump Supporters Want 'Riots And Violent Retribution' Following Trump Verdict

    Authored by Steve Watson via modernity.news,

    Reuters has published an article claiming that Trump supporters have called for “riots and violent retribution” after the GOP nominee was convicted in the New York Trial Thursday.

    Here’s a screenshot of the article (in case they change it):

    Reuters says that it has conducted a “review of comments on three Trump-aligned websites: the former president’s own Truth Social platform, Patriots.Win and the Gateway Pundit.”

    The piece continues, “Some called for attacks on jurors, the execution of the judge, Justice Juan Merchan, or outright civil war and armed insurrection.”

    The article then quoted one comment that stated “Someone in NY with nothing to lose needs to take care of Merchan,” referring to the judge, and adding “Hopefully he gets met with illegals with a machete.” 

    The piece quotes another comment on Gateway Pundit, that states “Time to start capping some leftys. This cannot be fixed by voting.”

    The article quotes several more comments calling for violence, but admits that some have since been removed.

    Reuters also charges that since the 2020 election Trump “loyalists have responded with a campaign of threats and intimidation targeting judges and court officials.”

    The article also quotes Jacob Ware, a research fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, who has recently published a book on “far right terrorism.”

    Ware charges that Trump has an “ironclad ability to mobilize more extreme supporters to action, both at the ballot box and through violence.”

    “Until and unless he accepts the process, the extremist reaction to his legal troubles will be militant,” Ware added.

    This all comes after Joe Biden labelled violent BLM protests “peaceful” and contrasted them to January 6th protesters “storming” the capitol.

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

    Wow.

    They really are going all out on in their attack on Trump and his supporters.

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

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

    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
    Fri, 05/31/2024 – 19:40

  • White House Lied To Congress About Israel-Gaza, Per Official Resigning In Protest
    White House Lied To Congress About Israel-Gaza, Per Official Resigning In Protest

    A State Department official has resigned in protest, saying the Biden White House lied to Congress on a critical report so American weapons could keep flowing to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) for its war in Gaza.    

    That official is Stacy Gilbert, a 20-year State Department employee who was a civil military advisor in the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration. In February, a national security memo directive tasked the State and Defense departments with writing a report assessing whether Israel was complying with the Geneva Conventions, and whether Israel was thwarting the flow of humanitarian assistance. Working with other experts, Gilbert was tasked with answering the latter question. 

    Palestinians at a crowded food station in the southern city of Rafah (Fatima Shbair/AP via New York Times)

    That question had enormous implications: The Foreign Assistance Act prohibits aid to countries that thwart the flow of US humanitarian aid. Gilbert says she and other experts formed a clear consensus that Israel had blocked aid “in many ways,” and that they began crafting a report with that conclusion. 

    However, with the report still in rough draft form, Gilbert said senior officials shut her and other subject matter experts out of the project, and proceeded to rewrite the report over the ensuing days before it was due to be filed with Congress. 

    Gilbert told PBS: 

    “When the report came out on May 10, and I read the conclusion…that Israel was not blocking humanitarian assistance, I decided I would resign, because that was absolutely not the opinion of subject matter experts in the State Department, USAID, the humanitarian community, organizations that are working in Gaza.” 

    The estimated Palestinian death toll in Gaza has crossed 36,000. In the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas invasion of southern Israel, Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant announced a “complete siege” of the 25-mile long strip. “There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed,” he said. “We are fighting human animals and are acting accordingly.”  Earlier this month, the UN World Food Programme said that northern Gaza is in the midst of a “full-blown famine.” 

    Despite receiving tens of billions of dollars in weapons and money for its war, Israel has ignored Washington’s pleas for mercy and thwarted the flow of aid through overland crossings — to the extent that President Biden ordered the construction of a pier off the Gaza coast to do an end-run around the IDF –spending $320 million and critically injuring a service member in the process. Upon completion, the pier promptly fell apart in rough weather and it’s being removed for repair and the price tag gets bigger. 

    Israeli citizens have done their own part to thwart the flow of aid: 

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    In a statement explaining her resignation, Gilbert wrote:

    “There is abundant evidence showing Israel is responsible for blocking aid. To deny this is absurd and shameful…Some members of the US government…made a conscious choice to deny the facts on the ground in Gaza in order to continue military support for Israel’s disastrous conduct in this war…

    Another State Department official who’d already resigned in protest of the Biden administration’s management of the Israel-Gaza war used Gilbert’s resignation as an opportunity to renew his own condemnation. “On the day when the White House announced that the latest atrocity in Rafah did not cross its red line, this resignation demonstrates that the Biden Administration will do anything to avoid the truth,” wrote Josh Paul, formerly of the State Department’s Bureau of Political affairs. 

    On March 9, Biden warned Israel against a major attack on the southernmost Gaza city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians had fled for safety — explicitly calling it a “red line.” On Sunday, an Israeli strike in Rafah killed at least 45 people, including 12 women and 8 children. Many of the victims were incinerated in tents. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was a “tragic mistake.” The White House said the strike didn’t cross a red line and wouldn’t effect US policy.   

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    Gilbert says her motivation for resigning extends beyond the restriction of humanitarian aid:  

    “Israel’s killing of at least 36,000 Palestinians, deliberate destruction of the majority of buildings, and attacks on every major medical facility, schools, and stores, lives and livelihoods, can’t be ignored…I cannot continue working for a government that denies and enables Israel’s deliberate carnage in Gaza.” 

    Meanwhile, as the resignations keep piling up, US bombs keep dropping on Palestinian militants and innocents alike… 

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    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 05/31/2024 – 19:15

  • Research Suggests Unusual Form Of Cell Death Causes Severe COVID-19 Lung Damage
    Research Suggests Unusual Form Of Cell Death Causes Severe COVID-19 Lung Damage

    Authored by Megan Redshaw, J.D. via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Illustration of the cell apoptosis mechanism. Ferroptosis differs from apoptosis. (best in world/Shutterstock)

    SARS-CoV-2 infection may cause severe pulmonary conditions such as pneumonia, inflammation, and acute respiratory distress syndrome, but until now, researchers have not understood the driving force behind lung damage caused by COVID-19.

    In a recently published paper in Nature Communications, researchers at Columbia University discovered that a relatively new form of iron-dependent cell death called ferroptosis is the underlying mechanism causing extreme and potentially fatal pulmonary conditions in COVID-19 patients.

    “This finding adds crucial insight to our understanding of how COVID-19 affects the body that will significantly improve our ability to fight life-threatening cases of the disease,” Brent Stockwell, chair of the department of biological sciences at Columbia and co-lead author of the study, said in a news release.

    What Is Ferroptosis?

    Human cells have powerful mechanisms for maintaining survival, but when those mechanisms become impaired, lipid peroxides—generated through normal metabolic activities—can accumulate to toxic levels, damage cell membranes, and kill cells through ferroptosis.

    Ferroptosis was first identified in 2012 by Mr. Stockwell and differs from apoptosis—the most common form of cell death that occurs with aging and in some disease processes. Ferroptosis is an unusual type of cell death linked to altered iron metabolism, glutathione depletion, glutathione peroxidase 4 inactivation, and increased oxidative stress.

    Since proposing the concept, Mr. Stockwell’s lab has demonstrated that ferroptosis can occur in healthy contexts as part of the body’s normal processes. For example, cell death can remove cells infected with SARS-CoV-2, inhibiting the replication and spread of the virus or counteract diseases like cancer, which involves rapid cell growth.

    On the other hand, ferroptosis can be destructive, attacking healthy cells in patients with neurodegenerative diseases or causing severe manifestations of COVID-19 and possibly even long COVID.

    The ability to stop ferroptosis could pave the way for treatments that improve COVID-19 outcomes, the paper’s findings suggest.

    The Study

    Researchers obtained lung tissue samples from the autopsies of patients who died of respiratory failure caused by severe COVID-19, including those with and without acute lung injury (ALI). Samples were also collected from patients who had mild COVID-19 and recovered.

    Control samples were obtained from pre-pandemic healthy patients who showed no signs of SARS-CoV-2 infection or lung damage. Samples from autopsies with ALI and without a history of SARS-CoV-2 infection were also analyzed. Additionally, serum ferritin records were obtained, as serum ferritin is elevated in critically ill COVID-19 patients, correlates with disease severity, and supplies the iron that drives ferroptosis. Ferritin is a protein found inside cells that stores iron and allows the body to use it when needed.

    The researchers analyzed cell death markers on COVID-19 lung tissue samples obtained from the autopsies and found “distinct molecular features of ferroptosis” in severe lung pathologies. Moreover, samples revealed elevated ferroptosis markers, including iron dysregulation, lipid peroxidation, elevated lysophospholipids, and depletion in polyunsaturated fatty acyl tails (PL-PUFAs).

    PUFAs, or polyunsaturated fatty acids, while essential for cell membranes and immune regulation, are highly unstable and inflammatory. Due to their sensitivity to oxygen, PUFAs can be oxidized by free radicals and broken down into toxic derivatives.

    In a secondary analysis, Syrian hamsters were intentionally inoculated with the same strain of SARS-CoV-2 found in patient samples. Researchers analyzed lung samples and found that ferroptosis occurred at an early stage of lung disease and accompanied disease progression.

    To confirm their findings were caused by ferroptosis, the researchers measured cell death markers associated with other forms of cell death. They did not detect an increase in these markers in any lung samples, indicating that ferroptosis was the major cell death mechanism detected in fatal COVID-19 lung samples.

    “Altogether, these data suggest a strong correlation between ferroptosis and COVID-19 lung pathology, and ferroptosis inhibition may serve as adjuvant therapy to reduce lung injury,” the authors wrote.

    A May 2023 paper published in Frontiers supports the paper’s findings. In their review, researchers found that dysregulated cell death from ferroptosis can lead to uncontrolled cellular damage beyond the lungs and plays a role in the multi-organ complications observed in COVID-19 patients with severe disease.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 05/31/2024 – 18:50

  • Kim Jong Un Oversees Massive Missile Launch 'Preemptive Attack' Drills
    Kim Jong Un Oversees Massive Missile Launch 'Preemptive Attack' Drills

    A day after sending hundreds of feces and garbage-filled balloons into South Korea over the militarized border, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a new military exercises showcasing the north’s ability to mount “preemptive attacks”. 

    North Korean media released several photos as well as footage of choreographed launches of at least eighteen short-range ballistic missiles from the Sunan area on Friday.

    The projectiles reportedly fell into the Sea of Japan after going a distance of over 200 miles. 

    State media said this “salvo of a firepower sub-unit was carried out by operating the integrated fire-control system,” which was described as “a part of the national combined nuclear weapons management system.“

    This appears an ongoing response by Pyongyang to the US-South Korea drills that began on May 27, involving over 90 aircraft, among them the advanced F35A stealth fighters.

    Watch the impressive footage released by North Korean state media…

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    According to an AP description:

    The North’s official Korean Central News Agency reported that the rocket firing drills were meant to demonstrate North Korea’s resolve not to hesitate in launching a preemptive strike on South Korea if threatened. It cited Kim as saying that the drills “will serve as an occasion in clearly showing what consequences our rivals will face if they provoke us.”

    Photos showed Kim watching from a distance as at least 18 projectiles were launched.

    The government of South Korea called on the north to North Korea must stop the “absurd, irrational provocations directed at us” or face unspecified “unbearable” consequences.

    Starting almost a year ago, the US military began parking a nuclear-armed submarine, the USS Kentucky, at a South Korean port, which has outraged Pyongyang.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 05/31/2024 – 18:25

  • Trump Verdict Seen As 'Pivotal Moment' For Undecided Voters
    Trump Verdict Seen As 'Pivotal Moment' For Undecided Voters

    Authored by Janice Hisle via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    (Illustration by The Epoch Times, Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times, Getty Images)

    The outcome of former President Donald Trump’s New York records-falsification trial is most likely to influence undecided voters—a sliver of the electorate that could exert an outsized impact on the Nov. 5 presidential election.

    “This is a pivotal moment in the 2024 race,” American political history professor Jeff Bloodworth told The Epoch Times as jurors began deliberations on May 29.

    Mr. Bloodworth, who teaches at Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania, said suburban college-educated voters probably would allow the trial’s outcome to influence their votes.

    The former president was convicted of 34 business-records falsification charges; an appeal is almost certain, legal experts said.

    Polls have shown that a conviction was poised to sway some voters away from President Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Trump campaign pollsters predict the effect on votes will be minimal.

    However, it appears that the verdict is having a big immediate effect on fundraising. Several online commenters said they made donations to the former president, but many visitors overwhelmed the website, causing it to crash temporarily and having to be restored several times.

    Yet a small percentage of voters could make the difference between winning and losing the 2024 election. Polling consistently has shown a razor-thin margin separating the two major candidates: President Trump and the incumbent Democrat President Joe Biden.

    Many voters are unwilling to change their declared allegiance to President Trump, President Biden, or a third-party candidate, such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Still, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released on May 22, about one-fifth of voters say they are open to reconsidering.

    Many of those people are “double-haters,” Mr. Bloodworth’s term for voters who dislike both President Trump and President Biden. These voters care deeply about the outcome of the New York case, and they’re very likely to turn out and cast their ballots, he said.

    He predicted that a guilty verdict against President Trump would drive those people “back into the Biden camp, like they were in 2020.” That election “was decided on the margins,” Mr. Bloodworth said, resulting in President Trump’s ouster. Now in the thick of his third run at the presidency, President Trump still says he believes he was the rightful winner—a claim that mainstream media and many Democrats reject.

    In a statement accompanying the Quinnipiac poll, polling analyst Tim Malloy characterized Kennedy voters as “particularly swayable,” with 52 percent reporting they were likely to change their minds. President Trump’s supporters were  “less-inclined to bail on their candidate,” Mr. Malloy said, with only 8 percent somewhat likely to defect. Almost double that number said they could drop their support of President Biden.

    A crowd gathers at Trump Tower after a guilty verdict against former President Donald Trump in his New York City trial on May 30, 2024. (Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

    The Quinnipiac poll found that 70 percent of voters were following the New York trial closely, with 46 percent of respondents believing President Trump “did something illegal.”

    About 6 percent of President Trump’s supporters say a conviction would make them less likely to vote for him—a number that “could tip the balance” in a very tight race, Mr. Malloy said.

    Seven States May Matter Most

    But the Trump campaign’s pollsters, Tony Fabrizio and Travis Tunis, reported that several weekly surveys found the New York trial would have a “negligible” effect on voters in seven swing states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

    Their research found that large percentages of Democrats and President Biden’s voters were following reports about the New York trial.

    But voter segments that the Trump campaign is targeting—independents, undecideds, and “persuadables”—were “much less likely” to stay abreast of the trial, “with almost none following it ’very’ closely,” the pollsters said in a May 29 memo that the Trump campaign released.

    “Voters in our key target states have already made up their minds on this trial. Most voters, especially our supporters, believe the case is politically motivated and a conviction would be [the] result of a biased show trial. Biden’s voters will believe President Trump is guilty no matter what,“ the memo said. ”And those in the middle are largely unconcerned, and their votes aren’t going to hinge on the results of the trial.”

    Recent nationwide polling, including Quinnipiac’s, has shown the two candidates in a statistical dead heat. President Trump, however, has pulled ahead of President Biden in battleground states and has been chipping away at the incumbent’s lead in some states considered to be Democrat strongholds.

    Several surveys show minority voters, such as blacks and Hispanics, drifting away from President Biden, whom they blame for inflated prices of groceries, fuel, and other necessities.

    The Trump camp’s pollsters said the seven states they are focused on are most likely to decide the election, “not the national data the media would like us to focus on.”

    They predicted national polls, “especially those conducted by the media,” will probably “show exaggerated shifts.”

    Erica Deaver (L), 60, attends a rally with former President Donald Trump in the South Bronx in New York City on May 23, 2024. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

    Polls Could Be Flawed

    Pollster Rich Baris doubts that polls can accurately gauge how voters will respond to the New York verdict.

    When pollsters ask such a “bias-tainted question,” the results are skewed, Mr. Baris told The Epoch Times. That’s because “voters know the ‘right’ answer they are expected to give, even though they would never vote for Biden, regardless.”

    Pollsters produced inaccurate results in 2020 when they found that President Trump’s impeachments would adversely affect his vote totals, Mr. Baris said.

    “He ended up setting the record for the most votes ever received by an incumbent president,” Mr. Baris said.

    A guilty verdict in any of President Trump’s legal cases may have little effect on voting behavior, Mr. Baris said. A conviction “is already baked into the cake, meaning voters expect it and believe it’s politically motivated,” Mr. Baris said.

    Read more here…

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 05/31/2024 – 18:00

  • Houthis Report 16 Dead In Biggest Joint US-UK Airstrikes Since Gaza War Began
    Houthis Report 16 Dead In Biggest Joint US-UK Airstrikes Since Gaza War Began

    Early on Friday Yemen’s Houthis announced what appears to be the biggest mass casualty attack by the Western coalition since Red Sea hostilities began in the wake of Oct.7.

    The joint British-U.S. airstrikes happened Thursday, and killed at least 16 people and wounded 35 others, according to Houthis statement. “We confirm this brutal aggression against Yemen as punishment for its position in support of Gaza, in support of Israel to continue its crimes of genocide against the wounded, besieged and steadfast Gaza Strip,” Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam said.

    Illustrative: US military file image

    The strikes primarily focused on the port city of Hodeida, and the Houthis say that all killed there were civilians. According to a Yemeni account:

    But the Houthis focused Friday morning on a strike they said struck a building housing Hodeida Radio and civilian homes in the port city on the Red Sea. Their Al Masirah satellite news channel aired images of one bloodied man being carried down stairs and others in the hospital, receiving aid. It said all the dead and nearly all the wounded from the strikes came from there.

    The graphic footage of the attack aftermath can be viewed here.

    While not acknowledging the death toll offered by the Houthis, the Pentagon confirmed that US F/A-18 fighter jets were involved in the operation over Yemen, having taken off from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier in the Red Sea. 

    Officials said additional warships also participated, which included attacks on “underground facilities, missile launchers, command and control sites, a Houthi vessel and other facilities.”

    The UK Defense Ministry also revealed its involvement, with a statement saying Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s conducted strikes on Hodeida and locations south in Ghulayfiqah.

    UK’s military said it targeted “buildings identified as housing drone ground control facilities and providing storage for very long-range drones, as well as surface-to-air weapons.”

    “The strikes were taken in self-defense in the face of an ongoing threat that the Houthis pose,” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced. “There’s an ongoing threat that the Houthis pose.”

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    But instead of deterring the Houthis, the Shia rebel groups immediately announced a retaliatory operation against the US nuclear-powered carrier from which the US fighters were deployed, as we reported earlier.

    However, the Pentagon denied that the carrier was attacked. Politico’s Lara Seligman quoted an unnamed Department of Defense official who told her the Houthi’s claim about a missile attack on the USS Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea is “false information — there was no hit on the Ike or any attacks in its vicinity.”

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 05/31/2024 – 17:35

  • Dennis Quaid Praises Donald Trump: 'I Think I’m Gonna Vote For Him'
    Dennis Quaid Praises Donald Trump: 'I Think I’m Gonna Vote For Him'

    Authored by Audrey Enjoli via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    U.S. actor Dennis Quaid poses during a photocall for the film ‘The Substance’ at the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 20, 2024. (Christophe Simon/AFP via Getty Images)

    Actor Dennis Quaid, who stars in the forthcoming biopic “Reagan,” out Aug. 30, has expressed his admiration of former President Donald Trump ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

    “I think I’m gonna vote for him,” the 70-year-old said during a recent appearance on Piers Morgan Uncensored on May 28, adding that a vote for the presumptive GOP nominee “just makes sense.”

    Mr. Quaid explained that he wasn’t initially planning on voting for President Trump. However, he said the politician’s “hush money” trial in Manhattan, which commenced on April 15 and is currently being deliberated on by jurors, ultimately swayed his decision in favor of the business magnate.

    President Trump was indicted in April of last year on 34 counts of allegedly falsifying New York business records. The case, which marks the first-ever criminal trial of a former president in United States history, is just one of a handful of legal battles that President Trump is embroiled in. In total, the 77-year-old faces 88 charges across four criminal cases, all of which he has pleaded not guilty to.

    “I see a weaponization of our justice system and, uh, a challenge to our constitution,” Mr. Quaid shared. “Trump is the most investigated person, probably in the history of the world, and they haven’t been able to really get him on anything.”

    “What is the crime?” he inquired. “I still can’t figure it out.”

    When asked by the British broadcaster if he likes President Trump on a personal level, “The Right Stuff” star admitted that there were moments during the politician’s previous presidential campaigns that he wasn’t especially fond of.

    “In the last campaign, and in 16 and, you know, and in 20, uh, I found myself going, ‘Oh please don’t do that; please don’t say that.’ You know, it’s like these things have come out of his mouth,” he explained.

    However, Mr. Quaid said he liked “everything” the businessman did throughout his presidency.

    “What he did with [North] Korea with [Kim Jong Un]; the way he defeated ISIS in three weeks. You know, people don’t even remember it happened so, so fast,” he shared. “He stood up for us overseas and … the way he responded to China. He stands up to people, and that’s what makes him a leader.”

    Mr. Quaid continued: “I tell you one true thing about him is that I really feel that he is working for the American people. That’s what he’s all about. And I do believe that to be true and sincere.”

    ‘We All Live in the Same Country’

    Elsewhere in the 45-minute-long conversation, Mr. Quaid gave his thoughts on President Biden, telling Mr. Morgan that he didn’t feel like the president was in control of his administration.

    “I don’t feel he’s at the helm; I don’t feel he’s there,” the actor candidly shared. “I feel that he says things to get votes not that he truly believes in them. And now I’m really going to get some blowback, but that’s the way I feel.”

    Although Mr. Quaid conveyed his praise for President Trump’s achievements, “The Day After Tomorrow” star said he wished Americans weren’t so divided by politics.

    “I hope … we can all learn to have a conversation about, you know, where we are as Americans,” he said. “We all live in the same country, and it doesn’t have to be the end of the world whoever is elected.”

    U.S. actor Dennis Quaid poses during a photocall for the film ‘The Substance’ at the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 20, 2024. (Loic Venance/AFP via Getty Images)

    Mr. Morgan agreed, sharing an anecdote about some of the disagreements he and his friends would have while drinking at a local pub when he was younger.

    “We would all have huge arguments after a few pints but the idea we‘d fall out with each other over it never crossed our minds. We would just argue about what was in the news, you know, and then we’d have a few more pints and we go home and we’d shake each other or give each other a hug,” the 59-year-old television personality explained.

    “That ability to respect someone’s opinion—even when you don’t agree with them—just seems to have disappeared from this generation. It’s like you either agree with me or I have to, not just ostracize you, I have to destroy you, you must be canceled.”

    Earlier in the conversation, Mr. Quaid offered his thoughts on the political polarization across the country, sharing his belief that people aren’t as informed about pressing issues as they were 30 to 40 years ago.

    “Our own point of view, our own beliefs, are getting coughed back at us,” he said, referencing the types of information commonly shared by mainstream media and via social media platforms.

    “We really need to … learn to work together and disagree but have a civil conversation about it [because] 30, 40 years ago, we had liberal Republicans, we had conservative Democrats, and there was much more across the aisle,” Mr. Quaid said.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 05/31/2024 – 17:10

  • Fed F**kery Turns $98BN (NSA) Large Bank Deposit Outflow Into $2BN Inflow
    Fed F**kery Turns $98BN (NSA) Large Bank Deposit Outflow Into $2BN Inflow

    After a small inflow last week, total US bank deposits dropped a modest $4.7BN last week on a seasonally-adjusted basis…

    Source: Bloomberg

    But, on a non-seasonally-adjusted basis, US total bank deposits tumbled almost $110BN…

    Source: Bloomberg

    This decline happened as money market funds saw modest inflows, pushing back near record highs…

    Source: Bloomberg

    Exclduing foreign deposits, US domestic deposits fell $2.2BN on a seasonally-adjusted basis (large bank +$2.1BN, small bank -$4.3BN), while on a non-seasonally-adjusted basis, domestic deposits puked $121BN (large banks -$98BN, small banks -$23BN)…

    Source: Bloomberg

    On the other side of the ledger, Small banks saw loan volumes shrink by $10.6BN while Large banks saw loan volumes grow by $8.6BN…

    Source: Bloomberg

    Finally, US equity market cap remains dramatically decoupled from its historical tight relationship with US bank reserves at The Fed…

    Source: Bloomberg

    Either way, that won’t end well.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 05/31/2024 – 16:40

  • Gloat While You Still Can: "This Is The 'All-In-Lost' Moment"
    Gloat While You Still Can: "This Is The 'All-In-Lost' Moment"

    Authored by James Howard Kunstler via Kunstler.com,

    “The hour is much later than you think…on multiple fronts: Financial, political, medical and geopolitical.”

    – Edward Dowd

    In the pre-gloat hours before the verdict in Judge Juan Merchan’s courtroom, Lawfare caporegime Andrew Weissmann (“Mueller’s Pitbull”) confessed Valley Girl style from his MSNBC clubhouse perch, “. . . I mean, I am, like, now I have a man-crush on him, he is such a great judge!” Bromance on, looks like! If the two happen to frequent the same athletic club in downtown Manhattan, Judge Merchan better be careful in the post-workout shower when he  bends over to pick up the soap. The Pitbull cometh!

    Credit: Joshua Lisec on “X”

    Of course, the Alvin Bragg victory in the artfully constructed “Stormy Daniels Payoff Case” decided late Thursday calls to question how come the Mueller Special Counsel Probe into 2016 election interference (actually run by Mr. Weissmann, due to Mr. Mueller’s declining cognitive ability) failed to spot the same web of evidence  – hard as they toiled, and they had a good two years and millions of taxpayer dollars to git’er done?

    My guess: too many white lawyers on the Mueller staff. Everybody knows now from watching the latest crop of television commercials that white people are unusually stupid and helpless and cannot cope with common problems without assistance from helpful people of color (POCs). So, God bless Alvin Bragg for finally fixing what Bob Mueller’s fifteen bloodhounds led by a pitbull somehow botched.

    The former president is now convicted on thirty-four counts of book-keeping errors in furtherance of an alleged 2016 federal election violation that the Federal Election Commission declined to charge — that is, paying a porn star to sign a non-disclosure agreement about a sexual liaison — because it is not a crime under federal election law, and about which the head of the FEC, James E. “Trey” Trainor III, was barred by Judge Merchan from testifying on during the course of the trial for reasons yet unknown.

    Of course, that is but one of a great many points of law that will merit appeal in what everybody — even some white people (people of non-color, PONCs) — knows was a case so crookedly contrived that it is fated to get tossed in the higher courts, and probably with harsh remonstrance to the degenerate officers of the court who brought it and adjudicated it. But you will have to wait on that because the mills of the law grind slowly.

    Now, in the radiance of the full Woke gloat, we await Judge Merchan’s sentence, to be announced a mere few days before the Republican Convention in Milwaukee in early July. Jail time at Rikers? Home confinement (with ankle bracelet)? Severe travel restrictions? Reporting to a parole officer? Drug tests? Hey, No one is above the law! It is hard to imagine that the judge will demur from inflicting maximum humiliation on this wanton repeat violator (thirty-four times!) of book-keeping errors. It would tend to interfere with the presidential candidate’s campaign schedule, but so what? Where does it say in the Constitution that an election must be fair?

    Or Judge Merchan could suspend all that pending appeal and just allow Mr. Trump to go about his election business free on bail. But why would he? After all the trouble he went to. And all the glory he’s reaping for it. “Joe Biden’s” party has Mr. Trump exactly where they want him, they think: pinned down like a moth in a shadow-box, inert and pathetic. (But, in reality, more like King Kong, chained in the rank basement below the stage of a Broadway theater before busting loose in midtown and upending subway cars so as to devour the little humans tumbling out like so many tic-tacs.)

    Expect Mr. Trump’s lawyers to file writs to the SCOTUS requesting expedited attention to the denial of due process issues and the election interference question. The situation is comparable to the year 2000 presidential race, where the SCOTUS stepped in on probable cause that the lower court (in Florida that time) had violated the Equal Protection clause of the constitution.

    In the meantime, through the luminescent fog of gloat, perhaps you did not notice that “Joe Biden” took a giant step yesterday toward commencing World War Three. The move was framed as the US gives Ukraine permission to use American missiles to strike deep within Russia. That was a bit disingenuous, you see, because Ukraine’s military lacks the know-how to actually launch the missiles, so American military “advisors” will have to be on hand to do it, meaning US military personnel will commit an act of aggression upon Russia.

    Voila! That world war you’ve all been clamoring for. . .? The perfect climax to “Joe Biden’s” catastrophic, fraudulently-acquired term in office. I scent the acrid, burnt-flesh odor of miscalculation here, as of a bunch of American cities get turned into radioactive bonfires that will blot out that sublime luminosity of gloat.

    Apparently, the “Joe Biden” team has never seen a Clint Eastwood movie — too lowbrow, I’m sure — and they don’t grok the role of the underdog in the American psyche. They have succeeded in making Donald Trump the greatest underdog in US history under the direst circumstances the nation may have ever faced — worse than Valley Forge, Bull Run, or the Ardennes Forest. Sinister forces are driving the country straight into a communo-fascist despotism alien to our nation’s very soul, demonic forces bent on depriving Americans of their rights, their property, and their liberty.

    This is the “all-in-lost” moment in that movie. This is where the hero comes back from the edge of eternal darkness, raging like Kali the Destroyer to smite the cowards arrayed against him, against the country’s honor, against the people. You asked for it. Now you’re going to get it.

    *  *  *

    Support his blog by visiting Jim’s Patreon Page or Substack

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 05/31/2024 – 16:20

  • Rate-Cut Hopes Resurrected As 'Hard' Data Slides: Stocks, Gold, Oil, & Crypto Dumped
    Rate-Cut Hopes Resurrected As 'Hard' Data Slides: Stocks, Gold, Oil, & Crypto Dumped

    A weird week of weak ‘hard data, strong ‘soft’ data (macro), weak micro (ugly hints for software and consumer from earnings), and dovish-and-hawkish FedSpeak…

    Source: Bloomberg

    Which prompted a resurgence in rate-cut hopes….

    Source: Bloomberg

    But today’s Chicago PMI puke dominates any in-line PCE print and dragged stocks lower on the week, led by weakness in Nasdaq as Small Caps were the leat ugly horse in the glue factory. The typical late Friday meltup painted some lipstick on the week’s pig…

    For the CTA followers: The S&P tested below its short-term threshold at 5203 and found support (the Medium-term threshold for CTA sellers is consoderiably lower at 5002)…

    On the month, all the majors were green with Nasdaq leading and The Dow lagging…

    Energy and Utes outperformed while Tech stocks saw a notable 3% on the week…

    Source: Bloomberg

    MAG7 stocks ended the week lower overall…

    Source: Bloomberg

    Treasury yields were mixed on the week with 2Y and 5Y ending lower and the longer-end lagging…

    Source: Bloomberg

    Treasury yields were lower across the whole curve for the month with the belly outperforming…

    Source: Bloomberg

    The dollar managed gains on the week, having bounced off the week’s unch line today…

    Source: Bloomberg

    Gold ended lower on the week thanks to a post-PCE puke today…

    Source: Bloomberg

    For the 13th straight day, Bitcoin ETFs saw net inflows…

    Source: Bloomberg

    But the bitcoin price fell on the week, thanks to a big puke today, finding some support at $6,000…

    Source: Bloomberg

    Crude prices slipped lower again today, back into the red on the week…

    Source: Bloomberg

    Finally, one can’t help but feel that Gold’s recent resurgence – while real yields languish continue to drive lower…

    Source: Bloomberg

    … is the precious metal market anticipating more of the lawfare we saw yesterday as the Biden admin will “do whatever it takes” to not allow Trump to compete…

    …as the ass-clownery continue.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 05/31/2024 – 16:00

  • Time To Pay Satan: Canadian Asset Manager Blocks Cash Distributions On Private Credit Funds
    Time To Pay Satan: Canadian Asset Manager Blocks Cash Distributions On Private Credit Funds

    Just one day after JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said private credit could spark turmoil if when the opaque sector of financial markets weakens, warning that “there could be hell to pay,” and adding that he has “seen a couple of these deals that were rated by a rating agency and, I have to confess, it shocked me what they got rated. So, it reminds me a little bit of mortgages”, Satan has just sent his first invoice to the banking industry.

    After scaring his fellow bankers, perhaps in hopes of sparking another mini bank run and getting the FDIC to gift him with yet another bank, it turns out that perhaps Jamie Dimon was correct that “not all the people doing [private credit] are good,” and earlier today Bloomberg brought us the first notable example of a “bad” doer when it reported that Canadian investment manager Ninepoint Partners is “temporarily” suspending cash distributions in three of its private credit funds, making it the latest, and certainly largest, lender to put a squeeze on investors to cope with a private credit liquidity crunch.

    Unitholders of funds with about C$2 billion ($1.5 billion) of assets won’t be able to receive cash payouts, the Toronto-based Ninepoint confirmed to Bloomberg News, adding that the firm will revisit its decision in the third quarter although with the credit crunch only likely to deteriorate dramatically by then, the only question is how many more funds will Ninepoint be gating.

    “After reviewing our various liquidity options, Ninepoint Partners and our subadvisors have determined that the best path forward to preserve liquidity and balance the long-term goals of these three affected funds is to redirect future distribution into additional units rather than cash distributions starting July 1,” a spokesperson for the firm said in an emailed statement.

    Ninepoint is the latest lender in the $1.7 trillion private credit industry to take urgent measures to preserve cash and pre-empt a flood of redemption requests, by effectively freezing their money. And with consumer credit deteriorating sharply in recent months amid record credit card debt coupled with a record surge in installment loans (most of which can’t even be tracked by credit raters), executives at large banks have been sounding the alarm for weeks, with some worrying that private credit markets may be getting too inflated.

    “We’re all aware of the risks,” Bill Winters, CEO of Standard Chartered Plc, said at an event last month. “Like always, good things go too far and then correct. And the job of us as banks and the job of you as supervisors is to make sure we don’t get carried out when the tide goes away.”

    Of course, it is some banks’ job to make sure you do get carried away, because when you fail, those same banks – like JPMorgan for example – will end up absorbing all your deposits while the taxpayers, thanks to the FDIC, will be stuck with all the private credit that “went too far.”

    The private credit market – a corner of finance dominated by non-bank lenders who originate loans to private businesses – has grown rapidly in recent years, as it is far less regulated and banks are hoping they can offload all exposure before the next crash while pocketing the upside. Although returns on these assets have increasingly outpaced the S&P 500 since the early 2000s, risks in the industry are not well known, the IMF noted in April. Of course, for those who have been around for longer than a few years, will recall that hedge funds issuing 2nd and 3rd liens was also all the rage… right before the financial system collapsed  in 2008.

    So is Ninepoint the proverbial dead canary in the coalmine?

    The Canadian private lender, which oversees about C$7 billion, is among those firms offering “flexible terms” to some borrowers, but with higher risks. It is those risks that have now prompted the firm to freeze cash distributions.  Other firms, such as Oaktree Capital Management, have had to cut management fees on private credit funds, following increases in problem loans and disappointing earnings, Bloomberg reported.

    The largest of Ninepoint’s three funds is Ninepoint-TEC, which reported C$1.2 billion on assets at the end of 2023. It makes asset-backed loans to companies that “may have difficulty obtaining financing from other sources” — and certain borrowers have the option of using a PIK, or pay-in-kind, structure rather than cash interest payments. In other words, it is literally a loan shark that will lend you money – at a much higher rate than otherwise – when nobody else will. So yes, shockingly, things will collapse since the creditors didn’t get funds for a reason.

    The Ninepoint Alternative Income Fund, which is around C$600 million, has the bulk of its loans to middle-market companies in the US and Canada. It normally targets payouts to investors of 10% to 12% of the average net asset value in a calendar year, according to documents on Ninepoint’s website.

    To avoid panic from escalating further, the firm said it is not winding down these funds, according to its statement. “Investors will continue to have access to the ongoing benefits of being invested in private credit as we remain focused on ensuring the sustained performance and stability of our current portfolio.”  

    Private credit is not alone in gating investors: some real estate funds, including the $10 billion Starwood Real Estate Income Trust, have also taken steps to limit the ability of investors to pull cash out.  

    While we find the recent hype over “private credit” extremely overblown, having lived through the 2nd/3rd/4th lien bubble during the peak of the housing bubble, for those readers who are unfamiliar, we will republish an article we wrote back in March using Morgan Stanley data discussing “What’s Behind The Recent Explosion In Private Credit.”

    The evolution of private credit is reshaping the landscape of leveraged finance. Investors of all stripes and around the globe are taking notice. The rapid expansion of the private credit market in the last few years has come against a much different backdrop in public credit markets – a contraction in high yield (HY) bonds and lackluster growth in broadly syndicated loans (BSL). What the emergence of private credit means for public credit markets is a topic of active debate.

    While private credit is an umbrella term encompassing a wide variety of strategies, direct lending is the relevant strategy for an apples-to-apples comparison with the public markets in leveraged finance. In this context, we define private credit as debt extended to corporate borrowers on a bilateral basis or involving a small number of lenders, typically non-banks. Lenders originate and negotiate terms directly with borrowers without the syndication process that is the norm in public markets for both bonds and loans. Typically, private credit loans are not publicly rated, not traded in secondary markets, have stronger lender protections and offer a spread premium to public markets.

    Lenders in the private markets range from funds deploying direct lending strategies to investment vehicles such as business development companies (BDCs) and collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) as well as insurers and pension funds, among others. According to PitchBook data, the assets under management (AUM) of global direct lending funds alone have quintupled, surpassing US$550 billion by 2023, up from US$95 billion ten years ago; the total private universe AUM is now $1.5 trillion.

    Continue reading here and also the full Morgan Stanley primer on private credit, available to pro subscribers.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 05/31/2024 – 15:40

  • 'Time For This War To End': Biden's Gaza Speech Aimed At Israeli Hardliners
    'Time For This War To End': Biden's Gaza Speech Aimed At Israeli Hardliners

    President Joe Biden’s Friday afternoon speech was all about pressuring Israel to end the war. He unveiled and endorsed the terms of an Israeli-led proposal that features a three-part roadmap which would result in release of all the hostages and a cessation of hostilities.

    “After intensive diplomacy carried out by my team, my many conversations with leaders of Israel, Qatar and Egypt, and other Middle Eastern countries, Israel has offered a comprehensive new proposal. It’s a road map to an enduring cease-fire and the release of all hostages,” Biden said. 

    “This is truly a decisive moment. Israel has made their proposal. Hamas says it wants a cease-fire. This deal is an opportunity to prove whether they really mean it. Hamas needs to take the deal,” he added, but cautioned Hamas had yet to accept it. Below is an outline of the three phases:

    • phase 1: six-week ceasefire, withdrawal of military, hostages-prisoners swap
    • phase 2: return all hostages
    • phase 3: major reconstruction plan of Gaza

    He pleaded with Israeli leadership and the public to get fully behind the deal, saying “The people of Israel should know, they can make this offer without any further risk to their own security because they’ve devastated Hamas… for the past eight months.” He’s essentially urging Tel Aviv to declare victory and end major operations.

    But that’s when he said something which is sure to prove divisive, especially among Israeli hardliners at a moment Hamas has yet to be eradicated:

    “At this point, Hamas no longer is capable of carrying out another Oct. 7, which is one of Israel’s main objective of this war and quite frankly a righteous one,” the president said.

    His appeal was for the avoidance of indefinite war, coming at a moment his Gaza policies are deeply unpopular among many Democrats. The intractable conflict and his handling of it has threatened to sink his chances going up against Trump as both campaigns kick into high gear.

    “I know there are those in Israel who will not agree with this plan and will call for the war to continue indefinitely. Some are even in the government coalition. They’ve made it clear they want to occupy Gaza, they want to keep fighting for years, the hostages are not a priority for them,” he said, mounting an usually strong attack against the most hawkish elements represented by officials like Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.

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

    “I urge Israel to stand behind this deal, despite whatever pressure comes,” he emphasized.

    But it is the IDF military withdrawal part that Israel has been most resistant to. Hamas has long demanded it, but Prime Minister Netanyahu has remained committed to his vow not to leave the Gaza Strip until Hamas and Islamic Jihad are completely eradicated.

    Meanwhile at the close of the Friday afternoon speech…

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

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 05/31/2024 – 15:20

Digest powered by RSS Digest

May 31

Today’s News 31st May 2024

  • Putin Expects NATO, And Possibly Poland In Particular, To Escalate The Proxy War In Ukraine
    Putin Expects NATO, And Possibly Poland In Particular, To Escalate The Proxy War In Ukraine

    Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

    President Putin shared a lot of insight about the NATO-Russian proxy war in Ukraine during the press conference that he held during his latest trip to Uzbekistan. The first point of relevance that he made is that Zelensky is no longer regarded by Russia as Ukraine’s legitimate leader after his term expired. According to President Putin’s “tentative estimate” of this legal question, Rada Speaker Stefanchuk should now be seen as Zelensky’s legal successor.

    The Russian leader also speculated that the only reason why the incumbent remains in power is for him to carry out scandalous moves like possibly lowing the draft age to 23 and even 18 years. In his words, “I believe that after this and other unpopular decisions are made, those who are acting today as representatives of executive government would be replaced with people who would not be responsible for the unpopular decisions made. These representatives will be simply replaced in a snap.”

    Moving along, in response to a question about NATO chief Stoltenberg’s suggestion for members to let Ukraine use their arms to hit targets inside of Russia like the US just tacitly approved of Kiev doing, he reminded everyone that long-range precision strikes require space reconnaissance data. Since Ukraine lacks these capabilities, such strikes can only be carried out with NATO support, including through instructors inside Ukraine masquerading as mercenaries for plausible deniability purposes.

    President Putin advised the West to think twice about this and then addressed Russia’s fresh push into Ukraine’s Kharkov Region, which he confirmed was in response to the shelling of Belgorod and aimed at carving out a “security area” exactly as he earlier warned he’d order if those attacks didn’t stop. On the topic of Belgorod, he lamented that the Western media doesn’t report on Ukraine’s strikes there, and hinted that his envisaged “security area” could expand to stop longer-range attacks if need be.

    He was later asked about Ukraine inviting French “instructors”, to which he responded by saying that his forces regularly “hear English, French, or Polish on the radio” when listening in their opponents, thus confirming that their mercenaries have long been deployed there. Of those three, President Putin believes that the Polish ones are the least likely to leave, which is an allusion to Russian officials’ prior claims that it plans to annex Western Ukraine or at least incorporate it into a sphere of influence.

    As for how he sees everything ending, he reaffirmed his commitment to peace talks and reminded everyone that it’s Ukraine that unilaterally froze this process, not Russia. Mid-June’s upcoming “peace talks” in Switzerland are only designed to “create a semblance of global support” for the West’s unilateral demands of Russia aimed at inflicting a strategic defeat upon it. Suffice to say, President Putin promised that this won’t succeed, and he concluded by saying that it’ll only be more painful for Ukraine.

    Reflecting on his remarks, the Russian leader signaled that he’s sincerely interested in peace but is also preparing for an escalation in the conflict since NATO’s latest moves suggest that it’s still disinterested in compromising. The US is using Zelensky as its figurehead for implementing unpopular decisions aimed at indefinitely perpetuating this doomed conflict, after which it’ll likely replace him with someone else once public opinion demands it.

    Even in that scenario, however, it’s unclear whether another Ukrainian regime change would precede the recommencement of genuine peace talks that ensure Russia’s national security interests. President Putin’s words about Poland came amidst it expressing support for using Western arms to strike targets inside of Russia, countenancing shooting down missiles over Western Ukraine, and repeating its position that a conventional intervention in that neighboring country can’t be ruled out.

    From the looks of it, Poland is indeed preparing to conventionally intervene in Ukraine if Russia achieves a military breakthrough, which could spike the risks of World War III by miscalculation due to the US’ dangerous game of nuclear chicken that it’s playing as explained here. In sum, the NATO-Russian security dilemma is spiraling out of control, and Russia might use tactical nukes in self-defense to stop any large-scale NATO invasion force that threateningly crosses the Dnieper towards its newly unified regions.

    Therein lies the importance of President Putin hinting that his country might expand its “security zone” to defend against Ukraine’s use of long-range precise strike systems against targets within its pre-2014 territory. He wants NATO to know the territorial extent to which Russian forces might go in the event that the front lines collapse, which is essentially dependent on them and their decision to allow it to use such Western arms with the bloc’s space reconnaissance support.

    The message being sent is that Russia has no interest in going beyond those geographical limits that NATO itself is responsible for setting through its abovementioned decision, which is meant to prevent the bloc from overreacting if their opponents achieve a military breakthrough. A Polish- and/or French-led conventional intervention would already be dangerous enough, but that invasion force’s potential crossing of the Dnieper could trigger a tactical nuclear response from Russia in self-defense.

    The latest military-strategic dynamics suggest that a conventional NATO intervention is seriously being considered, even if it’s only a partial one that remains west of the Dnieper. The signals coming from NATO as a whole and Poland in particular show that they want an escalation in order to continue fighting Russia to the last Ukrainian, but President Putin just countersignaled that his country is prepared for all eventualities.

    It’s therefore up to the West whether or not everything spirals into World War III.

    Tyler Durden
    Fri, 05/31/2024 – 02:00

  • The 3 Layers Of The Technocratic State
    The 3 Layers Of The Technocratic State

    Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Epoch Times,

    There are three layers to the U.S. state that lord it over the American people and the world: deep, middle, and shallow. It’s a typology of how technocracy works in practice. Let’s talk about how it works and how the layers interact.

    Donald Trump popularized the term deep state, and it is a good one. There is a large and serious literature on the topic. It refers mostly to the long-operating and largely out-of-public eye intelligence agencies and their cut-outs in the private sector. It is inclusive of security agencies, which means CIA but also some portions of the FBI, NSC, NSA, CISA, DHS, top brass at the Pentagon, and more besides.

    They are the most powerful force in American politics and have been for many decades. Anyone who calls them out is called a “conspiracy theorist” simply because there is a lack of documentation for these claims that everyone knows are true. They are “classified,” Washington’s magic term for anything they want to hide from you.

    Lately, there has been an opening up on this topic, thanks very much to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Trump, journalist Mike Benz, and many others who have worked so hard over the years to expose the cabal. This new attention is mostly due to a series of audacious plots that unfolded since 2016: the bogus claim of Russia interference in the election, as manufactured by the deep state, the surreptitious weaponization of the justice system still ongoing, as well as the pandemic policies that had deep-state fingerprints all over them.

    The middle state is the administrative bureaucracy, the civil service, as they are called. Invented by the Pendleton Act of 1883 and growing through wars and crises, and deeply entrenched in the 21st century, it is more than 2 million strong and consists of more than 400 agencies, some innocuous and some deeply threatening. Elected politicians only pretend to control the middle state but the reality is the opposite. They are the people with permanent positions, institutional knowledge, and the focus to preserve the status quo no matter who shows up in town for the party.

    Very often, newly elected politicians come to town naively hoping to make some difference. They quickly encounter an awesome and impenetrable force all around them, staffers moving from office to office, random people from agencies about which they have never heard, and attending briefings designed to introduce the newbie to the ways of Washington but which are really designed to intimidate them into compliance. Most newly elected leaders arrive with no real understanding of this system.

    This is what Trump faced when he was elected. He believed that the president was supposed to be in charge, like a CEO or an owner of a company. That’s the only world he knew, one in which he was at the top of the heap and his word was a marching order. He figured that this day would arrive after the inauguration. It did not. He simply couldn’t get over it and never was willing to simply play the marionette as others had done, in exchange for plaudits and payoffs.

    Once Trump figured it all out, he assigned his trusted staff to do something about it. He issued a series of executive orders to get the middle state under control. In May of 2018, he took his first steps to gain some modicum of control over this deep state. He issued three executive orders (E.O. 13837, E.O. 13836, and E.O.13839) that would have diminished their access to labor-union protection when being pressed on the terms of their employment. Those three orders were litigated by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and sixteen other federal labor unions.

    All three were struck down with a decision by a D.C. District Court. The presiding judge was Ketanji Brown Jackson, who was later rewarded for her decision with a nomination to the Supreme Court, which was affirmed by the U.S. Senate. The prevailing and openly stated reason for her nomination was said to be mostly demographic: she would be the first black woman on the Court. The deeper reason was more likely traceable to her role in thwarting actions by Trump which had begun the process of upending the administrative state. Jackson’s judgment was later reversed but Trump’s actions were embroiled in a juridical tangle that rendered them moot.

    Later came a wonderful executive order that would have reclassified a range of middle-state employees as “Schedule F” and thus subject to control by the elected president. That order caused Washington to fly into wild panic. Joe Biden reversed the order on his first day in office. They have had four years now to pass restrictions to prohibit that from happening again.

    As recently as last week, Biden’s Office of Personnel Management finalized rules to make it difficult for Trump to strip civil servants in policy making roles of their permanent positions. Yes, the plot against a possible second Trump term is fully engaged already.

    The third layer is the shallow state. It consists of legacy media outlets such as CNN, the New York Times, the Washington Post, MSNBC, in addition to social media companies like Facebook, LinkedIn, Reddit, as well as common internet tools like Google and Wikipedia. It includes military contractors and tax-supported academia as well.

    These are all captured institutions, with revolving doors with the deep and middle states. The reporters at these large media outfits have close relationships with the top bureaucrats at the agencies they cover, which is why the agencies themselves are rarely investigated closely.

    When lockdowns came, Facebook and all the mainline social media companies instantly signed up to be both propagandists and censors. When they worried about the impact on their business models, middle and deep state bureaucrats hounded them to step it up and serve their masters. They mostly complied. We know all this by virtue of tens of thousands of pages of correspondence that is now moving through the courts, possibly resulting in judgments that would bring back the First Amendment.

    The shallow state also includes a major swath of the banking and financial sector that depends fundamentally on the benevolence of the middle-state Federal Reserve to provide an uninterrupted stream of liquidity to fuel its operations. In some sense, the entire system mapped out here depends on this funding source, without which the lockdowns, wars, welfare state, and enormous corporate subsidies (to pharma, agriculture, and the Green New Deal) could not and would not exist.

    What is and isn’t included in the shallow state is obviously debatable on many levels. What about an institution that massively benefitted from lockdowns, such as Amazon, but didn’t actively lobby for the policy? How does the fact that its founder and major investor also owns the Washington Post which did push for lockdowns affect the judgment? And what about online learning companies that got rich solely due to school closures? Are they also shallow state? There are good discussions to have here.

    The relationship between the three layers is perfectly illustrated in the way pharmaceutical companies work. They do the bidding of the deep state with biodefense work that is classified, making both pathogens and antidotes. They work with the middle state, with board members and managers of companies going back and forth with the NIH and FDA, sharing royalties on new patented consumer products. The companies then dominate advertising on all the main media venues, which means that the media covers up for them at every turn and echoes deep and middle state priorities.

    If you are seeking to set up and manage a 21st-century technocratic regime, the ideal mechanism of compulsion and coercion is centered in the shallow state, because it is private, consumer-facing, and trusted more than any other layers of the state. Every form of coercion can be “market washed” as if these are purely private actions taking place. The strategic objective of any really good plan for hegemony, then, is to push the agenda from the deep state, through the middle state, and land in the shallow state for distribution to the public.

    This is because the shallow state is the most effective tool for bringing about results. You want the large corporations and big finance to be the ones to move against political enemies, and you want the major media rather than the agencies to distribute the propaganda. You want the doctors to sell the drugs and the search engines to generate the message. Whatever trust remains is centered on these shallow-state institutions and therefore they are the ones you want to capture to do your bidding.

    Yes, it all sounds very corrupt. It is. And it has absolutely nothing to do with this document called the Constitution, which is supposed to be the real law of the law. For the three-layer state, this document simply doesn’t matter. A quiet coup has taken place over the decades that has entrenched this wild system in contradiction to everything the Founding Fathers desired.

    All three are right now plotting to resist a possible victory by Donald Trump in November. The notion that he would win in 2016 seemed outlandish. But the prospect of returning after a four-year hiatus to gain the presidency again is nearly miraculous. In any case, it is something no one imagined possible a few years ago.

    Indeed it is easily one of the biggest political comebacks in history, and amounts to the closest thing we’ll likely ever see to a genuine revolution in modern times. What comes of it, we’ll have to find out but this much is clear: the whole of the three-layered state has done everything to stop it. Right now, the whole system is in complete freak-out mode, in full display of the whole world.

    There is plenty of reason to doubt aspects of the Trump agenda. I’ve personally authored what is by now a large literature against features of the ideology that drives it.

    But there is no getting around the real issue today. We are nearing a perfect battle between the people, who are supposed to rule or at least have some line of influence over the regime, and this three-layer cartel of overlords that is actually in charge.

    No one who aspires to freedom and dignity can possibly defend this status quo, so it makes sense to look forward to its overthrow, if it is at all possible.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 05/30/2024 – 23:45

  • PCE Preview: A 3 Year Low?
    PCE Preview: A 3 Year Low?

    Two weeks after the latest CPI print came in fractionally below estimates and sent yields to their May lows, tomorrow at 8:30am, we will get the Fed’s preferred inflation metric, the April core PCE inflation numbers.

    EXPECTATIONS: headline PCE prices are seen rising +0.3% M/M in April (prev. +0.3%), with the annual rate expected to be unchanged at 2.7%. The core measure is seen rising +0.3% M/M (prev. +0.3%), while the core rate of annual PCE is seen unchanged at 2.8% Y/Y, although even a modest dip in the annual print would lead to the lowest annual increase in three years, since April 2021.

    CPI AND PPI: As noted above, and as Newsquawk writes in is PCE preview, headline CPI data was cooler than expected in April, while the core CPI metric saw the smallest increase since December; and while the PPI data for the month surprised to the upside in the month, analysts noted that the internals — components that feed into the PCE data – were more constructive (insurance sectors, health and medical components, air transportation). As a reminder, PCE gives far lesser weight to Housing/Shelter, as well as transportation (recall that transportation insurance is soaring right now and is the biggest drive of CPI inflation), which is why overall core inflation viewed through the lens of PCE is far lower.

    Ahead of the data, Goldman Sachs said using CPI, PPI and import prices, “we estimate that core PCE increased 0.26% M/M, a pace well below the 0.36% average of the prior three months, but probably not sufficient for a July cut if maintained in May and June.” That said Goldman estimates that the market-based core PCE index—which has been referred to by Fed Chair Powell in recent remarks—rose just 0.18%, a pace GS says would be quite consistent with a July cut if maintained.

    FED: After a hawkish set of FOMC meeting minutes, and some cautious chatter from Fed officials, as well as constructive incoming data (decent PMI data for the month saw Fed cut pricing diminish sharply); money markets are pricing no easing at the Fed’s June 12th meeting, and only a 10% chance of a cut in July. The first fully discounted rate cut is seen in December, although markets are assigning a c. 80% probability of a cut in November. Goldman recently pushed its first rate cut forecast from July to September.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 05/30/2024 – 23:04

  • The Rise In America's Billion-Dollar Extreme Weather Disasters
    The Rise In America’s Billion-Dollar Extreme Weather Disasters

    Since 1980, there have been 383 extreme weather or climate disasters where the damages reached at least $1 billion. In total, these disasters have cost more than $2.7 trillion.

    Created in partnership with the National Public Utilities Council, this chart, via Visual Capitalist’s Jenna Ross, shows how these disasters have been increasing with each passing decade.

    A Growing Concern

    The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) tracks each disaster and estimates the cost based on factors like physical damages and time losses such as business interruption. They adjust all costs by the Consumer Price Index to account for inflation.

    Both the number and cost of extreme weather disasters has grown over time. In fact, not even halfway through the 2020s the number of disasters is over 70% of those seen during the entire 2010s. 

    Severe storms have been the most common, accounting for half of all billion-dollar disasters since 1980. In terms of costs, tropical cyclones have caused the lion’s share—more than 50% of the total. Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall in 2005, remains the most expensive single event with $199 billion in inflation-adjusted costs.

    Electricity and Extreme Weather Disasters

    With severe storms and other disasters rising, the electricity people rely on is significantly impacted. For instance, droughts have been associated with a decline in hydropower, which is an important source of U.S. renewable electricity generation. 

    Disasters can also lead to significant costs for utility companies. Hawaii Electric faces $5 billion in potential damages claims for the 2023 wildfire, which is nearly eight times its insurance coverage. Lawsuits accuse the company of negligence in maintaining its infrastructure, such as failing to strengthen power poles to withstand high winds. 

    Given that the utilities industry is facing the highest risk from extreme weather and climate disasters, some companies have begun to prepare for such events. This means taking steps like burying power lines, increasing insurance coverage, and upgrading infrastructure. 

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 05/30/2024 – 23:00

  • Minimum Wage Folly
    Minimum Wage Folly

    Authored by John Stossel via The Epoch Times,

    California now leads the nation in imposing dumb wage laws…

    The state just raised the hourly minimum wage for fast-food workers to $20.

    Gov. Gavin Newsom said: “We saw the inequities. … We had a responsibility to do more.”

    Unions pushed for the higher minimum, and in Democrat-run states, unions usually get what they want.

    CNN announced, “Half a million California fast food workers will now earn $20 per hour!”

    Gullible leftists at the Center for American Progress claim, “A higher minimum wage would boost millions of families out of poverty and further stimulate the economy.”

    Yippee! It’s a happy cycle! Win-win.

    But wait, if it’s a win-win, why just make the minimum $20? Why not $30? Or $100?

    Because the government requiring higher wages is not a win-win.

    Interfering with market prices always creates nasty unintended consequences.

    Frédéric Bastiat, in his work “That Which Is Seen, and That Which Is Not Seen,” points out that there are always seen and unseen consequences when government force impacts economic decisions. “Almost always,” he wrote, “the immediate consequence is favorable, the ultimate consequences are fatal.”

    In this case, the immediate consequence is that existing workers get a raise. Great. That’s the seen. That’s what the media, unions, and Center for American Progress see. But the unseen effect is bigger, and worse:

    No. 1: Thousands of Californians have already lost jobs because some restaurants closed. Others lost income because their employer cut worker hours. The chain El Pollo Loco cut employees’ hours by 10 percent.

    Pizza Hut announced that it will lay off more than 1,000 delivery drivers. One, Michael Ojeda, understandably asked, “What’s the point of a raise if you don’t have a job?”

    No. 2: Workers who still have jobs will lose them because now their employers have more incentive to automate. Chipotle just created a robot that makes burrito bowls. Even CNN acknowledged, “Some restaurants are replacing [fast food workers] with kiosks.”

    Story continues below advertisement

    No. 3: Prices go up.

    The day Mr. Newsom signed the bill, he was asked, “Can Californians expect the prices of their McDonald’s and Starbucks to go up?”

    Mr. Newsom deceitfully replied: “I’ve heard that rhetoric before. And it didn’t happen!”

    Nonsense. It did happen. It always happens when government forces wage increases. In this case, Starbucks prices have increased as much as 15 percent. Customers will pay about $200 per year more for their coffee. A chicken burrito at Chipotle will cost up to 8 percent more.

    No. 4: Perhaps the worst unseen harm from minimum wage laws is that young and unskilled people won’t even be hired. They won’t gain valuable experience from a first job at a fast-food restaurant.

    In 2014, when Seattle politicians raised the minimum wage to $15, I asked some teenagers what a higher minimum wage could do for them.

    “Minimum wage actually hurts my chances of getting employed,” said one, Rigel Noble-Koza. “If I cost more, why would a company take a risk on hiring me? They’ll hire the worker with more experience instead.”

    Another, Dillon Hodes, talked about his friend who had fast-food work but got her hours cut because “she was young and inexperienced.”

    Of course, these students were unusual. They were finalists in a Stossel in the Classroom contest. They aren’t economically ignorant. They knew to look for the unseen.

    If only politicians were that smart.

    Government price fixing such as minimum wage laws hurt the young and the poor, the very people these laws are supposed to help.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 05/30/2024 – 22:30

  • Biden Allows Ukraine To Use US Weapons To Attack Inside Russia In Highly Dangerous Escalation
    Biden Allows Ukraine To Use US Weapons To Attack Inside Russia In Highly Dangerous Escalation

    Given the last days of momentum and growing pressure coming from some NATO countries, this was perhaps inevitable: the United States has now greenlighted Ukraine’s use of American-supplied weapons against Russian territory in a huge escalation which takes the world a big step closer to WW3 and nuclear-armed confrontation.

    Politico is reporting Thursday afternoon, “The Biden administration has quietly given Ukraine permission to strike inside Russia — solely near the area of Kharkiv — using U.S.-provided weapons, two U.S. officials and two other people familiar with the move said Thursday, a major reversal that will help Ukraine to better defend its second-largest city.”

    American soldiers in front of a HIMARS light multiple rocket launcher, Zuma Press

    An anonymous US official was cited a saying, “The president recently directed his team to ensure that Ukraine is able to use U.S. weapons for counter-fire purposes in Kharkiv so Ukraine can hit back at Russian forces hitting them or preparing to hit them.”

    The same official stipulated that the policy of not allowing long-range strikes inside Russia “has not changed.” However, this is surely going to be a distinction without substance or meaning from Russia’s point of view, as it makes attacking Russia’s sovereign territory with US weaponry ‘allowable’ for the first time. According to more details of what are expected to be the immediate implications: 

    In effect, Ukraine can now use American-provided weapons, such as rockets and rocket launchers, to shoot down launched Russian missiles heading toward Kharkiv, at troops massing just over the Russian border near the city, or Russian bombers launching bombs toward Ukrainian territory. But the official said Ukraine cannot use those weapons to hit civilian infrastructure or launch long-range missiles, such as the Army Tactical Missile System, to hit military targets deep inside Russia.

    It’s a stunning shift the administration initially said would escalate the war by more directly involving the U.S. in the fight. But worsening conditions for Ukraine on the battlefield –– namely Russia’s advances and improved position in Kharkiv –– led the president to change his mind.

    Ukraine has been complaining that all restrictions need to be taken off if it is to defend against Russia’s recent major offensive in Kharkiv, which was launched from across the border. For example, Russian artillery is able to fire from rear positions within the Belgorod region near the border. It meanwhile remains part of Moscow’s stated aim to push the border deeper into Ukraine to create a ‘buffer zone’ – making it harder for pro-Kiev forces to shell Russian towns and villages.

    Politico’s fresh reporting is consistent with something Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday. While visiting Moldova – itself feeling the pressure of the war right next door – Blinken laid out that the US does not “encourage or enable” Ukrainian attacks inside Russia – but he then moved the goalpost by stressing the US would “adapt and adjust” this position based on developing battlefield needs.

    A reporter followed up by asking if he meant the White House will now support Ukrainian attacks inside Russia. Blinken responded with: “Adapt and adjust means exactly that.”

    On a covert level this was likely already happening all along…

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    Russian President Vladimir Putin warned earlier this week there will be “major consequences” if NATO countries support long-range strikes on Russian territory. While it’s long been clear that US, UK, French, and other West-supplied weaponry has been used against Crimea, this has yet to be the case when it comes to Russia proper. Or at least any such attack has not been made public yet.

    This significant shift underscores the desperation of Western allies as Ukrainian forces have been getting rolled back in the Kharkiv region. It seems Washington, London, Paris, and Brussels simply cannot stomach a Ukrainian loss – but this desperation is leading to deepened and highly dangerous Western deepening involvement in the conflict. 

    Meanwhile…

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    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 05/30/2024 – 22:00

  • As King's Health Deteriorates, Who Will MbS Appoint As Crown Prince?
    As King’s Health Deteriorates, Who Will MbS Appoint As Crown Prince?

    Via Middle East Eye

    Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is close to becoming king as the health of his elderly father, King Salman, deteriorates; he was recently treated for a lung infection. While Mohammed bin Salman’s succession to the throne may seem inevitable and straightforward, he will face two challenging decisions: appointing a crown prince and designating a deputy crown prince.

    When appointing a future crown prince, he theoretically needs to consult Saudi Arabia’s 1992 basic law of governance, which stipulates that rulers are drawn from the male descendants of Ibn Saud, with the “most upright among them” selected for the role. 

    Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, via AFP

    But a 2017 amendment by King Salman notes that after the sons of Ibn Saud, there should be “no king and crown prince belonging to the same branch of the founder king’s descendants.”

    In practice, as king, Mohammed bin Salman would have enough power to ignore the amendment and appoint one of his brothers as crown prince – but this would not be without consequences. He would appear even more ruthless in excluding other branches of the House of Saud. 

    Such a move would further alienate the large pool of cousins belonging to important branches, such as al-Fahd and al-Sultan, neither of which has been humiliated like al-Nayef and al-Abdullah. So far, despite rumors about who Mohammed bin Salman may select as crown prince, the decision has been kept secret.  

    It is also uncertain as to whether the future monarch would follow the path of King Abdullah, who created the role of deputy crown prince in 2014 (before dying the following year), fearing a power vacuum if he and his crown prince both died within a short period of time. But the post of deputy crown prince has been vacant since 2017, the year Mohammed bin Salman ascended to the role of crown prince.

    Establishing power

    King Salman never appointed a deputy crown prince, for two reasons. First, the young age of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who was in his early thirties in 2017, made it unlikely that he would die any time soon and require a deputy to step in.

    Second, and more importantly, King Salman would have struggled to find a suitable deputy crown prince, as he and his son antagonized several branches of al-Saud lineage, namely Nayef and Abdullah.

    Former Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef received the most humiliating blow when he was sidelined after decades of holding highly sensitive and important positions in the interior ministry and intelligence services. He was put under house arrest and has since disappeared from public life.

    King Abdullah’s son Mutaib, the former chief of the Saudi Arabian National Guard, was equally humiliated when he was sacked from his military role; he has also disappeared from public life following allegations of corruption.

    King Salman and his son have not endeared themselves to these two branches of the royal family and their descendants. The king could still have chosen a deputy crown prince from the other remaining important branches, but he didn’t.

    Perhaps King Salman wanted his own son to have time to establish his power base without the patronage of older senior princes, most of whom had held senior positions in government as ministers or military commanders. 

    Royal prerogatives

    Over the last seven years, Mohammed bin Salman has been a solo crown prince. He effectively became the state, amassing tremendous power over every aspect of government and life in Saudi Arabia, from the military to entertainment.

    Mohammed bin Salman has been an absolute ruler, listening only to his close friends, foreign advisers, consultants and coterie. His domestic and foreign policies reflect his own desires, rather than consultation with a large group of senior and more experienced princes. A deputy crown prince would have been a nuisance, to say the least.

    In addition, the majority of eligible candidates for the positions of crown and deputy crown prince are still haunted by the memory of the Riyadh Ritz Carlton, which doubled as a detention center after Mohammed bin Salman launched a wide-ranging “anti-corruption” crackdown against powerful officials in 2017. He later released them after they paid billions of dollars to the state.

    As future king, Mohammed bin Salman will face the challenge of appointing an eligible crown prince and a deputy, both of whom must not challenge him or appear stronger than he is due to experience, age or aura. He will have to choose less powerful and more docile princes, so that they do not undermine his authority and single-mindedness.

    No doubt, Saudi society will be irrelevant to the process, as these decisions are strictly royal prerogatives. The future of the leadership is beyond a disenfranchised society that lacks pressure groups or civil organizations. Religious scholars, merchants and tribal groups will have no say in the matter; they will simply be summoned to the palace to pledge allegiance to whomever Mohammed bin Salman chooses.

    This is how a repressive absolute monarchy works. It does not consult – let alone share power – with its own royals, not to mention elites and notables.    

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 05/30/2024 – 21:30

  • Russian Firms Adopt Stablecoins In Cross-Border Transactions With Chinese
    Russian Firms Adopt Stablecoins In Cross-Border Transactions With Chinese

    The stablecoin sector is gaining momentum after a new Bloomberg report revealed that Russian commodities firms have adopted fiat-pegged digital currencies to execute cross-border transactions with Chinese counterparts. 

    Russian commodities firms, trading anything from base metals to timber, have started using Tether Holdings Ltd.’s stablecoin to settle cross-border transactions with Chinese customers and suppliers. These settlements are being routed through Hong Kong. 

    The appeal of stablecoins comes as the US Treasury Department has unleashed endless rounds of sanctions on Chinese and Russian companies for various reasons, ranging from a trade war between Washington and Beijing to a hot war in Eastern Europe. 

    The increased utilization of stablecoins comes more than two years after Russia invaded Ukraine and highlights how Moscow has adapted to a changing economic environment where seven Russian banks were banned from the SWIFT messaging system. 

    The lasting effect of Western sanctions on Russia’s economy only makes stablecoins more useful, including for cross-border transactions. It also helps mitigate the risk of frozen overseas bank accounts—something the Russians found out after they invaded Ukraine. Even unsanctioned Russian companies have found stablecoins a safer alternative to the traditional Western banking system. 

    “With stablecoins, the transfer may take just 5-15 seconds and cost a few cents, making such transactions pretty efficient when the sender already has an asset base in stablecoins,” said Ivan Kozlov, co-founder of Resolve Labs. 

    Kozlov continued, “In countries that are facing dollar liquidity issues and capital controls, cross-border settlements through cryptocurrencies and, specifically, dollar-linked stablecoins, are a relatively common practice, and not only in commodities.” 

    The growing adoption of stablecoins in Russia’s global trade reveals that Western sanctions have failed to implode the Russian economy. There’s even been news of the Russian Central Bank experimenting with crypto payments for international transactions. 

    About a year ago, Rosbank, one of Russia’s major banks, launched a facility that enabled importers to settle transactions using crypto. Since then, additional banks have started offering similar services. 

    The stablecoin trend doesn’t end with Russia. Venezuela’s state-run oil company, PDVSA, has slowly moved oil sales to USDT after the US recently imposed sanctions on the country. 

    Even as these developments show cryptocurrencies have use cases, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Neel Kashkari, stated in April, “[Bitcoin has] no actual utility in the economy, other than being a nice toy that some people enjoy owning and trading.” 

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 05/30/2024 – 21:00

  • Boston On The Brink As Millennial Mayor Pushes Decriminalization
    Boston On The Brink As Millennial Mayor Pushes Decriminalization

    Boston’s 39-year-old Mayor, Michelle Wu, wants to follow in the footsteps of San Francisco, Philadelphia, Seattle, Denver, New York, and other liberal strongholds – where property crimes, including grand larceny and motor vehicle theft, have seen a sharp increase in recent years.

    Boston’s progressive Mayor Michelle Wu wants to decriminalize certain offenses

    As the Daily Mail reports, Wu wants to make crimes including shoplifting and disorderly conduct off-limits to prosecution. She also wants to include certain categories of breaking and entering, wanton and malicious property destruction, larceny under $250, and trespassing as non-prosecutable crimes. She did toss in drug possession – which is fine as long as crimes like disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace are enforced.

    Those who commit such wanton crimes would receive little more than a slap on the wrist.

    The offenses are all on a ‘do-not-prosecute’ list that was created by former Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins.

    Rollins, who later joined the Biden administration but resigned amid ethical violations, had advocated for the non-prosecution of more ‘low-level’ offenses. 

    During her 2021 campaign, Wu was asked by left-wing nonprofit Progressive Massachusetts whether she supports Rollins’ list, to which she responded “Yes.” When asked if she supported closing the Boston Police gang database, she also said yes. She also supports firing any Boston PD employees involved in the January 6th protest in Washington DC.

    Via the Daily Mail

    The Police gang database notably played a critical role in the federal bust of 40 individuals allegedly connected to a violent street gang which had operated for years out of a Boston housing project.

    Wu, the city’s first female and Asian American Mayor, has promised to reallocate police funds to other city priorities, and believes in ‘demilitarizing’ law enforcement by eliminating the use of tear gas, rubber bullets and police dogs. Further, Wu wants police records on use-of-force to be made public, which critics say could endanger officers’ safety.

    So, embolden criminals and de-fang cops. Right.

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    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 05/30/2024 – 20:54

  • The Improvement Of Russian-Taliban Ties Opens Up New Opportunities For India
    The Improvement Of Russian-Taliban Ties Opens Up New Opportunities For India

    Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

    Russia is poised to strategically partner with the Taliban upon the impending removal of its domestic terrorist designation, which will in turn revolutionize bilateral relations with Afghanistan. Readers can learn more about each complementary aspect of this policy here and here. The present piece presupposes at least passing knowledge of what Russia aims to achieve and why, particularly the interconnected security and economic drivers behind these latest developments.

    In brief, Russia envisages building up the Taliban’s capabilities so that they then more adequately contain and hopefully defeat those ISIS-K terrorists that have established themselves in Afghanistan. Once the security situation is stabilized, transnational connective infrastructure projects from Russia to South Asia via Afghanistan can then finally begin to take shape. These include a gas pipeline, an overland oil export route facilitated by a planned Afghan hub, and a railway, the latter two of which can go hand-in-hand.

    These ambitious goals are expected to accelerate multipolarity processes upon their completion through the fulfillment of Russia’s related Ummah Pivot and Greater Eurasian Partnership concepts, the last two pieces of which are Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan. Comprehensively expanding strategic ties with Afghanistan will in turn enable the symmetrical expansion of those with Pakistan if Islamabad has the political will, which remains to be seen though considering the expansion of US influence there.

    The way in which Russian-Pakistani relations evolve might also inadvertently stoke suspicions in India if they move too fast, some of whose experts and policymakers fear that Russia is increasingly beginning to fall under Chinese influence, which readers can learn more about here and here. The tangible consequences of exacerbating this perception could abruptly disrupt multipolarity processes if they empower India’s pro-US faction in the event that newly troubled ties with the US improve.

    The most effective way to preemptively counteract this scenario is for Russia to pioneer an Afghan development quartet between those two, India, Iran, and Uzbekistan aimed at fully incorporating that war-torn country into the North-South Transport Corridor (NSTC). This would build upon November 2022’s Russian-Indian-Iranian Troika on Afghanistan in the new conditions of Moscow recognizing the Taliban as that country’s official leaders and Russia turning Uzbekistan into a regional logistics hub.

    President Putin’s recent offer to help Uzbekistan reach more markets for growing its economy could take the form of incorporating it into this proposed quartet for optimizing all parties’ multilateral cooperation along the NSTC. While it appears inevitable that Afghanistan will one day facilitate Russian-Pakistani trade, even if it still takes some time for Islamabad to patch up its problems with Kabul and clinch associated pacts with Moscow, this could reassure India that its influence won’t be lost in that event.

    India worries that a Russian-brokered improvement in Taliban-Pakistani ties incentivized by the earlier mentioned connectivity projects could lead to a surge of regional Chinese influence upon the northern expansion of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) into Central Asia via Afghanistan. The only way to calm these concerns is for India to beat China to the chase by having the NSTC become the bedrock of Afghanistan’s reconstruction and future economic development before CPEC does.

    Considering the way in which Afghan society is organized, those trade opportunities that are opened up by the NSTC could lead to the informal creation of local patronage networks that would help India maintain its influence there amidst the possible surge of CPEC-driven Sino-Pak influence in the future. Getting ahead of the curve by cultivating loyal elites through sustainable economic means would go a long way towards assuaging India’s fears that the latest Russian-led processes are to China’s advantage.

    The enormous rupee stockpile that Russia accumulated in India over the past two years largely as a result of their unprecedented energy cooperation brought about by generous oil discounts, which spiked bilateral trade to a record $65 billion last year, could also be relied upon in pursuit of this end. These rupees could be invested in coordination with India into pioneering an Uzbek-Afghan-Iranian trade corridor that could incorporate the planned oil hub in Herat for further ramping up Russian-Indian trade.

    Streamlining this branch of the NSTC could unlock innumerably profitable opportunities for all stakeholders, especially Russia and India, not to mention accelerating the pace at which the suggested Afghan patronage networks could be created for preemptively counteracting Sino-Pak influence there. Through these means, India would be less likely to perceive the improvement of Russian-Afghan and eventually -Pakistani ties as benefiting their Chinese rival, thus discrediting that country’s pro-US faction.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 05/30/2024 – 20:30

  • Israel Intercepts Cruise Missile Launched From Iraq
    Israel Intercepts Cruise Missile Launched From Iraq

    Israeli media is reporting on a dangerous escalation after the military announced it shot down an inbound projectile which came “from the east” – which is a phrase typically used by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to describe attacks from Iraq.

    Time of Israel is describing “cruise missiles” fired from Iraq and shot down over northern Israel on Thursday. The inbound projectiles were initially thought to be drones. Other Israeli outlets pointed to a single cruise missile inbound over Israel and possibly accompanied by drones, however.

    There were no injuries, nor were there any claims of responsibility, but Israeli officials are eyeing the Iran-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which is a coalition in Iraq associated with the country’s Popular Mobilization Forces.

    However, there was a statement about drones being sent. “Following the interceptions, the pro-Iranian militias in Iraq claimed to have launched drones towards Eilat,” Israel National News (Arutz Sheva) reported.

    “Earlier today, following sirens regarding a hostile aircraft infiltration in the Golan Heights area, the IDF intercepted a cruise missile that approached Israel from the east,” the IDF said.

    The IDF continued, “Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in the Eilat area, an IAF fighter jet, together with the IDF Aerial Defense Array, successfully intercepted two hostile aircraft that approached Israeli territory from the east, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said.”

    While Iran’s Shia paramilitary forces have been relatively quiet of late, especially compared to the opening months of the Gaza war when they sent drones and mortars regularly against US bases in the region, this could be a response to some of the recent Israeli attacks on Syria and southern Lebanon.

    Wednesday saw an Israeli airstrike hit deep inside Syria, in Baniyas city, though it’s unclear what the precise target was. Syrian government sources said a girl was killed and ten civilians wounded in the attack.

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    Israeli sources have long claimed the IDF airstrikes in Syria are geared toward disrupting Iranian operations there, but Damascus says it is a brazen violation of Syria’s sovereignty.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 05/30/2024 – 20:00

  • Toddler's 'Modern Art' Paintings Sell For Thousands
    Toddler’s ‘Modern Art’ Paintings Sell For Thousands

    Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

    Paintings by a 2-year-old boy from Germany are selling for up to $7000, with buyers comparing them to Picasso.

    The Times reports that Laurent Schwarz’s portraits of elephants, horses and dinosaurs “would not look out of place in modern art galleries in Munich or Berlin.”

    The boy’s mother uploaded some photos of the paintings to social media, and soon enough ‘collectors’ were bidding thousands of Euros for them at Munich’s biggest art fair, ART MUC.

    The report also notes that “A New York gallery has contacted the family offering to put Laurent’s work on display.”

    His mother states “They’re abstracts and what’s unusual is how he integrates discernible figures into them, which people often mention to us and which makes them so popular,”

    Yeah ok. Good lad, but they do just kinda look more like random paint slapping by a toddler:

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    Do the people buying these paintings know that they are purchasing the dawbings of a child who cannot talk yet?

    This story is entirely plausible because much of so called ‘modern art’ frankly looks like it has been made by toddlers.

    As far as paintings by kindergarteners go, Laurent Schwarz’s are quite good. They’re nice and colourful and the boy’s parents say they are putting all the money made from them into a savings account for him.

    Fair enough.

    But there are fully grown ‘artists’ out there purposefully trying to paint and make ‘art’ like toddlers in an effort to cash in on this trend.

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    Their  ‘work’ is even being slapped up in public and revered in a weird ritual of pretence that it isn’t completely fuck ugly.

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    Such ‘works’ are only being revered by sections of society and bought for thousands because of the atrocities against art by adults that have been placed on a pedestal as somehow ‘deep and meaningful’ when in reality they have no meaning, sometimes literally:

    If you don’t engage in the charade, prepare to be cast out as ‘unsophisticated’:

    In many cases this stuff is just paint smeared on a canvas, or in some cases it is literally trash thrown on the floor.

    In some cases it’s trash thrown on the floor in an effort to ruin actual proper art:

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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
    Thu, 05/30/2024 – 19:30

  • Israel's Gantz Moves To Dissolve Knesset, Hold New Elections, In Anti-Netanyahu Drive
    Israel’s Gantz Moves To Dissolve Knesset, Hold New Elections, In Anti-Netanyahu Drive

    Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz is mounting a new challenge against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the coalition government, on Thursday announcing his centrist party is proposing holding a parliamentary vote on dissolving the Knesset.

    “The head of the National Union Party, Pnina Tamano-Shata, has put forward a bill to dissolve the 25th Knesset. This follows the request of party leader Minister Benny Gantz to move forward in broad agreement to an election before October, a year since the massacre,” the fresh statement from Gantz’s party said.

    Image: Flash90

    Gantz had already previously verbalized a plan to hold new elections by October, and two weeks ago he demanded in a provocative ultimatum that Netanyahu has until June 8 to present a clear strategic plan for the Gaza war.

    Below is the outline that Gantz previously articulated while lambasting the lack of a clear plan from Netanyahu:

    ”Bring our hostages home, topple the Hamas regime, strip the Gaza Strip, and ensure Israeli security control. Alongside maintaining Israeli security control, establish an American-European-Arab-Palestinian administration to civilly manage the Strip and lay the foundation for a future alternative to Hamas and Abbas, return the residents of the north to their homes by September 1, and rehabilitate the Western Negev, promote normalization with Saudi Arabia as part of an overall move that will create an alliance with the free world and the Arab world against Iran and adopt a service plan that will lead to all Israelis serving the state and contributing to the supreme national effort.”

    Gantz had continued in that prior statement: “The people of Israel are watching you. You must choose between Zionism and cynicism, between unity and division, between responsibility and neglect – and between victory and disaster.”

    Huge anti-Netanyahu protests have continued in Tel Aviv and in front of government buildings and even Netanyahu’s residence, and have been led by hostage victims’ families. They are outraged there’s been lack of clarity or prioritization of getting the rest of the hostages home, also as truce negotiations with Hamas have all but collapsed.

    It is anything but clear if Gantz has the votes to dissolve Knesset, but Netanyahu’s Likud party quickly shot back on Thursday with a terse statement: “The dissolution of the unity government is a reward for [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar, a capitulation to international pressure and a fatal blow to efforts to free our hostages.”

    But Gantz Tamano-Shata party reasoned that “The 7th of October is a disaster that requires us to go back in order to receive the public’s trust, to establish a broad and stable unity government that can lead us safely in the face of the enormous challenges in security, the economy and, above all, in Israeli society. Submitting the bill now will allow us to bring it up in the current session.”

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    To review, Gantz joined Netanyahu’s government soon on the heels of the Oct.7 terror attack last year. “Gantz’s centrist bloc split up in March and his party does not on its own control enough seats in parliament to bring down the ruling coalition,” Reuters notes.

    Critics of Netanyahu say he will use his role as a wartime leader to hold onto power as long as possible. As it stands, and assuming no opposition-led intervention succeeds, there is no election scheduled before the final quarter of 2026.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 05/30/2024 – 19:00

  • Lawsuit Seeks End To 'Lawless' Noncitizen Voting In Pennsylvania
    Lawsuit Seeks End To ‘Lawless’ Noncitizen Voting In Pennsylvania

    Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    The conservative advocacy group America First Legal (AFL) filed a complaint with the Pennsylvania Department of State, seeking to end a directive that allows noncitizens to vote in state and federal elections.

    Illegal aliens from Cuba line up in Marathon, Fla., to board a bus to be driven to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection station on Jan. 5, 2023. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

    The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002 requires that an individual applying to vote must mention a current and valid driver’s license and the last four digits of their Social Security number on the voter application form.

    HAVA mandates that local election officials confirm the numbers are valid and current by using available databases.

    “However, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania maintains a voter registration system that blatantly violates this federal law,” the May 21 complaint alleges.

    HAVA prohibits a state from accepting or processing a voter application registration that does not fulfill its identity proof provisions.

    In 2018, the Secretary of the Commonwealth issued a “HAVA Matching Directive” which states that a voter registration application “may not be rejected” solely based on the fact that an applicant’s driver’s license and Social Security number do not match any database.

    Under the directive, the Secretary of the Commonwealth asked “all 67 county boards of election to ignore HAVA’s verification mandate and to register any applicant” to vote even if the individual does not fulfill identification requirements.

    “This lawless directive does not just violate federal law; it creates a regime where an untold number of ineligible voters, including non-citizens, can register to vote in all state and federal elections in the Commonwealth,” the lawsuit said.

    In the HAVA directive, the Pennsylvania Department of State cited a previous case to argue that HAVA’s data comparison process was intended only for storing and managing the official list of registered voters. HAVA was not supposed to be used as “a restriction on voter eligibility,” it stated.

    The department asked counties to ensure their procedures “comply with state and federal law” while implementing the HAVA directive.

    This meant that if there are “no independent grounds” to reject a voter application other than a non-match of identification, the application cannot be rejected and should be “processed like all other applications.”

    AFL asked to repeal the HAVA Matching Directive and replace it with a regulation in compliance with HAVA.

    Gene Hamilton, America First Legal executive director, pointed out that Americans across the nation have “legitimate concerns” about the security of elections.

    And yet, he said, Pennsylvania adopted and maintained a voter registration process that “clearly and unambiguously violates basic federal law intended to provide a minimum baseline of security.”

    He called on the Secretary of State to abandon the “unlawful practice” and comply with the federal rules to ensure fraud doesn’t occur.

    The Pennsylvania State Department responded in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times: “All voters in Pennsylvania must be United States citizens in order to register to vote, and no directive or guidance from the Department says otherwise. Residents seeking to register to vote must prove their citizenship.”

    Noncitizen Voting Issue

    According to the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF), foreign nationals registering to vote in U.S. election races is not uncommon.

    PILF data show that Pima County, Arizona, canceled 186 voter registrations due to citizenship issues between 2021 and 2023, with seven having voting histories.

    Similarly, 222 voter registrations in Maricopa County, Arizona, were canceled between 2015 and 2023 for similar issues, with nine people having a history of casting votes.

    “The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (Motor Voter) provides the most common pathway for foreign nationals to get registered to vote. The 24 states plus D.C. which automate Motor Voter, not giving the immigrant the chance to decline registration, exacerbate the problem,” PILF said.

    On May 8, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rep. Chip Roy (R-Tex.) introduced the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, or S.4292, which seeks to ensure that only American citizens take part in federal elections.

    The Act requires proof of citizenship during voter registration, outlining acceptable documentation to prove citizenship. States are required to set up alternative verification processes for citizens who do not have standard documents.

    The legislation also mandates that states purge noncitizens from their voter rolls. Penalties would be instituted for knowingly registering noncitizens as voters.

    Sen. Lee pointed out that illegal immigrants and other noncitizens are being improperly registered as voters, allowing them to cast votes in federal elections.

    This “foreign election interference” must be stopped, especially since trust in the voting process is now more important than ever, he said.

    “Voting is both a sacred right and responsibility of American citizenship, and allowing the people of other nations access to our elections is a grave blow to our security and self-governance.”

    Multiple left-leaning groups like the American Civil Liberties Union, American Humanist Association, Democracy Matters, National Action Network, and Stand Up America oppose the SAVE Act.

    In a May 16 letter to Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) and Rep. Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.), members of the Committee on House Administration, the organizations called the SAVE Act a “dangerous departure” from ensuring that all Americans have the freedom to vote.

    Requiring documentation of American citizenship is aimed at “fear-mongering and divisive rhetoric,” they claimed.

    Voters in every state are already required to verify their citizenship status when registering to vote, they said. As such, the SAVE Act is “unnecessary and dangerous.” The purpose of the Act was to make voting “more difficult, particularly for voters of color.”

    A congressional hearing on noncitizen voting was held on May 16. Rep. Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.) said there was no proof of noncitizens voting in elections and that there should be a focus on “MAGA Republicans howling about this nonissue.”

    Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) pointed out that 100 noncitizens were recently identified in voter rolls in Ohio. He called for strict policies to ensure that only Americans vote in elections considering that 7 million illegal immigrants have entered the United States under the Biden administration.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 05/30/2024 – 18:30

  • Iran's Khamenei Receives Assad, Hails Syria's Resistance To Regime Change Efforts
    Iran’s Khamenei Receives Assad, Hails Syria’s Resistance To Regime Change Efforts

    Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is in Tehran on Thursday for a rare state as part of a condolence message in the wake of the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash earlier this month.

    Assad met with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as well as the Islamic Republic’s acting President Mohammad Mokhber. Assad expressed condolences also for the death of Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and other officials who went down in the May 19th crash in a mountainous region near Azerbaijan.

    The trip also comes amid the backdrop of the Gaza war, as well as daily exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbolllah, also amid recent Israeli attacks on Syria. Ayatollah Khamenei hailed Syria as central to the ‘resistance’. He told the Syrian president “Syria’s special position in the region is distinguished because of this identity, and this important feature must be preserved.”

    Image source: Khamenei.ir

    “This identity has always contributed to the national unity of Syria,” he added, describing that Damascus’ resistance to Western hegemony was initially forged by Assad’s father, the late Hafez. Khamenei said, “everyone should see the special privilege of the Syrian government, that is, resistance, in front of their eyes.”

    According to more from state media, Iran’s Supreme Leader spoke on the last decade of Western-Gulf-Israeli efforts to overthrow the Syrian government: 

    Ayatollah Khamenei said the Westerners and their acolytes in the region tried to overthrow Syria’s political system and remove it from the regional equations through the war they waged against the country, but they did not succeed. 

    “Now they want to use other methods, including promises that they never fulfill, in order to take Syria out of the regional equations,” he added.

    Among these current methods includes sanctions that aim to starve and choke Syria and its population, as well as the ongoing US occupation of northeast Syria, where the country’s vital supplies of oil and gas are located. Officials in Baghdad, Tehran, Damascus, and Moscow have long charged Washington with plundering Syria’s natural resources.

    Though not religiously aligned (Iran is a Shia religious state while Syria has a largely Baathist secular identity), Damascus and Tehran have since 2011 forged deeper ties. That’s when Western and Gulf states began pouring massive supplies of weaponry and money into jihadist rebel forces in a large-scale covert campaign to topple Assad.

    Out of the West-backed insurgency came ISIS, Syrian al-Qaeda, and an array of Sunni terrorist groups. Israel also covertly supported this Sunni terror insurgency aimed at rolling back ‘Iranian influence’ and the so-called ‘Shia axis’.

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    In response, Iran deepened its military presence throughout Syria at the invitation of the Assad government. In 2015, Russia also intervened as an ally of the Syrian government, and at its request. This is part of the ‘resistance’ that Iran’s leaders speak of, which also includes Lebanese Hezbollah.

    Without Syria, Iran, Russia, and Hezbollah pushing back against Western/Gulf regime change efforts, there’s a big likelihood that an al-Qaeda aligned entity would be in control of Damascus today. It might be an uncomfortable truth for many, but it is a historical fact nonetheless. 

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 05/30/2024 – 18:00

  • Our Revolutionary Times: VDH
    Our Revolutionary Times: VDH

    Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness,

    Sometimes unexpected but dramatic events tear off the thin veneer of respectability and convention. What follows is the exposure and repudiation of long-existing but previously covered-up pathologies.

    Events like the destruction of the southern border over the last three years, the October 7 massacre and ensuing Gaza war, the campus protests, the COVID-19 epidemic and lockdown, and the systematic efforts to weaponize our bureaucracies and courts have all led to radical reappraisals of American culture and civilization.

    Since the 1960s, universities have always been hotbeds of left-wing protests, sometimes violently so.

    But the post-October 7 campus eruptions marked a watershed difference.

    Masked left-wing protestors were unashamedly and virulently anti-Semitic. Students on elite campuses especially showed contempt for both middle-class police officers tasked with preventing their violence and vandalism and the maintenance workers who had to clean up their garbage.

    Mobs took over buildings, assaulted Jewish students, called for the destruction of Israel, and defaced American monuments and commentaries.

    When pressed by journalists to explain their protests, most students knew nothing of the politics or geography of Palestine, for which they were protesting.

    The public concluded that the more elite the campus, the more ignorant, arrogant, and hateful the students seemed.

    The Biden administration destroyed the southern border. Ten million illegal aliens swarmed into the U.S. without audit. Almost daily, news accounts detail violent acts committed by illegal aliens or their surreal demands for more free lodging and support.

    Simultaneously, thousands of Middle Eastern students, invited by universities on student visas, block traffic, occupy bridges, disrupt graduations, and generally show contempt for the laws of their American hosts.

    The net result is that Americans are reappraising their entire attitude toward immigration. Expect the border to be closed soon and immigration to become mostly meritocratic, smaller, and legal, with zero tolerance for immigrants and resident visitors who break the laws of their hosts.

    Americans are also reappraising their attitudes toward time-honored bureaucracies, the courts, and government agencies.

    The public still cannot digest the truth that the once respected FBI partnered with social media to suppress news stories, to surveil parents at school board meetings, and to conduct performance art swat raids on the homes of supposed political opponents.

    After the attempts of the Department of Justice to go easy on the miscreant Hunter Biden but to hound ex-president Donald Trump for supposedly removing files illegally in the same fashion as current President Biden, the public lost confidence not just in Attorney General Merrick Garland but in American jurisprudence itself.

    The shenanigans of prosecutors like Fani Willis, Letitia James, and Alvin Bragg, along with overtly biased judges like Juan Merchant and Arthur Engoron, only reinforced the reality that the American legal system has descended into third-world-like tit-for-tat vendettas.

    The same politicization has nearly discredited the Pentagon. Its investigations of “white” rage and white supremacy found no such organized cabals in the ranks. But these unicorn hunts likely helped cause a 45,000-recruitment shortfall among precisely the demographic that died at twice their numbers in the general population in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    Add in the humiliating flight from Kabul, the abandonment of $50 billion in weapons to the Taliban terrorists, the recent embarrassment of the failed Gaza pier, and the litany of political invective from retired generals and admirals. The result is that the armed forces have an enormous task to restore public faith. They will have to return to meritocracy and emphasize battle efficacy, enforce the uniform code of military justice, and start either winning wars or avoiding those that cannot be won.

    Finally, we are witnessing a radical inversion in our two political parties.

    The old populist Democratic Party that championed lunch-bucket workers has turned into a shrill union of the very rich and subsidized poor. Its support of open borders, illegal immigration, the war on fossil fuels, transgenderism, critical legal and race theories, and the woke agenda are causing the party to lose support.

    The Republican Party is likewise rebranding itself from a once-stereotyped brand of aristocratic and corporate grandees to one anchored in the middle class.

    Even more radically, the new populist Republicans are beginning to appeal to voters on shared class and cultural concerns rather than on racial and tribal interests.

    The results of all these revolutions will shake up the U.S. for decades to come.

    Soon we may see a Georgia Tech or Purdue degree as far better proof of an educated and civic-minded citizen than a Harvard or Stanford brand.

    We will likely jettison the failed salad bowl approach to immigration and return to the melting pot as immigration becomes exclusively legal, meritocratic, and manageable.

    To avoid further loss of public confidence, institutions like the FBI, the CIA, the Pentagon, and the DOJ will have to re-earn rather than just assume the public’s confidence.

    And we may soon accept the reality that Democrats reflect the values of Silicon Valley plutocrats, university presidents, and blue-city mayors, while Republicans become the home of an ecumenical black, Hispanic, Asian, and white middle class.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 05/30/2024 – 17:40

  • New Louisiana Law Makes It Illegal To Approach A Police Officer Engaged In Executing Their Duties
    New Louisiana Law Makes It Illegal To Approach A Police Officer Engaged In Executing Their Duties

    A new law in Louisiana makes it illegal to approach a police officer within 25 feet in certain situations, ostensibly the state’s way of keeping officers executing their duties free from swarms of woke camera-wielding liberals offering up their scholarly legal takes in the midst of official business. 

    Critics argue that the new law, criminalizing approaching a police officer within 25 feet under certain conditions could restrict the public’s ability to film police, a key method for ensuring accountability.

    The law, which takes effect on August 1, imposes penalties of up to $500 and/or 60 days in jail for those convicted of knowingly or intentionally nearing an officer after being told to stop. Although the law does not explicitly mention filming, opponents contend it could interfere with observational rights and potentially violate First Amendment freedoms.

    Those advocating for the law say it would “create a buffer-zone to help ensure the safety of officers and that bystanders would still be close enough to film police interactions,” according to AP.

    AP notes that cellphone videos by bystanders, notably in cases like George Floyd’s 2020 death, have been pivotal in highlighting police misconduct and prompting discussions on police transparency.

    Similar legislative efforts to restrict filming distances have been seen, such as a 2022 Arizona law that tried to ban filming police within 8 feet upon request, which was blocked by a federal judge as unconstitutional after challenges from media groups and the ACLU. This ruling underscored the established right to film police in action.

    The author of the measure, State Rep. Bryan Fontenot, said: “At 25 feet, that person can’t spit in my face when I’m making an arrest. The chances of him hitting me in the back of the head with a beer bottle at 25 feet — it sure is a lot more difficult than if he’s sitting right here.”

    Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, has spoken out against the law: “Each of us has a constitutional right to freely observe public servants as they function in public and within the course and scope of their official duties.”

    He added: “Observations of law enforcement, whether by witnesses to an incident with officers, individuals interacting with officers, or members of the press, are invaluable in promoting transparency.”

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 05/30/2024 – 17:20

  • Assembly Passes Measure Allowing Illegal Immigrant Students To Work At California Colleges And Universities
    Assembly Passes Measure Allowing Illegal Immigrant Students To Work At California Colleges And Universities

    Authored by Sophie Li via The Epoch Times,

    A bill that would allow students who are illegal immigrants to work at California colleges and universities passed the state Assembly on May 22.

    Currently, students must obtain a work permit to hold jobs on campus. That would change under Assembly Bill 2586, introduced by Assemblyman David Alvarez of San Diego.

    “America has always promised that if you work hard, you will have the opportunity to succeed,” the lawmaker said May 24 in a statement.

    “Creating these pathways to secure employment is essential.”

    The bill passed on a vote of 59-4.

    Under the bill, schools cannot disqualify a student from employment for failing to provide proof of a federal work authorization unless it is required specifically for a position by federal law or as a condition of a grant funding the position.

    If the bill were to become law, the University of California (UC), California State University (CSU), and California Community College (CCC) systems would not enforce the federal ban on hiring illegal immigrants.

    The legislation is based on the premise that California’s public colleges and universities should be exempt from the 1986 federal Immigration Reform and Control Act, which prevents employers from knowingly hiring illegal immigrants.

    When Congress passed the act, it “did not curtail states’ historic power to determine the employment qualifications of state employees. As a result, [the act’s] prohibition on hiring undocumented persons does not bind state government entities,” UCLA Center for Immigration Law and Policy wrote in a 2022 memorandum it published.

    If passed, the three systems will begin implementing the change by Jan. 6, 2025.

    An analysis of the bill cited the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey from 2023 estimating that California has the most illegal immigrant college students in the nation, with around 83,000 across its higher education systems.

    “These students have fulfilled their obligation and are ready to be our future teachers, scientists, doctors, and public servants,” Mr. Alvarez, the assembly member, said.

    While the UC did not take a stance on the bill, President Michael Drake issued a statement in January declaring it not feasible for several reasons.

    According to Mr. Drake, employees might face criminal or civil prosecution for knowingly engaging in practices prohibited by federal law, and the UC could incur civil fines, criminal penalties, or be barred from federal contracting for violating the immigration reform act. It could also lose billions of dollars in federal contracts and grants contingent on compliance.

    “We have concluded that the proposed legal pathway is not viable at this time, and in fact carries significant risk for the institution and for those we serve,” the president said.

    The bill is currently awaiting assignment to a committee in the state Senate.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 05/30/2024 – 17:00

  • Watch: Trump Responds After NY Guilty Verdict
    Watch: Trump Responds After NY Guilty Verdict

    Update (1710ET): Former President Donald Trump has been found guilty on all 34 counts in his New York ‘hush money’ trial. The outcome makes him the first former president to become a convicted felon.

    Trump reportedly stared ahead motionless as the verdict was read.

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    The trial centered on allegations that Trump falsified business records in order to conceal a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 US election. Prosecutors under Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg argued that Trump oversaw a scheme to influence the 2016 election by using Trump Organization records to conceal the payments.

    “Everything Mr. Trump and his cohorts did in this case is cloaked in lies,” said prosecutor Joshua Steinglass. “The evidence is literally overwhelming.”

    Trump Responds

    “This is a rigged, disgraceful trial,” Trump said in response, adding “The real verdict will be on November 5.”

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    Judge Juan Merchan will now decide Trump’s sentence on July 11 – days before Republicans are set to select him as the 2024 nominee. The crime has a maximum sentence of four years in prison. That said, Merchan could also opt for home confinement, probation, supervised release, fines or community service.

    Biden Campaign Responds

    “In New York today, we saw that no one is above the law,” reads a statement.

    “Donald Trump has always mistakenly believed he would never face consequences for breaking the law for his own personal gain. But today’s verdict does not change the fact that American people face a simple reality. There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box. Convicted felon or not, Trump will be the Republican nominee for president.”

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    Trump is certain to appeal the verdict, which could take months or even years – however Democrats now have their ‘Felon Trump’ talking point which they think will help Joe Biden come November. 

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    As ‘Techno Fog’ of The Reactionary notes, 

    The target might have been Trump, but the real goal was to influence the 2024 election, no matter the shaky facts and dubious legal theories of the case. Democracy must be saved even through unlawful and unethical means. The enemies of society must be hunted, the obstacles to progress must be destroyed.

    As the years-long Trump investigation and prosecution continued, and as New Yorkers continue to deal with rampant crime and theft and felony assaults – which they often don’t even report due to “the revolving-door criminal injustice system” – Trump was pursued with rare intensity. The bodega shopkeepers, facing a shoplifting and armed robbery epidemic which empties their shelves and puts their lives at risk, are besides themselves. As are normal citizens whose safety is at risk daily. If only their interests were political. If only the perpetrator were the Republican presidential frontrunner and not a career criminal then perhaps they would see justice.

    In trial, venue matters. It’s strategic, it’s the selection of a favorable judge and jury. Monsanto is sued in San Fransisco and the jury pours them out for $289 million. Cook County (Illinois) is notorious for high jury verdicts. So too is Philadelphia and Lansing, Michigan. Corporate defendants tremble in fear at being sued in working class cities along the Gulf coast. Texas brings suit against the Biden Administration in the Southern District of Texas – Galveston Division because the one federal district judge there (a Trump appointee) will not hesitate to stop unlawful acts or policies. Hawaii brought suit in Honolulu against the Trump Administration and obtained a temporary restraining order against Trump’s travel ban from an Obama-appointed judge. He was reversed by the Supreme Court, but that process took over a year.

    And as ‘End Wokeness’ notes, there’s no turning back from the new precedent which has just been set by Democrats.

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    Meanwhile, WinRed, the Republican donation platform, is currently overwhelmed.

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    The 77-year-old Trump still faces criminal trials in Washington and Georgia over alleged attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, as well as one in Florida pertaining to his handling of classified national security documents taken from the White House.

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    *  *  *

    The jury empaneled in the NY v. Trump case said it has reached a verdict.

    The 12-person jury – which has requested 30 minutes to fill out the paperwork  – will soon enter the courtroom and announce what it has decided. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged former President Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, and Trump pleaded not guilty to all counts.

    Judge Juan Merchan will invite the jury in to read its verdict.

    Prior to receiving the jury’s note around 4:20 p.m., Merchan had indicated he would excuse the jury for the day at 4:30 as a growing number expected a mistrial due to a hung jury however the presence of a verdict means that we will shortly know if the jury has found Trump “guilty” or “not guilty.”

    Prosecutors needed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump falsified business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels, a pornographic performer, in the lead-up to the 2016 election to silence her about an alleged affair with Trump in 2006.

    Michael Cohen, Trump’s former attorney, was the prosecution’s “star witness.”He testified that he personally made the $130,000 payment to Daniels using a home equity line of credit in an effort to conceal the payment from his wife.

    Cohen said he did this because Trump told him to “handle it” and prevent a negative story from coming out ahead of the election.But Trump’s defense attorneys maintained that the president never directed Cohen to do so.

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    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 05/30/2024 – 16:47

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May 30

Today’s News 30th May 2024

  • France's Macron Backs Ukrainian Strikes Inside Russia
    France’s Macron Backs Ukrainian Strikes Inside Russia

    Authored by Ryan Morgan via The Epoch Times,

    French President Emmanuel Macron signaled his support for Ukrainian forces to begin striking across their eastern border into Russia, ratcheting up support within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for attacks inside Russia.

    Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Mr. Macron noted that Russian forces have launched missiles from within their internationally-recognized territory, which have then flown across the border into Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region. Mr. Macron said Ukraine must therefore be able to strike inside Russia to stop these types of attacks.

    “We think we must allow (Ukraine) to neutralize the (Russian) military sites from which the missiles are fired, but not other civilian or military targets,” the French president said.

    Mr. Macron’s remarks come as NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has increasingly signaled support for NATO members to give Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy their blessing to use NATO-supplied weapons to strike inside Russia.

    “The time has come for allies to consider whether they should lift some of the restrictions they have put on the use of weapons they have donated to Ukraine,” Mr. Stoltenberg said in a May 25 interview with The Economist. “Especially now when a lot of the fighting is going on in Kharkiv, close to the border, to deny Ukraine the possibility of using these weapons against legitimate military targets on Russian territory makes it very hard for them to defend themselves.”

    Addressing the NATO Parliamentary Assembly on Monday, Mr. Stoltenberg again offered his support for Ukrainian forces to strike inside Russia’s borders.

    “Self-defense includes the right to also attack legitimate military targets inside Russia,” the NATO chief said. “That’s self-defense and they have the right to self-defense, and we should help them to uphold the right of self-defense.”

    Germany More Cautious About Russia Strikes

    Mr. Scholz expressed reservations this weekend about encouraging Ukrainian strikes inside Russia. Addressing a German public forum on Sunday, May 26, the German chancellor said that the idea of striking inside Russia requires careful consideration and that it could prove “problematic” for NATO members to give Ukraine long-range weapons capable of such strikes without also providing careful guidance about the intended targets of these weapons.

    While standing beside his French counterpart on Tuesday, Mr. Scholz avoided expressing outright support or opposition to Ukrainian strikes inside Russia.

    Instead, the German chancellor said Ukraine is “allowed to defend itself” in accordance with international law.

    Other NATO Allies Divided

    Talk of permitting Ukrainian forces to strike inside Russia with NATO-supplied weapons has divided other members of the Western security alliance.

    A Reuters reporter asked British Defense Minister David Cameron, during a May 2 interview, whether Ukraine should carry out strikes on targets in Russia, to which the British official replied, “We don’t discuss any caveats that we put on those things but let’s be absolutely clear Russia has launched an attack into Ukraine and Ukraine absolutely has the right to strike back at Russia.”

    “Including inside Russia?” the Reuters journalist again asked, to which Mr. Cameron replied, “Well it’s, that’s a decision for Ukraine, and Ukraine has that right.”

    Over the weekend, Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson also told the Swedish newspaper Hallandsposten that “Ukraine has the right to defend itself through combat actions directed at the opponent’s territory as long as the combat actions comply with the laws of war.” Sweden is the newest member of NATO and was inducted into the alliance in March.

    By contrast, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her government have distanced themselves from Mr. Stoltenberg’s calls for NATO to support Ukrainian strikes inside Russia.

    Speaking to Italy’s Ansa News agency on Monday, Ms. Meloni said the NATO secretary general should exercise “more prudence” with his remarks. Italy’s deputy prime minister and transportation minister, Matteo Salvini, also told Ansa News that Mr. Stoltenberg’s comments raise the prospect of a new world war and that the NATO secretary general should apologize for his recent comments or resign.

    Biden Admin Not Changing Policy

    The question of allowing Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied weapons to strike inside Russia has elicited a mix of views from among current and former members of President Joe Biden’s administration. The Biden administration’s overarching policy has been one of opposition to Ukrainian strikes inside Russia, but some have urged a policy change or suggested caveats.

    During a May 15 visit to Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. government has not “encouraged or enabled strikes outside of Ukraine.” However, Mr. Blinken left some room for Ukraine to decide for itself whether such strikes are prudent.

    “Ultimately Ukraine has to make decisions for itself about how it’s going to conduct this war, a war it’s conducting in defense of its freedom, of its sovereignty, of its territorial integrity,” the secretary of state said. “We will continue to back Ukraine with the equipment that it needs to succeed, that it needs to win.”

    In a May 19 interview with ABC News, former U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said that with the recent Russian offensive around Kharkiv, the time had come for the Biden administration to change its tune and allow strikes on military bases inside Russia.

    “I think if the attacks are coming directly from over the line in Russia, that those bases ought to be fair game, whether they are where missiles are being launched from or where they are where troops are being supplied from,” Ms. Nuland said.

    Asked to address Ms. Nulands remarks in the ABC News interview, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said during a May 20 Pentagon press conference that the Ukrainian military’s focus “ought to be on the close fight.” Moments later, Mr. Austin added that the United States expects Ukrainian forces to use U.S.-supplied weapons “on targets inside of Ukraine” but said “the aerial dynamic’s a little bit different” and that he’d “leave it up to the experts” to decide what to do.

    A bipartisan group of 13 House sent a letter to Mr. Austin on May 20, urging the Biden administration to permit Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied weapons on strategic targets inside Russia’s borders.

    Last week, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) also appeared to throw his support behind allowing Ukrainian forces to use U.S.-supplied weapons inside Russia’s borders, telling a Voice of America reporter, “I think we need to allow Ukraine to prosecute the war the way they see fit” and “I think us trying to micromanage the effort there it’s not a good policy for us.”

    Despite the growing domestic and international pressure, the Biden administration insisted it still won’t permit Ukraine to use U.S.-provided weapons inside Russia.

    “We’re aware of the interest that President Zelenskyy has expressed in this regard. I would tell you that there’s no change to our policy at this point. We don’t encourage or enable the use of U.S.-supplied weapons to strike inside Russia,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters at a White House press briefing on Tuesday.

    Putin Warns NATO Members

    Russian President Vladimir Putin hasn’t remained silent regarding NATO’s discussion of Ukrainian strikes inside Russia.

    Addressing reporters at a press conference while visiting Uzbekistan on Tuesday, Mr. Putin said the Russian side is monitoring the comments and behavior of NATO members “very carefully.”

    The Russian president further asserted that certain long-range missile systems like the Franco-British-designed Storm Shadow cruise missile and the U.S.-designed Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) are reliant on space-based targeting support provided to Ukrainian forces by NATO member nations. He suggested such targeting assistance closely implicates these NATO nations in any strikes on Russian territory.

    “Targets are identified and automatically communicated to the relevant crews that may not even realise what exactly they are putting in. A crew, maybe even a Ukrainian crew, then puts in the corresponding launch mission,” Mr. Putin said. “However, the mission is put together by representatives of NATO countries, not the Ukrainian military.”

    The Russian president went on to say that NATO members therefore “should be fully aware of what is at stake,” adding, “They should keep in mind that theirs are small and densely populated countries, which is a factor to reckon with before they start talking about striking deep into the Russian territory.”

    Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also told Russian broadcaster Izvetsia on Tuesday that Russia would prepare countermeasures if European Union member nations decide as a group to lift restrictions on Ukrainian attacks within Russia’s borders.

    Tyler Durden
    Thu, 05/30/2024 – 02:00

  • American Globalism Versus 'America First'
    American Globalism Versus ‘America First’

    Authored by Francis P. Sempa via RealClearDefense,

    Hal Brands, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, has laid out in an essay in Foreign Affairs the key differences between what he rightly calls “American Globalism” and what has been called the “America First” approach to global affairs. Brands clearly is in the “American Globalist” camp, but unlike other supporters of the “liberal international order,” he does not label “America First” as isolationist. Instead, he lauds the global benefits to the post-1945 world order and worries that they will eventually disappear if Donald Trump regains the presidency. Brands doesn’t want the United States to be a “normal” country that only looks after its own national interests. What he fails to appreciate, however, is that the post-1945 world order he supports is already gone.

    The geopolitics of 1945-1991 disappeared with the collapse of the Soviet Union. The war in Ukraine, despite the claims of many globalists, has not recreated the Soviet threat to Europe. If Ukraine, or parts of Ukraine, remain under Russian control, U.S. national security will not be endangered. Nor will Europe’s. NATO has doubled in size since 1991. Russia in relative power is considerably weaker than the Soviet Union was throughout the Cold War, and its ruling class no longer has a revolutionary ideology that legitimizes its continued rule and motivates international aggression. Of course, Russian imperialism has not disappeared from Russia’s foreign policy DNA, but the Russian empire of the Czars was never considered to be an existential threat to the United States (although the Monroe Doctrine included Russia in its restrictive warning), even when it occupied Alaska and parts of California in the 19th century. And today’s Russia is having difficulty holding on to the eastern provinces of Ukraine, and has once again sent out feelers for a ceasefire to end the war.

    The architects of American foreign policy after the Second World War formed alliances and built-up U.S. military power to protect our national interests which were threatened by Stalin’s Soviet Union. They understood that American security depended on the geopolitical pluralism of Eurasia. Our policymakers at the time had read their Mackinder, Spykman, and Burnham. Brands has read them, too, and has written insightfully about their geopolitical wisdom. The geopolitical pluralism of Eurasia continues to be important to U.S. security, but the primary threat has shifted from Europe to the Indo-Pacific–from Russia to China. Those who Brands labels as “America Firsters,” including Donald Trump, have recognized this. Indeed, it was in the Trump administration that the real “pivot” to Asia began to occur, led by key national security officials like Elbridge Colby, Matthew Pottinger, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien. This shift was described in Josh Rogin’s magnificent book Chaos Under Heaven. 

    American Cold War foreign policy was not based on a selfless commitment to globalism. What Brands calls “American Globalism” was undertaken to protect U.S. national interests. Brands quotes Dean Acheson in 1952 to the effect that the post-World War II situation required the United States to broaden its view of our national interests. And so, it did. But the post-World War II world is gone. The Soviet threat that inspired our commitment to American Globalism is gone. It has been replaced by the Chinese threat which requires a shift in our commitments given the limits of American power.

    The “American Globalism” supported by Brands fails to account for the limits of American power. Policymakers should continue to read Mackinder, Spykman and Burnham, but should also read Kennan and Lippmann who counseled prioritizing threats in the context of limited resources. Yet Brands still wants America to engage in democracy and human rights promotion and protect “intangible norms such as non-aggression.” He worries that a second Trump administration would “deglobalize” our defense, perhaps by withdrawing our nuclear umbrella from Europe and parts of Asia. He fears that Trump would no longer use American power to defend “distant states.” He expresses concern that Trump would not view our current alliances as “sacred.” He suggests that Trump would settle for a Western Hemispheric defense. He sides with the critics of “America First” who claim that a more restrained foreign policy “would be devastating to global stability.”

    The “American Globalism” touted by Brands has not been an unvarnished success. It has made the nations of an entire continent content with resting their security on the United States and imposed an unnecessary burden on American taxpayers to provide for Europe’s common defense. It has led to an inconclusive war on the Korean peninsula that cost the lives of nearly 40,000 U.S. military personnel, a humiliating military defeat in Vietnam that cost the lives of nearly 60,000 U.S. military personnel, and more recent “endless wars” in Iraq and Afghanistan that resulted the deaths of more than 7,000 U.S. military personnel for no appreciable gain. It has led to the establishment of a national security state and what President Eisenhower called the “military-industrial complex” that impinges on the liberties of American citizens and profits from wars.

    The American foreign policy tradition has much deeper roots that the post-Second World War order. It reaches back to George Washington and the wise counsel of his Farewell Address that warned against permanent alliances with, and passionate attachments to, other nations, while allowing for temporary alliances that serve our nation’s interests. Time and circumstances have not rendered the wisdom of Washington’s words obsolete.

    Francis P. Sempa is the author of “Geopolitics: From the Cold War to the 21st Century” and “America’s Global Role.”  Francis is also writes the montly Best Defense column for RealClearDefense.  Read his latest: Ukraine and the Pity of War.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 05/29/2024 – 23:40

  • Seattle Squatters Smug As County Swamped With 'Enormous Backlog' Of Eviction Cases
    Seattle Squatters Smug As County Swamped With ‘Enormous Backlog’ Of Eviction Cases

    Washington’s King County, which includes Seattle, is drowning in a significant backlog of eviction cases, leaving thousands of landlords and tenants in limbo for more than six months in some cases.

    $2MM Bellevue home in which a squatter refuses to leave

    Prior to the pandemic, evictions took 6-7 weeks if a tenant needed the boot. Now, an “unlawful detainer” eviction case in Seattle or surrounding areas won’t be heard until 2025.

    “There’s a pretty enormous backlog,” said Edmund Witter from the King County Bar’s Pro Bono Services, Fox13 reports. “If you’re a landlord trying to evict someone, it could take months to get a hearing date. That’s the big issue.”

    According to King County Councilman Regan Dunn, the last year has been particularly bad – with an estimated 2,200 to 6,500 unresolved cases, and roughly 600 new eviction requests each month.

    “Why we’re seeing a lot of evictions right now is that there was a decent safety net over the last couple of years due to COVID,” said Witter – who added that his office is overloaded and has a list of 1,500 renters who need representation.

    “We see tenants with $2,000 to $3,000 rent increases,” Witter said. “The cost of living is too high, and people cannot afford housing. They’re getting crushed underneath it, and that’s why we’re seeing record numbers of evictions.”

    Meanwhile, judges told Fox13 that the expiration of pandemic-era eviction moratoriums and the depletion of federal aid created a perfect storm.

    According to Councilman Dunn, people are exploiting the situation.

    “There are serial squatters who know the rules and don’t care,” he said. “They’ve found ways to stay in their units longer because of new legal protections.”

    It’s not just people at the margin… In March, a squatter made headlines for refusing to move out of a $2 million house in upscale Bellevue, despite a household income of $408,000 per year as a medical consultant. The landlord claims the renter, Sang Kim, owes him around $80,000 in legal filings as well.

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

    Landlords are fed up and have organized outside the home.

    Via @choeshow

    Dunn has proposed spending $1.3 million to increase the number of court staff in order to speed up the process.

    “We can’t do any of that if there aren’t enough bodies to process these cases,” he said.

    Witter, the squatter attorney, disagrees, saying of Dunn’s plan; “This does not address the actual issue of why people are being evicted in record numbers. He’s just saying we need to speed up making people homeless faster.”

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 05/29/2024 – 23:20

  • Court Finds Error In Jan. 6 Case, But Obama Judge Rules Against Convict
    Court Finds Error In Jan. 6 Case, But Obama Judge Rules Against Convict

    Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    A federal judge wrongly stopped a Jan. 6, 2021, defendant from striking a potential juror who admitted he could not view the defendant as presumptively innocent, a U.S. appeals court has found.

    In an image from video, former New York police officer Thomas Webster swings a flag pole at law enforcement officers in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (Metropolitan Police Department via AP)

    U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta [an Obama appointee] denied a request from lawyers for Thomas Webster, who was later convicted on multiple counts, to strike a potential juror known as 1156 who had expressed support for President Joe Biden and said that support would put Mr. Webster at a disadvantage.

    The potential juror also said he did not see the trial as “a 0-0 game to start” and, when asked by the judge if he could honor the presumption of innocence, said, “I honestly don’t think so.”

    “The district court should have struck at least potential juror 1156 for cause,” U.S. Circuit Judge Patricia Millett, writing for a unanimous panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, said in the May 28 ruling.

    “A district court should never allow a juror to sit after he admits he cannot presume the defendant innocent. Full stop,” Judge Millett added later.

    Lawyers for Mr. Webster said in a brief to the circuit court that while the potential juror did not end up being part of the jury, the man should have been struck by Judge Mehta. They also highlighted how the judge did not strike another prospective juror, who said that she was “more aligned” with government attorneys than Mr. Webster’s lawyers. They also raised concerns about how the judge then instructed counsel not to question subsequent jurors as to whether their views gave the defendant a disadvantage.

    “The court’s further instruction to counsel put a chilling effect on the afternoon session of voir dire,” the lawyers said. “Counsel was limited from using words that jurors may understand better than the legal jargon of presumption of innocence to get at real concerns of bias.”

    The appeal said Judge Mehta also should have granted a motion to change venue given results from a survey of Washington residents, that the judge committed an error when providing instructions to the jury, and that his approval of a sentencing enhancement for wearing body armor should be overturned.

    After explaining how Judge Mehta wrongly did not strike potential juror 1156, the circuit court panel denied the entire appeal.

    “That single error in a lengthy voir dire process does not indict the process itself given the absence of any prejudice tied to the jurors who actually decided Webster’s case,” Judge Millett wrote.

    The panel said that Mr. Webster did not provide enough news articles to show the jury pool was prejudiced against him. even after noting that one quoted a person on social media as calling him an “eye gouger.”

    “Without more, such routine and objective press coverage of a criminal prosecution does not trench upon the defendant’s right to a fair trial,” Judge Millett said.

    A survey of 400 Washington voters found that some respondents were prepared to find people involved in the Jan. 6 breach guilty, without hearing evidence. But nearly half of respondents said they did not know how they would vote if named to a jury, that their vote depended on other factors, or refused to speculate how they would vote in such an instance, the circuit court noted in ruling against the change of venue arguments.

    As for the instructions to the jury, Mr. Webster said the judge erred in telling jurors that one can violate federal law prohibiting assaulting, resisting, opposing, impeding, intimidating, or interfering with federal officers only if the person made physical contact with the victim.

    The judge may have made a mistake, but “any such mistake would have helped, rather than hurt, Webster by making it harder for the jury to convict him,” the panel said. “Webster, after all, does not dispute that the jury was properly instructed on and found each of the necessary elements for his offense. So removing any surplus elements from the jury instructions would only have made it easier for the jury to convict. The jury still found Webster committed every true element of the crime.”

    The sentencing enhancement for wearing body armor was correct, Judge Willett said, because Mr. Webster was wearing body armor when he pushed a Metropolitan Police Department officer on Capitol grounds.

    “Webster used body armor while committing his assault. He put it on that morning, in part, for protection. He wore it throughout the day, including as he attacked [the officer]. Given those facts, the district court correctly applied the enhancement,” she said, citing guidelines that say harsher sentences can be imposed if a person is convicted of a crime of violence and “used the body armor with respect to that offense.”

    The court also said Mr. Webster’s sentence, 10 years, was appropriate given his actions.

    Judges Mehta and Millett were appointed by former President Barack Obama. Judge Millett was joined by Circuit Judges  Gregory Katsas and Neomi Rao, both appointed by former President Donald Trump.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 05/29/2024 – 23:00

  • Israel Warns The War In Gaza To Last Through End Of 2024
    Israel Warns The War In Gaza To Last Through End Of 2024

    Israel is warning that its military operation in Gaza will continue through at least the end of the year, in an assessment which is sure to shock and anger the growing chorus of international critics and countries.

    Israel’s national security adviser and top Netanyahu aide Tzachi Hanegbi stated Wednesday: “We are now in the fifth month of 2024, which means we expect another seven months of fighting to deepen our achievements and achieve our goal of destroying the military and governmental capabilities of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.”

    Getty Images

    The same official stressed that the war cabinet had defined 2024 as “a year of combat” in the wake of the Oct.7 terror attack by Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

    Israeli officials have long signaled that the big Rafah incursion is expected to be the last major offensive of the conflict, but since then Hamas has reappeared in places in northern and central Gaza where it had previously been defeated.

    Hanegbi’s fresh assessment strongly suggests that Rafah will not be the end, despite Prime Minister Netanyahu having previously portrayed Rafah as the “last bastion” of the fight. But the Israeli leader has also vowed that Israeli forces won’t stop until Hamas is fully eradicated.

    This is proving easier said than done – as the combat conditions throughout Gaza are akin to the grinding urban fighting US Marines faced in Fallujah or Mosul – and probably worse.

    When the United States has faced an insurgency, in Iraq or Afghanistan for example, it led to many years of fighting and a seemingly endless unstable occupation.

    There’s also the difficult reality of the tunnels. By some estimates, all combined there is a vast system of literally hundreds of miles of tunnels running under the Gaza Strip. Hamas militants have become experts as utilizing the tunnels to employ rapid hit and run guerilla tactics.

    Given that often ambushes against the Israel Defense Forces are conducted in small teams, typically of 3 or 5 Hamas fighters, the group is often able to inflict damage while mitigating the number and rate of its losses.

    AJ: Officially reported figures from each side…

    There continue to be thousands of Hamas militants in the tunnels, settled in and ready to conduct a long insurgency, and amid a dense civilian population. For this reason, some analysts see Israel in a bit of a lose-lose situation. Hamas can hide out, strike convoys, and bleed Israeli forces slowly.

    Meanwhile the rising civilian death toll will continue to put immense political pressure on the Netanyahu government. The ‘cost’ in blood and treasure will also drive bigger and more consequential protests domestically, which have already been running hot in places like Tel Aviv and in front of the Knesset.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 05/29/2024 – 22:40

  • Bitcoin: A New Hope For Innovators In Corrupt Economies
    Bitcoin: A New Hope For Innovators In Corrupt Economies

    Authored by Win Ko Ko Aung via BitcoinMagazine.com,

    In a world where “talent is everywhere, opportunity is not,” the existing fiat monetary system perpetuates the divide between those with access and resources those without. Even in democratic societies, which have their own flaws, people generally enjoy stable currencies, freedom, and rule of law. These features create an environment rich with opportunities, where a person’s start in life doesn’t have to dictate where they end up.

    Bitcoin advocate and bestselling author Lyn Alden is a prime example of overcoming obstacles and taking advantage of the opportunities afforded by democratic societies. Despite experiencing homelessness for several years, she worked her way up to become a well-known figure in financial circles. Her story is not unique; many refugees fleeing war and persecution have found ways to adapt, innovate, and thrive in new lands, contributing significantly to their adopted communities.

    WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum, for example, grew up without electricity in Ukraine, and after immigrating to America he spent several years cleaning grocery stores before finally achieving success. PayPal co-founder Max Levchin has tweeted about how he found success in America after escaping persecution in Russia. “My family and I, and thousands of Soviet Jews like us, came to the US as refugees in ’91, running from a regime that persecuted us because of who we were,”. Another amazing immigrant success story is that of Mai Lee Chang, who was born in a Thai refugee camp to Vietnamese parents and only knew one English word — “restroom” — when she started school in the U.S. Chang overcame numerous obstacles and is now an engineer contributing to NASA’s journey to Mars.

    However, the situation is vastly different under authoritarian regimes, where a person’s potential is often predetermined by their birth circumstances. Typically, in such places if you’re not born into a family with connections to corrupt officials—in other words, if you’re not a rich kid—your ability to innovate and your entrepreneurial spirit will be systematically suppressed. Under these regimes, the fiat system isn’t based on merit, but rather rigged in favor of such ‘crony kids.’ In other words, the systems are based on nepotism, family connections, and corruption.

    In the past, when there was neither the internet nor smartphones available, the average individual living in such hostile environments simply accepted the harsh reality of being destined to serve dictators and their family members. Today, however, Bitcoin is emerging as more than just a technology; it serves as a gateway to financial empowerment without compromising moral values. It offers a powerful tool for breaking through many of the concrete barriers erected by oppressive governments.

    The experience of Swan Htet Aung (Swan), an AI entrepreneur from Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), demonstrates how Bitcoin can provide a lifeline to individuals facing the harsh reality of starting from scratch without money or family connections. After founding his AI company in 2016, Swan’s startup grew quickly, and by 2020 it was generating annual revenue of over $300,000.

    Highlighting the importance of Bitcoin in preserving financial health, Swan recalled a pivotal moment after the coup in February 2021. Four days after the military takeover, he withdrew his company’s cash and converted it to Bitcoin and USDT. He made this decision just a couple of weeks before banks in Myanmar began limiting withdrawals for individuals and businesses, allowing him to take control of his company’s assets. Unfortunately, his choice to keep the remaining USD assets in the banks caused him to lose a significant portion of the company’s financial assets when the Myanmar’s junta enacted an extreme new monetary policy designed to conserve USD for its war machine. The policy, issued by Myanmar’s Central Bank on April 3rd 2022, resulted in the forceful conversion of Swan’s USD reserves into Myanmar’s rapidly depreciating local currency (the Myanmar Kyat) without his consent at 30% below the market rate.

    The new policy mandated that “Residents within the country must repatriate foreign currency earnings obtained from abroad to Myanmar. These earnings are to be sold and exchanged for Myanmar Kyat within one working day through banks holding Authorized Dealer (AD) licenses by opening a foreign currency account in Myanmar.”

    People living in countries with more fair and just legal systems might find it difficult to comprehend such oppressive financial policies. However, Myanmar actually has a history of centralized financial institutions wielding power to suppress its citizens. A notorious example happened in 1987 when the government suddenly demonetized 25, 35, and 75 Kyat notes, effectively erasing 80% of the currency circulating in the economy overnight.

    More recently, after Myanmar’s violent military coup in 2021, the Burmese military used tactics such as freezing the bank accounts of activists, journalists, and supporters of the anti-coup movement, further demonstrating the junta’s tactic of oppressing people via the fiat financial system. Unfortunately, such abusive policies are often effective in places such as Myanmar, where people are preoccupied with ensuring their physical survival, securing food for their table, and keeping a roof over their heads – leaving them with little energy or no interest to challenge or fight against injustices.

    Before 2010, Myanmar had a lower mobile phone ownership rate than North Korea, and dictator Than Shwe’s regime discouraged internet use by spreading propaganda that the internet was merely a place for adult videos. By 2016, however, the landscape had changed dramatically, as social media, affordable smartphones, and cheap SIM cards had become widely accessible to the majority of the country’s population.

    Initially, Myanmar entrepreneur Swan came to the U.S. at age 32 for the GenAI event hosted by AWS in San Francisco to learn and gain new experiences, intending to return to Myanmar. However, while he was in transit, the Burmese military activated a forced conscription law, drastically changing his life trajectory. This law, combined with the financial instability caused by the Central Bank’s actions, widespread socio-economic injustice, and the country’s hyper-surveillance system, prompted Swan to decide to stay longer in the U.S. He now hopes to obtain an O1-Visa to continue his work and rebuild his dream in an environment where there are more opportunities to innovate and develop. While the U.S. has its own inequalities and domestic issues, many foreigners still view it as the best destination to pursue their dreams, believing that hard work and innovation can lead to success.

    In a conversation for this article, Swan recounted the early days of his startup in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city. Along with two friends, Swan launched an AI software company in 2016, a period of time when Myanmar was undergoing significant reforms and gradually increasing its participation in the global community after over half a century of isolation.

    “Human labor is cheaper in Myanmar than subscribing to software,” Swan said.

    “It makes sense for business owners to hire staff at a salary of $100 a month and assign them multiple tasks, whether they’re inside or outside the scope of the job, unlike a chatbot for customer service.”

    While AI job displacement is rising in the developed world, in developing countries sweatshop conditions and cheap labor costs will always outcompete AI, at least in places where electricity is limited and there’s zero democracy (of course, low wages and sweatshop working conditions also raise a host of ethical problems that must be addressed).

    Swan then shared the early struggles of his startup, “We spent pretty much all of 2016 just developing the product because we didn’t get a single customer. I had a side job and lived with my parents in a rented apartment while the other two co-founders left to pursue other full-time opportunities.”

    Swan, who speaks Burmese and English fluently, mentioned that he faced social constraints while raising funds, primarily because Myanmar is an emerging market. Additionally, there was an underlying social barrier: he had never worked abroad and held a degree from a university in Yangon. Unlike the privileged ‘crony kids’, Swan lacked a privileged background, so his start-up struggled to find investors despite generating annual revenues of $300,000 in 2020 and signing deals with over 1,000 business partners, including multinational corporations like Samsung, Unilever, Carlsberg, NIVEA, and many more.

    If a protocol-based fundraising system like Bitcoin was available for entrepreneurs in the developing world, talented individuals like Swan could scale up their startups regardless of their socio-economic status or whether they have a prestigious degree.

    Bitcoin may be seen as an investment asset class in the developed world or misunderstood as an environmentally damaging technology, but it represents a lifeline, money, and access to the global capital market for talented individuals in developing countries who are trapped in an unfair monetary system which primarily benefits privileged ‘crony kids.’ These talented individuals don’t have the luxury of engaging in the unfinished global debate about Bitcoin. Rather, they are desperately trying to break free from the cycle of economic oppression. Thankfully, under the Bitcoin standard individuals can access opportunities and financial freedom, ultimately contributing to a more equal and prosperous global community.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 05/29/2024 – 22:20

  • BYD's New Ultra Long-Range Hybrid Can Go 1,250 Miles Without Recharging Or Refueling
    BYD’s New Ultra Long-Range Hybrid Can Go 1,250 Miles Without Recharging Or Refueling

    Range anxiety with electric vehicles becomes less of a problem when switching to hybrids – a plan almost all of the auto industry is now embracing after finding out the economics of pure BEVs are a prohibitive nightmare. 

    For example this week Bloomberg reported that BYD had unveiled a new “hybrid powertrain capable of traveling more than 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles) without recharging or refueling”. 

    The technology will be featured in two sedans priced below 100,000 yuan ($13,800) and capable of covering distances comparable to Singapore to Bangkok or New York to Miami on a single charge and tank of gas. This advancement marks a significant stride in fuel efficiency since BYD introduced its first hybrids in 2008.

    The Shenzhen-based automaker, known for aggressive pricing strategies that have impacted its profitability, dominates the Chinese hybrid market, holding a 50% market share, Bloomberg writes.

    In response to consumer range concerns and environmental considerations, automakers globally are innovating, as demonstrated by Toyota’s recent unveiling of a versatile new internal combustion engine.

    BYD, which ceased production of solely fossil-fuel vehicles in early 2022, is expanding its hybrid exports, particularly to markets with limited charging infrastructure. The new upgrades, initially available in China, are expected to be exported soon.

    Recall just days ago we wrote that Volkswagen was stepping back from BEVs into hybrids. And back in April we noted that Ford was “re-timing” its efforts to go all electric and back in February we wrote that GM was shifting to plug-in hybrids, too. 

    CEO Mary Barra said on an earnings call back in February: “Let me be clear, GM remains committed to eliminating tailpipe emissions from our light-duty vehicles by 2035, but, in the interim, deploying plug-in technology in strategic segments will deliver some of the environment or environmental benefits of EVs as the nation continues to build this charging infrastructure.”

    We also noted at the beginning of the year that BYD had surpassed Tesla in fully electric vehicle deliveries for the first time. 

    The company said it produced more than 3 million new energy vehicles for the year and it marks the second year that BYD has beat out Tesla in total production. BYD produced 1.6 million battery only vehicles, just slightly behind Tesla, and 1.4 million hybrids. 

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 05/29/2024 – 22:00

  • Saudi Textbooks Remove Palestine From Most Maps, Amid Push To Normalize With Israel
    Saudi Textbooks Remove Palestine From Most Maps, Amid Push To Normalize With Israel

    Via Middle East Eye

    Saudi textbooks have removed the name “Palestine” from most maps where it previously appeared, a study by an Israeli think-tank said. The study, conducted by the NGO Impact-se, tracks changes in Saudi school textbooks over the past five years, as reflected in the 2023-24 academic year. 

    It reviews 371 textbooks published between 2019 and 2024, and highlights content removed, altered or that which remained unchanged. A social studies textbook for grade 12 defining Zionism as a racist movement was no longer taught from 2023, while another textbook still taught has removed the chapter about the Palestinian cause, the study revealed.

    Via AFP

    According to the study, the social studies textbooks for grades five and nine consistently don’t name Palestine or Israel on maps, which is an omission from the 2022 versions which only named Palestine on the map. 

    “Most maps removed the names of all countries not bordering Saudi Arabia, including Palestine, and in some cases all country names were removed,” the report said.

    Likewise, two maps in a geography textbook for grades 10-12, which previously named Palestine, now do not display the names of any country bordering Saudi Arabia. The same omission took place in social studies textbooks for grades six and seven.

    Islamic studies and geography textbooks for grades 10-12 also removed maps that previously displayed historic Palestine instead of Israel. 

    A reference to Israel as “the Zionist entity” in the 2021 social studies textbook for grades 10-12 was removed in the 2022 edition, and the entire textbook that included a lesson on Arab and Saudi support for the Palestinian cause was discontinued in 2023.

    Less hostile tone

    The report also documented some alterations in textbooks that now refer to Israel in a less hostile tone.

    For example, the 2022 version of a high school social studies textbook replaced references to Israel as “the Zionist enemy” with “the Israeli occupation army”. The same textbook edited “the Israeli enemy” to “the Israeli occupation”, and “the Zionists” to “the Israelis”, or “the Israeli occupation army”.

    Saudi Arabia has not formally recognized Israel since its creation in 1948, but there has been persistent speculation that the kingdom would normalise relations with the state as its Gulf neighbors Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have in recent years.

    Illustrative: CIA Middle East Map

    These rumors, however, were disrupted following the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel and the subsequent Israeli war on Gaza that has killed a reported more than 36,000 Palestinians.

    Saudi Arabia has been a strong opponent and critic of Israel’s onslaught. The Saudi foreign ministry said in February that no normalization would take place without a ceasefire and progress toward Palestinian statehood.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 05/29/2024 – 21:40

  • Japan's Largest Nuclear Reactor Remains Idle, Despite Nation's Energy Crunch
    Japan’s Largest Nuclear Reactor Remains Idle, Despite Nation’s Energy Crunch

    We don’t think it’ll be long before nuclear power once again has a renaissance, as we’ve written about extensively. But for now, the world’s largest nuclear power plant, the Kashiwazaki Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant in Japan, is sitting idle even as the world’s energy needs continue to grow. 

    Bloomberg reported this week that the Kashiwazaki Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant, recognized by Guinness World Records for its potential 8.2 gigawatt output, stands idle despite once being central to Japan’s goal of deriving 50% of its energy from nuclear power by 2030.

    The facility, known as KK, shut down its seven reactors following the 2011 Fukushima disaster, which led to a national reevaluation of nuclear energy. Amidst current economic strategies targeting industries like semiconductor manufacturing and AI, debates are intensifying over whether KK and its operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., should be given another opportunity.

    Globally, nuclear power is witnessing a resurgence, as we have been covering here on Zero Hedge. In the U.S., AI-Jesus Sam Altman just had his small modular reactor company, Oklo, listed on NYSE. Around the world in places like France and Poland, the small modular reactor model could be what ushers nuclear back in, with some countries planning for adoption by 2030.

    The International Atomic Energy Agency projects that nuclear power capacity could increase by 24% by 2030 and by 140% by 2050 from 2022 levels. Countries like China and India are expanding their nuclear programs, while even Saudi Arabia is exploring nuclear options with the U.S., reflecting a broader recommitment to nuclear energy as a vital resource.

    Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the IAEA, said in March: “It’s very important for Japan to be able to count on Kashiwazaki Kariwa again. How many countries have that idle capacity? Many countries wish they just had it.”

    Restarting or building new nuclear reactors in Japan is politically challenging. Nuclear power provides steady, carbon-free electricity, unlike the variable output from wind and solar. However, these facilities take over a decade to construct and produce long-lasting hazardous waste.

    In 2017, two reactors at the KK plant were approved to restart by Japan’s nuclear regulator, but a firm restart date has not been set due to lacking local government approval. The issue may be addressed in the upcoming regional assembly meeting in Niigata prefecture, where KK is located, Bloomberg noted. 

    Again, the restart will likely only occur when the obvious benefits outweigh the memories of past disaster at Fukushima. 

    This occurs as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s administration reviews Japan’s energy policy, a routine evaluation involving various stakeholders, which could reshape the country’s nuclear energy goals amid criticisms of insufficient clean energy initiatives.

    Amidst global energy uncertainties, highlighted by events in Ukraine and the Middle East, Japan’s heavy reliance on imported energy for 70% of its electricity needs is problematic, especially with 21 nuclear reactors currently idle.

    Tepco President Tomoaki Kobayakawa concluded, telling reporters in April: “We need to secure a stable electricity source for our customers — it’s important to have some source that’s not dependent on overseas fuel imports.”

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 05/29/2024 – 21:20

  • Democrats To Virtually Nominate Biden To Ensure Ohio Ballot Access
    Democrats To Virtually Nominate Biden To Ensure Ohio Ballot Access

    Authored by Samantha Flom via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    President Joe Biden will be virtually nominated as the Democrats’ presidential nominee before the party’s national convention in August to secure his spot on Ohio’s general election ballot.

    President Joe Biden (C) speaks after receiving an operational briefing from officials on the continuing response and recovery efforts at the site of a train derailment which spilled hazardous chemicals a year ago in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 16, 2024. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

    The Democratic National Committee (DNC) was notified months ago that President Biden’s name would not appear on the state’s general election ballot unless he was nominated by the state’s deadline of Aug. 7. The Democrats’ national convention, where the party would typically nominate its chosen candidate, is scheduled for Aug. 19 to 22 in Chicago.

    Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine called a special legislative session to address the issue last week, though lawmakers had not agreed to a solution by the DNC’s announcement on May 28.

    “Joe Biden will be on the ballot in Ohio and all 50 states, and Ohio Republicans agree. But when the time has come for action, they have failed to act every time, so Democrats will land this plane on our own,” DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison said in a statement.

    “Through a virtual roll call, we will ensure that Republicans can’t chip away at our democracy through incompetence or partisan tricks and that Ohioans can exercise their right to vote for the presidential candidate of their choice.”

    A date for the virtual nomination was not announced, though it is expected to come within the weeks following the committee’s rules and bylaw committee’s vote on changes to the roll call process on June 4.

    The virtual process is expected to mirror the format the party used in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the traditional in-person convention will still take place, it will be largely ceremonial.

    Ohio revised its certification deadline from 60 to 90 days ahead of the general election in 2010. Since then, lawmakers have twice extended the deadline—in 2012 and 2020—to accommodate both parties’ nominating conventions. This will be the first year just one party has scheduled its convention too late.

    The Ohio Legislature is controlled by the GOP, which holds majorities in both chambers. Although lawmakers appeared to be on the cusp of a legislative fix for the dilemma earlier this month, a final solution was never solidified.

    A bill that would have extended the deadline and placed President Biden on the ballot was passed by the state Senate, but a provision prohibiting foreign spending on state ballot issues halted its progress in the House. For Democrats, the proposed restriction seemed to be an effort to block future ballot campaigns after their success last year in passing three ballot measures, including a constitutional right to abortion.

    Meanwhile, a House bill would add President Biden’s name to the ballot and allow more time for political parties to certify nominees in future presidential elections.

    In a May 21 letter to Ohio Democratic Party Chairwoman Liz Walters, the state’s Secretary of State Frank LaRose warned that the party was running out of time to nominate President Biden before ballots would need to be prepared.

    “Let me be clear that this is not an action I wish to take, as I believe it to be in the best interest of Ohio voters to have a choice between at least the two major party candidates for the nation’s highest political office.”

    The Ohio Senate scheduled one day of legislative activity to address the problem on May 28. Lawmakers in the House will hold two days of committee hearings before voting on the proposed fixes on May 30.

    Jeff Louderback and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 05/29/2024 – 21:00

  • Arizona Biology Teacher Quits Due To Students' "Addiction" To Their Cell Phones
    Arizona Biology Teacher Quits Due To Students’ “Addiction” To Their Cell Phones

    One Arizona high school teach is resigning over his students’ addictions…to their phones.

    The constant use of smartphones in his classroom has driven Sahuaro High School’s Mitchell Rutherford to tell Fox News last week that he is “giving up” being a biology teacher because he can’t control phone usage. 

    “I have been struggling with mental health this year mostly because of what I identified as basically phone addiction with the students,” he commented.

    After being a teacher for 11 years, he has resigned. He said last week that he has implemented a “variety of lesson plans” to try and make it clear to his students the negative effects of constant phone usage.

    “Here’s extra credit, let’s check your screen time, let’s create habits, let’s do a unit on sleep and why sleep is important and how to reduce your phone usage for a bedtime routine, and we talked about it every day and created a basket called ‘phone jail,’” he told Fox News. 

    He likened the phones to other addictions in the area: “Opioids, obviously a huge problem, cocaine, heroin, all of those drugs, alcohol, it’s all a big problem, but like sugar even greater than that and then phones even greater than that.”

    He said that “something shifted” in the kids during the Covid-19 pandemic and that their addictions to their phones got worse. 

    Recent studies indicate that pandemic-related disruptions have significantly harmed the education and productivity of K-12 students across the country. Rutherford expressed concerns to the media, initially blaming himself for the growing educational gaps. He noted that some students openly disregarded school, but he ultimately believes that societal changes are needed to instill better habits in children.

    “As a society, we need to prioritize educating our youth and protecting our youth and allowing their brains and social skills and happiness to develop in a natural way, without their phone,” he concluded. 

    “Part of me feels like I’m abandoning these kids,” he said, adding, “I tell kids to do hard things all the time, and now I’m leaving? But I decided I’m going to try something else that doesn’t completely consume me and drain me.”

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 05/29/2024 – 20:40

  • Why It's Time To Stop Taxing Gold & Silver
    Why It’s Time To Stop Taxing Gold & Silver

    By Jesse Colombo, of BullionStar

    You’d have to be hiding under a rock to be unaware that inflation is one of the most pressing issues of our time. After a shocking 23% increase in the cost of living since 2019, all but the wealthiest of Americans are getting squeezed and seeing their living standards plummet at an alarming rate. Grinding inflation is causing once-affluent people to become merely middle class, former middle-class people to become working class, while working class people are being forced into the ranks of the working poor and even the destitute. According to the most recent Gallup Poll, inflation was America’s number one worry with 55% of people polled saying that they worried about inflation “a great deal,” while the latest Fed survey showed that two-thirds of Americans believe that inflation has made their financial situation worse.

    The sad truth is that inflation is not an inevitable fact of life or an inherent flaw of capitalism; it is a direct byproduct of unbacked paper money and central banking. The United States experienced virtually no inflation for over a century until the Federal Reserve was founded in 1913 and the U.S. dollar was progressively downgraded from a gold-backed currency to a paper currency that could be — and has been — printed to oblivion.

    The Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building in Washington, D.C.

    Though the U.S. is no longer on the gold standard, savers and investors have been able to effectively protect their wealth from the ravages of inflation by creating their own personal “gold standard,” so to speak, by investing in gold and silver bullion. Unfortunately, the U.S. government taxes capital gains on gold and silver bullion at an unfairly high rate, which is particularly infuriating because those so-called “gains” are not actually gains at all as they are simply compensation for the plunging purchasing power of the dollar, which is the U.S. government’s fault in the first place! Thankfully, as I will discuss later in this piece, there is a glimmer of hope in the form of a new bill that intends to eliminate U.S. federal capital gains taxes on physical gold and silver.

    What is Inflation & What Causes It?

    In order to truly understand the virtues of gold and silver, it’s important to understand inflation, what causes it, and how destructive it is to society. Simply stated, inflation is an increase in the money supply that manifests in the form of pricier goods and services as well as a loss of purchasing power of the currency that is being inflated. The money supply is the number of units of currency in existence; the more units in existence, the less each unit is worth.

    Contrary to popular belief, the rising money supply itself is inflation; the rising cost of goods and services is just an inevitable consequence of that inflation. General inflation is always monetary in origin and is not caused by supply shocks such as an energy crisis or a drought that pushes up food prices. As the Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman famously stated, “Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon.”

    The long-term chart of the U.S. adjusted monetary base, which is one of several widely followed money supply measures, shows how the country’s money supply surged by an astounding 55,440% from 1920 to 2020. (Note that the Federal Reserve stopped publishing this data series in late-2019, which is serious reason for suspicion. Are they trying to hide how much they’ve debased the U.S. dollar? You decide.)

    Though the U.S. money supply has grown as a function of time, there have been a series of pivotal events that have accelerated and further enabled that process:

    • The U.S. Federal Reserve was founded in 1913 with the primary responsibility of issuing and managing the U.S. dollar. Unfortunately, it has proven to be a terrible steward of our nation’s currency because it has been all too willing to create new dollars to enable government spending. For example, the dollar lost half of its purchasing power within just six years of the Fed’s founding due to its funding of America’s role in World War I. Massive wartime inflation ensued, devastating the dollar’s purchasing power.
    • President Franklin Delano Roosevelt took the U.S. off the Gold Standard in 1933. The United States was on the Gold Standard from 1834 until 1933, which meant that the dollar was backed by and redeemable in gold. For nearly a century, holders of dollars could trade $20.67 to receive an ounce of gold. The Gold Standard helped to limit the expansion of the money supply. To create inflation and counteract deflation during the Great Depression, FDR banned private American citizens from owning gold and forced them to turn in their gold to the Federal Reserve for $20.67 per ounce in 1933. Foreign governments could still redeem their dollars for gold, however. The dollar-gold exchange rate was then changed to $35 per ounce, which meant that the dollar was devalued by 59% against gold. Sure enough, the money supply and cost of living were soon increasing at a rapid rate once again.
    • Until 1965, U.S. dimes, quarters, and half-dollars were made from an alloy that consisted of 90% silver. In response to the rising price of silver (which itself was a byproduct of inflation), Congress enacted the Coinage Act of 1965, which eliminated silver from dimes and quarters, and reduced the silver content of the half-dollar from 90% to 40%. In 1970, silver was eliminated from the half-dollar. The new coins were made from nickel and copper, which are much cheaper, non-precious metals. Because the melt value of the older silver coins exceeded their face values, the coins were quickly removed from circulation by people who were aware of their greater value — a classic example of Gresham’s Law (i.e. “bad money drives out good money”). The older silver coins are still very popular with precious metals investors today. The Coinage Act of 1965 is often overlooked but represents a significant debasement and downgrade of the U.S. dollar.
    • From 1933 to 1971, foreign governments could still redeem their dollars for gold, which meant that the dollar was still backed by gold in some sense. On August 15th, 1971, President Richard Nixon ended all convertibility of dollars into gold, which turned the U.S. dollar into a pure fiat or paper currency that could be printed with no limitations whatsoever. Almost immediately, the money supply started growing at a breakneck pace, which led to the infamous inflation of the 1970s. The U.S. experienced an 8.21% average annual rate of inflation from 1971 to 1980, producing a cumulative price increase of 46%.

    President Nixon announcing the closing of the gold window on August 15th, 1971

    • To combat the 2008 Financial Crisis and Great Recession, the Federal Reserve used an unconventional and aggressive monetary stimulus tool known as quantitative easing or QE. In simple terms, QE is digital money printing in which the Fed buys assets such as U.S. Treasury bonds and mortgage bonds in order to fund government spending and pump liquidity into the economy and financial markets. From 2008 to 2014, the Fed printed approximately $3.5 trillion via its QE programs, which caused the money supply and cost of living to soar.
    • After its trial run in 2008, quantitative easing became a permanent tool in the Fed’s toolbox. After all, what government wouldn’t want the ability to fund its increasingly reckless spending with money created out of thin air? When the COVID-19 pandemic came along in 2020, the Fed quickly created approximately $5 trillion worth of new currency via QE to keep the economy afloat during the government-imposed lockdowns. That $5 trillion funded a dizzying number of stimulus programs including the purchase of debt securities and other assets, PPP loans, stimulus checks, and generous unemployment benefits. Unfortunately, that sharp expansion of the money supply caused a cumulative price increase of 23% since 2019 and has made so many Americans’ lives miserable in the process.

    The long-term U.S. Consumer Price Index chart going back to 1800 shows how each progressive assault on the dollar’s integrity caused the cost of living to skyrocket while causing the dollar’s purchasing power to plummet. Most people are unaware that U.S. consumer prices were largely stable for nearly a century until the Federal Reserve was founded in 1913, which let the inflation genie out of the bottle in a tremendous way. Since the Fed was founded, U.S. consumer prices have increased more than thirty-fold! It’s hard to imagine a time when there wasn’t steady and consistent inflation, but that was the reality in the 19th century when money — thanks to its backing by gold and silver — was far sounder than it is today despite our advanced technology and accumulated knowledge.

    Since the Fed was founded in 1913, the U.S. dollar has lost nearly 97% of its purchasing power and there is no end in sight, unfortunately:

    Another way of visualizing the dollar’s stunning loss of purchasing power is by comparing it to gold, which has been used as money for six thousand years and is the most stable store of value in existence. Over the past century, the U.S. dollar’s purchasing power has plunged by 99.17% relative to gold:

    Here are some tangible and relatable examples of how the destruction of the dollar affects everyday Americans:

    • An income of over $200,000 per year is needed for a family of four to live comfortably. In some states like California, New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, an income of approximately $300,000 is necessary for a family to live comfortably. Meanwhile, the average annual salary is just $59,428, 74% of Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck, and 67% are unable to cover an unexpected $400 expense.
    • The surge of inflation since the pandemic means that the average American household must spend an additional $11,434 annually just to maintain the same standard of living that they had in January of 2021.
    • It now costs more than $1,000 a month to feed a family.
    • Since President Biden took office in 2021, the cost of groceries is up 21%, gasoline is up 47%, shelter is up 20%, electricity is up nearly 30%.
    • The median U.S. home price just hit an all-time high of $434,000, which is a roughly 30% increase since the pandemic started. As a result, first-time buyers need a household income of nearly $120,000 just to afford a median-priced home.
    • Those who can’t afford to buy a home are typically forced to rent, but with the typical monthly rent now $1,957, even renting has become unaffordable for a record half of all renters.
    • The average cost of health insurance for a family of four is approximately $23,968 per year.
    • It now costs roughly $306,924 to raise a child through age 17.
    • The average American family can expect to spend $1,984 per month on child care, which is more than a mortgage payment or rent almost everywhere in the United States.
    • The average cost of a new vehicle is a near-record $48,510.

    There are many other examples like the ones above, but the message is clear — even a modest lifestyle is becoming almost impossible in America, and it’s entirely the fault of the U.S. government, the Federal Reserve, and a currency that isn’t backed by anything. As the quote commonly attributed to Thomas Jefferson presciently states, “If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”

    Sure enough, the U.S. homeless population surged by 12% in 2023 to the highest level in at least fifteen years and is only going to grow worse as the dollar is debased as a function of time. We are in a very different world from the one in which a father could support a family comfortably on one income while going on annual family vacations and saving money for retirement and their children’s educations, as was common in the mid-to-late twentieth century; that’s the difference between life with sound money and life without sound money.

    Here are some of the best quotes about inflation and its devastating effect on living standards:

    • “The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.” ― Vladimir Lenin, founder & first leader of the Soviet Union
    • “Lenin is said to have declared that the best way to destroy the capitalist system was to debauch the currency. By a continuing process of inflation, governments can confiscate, secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens. By this method they not only confiscate, but they confiscate arbitrarily; and, while the process impoverishes many, it actually enriches some…the process engages all the hidden forces of economic law on the side of destruction and does it in a manner which not one man in a million is able to diagnose.” ― John Maynard Keynes, economist
    • “As I have repeatedly said, inflation is a form of taxation without representation. It is the kind of tax that can be imposed without being legislated by the authorities and without having to employ additional tax collectors.” ― Milton Friedman, Nobel Prize-winning economist
    • “[Inflation] is a way to take people’s wealth from them without having to openly raise taxes. Inflation is the most universal tax of all.” ― Thomas Sowell, economist
    • “In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation. There is no safe store of value.” ― Alan Greenspan, economist & former Fed chairman

    How Gold & Silver Protect Wealth

    As we have seen, the U.S. government and Federal Reserve’s constant assault on the paper dollar makes it a terrible store of value and it will continue to be diluted to oblivion in the years and decades to come. The dollar is merely useful as a medium of exchange at best — a hot potato to be traded for useful goods and services as quickly as it is received. Anyone who is holding a large portion of their wealth in U.S. dollars over long periods of time is giving the government a license to steal their hard-earned wealth.

    Unlike paper currencies, gold and silver bullion have proven to be the best stores of value for millennia. Gold and silver are extremely effective at preserving wealth because they can’t be printed or created out of thin air the way that paper currencies are, which means that their prices rise over time as the paper money supply grows. Holders of gold and silver see the value of their assets rise while the currency is debased, which is what allows them to preserve their wealth.

    It’s important to point out, however, that gold and silver are not actually rising in value in an absolute sense; the paper currencies that gold and silver are denominated in are losing value due to debasement, which is why gold and silver appear to rise in price. In that scenario, gold and silver are simply maintaining their value and purchasing power — the so-called “gains” are illusory. A good example of this is how a quality men’s suit has long been worth the equivalent of one ounce of gold. In the 1930s, both a suit and an ounce of gold cost approximately $35. Now, nearly a century later, both cost around $2,300.

    The chart below shows how gold follows the U.S. M2 money supply higher over the long run:

    Silver also follows the money supply higher over time, though it is more volatile than gold and has longer periods of time when it lags or outpaces money supply growth:

    Why It’s Time to Stop Taxing Capital Gains on Gold & Silver Bullion

    As we have seen, the United States government and Federal Reserve have been absolutely terrible stewards of the dollar and have crushed the middle class with their incessant debasement of our currency. It’s hard to imagine those institutions doing an even worse job than they already have — it’s practically criminal and any reasonable person can be forgiven for thinking that it’s being done knowingly and even intentionally. As the economist Milton Friedman so accurately stated, inflation is a form of taxation without representation, which was one of the main grievances that led our colonial American forefathers to revolt against Great Britain. The American people have virtually no say in how our currency is managed, yet we are forced to use that currency by law. We are completely trapped.

    Though everyday Americans are essentially powerless concerning the management of our national currency, we have a few options for preserving our wealth at the individual level, such as the personal “gold standard” that I mentioned earlier in this piece (i.e., preserving wealth by investing in gold and silver bullion). As we’ve written about previously, there’s a major issue that makes that strategy far less effective than it should be and is holding it back from much wider adoption: U.S. federal capital gains taxes on gold and silver bullion.

    The issue is not just that there are capital gains taxes on gold and silver bullion in the first place, but also that the capital gains tax rate on bullion is much higher than the capital gains tax rate on other investment assets. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service considers gold and silver bullion to be in the “collectibles” category — just like art, baseball cards, and Beanie Babies — and taxes capital gains on those items at a hefty 28% rate. In contrast, the long-term capital gains tax rate on stocks and bonds is just 15% for most people and even 0% for those with lower incomes. Essentially, the U.S. government is picking winners by showing favoritism toward stocks and bonds as opposed to gold and silver bullion.

    It’s extremely unfair for the U.S. government to tax so-called capital gains on gold and silver bullion when those “gains” are not really gains at all but are the result of the debasement of paper money, which is the very fault of the U.S. government! That’s a perfect example of how we are “being ground between the millstones of taxation and inflation,” as Vladimir Lenin put it. People don’t invest in gold and silver bullion to get rich; they’re just looking to preserve their wealth. People who are looking to get rich typically gravitate toward hot, speculative tech stocks, cryptocurrencies, and flipping houses — not staid gold and silver bullion, which is commonly derided as a “Boomer investment” by today’s young, hotshot crypto speculators (though I don’t agree with them, of course).

    Introducing The Monetary Metals Tax Neutrality Act

    A couple of weeks ago, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that there was a new bill called The Monetary Metals Tax Neutrality Act (H.R. 8279) that aims remove all federal income taxation from gold and silver bullion. The bill was introduced by U.S. Representative Alex Mooney (R-WV) and backed by the Sound Money Defense League and other free-market activists. Representatives Scott Perry (R-PA) and Randy Weber (R-TX) also cosponsored the bill. “My view, which is backed up by language in the U.S. Constitution, is that gold and silver coins are money and are legal tender,” Rep. Mooney said. Mooney further stated, “If they’re indeed U.S. money, it seems there should be no taxes on them at all. So, why are we taxing these coins as collectibles?”

    U.S. Representative Alex Mooney (R-WV), U.S. House Office of Photography

    According to the Sound Money Defense League’s press release:

    “Sound money activists have long pointed out it is inappropriate to apply any federal income tax, regardless of the rate, against the only kind of money named in the U.S. Constitution. And the IRS has never defended how its position squares up with current law.

    Furthermore, the U.S. Mint continuously mints coins of gold, silver, platinum, and palladium and gives each of these coins a legal tender value denominated in U.S. dollars. This formal status as U.S. money further underscores the peculiarity of the IRS’s tax treatment.”

    (It is also worth pointing out that many countries around the world don’t impose capital gains taxes on gold and silver bullion including Bahrain, Barbados, Belize, the Cayman Islands, the Isle of Man, Jamaica, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Singapore, and others.)

    The Sound Money Defense League’s press release also stated:

    “The Monetary Metals Tax Neutrality Act aligns with a broader national trend. With most states having already eliminated sales tax on the purchase of precious metals, state legislatures are increasingly introducing and approving measures to eliminate state income taxation of gold and silver.

    Alabama and Nebraska each passed their version of this policy this year. Arizona, Arkansas, and Utah approved similar measures in recent years. And Iowa, Georgia, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Kansas also considered income tax exemptions in 2024, with several approving the bill across multiple committees and chambers.”

    You can read the text of H.R. 8279 here and track its status here.

    Everyone who believes in sound money, justice, and fairness should support The Monetary Metals Tax Neutrality Act. To do so, please contact your local elected officials and let them know that you support this bill and feel free to forward them this article as it explains the flaws of paper money and central banking, as well as how gold and silver bullion have helped people preserve their wealth for thousands of years. Also, you can use Twitter/X to reach out to Rep. Alex Mooney, the Sound Money Defense League, and the Sound Money Defense League’s Policy Director Jp Cortez to ask them how you can help and get involved in supporting this important bill. BullionStar has always been a vocal proponent of sound money and free markets, and will continue to support this bill and the overall movement to the best of our ability.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 05/29/2024 – 20:20

  • Israel Launches Airstrikes Deep Into Syria – Reports Of Civilians Dead & Wounded
    Israel Launches Airstrikes Deep Into Syria – Reports Of Civilians Dead & Wounded

    Israel’s military on Wednesday launched a fresh attack on targets deep inside Syria, which reportedly left civilian casualties, according to state media.

    State sources identified that it was a neighborhood that was struck, while the anti-Assad opposition outlet Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Israeli strikes targeted “at least one military site… in the eastern countryside of Homs, causing plumes of smoke to rise.”

    Illustrative: result of prior Israeli strike against Syria, AFP.

    Syrian government sources said the Israeli strike killed a girl and wounded ten civilians. Gruesome images circulated on social media which purport to show the deceased child’s badly maimed body.

    “The Israeli enemy launched an air attack from the direction of Lebanon, targeting a central site and a residential building in Baniyas city in the coastal region, killing a girl and wounding 10 civilians,” a Syrian defense ministry statement said.

    “Syrian air defense intercepts enemy targets in the skies of the city of Homs,” the official SANA news agency also reported.

    Israeli media sources regularly say that such air raids into Syria, which typically involve Israeli aircraft firing from over Lebanese airspace in order to avoid triggering Syria’s anti-air systems, target Hezbollah and Iranian positions.

    But Syria has at the same time lodged repeat complaints to the United Nations that Israel is committing aggression against a sovereign state, and that very often civilians are killed and property and buildings left destroyed. These complaints tend to fall on deaf ears in the West, which has long waged a regime change war against President Bashar al-Assad. Israel was also part of this covert campaign, which saw the anti-Assad axis arm, train, and fund various al-Qaeda and jihadist groups.

    In the initial days and weeks after Oct.7, Syria had lobbed several rockets toward the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, which left no casualties. Much of the Syrian populace has meanwhile become frustrated and expressed growing anger that the Russian military, which has long had a significant presence inside Syria (especially since 2015), has not done more to try and intercept inbound Israeli jets.

    Tensions are soaring especially in the wake of Israel’s April 1st brazen attack on Iran’s embassy in Damascus, which left a high ranking IRGC General and several other Iranian officers dead.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 05/29/2024 – 20:00

  • North Carolina Criminal Mask Legislation Criticized With COVID-Era Concerns
    North Carolina Criminal Mask Legislation Criticized With COVID-Era Concerns

    Authored by Matt McGregor via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    A North Carolina bill to increase penalties for criminals who wear masks to conceal their identity while committing a crime is being scrutinized and framed as an attempt to target those who continue to follow COVID-era health precautions.

    Men and women dressed in black attend a protest in Los Angeles, Calif., on Oct. 20, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

    Republican state Sen. Buck Newton told The Epoch Times that the bill’s intent, however, is not to prohibit people from wearing masks if that is what they choose, but in response to growing law enforcement and business concerns over crime.

    “More and more people are using masks and other clothing to disguise themselves when engaging in criminal behavior,” Mr. Newton said. “It seems logical to increase penalties for those who do so.”

    According to the language of House Bill 237 titled “Unmasking Mobs and Criminals,” the bill repeals an exemption to the previous mask law that allowed for people to wear masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

    “The law before COVID was pretty clear, and its main reason was to combat the Klu Klux Klan and other organizations who hide behind masks while attempting to intimidate people or do criminal acts,” he said. “So, we didn’t see any reason why we needed to maintain this exception which really wasn’t even necessary when it was passed for COVID.”

    The exemption that was crossed out which has become the subject of controversy allows for “any person wearing a mask for the purpose of ensuring the physical health or safety of the wearer or others.”

    Essentially, the target of the bill are those who are trying to hide their identity, Sen. Newton said, so people who choose to wear a mask for COVID reasons, or because it’s a part of their job, are free to continue to do so.

    Other exceptions include performing arts, Halloween, and Mardi Gras masks during holidays and other special occasions, he said.

    “They’re not hiding their identity just because the wearing of a mask might obscure their identity, so that’s OK,” he said. “And that’s what the law has been since the 1950s. All we’ve done is eliminate the 2020 exception that was created in 2020 and go back to where we’ve been from the 1950s to 2020.”

    ‘Some People Say We Are Fear-Mongering’

    However, the response to the proposed legislation has been one of fear, he said, with many Democrats calling referring to the bill as anti-mask legislation.

    Democrat state Sen. Sydney Batch spoke about the legislation on ABC News’ podcast “Start Here” when she criticized the removal of the COVID exemption.

    She said she agreed with Republicans on needing legislation to make the jobs of law enforcement easier, but at the same time, the immunocompromised must stay protected.

    “Some people say that we’re fear-mongering,” Sen. Batch said. “And what I would tell you is that for someone who’s been immunocompromised in the past and had to wear masks, and my children and my husband wear masks to protect me, you know, I’m not fear-mongering. It’s a genuine concern, right? Somebody can actually die and get very ill if they are not able to protect themselves, if they’re immunocompromised, etc.”

    She went on to say that, if passed, the legislation would disproportionately impact the black community.

    “And so there are a lot of individuals in the community that will still wear a mask,” she said. “A lot of black churches, you’ll see people still wearing masks, but they also disproportionately, if you look at statistics, also get stopped by and questioned by police, disproportionate to, obviously, the population.”

    ‘Whether the Klan or Antifa, We Want them Unmasked’

    The bill is also in response to organizations like the masked Antifa and the most recent pro-Palestinian protesters who have been witnessed wearing masks to protect their identity while damaging property and committing crimes.

    “I don’t think I can recall ever seeing a picture of a person who is supposed to be a part of Antifa who wasn’t masked,” Mr. Newton said. “Whether they are the Klan or Antifa, we want them unmasked. Law enforcement wants them unmasked. And I think the general public would like them unmasked.”

    Additional penalties found in the bill “create civil liability” for protesters who block roads for emergency vehicles.

    Tara Muller, a policy attorney with Disability Rights North Carolina, told ABC News that the proposed legislation is an affront to those who see masks as a way to protect health.

    “This law says to them that you are not welcome in our community and we don’t value your presence to accommodate your need to wear a mask,” she said.

    ‘Lies and Malicious Information’

    According to Republican state Rep. Ken Fontenot in a Carolina Journal opinion piece, the only people who need to worry about the “Unmasking Mobs and Criminals” legislation are the criminals.

    “The title is plain enough, straight to the point, and completely accurate,” Mr. Fontenot said. “The law is reasonable and should be enacted immediately. I write about this because a lot of lies and malicious misinformation has been spread concerning this law. Personally, I’m upset because the slander that has been spread is dangerous and completely unfounded in reality.”

    He said that criminals are the ones who are propagating lies that the legislation is targeting those who want to wear masks for reasons other than committing a crime, such as perceived health maintenance.

    “This law ONLY applies to people wearing masks while committing crimes, no more and no less,” Mr. Fontenot said.

    The reaction to the bill is unfortunate, Mr. Newton said.

    “I find it regrettable that so many people have been frightened into thinking that their mask-wearing for health reasons is somehow going to be criminalized,” he said.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 05/29/2024 – 19:40

  • Sixth US Reaper Drone Falls Into Houthi Hands
    Sixth US Reaper Drone Falls Into Houthi Hands

    Via The Cradle

    A US MQ–9 Reaper drone came down over Yemen on Wednesday, video footage and images circulating social media have confirmed. This marks the sixth US MQ-9 Reaper to fall into the hands of Yemen’s Ansarallah movement and Armed Forces (the Houthis).

    Yemeni forces have yet to confirm whether the drone was downed or if it crashed, as video footage shows the US drone in near-perfect condition. The fourth and fifth MQ-9 Reaper drones were shot down on 17th and 21st of May. The MQ-9 Reaper is worth around $30 million.

    Image posted online by the Houthis Wednesday appearing to show intact MQ-9 Reaper drone.

    Washington and London have, since January, been waging a brutal campaign of airstrikes against Yemen in response to the pro-Palestine naval operations that Ansarallah and the Yemeni army began in November last year.

    The start of the US-led war against Yemen prompted Yemeni forces to begin targeting US and British vessels alongside those linked to or bound for Israel. 

    The western campaign has done nothing to deter the Yemenis. US and EU maritime task forces have failed to progress in preventing attacks on ships in the Red Sea, Arab Sea, Indian Ocean, and elsewhere, which have resulted in a strain on both the Israeli economy and international shipping as a whole. 

    The Yemeni Armed Forces announced in a statement on Wednesday that it targeted six ships in three different seas, using both missiles and drones. Three ships were struck in the Red Sea, another two US ships were hit in the Arabian Sea, while one oil tanker was hit in the Mediterranean. 

    Yemen said at the start of May that its operations would expand into the Mediterranean Sea, following its announcement in March that the Indian Ocean would be included in its scope of attacks. 

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    It has repeatedly vowed that it will continue its operations until the war in Gaza is brought to an end and until the siege is lifted and sufficient amounts of aid are brought in to the Palestinians. 

    “We believe that the famine currently occurring in Gaza is sufficient to provoke the feelings of the entire world, and therefore we are working day and night to develop and expand our operations to lift this injustice and stop these crimes against the people of Gaza,” a Yemeni official told Mondoweiss on May 26. 

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 05/29/2024 – 19:00

  • Furiosa Box Office Flop Signals The Death Of Feminist "Boss Babe" Films
    Furiosa Box Office Flop Signals The Death Of Feminist “Boss Babe” Films

    A decade in the movies is a lifetime in terms of popular culture.  Back in 2015 the future of American film and television still seemed bright with a host of box office winners every year making billions of dollars per production.  However, something sinister was bubbling under the surface in Hollywood.

    Maybe it was two terms of Barack Obama and far-left politics that spurred the change, maybe it was a confluence of random coincidences, maybe it was the threat of a possible Donald Trump presidency or maybe the social engineers simply decided it was time, but from 2015 to 2016 everything changed in Tinsel Town.  The entertainment industry has always been overly progressive in nature (not to mention perpetually degenerate), but this new wave of “woke” collectivism was something entirely different.

    Someone turned the propaganda dial up to eleven.  Since then media companies have been on a relentless campaign of DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion).  Their goal?  To saturate every corner of pop culture with feminism, critical race theory and LGBT indoctrination to the point that it’s impossible to walk into a movie theater or turn on the TV without being psychologically molested (a problem Hollywood is famous for).  

    The agenda went even further that that, though.  The industry not only set out to make every single project woke, they also tried to go back in time and retroactively erase characters they don’t like anymore – Specifically, straight white male heroes.

    In December of 2015 Disney’s feminist Star Wars series was launched with ‘Force Awakens’ and Sony went even more obvious with their all-female Ghostbusters cast in 2016. The rise of the “boss babe” trope was at hand and an army of infallible, all powerful and insufferable Mary Sues was unleashed. The trend started with reboots; movies and shows with no originality that replaced popular male protagonists with less interesting female characters.  Those people that tracked the drama around Ghostbusters might recall that establishment journalists lost their minds when the movie’s feminist messaging was highly criticized.  Fans were constantly attacked as “bigots.” 

    Production companies were simply stealing the stories of beloved classic blockbuster films and putting women in the primary roles.

    While there was more attention surrounding Star Wars and Ghostbusters, there was another movie released in 2015 that some commentators warned about; a movie that launched the feminist subversion trend using what we now call the “bait and switch” strategy.  That movie was ‘Mad Max: Fury Road.’

    To be sure, plenty of people at the time enjoyed Fury Road and still do.  It wasn’t widely known that director George Miller’s wife was reportedly a militant feminist and he had also adopted feminist politics later in life. Miller told Vanity Fair in May 2015:

    “I’ve gone from being very male dominant to being surrounded by magnificent women. I can’t help but be a feminist.” 

    This might explain why Mad Max: Fury Road is strangely devoid of the popular Mad Max character for a large part of the film. Instead, we are treated to a “badass” boss babe in the form of a new female protagonist called Furiosa.  Critics at the time warned that Fury Road was a feminist bait and switch – Using an original popular male character as a vehicle to promote his eventual female feminist replacement.

    Almost ten years later we have now come full circle with the theatrical release of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, proving the critics right.  Audiences mostly ignored Fury Road’s bait and switch in 2015, maybe because people had no inkling of the woke agenda behind it.  In 2024, things have changed dramatically.  Movies are worse in terms of propaganda but at least audiences are now savvy to the game and they aren’t paying to be brainwashed anymore.  

    No one wants to see a Mad Max Movie without Mad Max, and it would appear that the era of the boss babe is dead. 

    Furiosa officially flopped hard at the box office with the worst Memorial Day weekend performance in over 30 years.  The film’s opening draw is being called ‘disastrous’, even by the Hollywood media.  It’s budget is estimated at around $300 million including marketing and promotion, yet it only netted $30 million in the long holiday weekend.  It will require around $500 million in theater receipts just to break even (theaters take 50% of all ticket sales). 

    The prequal flick has received positive reviews and the media is apparently stumped as to why it’s not performing better.  Some analysts blame inflation and the higher cost of living, making recreational spending more difficult for most families.  Some studio executives still blame the pandemic, believe it or not.  The problem is that these theories have been debunked.  Certain movies have performed very well in the past year which means the public is still hungry for entertainment, they just aren’t hungry for Furiosa.

    With the exception of the Barbie Movie (a feminist movie marketed as a romantic comedy that ultimately had no romance in it), every feminist film is now bombing.  There is no money to be made in these endeavors and all that sweet ESG cash has dried up.

    The hailstorm of woke movie failures might have caused Furiosa to suffer collateral damage.  Maybe the box office embarrassment of the film is unfair.  But, it’s not unfair to point out that Hollywood did this to themselves.  Any hint of feminist propaganda and audiences turn their noses up; odds are good the movie will be a waste of their hard earned cash.  For now, media companies still refuse to learn their lesson.  What’s the lesson?  Get Woke, Go Broke.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 05/29/2024 – 18:40

  • Scientific Misconduct Has Eroded Public Trust And Accountability
    Scientific Misconduct Has Eroded Public Trust And Accountability

    Authored by Tony Nikolic via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Scientific misconduct has cast a long shadow over the fields of medicine and public health, significantly impacting public trust and posing serious ethical and legal challenges.

    (Zadorozhnyi Viktor/Shutterstock)

    Cases from the United States, UK, and Australia reveal a troubling pattern, where scientific integrity is compromised, and often influenced by the commercial interests of multinational corporations.

    This article explores these impacts, the erosion of trust in journals and institutions, and the legal consequences faced by entities engaging in or abetting such misconduct.

    Erosion of Public Trust

    Public trust is the cornerstone upon which the medical field rests. However, instances of scientific misconduct, particularly those involving pharmaceutical giants, have led to a growing public skepticism prompting some experts to initiate programs such as Restoring Invisibile and Abandoned Trials (RIAT) Initiative.

    One notorious example is Study 329, a clinical trial funded by GlaxoSmithKline that misleadingly promoted the safety and efficacy of the antidepressant paroxetine in adolescents.

    The misleading publication in 2001 has had long-standing effects on antidepressant use in children, contributing to a mistrust in pharmaceutical research.

    The study exposed allegations of researchers miscoding side effects to the extent that serious adverse events occurred in 11 patients in the paroxetine group, five in the imipramine group, and two in the placebo group.

    Ten of the 11 serious adverse events in the paroxetine group were psychiatric, for example, depression, suicidality, hostility or euphoria, some of the very issues the medications were indicated to treat.

    In 2004, Dr. Elspeth Garland, a professor at the University of British Columbia, called attention to the “weak or non-existent evidence of efficacy” of SSRIs in this setting and the “serious psychiatric adverse effects” of paroxetine.

    A British Medical Journal editorial documents that there has been no correction, no retraction, no apology and mostly no comment from the authors, journal editor, or from the universities where authors worked in 2001.

    The RIAT analyses of Study 329 and the lack of any correction of the original flawed paper have major implications for clinical practice decisions being made on the basis of published clinical trials.

    Leading experts on clinical trials now believe that we must question the validity of the data and conclusions of all published clinical trials that have not been subject to independent analysis.

    Independent analysis of Study 329 demonstrated serious harms and a lack of efficacy for acute and longer-term use of paroxetine and imipramine for adolescents with major depression.

    • This example of the RIAT initiative reveals that the current methods of trial conduct, analysis and publication are unacceptable and required further oversight.
    • Published conclusions about efficacy and safety of drugs without independent analysis cannot be accepted as trustworthy.
    • It is essential that primary trial data and protocols for all clinical trials be made available for independent analysis.

    Decline in Journal Credibility

    The integrity of scientific publishing has been seriously questioned in light of misconduct. The retraction of high-profile papers has not only marred the reputation of journals but also shaken the faith of the public in medical research outputs.

    For instance, the retractions of COVID-19 research papers by reputable journals due to questionable data integrity have only added to the public’s confusion and distrust during a global health crisis.

    Independent evaluations of clinical trials for medications and vaccines, like the COVID-19 vaccine, are essential as a utilitarian tool to safeguard the community from potentially harmful practices by multinational companies.

    These evaluations ensure that all side effects are accurately reported and assessed, mitigating risks associated with underreporting.

    For example, during the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines, independent reviews were crucial in identifying rare but serious side effects, such as blood clots associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine. This led to tailored usage recommendations to maximise safety.

    However, during the COVID period, drug regulators, government officials and pharmaceutical companies were suspected of hiding data, underemphasising side effect reports, reports of harm and deaths until public inquiries, court challenges, and independent media came knocking.

    Although dismissed as conspiracy theories, the issue of scientific misconduct, suppression/censorship of independent data and expert testimony remains an area of significant concern.

    Similarly, the re-examination of the anti-inflammatory drug Vioxx highlighted the importance of independent scrutiny after initial trials underreported serious cardiovascular risks, leading to its eventual market withdrawal.

    These cases underscore the value of independent evaluations in maintaining transparency, fostering public trust, and ensuring that the collective health benefits of medical products outweigh potential risks.

    Legal Repercussions and Corporate Influence

    Legal actions against pharmaceutical companies have revealed a pattern of behaviour intended to prioritize profits over public safety. Notably:

    1. Merck’s Vioxx Controversy: Merck faced numerous lawsuits for concealing the risks of its painkiller, Vioxx, which was linked to increased risk of heart attacks and strokes. The company settled for $4.85 billion in 2007, one of the largest pharmaceutical court settlements.
    2. Pfizer Inc.: In 2009, Pfizer Inc. was fined $2.3 billion for violations under the False Claims Act, marking it as the largest healthcare fraud settlement at that time. This legal action addressed Pfizer’s illegal promotion of several pharmaceutical products, including the anti-inflammatory drug Bextra. The settlement included a criminal fine of $1.195 billion and civil liabilities amounting to approximately $1 billion. This case highlighted significant issues regarding the underreporting of side effects and the unethical promotion of medical products beyond their approved usage, demonstrating the critical need for independent evaluations to safeguard public health.
    3. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Study 329: In 2012, GSK agreed to pay $3 billion in fines, in part for fraudulently promoting paroxetine. This case highlighted the issue of publishing biased research to support pharmaceutical sales, leading to one of the largest healthcare fraud settlements in U.S. history.
    4. AstraZeneca and COVID-19 Vaccine: The AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine faced scrutiny and legal challenges due to initially undisclosed rare blood clot risks. Though not leading to significant legal penalties, this issue has fuelled debates on transparency and safety in emergency vaccine approvals.

    Global Legal Frameworks

    Various countries have developed frameworks to address and mitigate scientific misconduct:

    • United States: The Office of Research Integrity (ORI) oversees the integrity of biomedical and behavioural research supported by the Public Health Service. Penalties for misconduct can include debarment from funding and criminal charges.
    • United Kingdom: The UK Research Integrity Office offers guidance and support for good research practice but lacks enforcement power. Legal actions tend to be taken directly against entities like pharmaceutical companies rather than individual researchers.
    • Australia: The Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research outlines standards for honesty, rigour, and transparency. Breaches can result in withdrawal of funding and reporting to professional bodies.

    Despite these facades existing globally, the exaggerated COVID crisis has raised many questions about the perceptions the community have about such bodies and their capacity to discharge their duties independently.

    With regard to the COVID crisis, we saw many pharmaceutical executives, public figures, media personalities, so-called public health experts, politicians, and corporations making statements about the safety and efficacy of COVID vaccines that did not appear in some of the contracts for the vaccines globally.

    This, in addition to the journals purporting to find results without the clinical trial ending, demonstrated a perceived bias that perforated the halls of institutions that would otherwise protect citizens from such overreach.

    Instead, these institutions turned into corporate cheerleaders supporting the utilitarian benefits of an untested mRNA genetic experiment that were showing significant safety signals in relation to genotoxicity, carcinogenicity and fertility problems early on.

    The Way Forward: Safeguarding Scientific Integrity

    To protect science from undue corporate influence, stronger regulatory and legislative measures are necessary. These include:

    • Enhanced Disclosure Requirements: Researchers and journals must disclose all conflicts of interest and funding sources to prevent biased research outcomes.
    • Independent Oversight: Bodies like the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States are pivotal in the independent review and approval of drugs, ensuring that corporate interests do not compromise public safety.
    • Public and Transparent Research Registers: Initiatives like the AllTrials campaign advocate for the registration of all clinical trials and the full publication of their results to prevent data suppression and selective reporting.

    The challenge of scientific misconduct in public health is a multifaceted problem that extends beyond individual instances of fraud to include systemic issues related to the influence of multinational corporations, major institutions, and persons acting in their capacity as public officials.

    Restoring public trust requires a concerted effort to enforce rigorous legal and ethical standards in scientific research and publishing.

    Only through transparency, accountability, and enhanced regulatory oversight with strong judicial responses can we hope to protect the integrity of science and ensure that it serves the public good, rather than specific corporate interests.

    References

    • Legal case of GlaxoSmithKline: United States v. GlaxoSmithKline LLC, Case No. 11-10398-RWZ (D. Mass. July 2, 2012).
    • Settlement announcement for Merck’s Vioxx: In re Merck & Co., Inc. Securities, Derivative & “ERISA” Litigation, 2:05-md-01657 (D.N.J. 2007).
    • Letter 101 Study 329: Why is it so important?

    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
    Wed, 05/29/2024 – 18:20

  • Chaos In Mexico: Angry Mob Attempts To Set Fire To Israeli Embassy
    Chaos In Mexico: Angry Mob Attempts To Set Fire To Israeli Embassy

    AFP journalists report that riots broke out overnight between police and a group of 200 angry protesters outside the Israeli embassy in Mexico. The demonstrators, participating in a protest called “Urgent Action for Rafah,” were denouncing the Israeli military operation in the southern Gazan city of Rafah. The unrest followed an Israeli strike on a displacement camp near Rafah that killed 45 people earlier in the week. 

    Some protesters covered their faces and threw stones at riot police who blocked their path to the diplomatic complex in the city’s Lomas de Chapultepec neighborhood.

    Around 200 people joined the “Urgent Action for Rafah” demonstration, about 30 of whom started to break down barriers preventing them from reaching the Israeli mission.

    Police officers deployed tear gas and threw back the stones hurled at them by protesters.-AFP 

    According to The Jewish Chronicle, “Rioters on Tuesday set fire to the Israeli Embassy,” adding, “The riot came after Mexico filed a declaration of intervention in South Africa’s “genocide” case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.” 

    There has been no official confirmation of fire damage to the embassy.

    Here’s what happened last night:

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    There were reports that rioters tried to storm the embassy. 

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    There are no reports on who funded “Urgent Action for Rafah.”

    However, in the US, non-profits linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which is designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the US, have been fueling protests at colleges and universities. These organizations have also facilitated protests to disrupt critical infrastructure such as airport terminals, bridges, and highways.

    If the momentum continues into summer, then the risks of a ‘BLM 2.0-style’ movement could plunge the US into social turmoil ahead of the elections.  

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 05/29/2024 – 18:00

  • Goldman Says Buy China Stock Dip After Rally Stalls
    Goldman Says Buy China Stock Dip After Rally Stalls

    By Ye Xie, Bloomberg markets live reporter and strategist

    China’s stock rally has lost a bit of momentum. But Goldman Sachs, one of the most vocal bulls, says the pullback creates buying opportunities.

    The CSI 300 benchmark has retreated about 3% since reaching a seven-month high on May 20, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index has declined about 4%.

    It seems the Chinese market is running out of good news. While Beijing announced its most forceful attempt yet to rescue the nation’s beleaguered property market, the funding support has so far been deemed insufficient. The earnings season didn’t provide anything to suggest a robust profit recovery is underway. And the US government’s new tariffs on Chinese imports didn’t help sentiment either.

    For Goldman Sachs strategists, the retreat isn’t particularly surprising after double-digit gains since February’s lows. They pointed out that the MSCI China Index almost inevitably declines at least 5% in about 20 trading days after reaching a technical bull market, which is defined as a 20% rally from the bottom.

    It occurred in 22 out of 23 such episodes over the past two decades. But in about half of those cases, the market resumed the rally, gaining an additional 31% on average over the following three months, according to strategist Kinger Lau and his colleagues.

    What’s more, the strategists said investors’ positioning in China’s equity market remains near historical lows, leaving room for them to add holdings.

    In addition, while the government’s latest move to support the housing market isn’t forceful, it nonetheless signaled that that the prolonged property sector weakness has likely breached policymakers’ pain threshold, the strategists wrote. They summarized their market view as such:

    The pullback hasn’t changed our core views/thesis on China equity, if anything, it provides a better entry point for investors to capitalize China’s rising portfolio value (i.e. diversification benefits), downside policy put underwritten by the government, and upside optionality on capital market reforms.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 05/29/2024 – 17:40

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May 29

Today’s News 29th May 2024

  • Is Russia Preparing To Strategically Partner With The Taliban?
    Is Russia Preparing To Strategically Partner With The Taliban?

    Authored by Andrew Korybko via Substack,

    The Taliban remain international outcasts due to their refusal to implement a truly ethno-politically inclusive government per their prior promises as well as their treatment of women.

    Although no tangible progress has been made on either of those two very sensitive issues, economic and security interests pushed regional stakeholders to enter into de facto relations with this group for pragmatic reasons.

    Out of all those that have done so, Russia is far ahead of them all as proven by these latest developments:

    * 16 May 2024: “Afghan Taliban no longer Russia’s enemy — Russian diplomat”

    * 17 May 2024: “Afghanistan to expand range of goods exported to Russia — deputy PM Overchuk”

    * 24 May 2024: “Taliban can stabilize Afghanistan if left to its own devices — FSB director”

    * 27 May 2024: “Russia invites Taliban to St. Petersburg International Economic Forum — Foreign Ministry”

    * 27 May 2024: “Russian ministries propose to Putin to remove Taliban from terrorist list — envoy”

    As can be seen, Russia’s previous threat perception of the Taliban has disappeared, and it now considers the group to be a regional security provider with respect to containing ISIS-K. Moreover, Afghanistan’s location enables it to facilitate Russian trade with Pakistan, both commercial and energy. These interests have combined to inspire Russia to more openly embrace this group, which comes ahead of next month’s investment forum and October’s BRICS Summit. Here are some detailed background briefings:

    * 27 September 2021: “Comparing The Contours of Russia’s Ummah Pivot in Syria & Afghanistan”

    * 19 August 2022: “The Taliban Envisions Russia Playing A Big Role In The Group’s Geo-Economic Balancing Act”

    * 6 March 2023: “The Top Five Takeaways From The Russian Ambassador To Afghanistan’s Latest Interview”

    * 16 June 2023: “Russia’s Afghan Point Man Hinted At The Possibility Of Military-Technical Ties With The Taliban”

    * 19 May 2024: “Analyzing The Strategic Importance Of Russia’s Reportedly Planned Afghan Oil Hub”

    Basically, Russia sees Afghanistan as an indispensable part of its larger geostrategic reorientation to Muslim-majority countries, while the Taliban believes that Russia can help their country preemptively avert potentially disproportionate dependence on China and especially Pakistan. They also have shared economic interests with respect to facilitating trade between Russia-Central Asia and South Asia via Afghanistan from which that transit country can profit accordingly to help rebuild its economy.

    Something big is obviously in the works between them judging by the timing of Russia’s deliberations on removing the Taliban from its terrorist list just before next week’s St. Petersburg International Investment Forum. In all likelihood, not only does Russia expect to make progress on its reportedly planned Afghan oil hub, but there might even be an update about President Putin’s envisaged delivery of Russian pipeline gas to Pakistan through Afghanistan that he mentioned only once in September 2022.

    This doesn’t mean that a deal will be clinched on either since that involves Pakistan finally agreeing to conclude their long-running talks on a strategic energy one, which it’s thus far been reluctant to do under American pressure since April 2022’s post-modern coup. Nevertheless, even a Memorandum of Understanding between Russia and Taliban-led but by-then presumably terrorist-delisted Afghanistan on this and/or a parallel railway would be significant since it could help move Russian-Pakistani talks along.

    Therein lies the larger goal being advanced through the latest developments in Russian-Afghan relations, namely the comprehensive expansion of Russian-Pakistani relations, which is considered the last piece of Russia’s Ummah Pivot and Greater Eurasian Partnership concepts to be completed. That South Asian state of nearly one-quarter billion people is seen as a promising market for Russian commercial and energy exports as well as an overland gateway to India with whom Russia has decades-long strategic ties.

    From the Kremlin’s perspective, the successful cultivation of Russian-Pakistani relations could enable Moscow to exert positive influence over Islamabad for politically resolving the Kashmir Conflict, most likely by simply formalizing the Line of Contact as the international border. That could then maximally unlock Eurasia’s geo-economic potential by creating a cross-continental corridor, but all of this is only in the best-case scenario, which is far from assured.

    For instance, Pakistan might still refuse to budge with regards to reaching a strategic energy deal with Russia due to the previously mentioned American pressure, or it might agree to this but still remain at serious odds with India. Another factor is India’s reaction to the comprehensive expansion of Russian-Pakistani relations, especially if this results in Russia inviting Pakistan to participate in October’s “Outreach”/“BRICS-Plus” Summit, the potential political risks of which were detailed here.

    In any case, it’s clear that the driving force for removing the Taliban’s terrorist designation and inviting it to next month’s investment forum is the desire to make tangible progress on reaching a strategic energy deal with Pakistan, which would complete its Ummah Pivot and Greater Eurasian Partnership. Hopefully these interconnected processes will proceed smoothly and not unfold in ways that inadvertently risk offending India. It’s a difficult task, but Russia’s diplomats are more than qualified to handle it.

    Tyler Durden
    Wed, 05/29/2024 – 02:00

  • Polling Reveals What Americans Regard As The Greatest Foreign Security Threats
    Polling Reveals What Americans Regard As The Greatest Foreign Security Threats

    By the Gatestone Institute

    A national poll, commissioned by Gatestone Foundation Trustee Lawrence Kadish of Old Westbury, Long Island, reveals that China has emerged as the nation considered the biggest national security threat to the United States. An overwhelming majority of Americans questioned believed that China will seek to dominate the remaining 21st Century at the expense of the United States.

    Vladimir Putin’s Russia ranks second as America’s biggest threat to our national security, with a little more than half of Americans questioned concerned that Putin is capable of launching a nuclear strike on the United States. The result underscores the poll’s finding that a significant majority of Americans are concerned that we have entered a second chapter of the Cold War between the two countries that has considerable consequences for our nation’s future.

    Nor do many Americans believe that Putin will stop with his invasion of Ukraine. Nearly three quarters of those surveyed believe Putin will target Western Europe next, and many are fearful he could unleash nuclear weapons to achieve victory.

    Turning to the Middle East, more than half of Americans surveyed believe Iran would launch nuclear missiles against Israel if given the opportunity and that the United States should take unspecified measures to prevent it.

    Responding to the question of whether North Korea could fire nuclear-tipped missiles against the United States, again, the majority of those Americans questioned said yes.

    The survey also reveals a startling loss of patriotism among those questioned, and a significant amount of anger by Americans who acknowledged their fears regarding the range of adversaries who now feel free to confront our nation.

    The survey was conducted by the national polling company McLaughlin & Associates, and the data had a margin of error of 3.1%. Its CEO, John McLaughlin, observed:

    “To the best of our knowledge, these questions have not been posed before to a statistically valid sample size of Americans and they reveal a nation that recognizes the external threats but is anxious about our current ability or willingness to respond to them.

    It is clearly a time of uncertainty, anxiety and not a little bit of anger.“

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 05/28/2024 – 23:40

  • Americans Are By Far The World's Biggest Tourism Spenders
    Americans Are By Far The World’s Biggest Tourism Spenders

    China is yet to fully recover from its pandemic-induced travel slump, with projections forecasting outbound tourism to be back on track by the end of 2025. According to the latest available data from the UN World Tourism Organization, the Asian nation lost its position as the world’s leading tourism spender in 2022, after having held the position since 2013.

    Although China still saw an increase of some $5 billion in outbound tourism spending between 2021 and 2022, it was not enough to match the surge in spending from the United States in that time period, which more than doubled from $75 billion to $162 billion.

    This spate of increased travel includes the phenomenon of “revenge tourism”, a term coined on social media following the lifting of Covid restrictions as people started to go on trips that they previously were unable to take.

    Even with the growth, however, both China and the United States were still some way off their pre-pandemic figures in 2022. China’s peak had hit $277.3 billion in 2018, while the U.S. reached a height of $184.8 billion in 2019.

    As Statista’s Anna Fleck shows in the chart below, Germany, one of the most populous and richest nations in Europe, continued to rank in the top three big spenders, while the United Kingdom has climbed into fourth position.

    Infographic: The World’s Biggest Tourism Spenders | Statista

    You will find more infographics at Statista

    India, meanwhile, has retained seventh position and also saw a huge increase in tourist spending from $17.8 billion to $31.8 billion. Data for the United Arab Emirates was not published for 2022.

    According to the latest update of the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, international tourism reached 97 percent of pre-pandemic levels in the first quarter of 2024.

    This was partly thanks to the opening of Asian markets, including visa facilitation, with China having introduced visa-free travel for citizens from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia for a year staring November 2023.

    North America saw the strongest performance of the subregions in Q1 of 2024, per the report, with a 23 percent increase of international arrivals in comparison to the same period from before the pandemic, followed by Central America with an increase of 15 percent, the Caribbean and Western Europe, each with 7 percent, respectively.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 05/28/2024 – 23:20

  • Signs Of America's Declining Power & The Emerging Multipolar World
    Signs Of America’s Declining Power & The Emerging Multipolar World

    Authored by Christopher Roach via American Greatness,

    If we want our country to be safe and powerful, we should start on the firm foundations of respect for peace, human life, and other nations’ sovereignty.

    During Bush’s years as president, Democrats frequently criticized his foreign policy, complaining that he acted like a cowboy, pursuing wars unilaterally without the imprimatur of the “international community.” Internationalism was a particular obsession of 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, who lambasted the Bush administration for snubbing the United Nations and upsetting France with its Iraq policy.

    Obama was mostly a darling of foreign leaders, as he ceded American power and prestige in a bid to right what he considered the historic wrongs of colonialism and western chauvinism. This was evident in his obsession with completing the Iran deal, participating in the Kyoto accords, assisting NATO attacks on Libya and Syria, and in the general tone of public diplomacy during the Arab Spring.

    That said, America made quite a few interventions in the Obama years, especially in the second term, and we largely called the shots.

    A Fake “International Community”

    For all the talk of the international community, it was mostly a fig leaf for American unilateralism no matter which party was in charge. This practice extended from the Clinton presidency through Obama’s. When the United Nations would not approve something, we went to NATO. And when NATO wouldn’t get involved, we acted unilaterally, as in the early attacks on Syria or the targeted killing policy employed against al Qaeda

    This is another way of saying that the United States acted as the sole superpower since the end of the Cold War, and this prevailed regardless of the party in power. There were some arguments on the margins, but every administration embraced this prerogative to impose the American vision of a “rules-based international order.” Even Trump, who ran on an America First platform, supported American unilateralism in Syria and expanded the provision of lethal aid to Ukraine.

    In practice, the UN, NATO, and other institutions were there either to supply resources and allow the appearance of multilateralism or they were safely ignored. The United States had little fear of the International Criminal Court or the myriad other international institutions because it funded most of them, and they were effectively powerless in the face of American opposition.

    The recent weakening of the United States relative to the rest of the world means that reality will begin to match the rhetoric of international institutions and begin constraining every nation, including us.

    Evidence of Declining Power and Influence

    Three recent examples exemplify the rapid change of our standing in the world.

    First, after two decades of effort cultivating good will and cooperation in the war against terror and building a $100 million airbase, the United States is being kicked out of Niger. This follows Niger’s earlier expulsion of American ally France.

    Simultaneously, Russia is rapidly and efficiently becoming a major player in Africa. Niger, one may remember, was where the “yellowcake” scandal took place during the George W. Bush administration and also the site of the massacre of an American special forces unit in 2017.

    Like so much of our foreign policy, little of our official activity in Niger was known to the public and much was apparently unknown even to key decisionmakers in the government. But whether good policy or bad, it is rare for countries to kick the U.S. to the curb. The last time something like this happened that comes to mind is from 1992, when we were sent packing from Subic Bay in the Philippines.

    Niger’s unceremonial expulsion of American forces suggests little interest in maintaining close ties to the United States and reduced fear of consequences. Even if the United States is overextended and overly involved in much of the world, it would still be nice to have the option to be involved (or not) on our own terms.

    The second example is the International Criminal Court’s recent issuance of arrest warrants for Israel’s hawkish prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to answer for war crimes. Even at the height of public criticism of the Iraq War or the 2008 Gaza Campaign, no one would have dared to insult the United States and its proxies in this manner.

    It is true that Israel has gone to war without much of a strategy, and its tactics have resulted in tens of thousands of civilian deaths. And, after moving most of the citizens of Gaza to the southern end of the small territory, it is now moving them into the opposite direction in order to attack the Rafah refugee camp, in spite of warnings from the ICC.

    Of course, every war has disagreements about the right amount of force, and belligerents usually have a more generous standard for themselves than neutral third parties. Even so, these indictments are happening now after the United States engaged in substantial levels of destruction in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, and elsewhere over the preceding 20 years.

    What this really means is that the United States cannot control the ostensibly neutral institutions of internationalism. When it was the sole superpower, these institutions were just accoutrements to American power, unable to stop us and, in some ways, blessing American activity through their own silence.

    International tribunals would go after people like Slobodan Milsoovic and other gadflies of American power, while they would not dare go after an American leader or one of our allies. These practices understandably fueled allegations of hypocrisy. But, in the latest remarkable turn of events, the ICC feels sufficiently empowered to go after the prime minister of America’s “greatest ally.”

    The final example of our country’s loosening grip on power comes from the nation of Georgia. Since its “Rose Revolution” in 2003 and the ill-fated 2008 attack on its separatist province of Ossetia, which led to Russian retaliation, Georgia has clamored for closer ties to NATO and the United States. After Georgia’s defeat, the United States accepted the Russian victory as a fait accompli. While remaining an American ally, Georgia’s prospects of NATO membership were essentially eliminated.

    But the United States did respond with military aid, training cadres, and a proliferation of NGOs. The latter are supposedly exemplars of Georgian civil society, but they are largely funded by the United States and often serve to further our foreign policy goals. Fearful of the increasingly negative outcome of the Ukraine War, Georgia’s newly elected leadership is seeking a rapprochement with Russia, and one of their priorities (and Russia’s) is a law requiring NGOs with extensive foreign funding to disclose their affiliations. It sounds very similar to the Logan Act here at home.

    The United States responded to this proposed law with extreme measures. In addition to public protests, it has instituted a travel ban on the elected leaders of the populist Georgian Dream Party, which proposed the NGO legislation. Additional sanctions are being proposed in Congress to coerce Georgia into rejecting the registration bill, which is expected to pass on Wednesday.

    The preferred mechanisms of American foreign policy in much of the world have consisted of deniable influence operations, support for preferred political parties, and, through means known and unknown, the fomentation of violent political “color revolutions” to install friendly “democratic” regimes, such as those that took place in Ukraine, Georgia, and elsewhere.

    Our hectoring of Georgia is really unseemly. Actual democracy means, at its core, majority rule. Georgia elected a government that reflected the will of its people. And its people are turning away from their recent foreign and domestic policies. They apparently do not want an army of foreign-funded NGOs to spread propaganda and influence their politics without some disclosure of their foreign funding sources.

    This seems reasonable enough to me, but no country has gone this far in the former Soviet space except Russia itself in 2012. Notably, since the passage of this law, Russia has proven immune from the kinds of intrigue that took down Ukraine’s Yanukovich regime in 2014.

    If We Adapt, Our Country Can Flourish in a Multipolar World

    These three disparate developments—the forced expulsion of the American military from Niger, the ICC indictment of Netanyahu, and Georgia’s flouting of U.S. pressure—are all harbingers of a true multipolar world. While this means the sole superpower era for the United States is over, it’s not so clear this era did much to serve the interests of the American people or peace and justice more generally.

    Did the Georgian defeat at Russia’s hands help the United States? How about the decapitation of the Libyan Regime leading to an explosion of terrorism, the death of an ambassador, and infinity African immigration into Europe?

    A multipolar world is one where sovereignty and independence are paramount. This is a substantial departure from the current regime of a single superpower meddling in other nations’ internal affairs at will or the Cold War’s implicit mandate that nations be in the orbit of one side or the other.

    In other words, power must now be shared. Realism and justice must be the watchwords. On the realism side of the ledger, American strategy must navigate a multipolar world by setting priorities, abandoning vanity projects, reducing the scope of its ambitions, and tailoring the force structure to achieve objectives commensurate with our existing military and industrial capability, along with the likelihood of sustained public support.

    Justice, too, should always be at the heart of our policy. We should not be merely strong but also committed to using our strength morally and responsibly. This is not only principled; it is also practical because it avoids conflict. If we want our country to be safe and powerful, we should start on the firm foundations of respect for peace, human life, and other nations’ sovereignty. To do this, we will have to abandon our self-serving policy of applying unprincipled exceptions to the rules we apply to others.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 05/28/2024 – 23:00

  • This Natural And Safe Solution Can Effectively Kill Viruses And Germs
    This Natural And Safe Solution Can Effectively Kill Viruses And Germs

    Authored by Yuhong Dong, M.D., Ph.D. via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    A low-cost, easily made natural solution can produce an antiviral and antibacterial effect that kills a wide range of microorganisms in minutes.

    This potent weapon is hypochlorous acid.

    (triocean/Shutterstock)

    Application Is Based on pH

    While hypochlorous acid (HOCl) is naturally produced by our white blood cells and is a key part of our innate immune system, it can also be made from electrolyzed saline water, a process invented over a century ago in Russia.

    Electrolyzed water (EW), also called electrolyzed saline or electrolyzed oxidizing water, can be categorized into different types based on its pH value, each with unique applications.

    Among the various types of EW, neutral electrolyzed salt water (NEW) and slightly acid-electrolyzed water (SAEW) are particularly interesting due to their neutral or near-neutral pH levels. These types of EW are relatively safe to use on our skin, nasal and oral mucosa, and wound tissues. They are widely used across the food, agriculture, and medical industries for disinfecting and cleaning purposes. This includes treating drinking water, wastewater, food, utensils, and hard surfaces.

    Hypochlorous acid is the key active ingredient of NEW and SAEW, and pH plays a critical role. A pH greater than 7 will produce more hypochlorite (OCl⁻) in the solution, whereas a strongly acidic pH, will produce toxic chlorine (Cl₂). The concentration of hypochlorous acid is most dominant when the pH is close to neutral or slightly acidic.

    Ming-Yih Chang, a senior lecturer in the Department of Biomechatronics at Yilan University in Taiwan, told The Epoch Times in an email, “Many factors impact the precise amount of HOCl. For example, according to a critical review in 2008, the relative distribution of the main aqueous chlorine species is produced per the graph below where the temperature and the chloride concentration are provided.”

    The pH impacts HOCl concentration in electrolyzed water when produced at 25 degrees Celsius, and chloride concentration of 0.005 M.(Illustrated by The Epoch Times)

    Different From Bleach

    Hypochlorite (OCl⁻), a key ingredient of liquid bleach, is similar to hypochlorous acid—both can kill viruses and germs. However, they are different chemicals with different properties and applications.

    OCl⁻ is an ion commonly associated with sodium and calcium salts. When the pH is greater than 8, it’s often labeled as liquid bleach. As a strong oxidizer, it can cause corrosion, resulting in skin burns or eye damage, and can be harmful when inhaled.

    HOCl is a weak, nonirritating acid that is much safer than hypochlorite. When prepared correctly, it can be used safely and widely for many clinical applications in multiple industries. As a disinfectant, HOCl is 80 to 200 times more effective than bleach, yet is nontoxic to humans.

    Effective Against COVID-19

    HOCl gained attention during the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency now recommends HOCl as a safe and effective disinfectant against COVID-19.

    A randomized controlled trial, still in preprint and not yet peer-reviewed, was conducted in Mexico City among 170 frontline medical staff to investigate the effectiveness of a type of neutral electrolyzed water in reducing COVID-19 risk. All trial subjects wore adequate professional protection equipment, as required by standard COVID-19 safety protocols. Participants were divided equally into a control group and a prophylactic group.

    The prophylactic group participants followed a protocol using a NEW solution in the form of a nasal spray and mouth rinse three times a day for four weeks. This group had a significantly decreased incidence of COVID-19 infections with only 1.2 percent infected compared to 18.8 percent in the control group.

    Of particular note is that no individual using NEW reported any side effects, as the solution is nonirritating.

    Skin irritation is a particular problem resulting from alcohol-based hand sanitizers used daily in medical offices. These can cause hand dermatitis and damage the skin barrier, compromising the first line of defense. The World Health Organization recognizes that a major challenge to hand hygiene in health care is the need for safer care.

    Curious scientists have conducted tests on HOCl to determine its potential benefits for COVID-19 patients.

    A clinical trial was conducted with 214 ambulatory COVID-19 patients from multiple hospitals. The study involved 104 patients who were given only usual medical care. The remaining 110 patients were given both usual medical care and NEW via nebulization and/or intravenous administration.

    The NEW was provided four times a day for 10 days with successive dose increases using a diluted version of electrolyzed saline with a neutral pH (6.0 to 7.5).

    In addition, when COVID‑19 symptoms of nausea, vomiting, and/or diarrhea occurred, 30 milliliters of oral electrolyzed saline was added four times a day for as long as the gastrointestinal symptoms lasted, and for two more days after the symptoms disappeared.

    Overall, the NEW treatment decreased the risk of hospitalization by 89 percent and the risk of death by 96 percent. 

    Patient symptoms improved rapidly after 24 hours, including fatigue, headache, sore throat, eye pain, myalgia, fever, and oxygen saturation. Inflammatory markers were also reduced.

    On the fifth day, the group who received the NEW treatment had an 18-fold greater chance of achieving an acceptable symptom state than the group who received only usual medical care.

    Electrolyzed saline reduced hospitalization and improved symptoms of COVID-19 (Illustrated by The Epoch Times)

    The dose-dependent response to the NEW treatment suggests a causal relationship.

    The pH of the NEW solution used in the study ranged from 6.0 to 7.5, and the concentration of active chlorine and oxygen species used in these experiments was no more than 20 parts per million (ppm).

    Antiviral Function

    HOCl has demonstrated the ability to quickly inactivate several viruses, including the SARS-CoV-2, hepatitis B (HBV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and norovirus.

    The effective chloride concentration in the HBV and HIV studies was 4.2 ppm, and SARS-CoV-2 ranged from 66 to 109 ppm.

    HOCl is naturally produced by our immune cells to fight infections. Our neutrophils and white blood cells release a mixture of chemicals, including HOCl, to kill germs and viruses.

    Neutrally-charged HOCl easily penetrates the cell walls of pathogens to kill them from the inside out. However, bleach is negatively charged, making it rather difficult to penetrate viruses or germs. This is one major advantage of HOCl compared to bleach.

    Huiwen Ji, who holds a doctorate in chemistry from Princeton University and is an assistant professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Utah, explained the disinfecting mechanism of HOCl.

    “When saline water is electrolyzed, external electric energy is transferred to the chloride ion in the solution. As a result, the chloride anions are oxidized to HOCl with chlorine now in a relatively unstable +1 oxidation state.”

    “Thus, HOCl is an oxidizing agent that tends to grab electrons from other molecules. This process can break the chemical bonds in the target molecules,” she said.

    When the structure of these biomolecules is destroyed, their proteins can no longer function. Without adequately functioning proteins, viruses and germs cannot survive throughout their life cycles.

    HOCl can also break the DNA or RNA of viruses and germs, rendering them harmless and unable to replicate.

    How HOCl Kills Viruses and Germs (Illustrated by The Epoch Times)

    When exposed to viruses like SARS-CoV-2, the timing of using an HOCl nasal spray is critical to mitigating the risk of infection.

    In December 2022, scientists from Stanford University identified the nasal cavity as the main entry point for the COVID-19 virus and specified the time window for prevention.

    The surface of our nasal mucosa is covered by a tightly-linked thin layer of epithelial cells that forms a complete barrier. On top of the cells is a thick and elastic three-dimensional chain-link fence composed of mucin, a sticky molecule that can trap all the debris of viruses and germs. Additionally, hundreds of spaghetti-like appendages, known as cilia, move slowly like a river to clear away all the harmful substances from the mucus layer.

    Researchers found that the virus takes at least 24 hours to penetrate the surface mucus layer before it can enter deeply into the cells. Accordingly, using an HOCl nasal spray as quickly as possible within this 24-hour window could effectively disinfect the nasal passages and potentially prevent the virus from establishing an infection.

    Broad Use

    HOCl has been extensively used in multiple fields, including the health care industry.

    A study in the Journal of Microbiology found that HOCl significantly reduced bacteria on toothbrushes. The concentration of HOCl was estimated to be 1 ppm to 30 ppm.

    HOCl is often used to treat blepharitis (eyelid inflammation) by reducing the bacterial load on the surface of the periocular skin. Twenty minutes after applying a saline hygiene solution containing HOCl at 100 ppm, a greater than 99 percent reduction in the staphylococcal load was achieved.

    HOCl is an effective agent for use in wound care. In a comparative study in patients with open wounds, hypochlorous acid used in a commercial solution significantly lowered the bacterial count by 10,000 to 1 million times without a rebound effect in the comparative saline group. Postoperative closure failure occurred in more than 80 percent of patients in the saline group versus 25 percent of those in the HOCl group. One of the main reasons for the failure of postoperative closure is infection.

    Microorganisms can grow on the surfaces of biomaterials, such as dentures or dialysis equipment. These surface-bound microorganisms, known as biofilms, have unique characteristics with respect to gene expression and growth rate.

    HOCl is effective for cleaning biofilm-contaminated dental implant surfaces. Compared to two other disinfecting substances—sodium hypochlorite and chlorhexidine—HOCl at 180 ppm reduced the lipopolysaccharide, a harmful substance produced by Porphyromonas gingivalis, a pathogenic bacterium associated with periodontal disease. The use of HOCl in the mouth did not result in any adverse effects.

    Fogging with HOCl can disinfect large spaces such as medical and dental offices.

    Recent research on mice found that applying a topical application of HOCl on the skin can prevent the development of tumors and inflammation that are caused by UV rays. This discovery suggests that HOCl may have the potential to prevent skin cancer in humans caused by sun exposure.

    HOCl has also been used to disinfect drinking water and recreational fresh water.

    Spraying with HOCl at 100 to 200 ppm decreased the avian influenza virus (bird flu) to an undetectable level within five seconds, suggesting that HOCl can be used in a spray to inactivate the virus at the farm level. An emerging issue in the United States is the highly pathogenic bird flu threat. HOCl spray offers a viable solution to help control the spread of this disease.

    Make It Yourself

    Everyone can make HOCl at home. You’ll need a 1-liter hypochlorous acid solution generator, which you can easily find online for around $100.

    Depending on the type of device used, the concentration of HOCl generated will typically be between 50 to 200 ppm, a commonly used concentration for daily use applications.

    Ms. Ji said, “Prepare a 0.9% NaCl solution and dilute it between a few and dozens of times, then put it into an electrolyzer. White vinegar containing acetic acid (CH3COOH) may be added to adjust the pH value to facilitate the formation of HOCl.”

    According to Ms. Ji, “You must adhere to the guidelines provided by the instrument manufacturer because each machine operates with its unique formula and parameter. Typically, the process is straightforward and involves pressing a button and waiting a few minutes for the reaction to produce a desired amount of HOCl.”

    For example, one particular protocol says to add 1 gram of non-iodized salt, 1 liter of water, and one teaspoon of white vinegar to the 1-liter hypochlorous acid generator, press the button and wait 8 minutes. The 1 liter of HOCl will be ready for immediate use.

    Vinegar is essential to adjusting the pH to the proper value to produce the right amount of HOCl.

    Parts per million (ppm) indicates the concentration of a substance in a solution. This is calculated by dividing the substance’s mass or volume by the solution’s total mass or volume and then multiplying the result by 1 million.

    Using ppm is a more convenient unit of measure for describing the concentration of tiny substances in a solution. You can convert one ppm to a percentage by dividing it by 10,000. For instance, 100 ppm of HOCl is equivalent to 0.01 percent of HOCl. If you need help with the calculation, you can use this useful tool.

    When choosing a device to produce electrolyzed water, Mr. Chang says, “There are many more influencing factors, such as the quality of the electrode. Better ones include platinum, iridium, and rhodium. The electricity’s duration and current size can also impact the outcome.”

    At a concentration of 200 ppm, HOCl was shown to effectively decontaminate inert surfaces carrying the norovirus and other enteric viruses in one minute. At 20 ppm, it was still effective in disinfecting viruses within 10 minutes.

    One study has shown that 200 ppm of available chlorine can inactivate 25 different viruses in just 10 minutes. Low concentrations, like 25 ppm, can quickly kill mycoplasma and vegetative bacteria.

    Safety and Limitations

    Following the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s acute four-hour inhalation toxicity protocol, rats inhaled a mist containing 52 ppm of HOCl for four hours. Researchers observed no adverse effects in behavior or appearance.

    HOCl is generally considered safe due to the low chloride concentration in the HOCl solution. The commonly used concentrations for health care or life care are between 50 and 200 ppm for skin disinfection, 50 to 100 ppm for mouthwash, and 50 to 200 ppm for surface cleaning, with higher concentrations for wound care and food contact surfaces.

    Remember, these concentrations are approximate guidelines and can vary depending on the specific application and manufacturer’s recommendations. Always follow instructions carefully, and when in doubt, consult with a health care professional or relevant authority for specific advice.

    The long-term potential toxicity of a low chloride concentration is still uncertain, and further studies assessing chronic exposure to HOCl are needed.

    Regarding the safety of HOCl, Ms. Ji advised, “When used within the suggested concentration range, HOCl proves to be relatively safe for household applications. Once reacted with bacteria and viruses, HOCl reverts to a highly stable chloride form, akin to other electrolyte salts in the human body. But remember that using HOCl at concentrations higher than recommended by the manufacturer can be very corrosive and mixing it with other household detergents may lead to hazardous side reactions.”

    “When used at home, please always follow the precise instructions and do not exceed the recommended usage,” she added.

    According to Mr. Chang, “One side effect is that [HOCl] may corrode metals, such as those in cow and pig houses, after application of the HOCl solution sprays at 200pm for a long time. But 200 pm does not harm the skin. Furthermore, a low concentration of several dozen ppm is enough for general household use.”

    HOCl is less stable when exposed to UV radiation, sunlight, air, or higher temperatures (greater than 25 degrees Celsius or 77 degrees Fahrenheit). Therefore, HOCl solutions should be tightly sealed and stored in a cool, dark place.

    It’s important to avoid mixing HOCl with other detergents or solutions. When the pH value changes, HOCl may change to Cl₂ or OCl⁻, which is either toxic or can cause irritation.

    Direct exposure to chloride (in the form of Cl₂ or OCl⁻) at low concentrations of one to 10 ppm, can cause skin and eye irritation, and inhaling it can irritate the respiratory tract.

    The shelf life of HOCl is relatively short; it is effective for up to two weeks when stored properly.

    Low Cost, Yet Highly Effective

    How can a simple solution generated by salty water have such powerful and wide-ranging antiviral and antibacterial effects?

    HOCl is highly effective, yet inexpensive and easily obtained from nature, much like sunlight, air, and water, which all profoundly impact our lives.

    Because it is both environmentally friendly and relatively safe, HOCl is an excellent choice for many applications. Additionally, its affordability makes it accessible for large-scale applications.

    The medical industry has implemented many decontamination methods, which are often expensive, ineffective, and can leave chemical residues, posing a risk to human health.

    There are many natural remedies on Earth to cure or prevent diseases that people may not be fully aware of.

    Ivermectin, derived from a microorganism in soil, has remarkable antiparasitic, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory properties and has helped many patients effectively treat COVID-19.

    Another example is interferon, which our bodies produce to stop viral replication. The pharmaceutical industry has developed interferon to treat hepatitis B and C and COVID-19.

    Nature is a bountiful source of healing for humans, generously providing numerous benefits at no cost. It is an endless source of undiscovered benefits, waiting to be explored by those willing to embrace its wonders. With its abundant resources, nature offers us infinite possibilities to improve our health and well-being.

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

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 05/28/2024 – 22:40

  • Blackrock Surpasses Grayscale As World's Largest Bitcoin ETF
    Blackrock Surpasses Grayscale As World’s Largest Bitcoin ETF

    A month and a half after we first observed that the world’s largest bitcoin fund, Grayscale’s GBTC, had lost more than half of its assets since the approval of spot bitcoin ETFs in January in what was the year’s first, and far less memorable “halving” event…

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

    … and just over a week after Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenschein unexpectedly resigned amid persistent, relentless outflows (courtesy of GBTC’s 1.5% in fees), the flipping has officially taken place.

    With today’s ETF flows now in the books, the inevitable has finally happened, and after GBTC saw $105.2 million, or about 1530 bitcoin, withdrawn in its biggest one-day outflow in more than two weeks, while BlackRock’s IBIT added $101.9 million, the latter has now surpassed the former, and Blackrock’s IBIT has dethroned GBTC as the world’s largest ETF with $19.795 billion in bitcoin, equivalent to roughly 288,670 bitcoin, vs $19.758 billion for GBTC.

    And so having taken over the crown as the world’s largest bitcoin ETF, Larry Fink can focus on the one asset he is truly after in his pursuit of financial tokenization – ether – which just got spot ETF approval late last week, and which Blackrock will very soon dominate as the 2nd largest cryptocurrency sets off in its trek to hit $14,000 some time in 2025 with Larry Fink’s blessing.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 05/28/2024 – 22:18

  • Healthcare Company Semler Soars After Adopting Bitcoin As Primary Treasury Asset
    Healthcare Company Semler Soars After Adopting Bitcoin As Primary Treasury Asset

    Healthcare company Semler Scientific (SMLR), known for pursuing remedies to chronic diseases, announced a major shift in its treasury strategy. The company’s board of directors adopted Bitcoin as its primary treasury reserve asset, alongside a substantial purchase of 581 Bitcoins for an aggregate amount of $40 million.

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

    “Our bitcoin treasury strategy and purchase of bitcoin underscore our belief that bitcoin is a reliable store of value and a compelling investment,” stated Semler Scientific Chairman Eric Semler. “Bitcoin is now a major asset class with more than $1 trillion of market value. We believe it has unique characteristics as a scarce and finite asset that can serve as a reasonable inflation hedge and safe haven amid global instability. We also believe its digital, architectural resilience makes it preferable to gold, which has a market value of approximately 10 times that of bitcoin. Given the gap in value between gold and bitcoin, we believe that bitcoin has the potential to generate outsize returns as it gains increasing acceptance as digital gold.”

    As Bitcoin Magazine notes, despite this strategic financial move, the tiny Semler Scientific, whose market cap is just $200 million, said it remains committed to its core mission in healthcare of delivering innovative technologies as solutions to transform the healthcare management of chronic diseases and offer providers the opportunity to reduce costs and improve long-term patient outcomes. The company will also continue to focus on its flagship product, QuantaFlo, a point-of-care test for peripheral arterial disease, while seeking expanded FDA clearance for other cardiovascular conditions.

    “Furthermore, we are energized by the growing global acceptance and ‘institutionalization’ of bitcoin — reflected most recently by the Securities and Exchange Commission’s January 2024 approval of 11 bitcoin exchange-traded funds,” Mr. Semler continued. “These funds have reported more than $13 billion of net inflows, with investments from nearly 1,000 institutions, including global banks, pensions, endowments and registered investment advisors. It is estimated that more than 10% of all bitcoins are now held by institutions.”

    Semler Scientific’s board and senior management shared that they have carefully considered various uses of excess cash and concluded that holding Bitcoin is the best strategy.

    The market greeted the news of the company’s shift from dollars to bitcoin with excitement, and sent SMLR surging 24% higher, which the cynics would argue was the whole point of the exercise. Well, the gamble worked…

    … and while not many have followed in the footsteps of bitcoin OG Microstrategy, which was one of the original companies to transition from a dollar to bitcoin reserve, the euphoric reception of Semler’s news virtually guarantees that in the coming months we will see dozens more small and micro caps ditch the dollar and embrace crypto, if only in hopes of a quick boost to the stock price. Still demand is demand, and this all bodes quite favorably for bitcoin demand for the foreseeable future.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 05/28/2024 – 22:00

  • Trump’s Bronx Rally Drives Stake In 'Identity Politics'
    Trump’s Bronx Rally Drives Stake In ‘Identity Politics’

    Authored by Roger L. Simon via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Wouldn’t it be fascinating, actually tremendously heartening, if the man who was supposedly our most divisive politician was the man who ultimately brought our broken country together—former President Donald J. Trump?

    People gather for an election rally for former President Donald Trump in Crotona Park in the South Bronx in New Yor City on May 23, 2024. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

    America is often, justifiably, criticized for having been built to some degree by slavery. It was not alone in that, and it still exists in some places, but America fought its most painful war to abolish the practice. Years later, it enacted the Civil Rights Act, enshrining equality in our laws. Racism was diminishing.

    Yet some people have what I called in one of my books a “nostalgia for racism.” They can’t live without it for reasons that range from comfort with old assumptions to the most cynical personal gain.

    Consequently, for as long as I have been alive, which is the entire post-World War II era, it has been assumed that minorities voted Democratic, whether to their advantage or not.

    So I was gladdened to see, watching on television, the throng of racially mixed Americans gathered in one of my childhood haunts from Yankee Stadium to the Zoo to Van Cortlandt Park—the borough of The Bronx.

    No less than one of the most reactionary forces in our culture—identity politics—was under attack in the massive show of support from that mixed-race crowd given former President Trump at his surprisingly large rally in Crotona Park in the southern part of the borough.

    I used the term reactionary above quite deliberately because it was and probably still is the most supreme insult one could give anyone leaning left. It signified they were behind the times, retrograde.

    And much of the left has been that since they reversed the color-blind, character-based idealism of Dr. Martin Luther King in favor of the reactionary (that word again) dictums of critical race theory and so-called anti-racism that are themselves racist to the core. The latter two assert the primacy of race over character, something that is senseless to anyone who honestly observes actual human behavior in even slightly moral terms.

    Those dicta have worked to preserve or even extend racism, rather than destroy it, for reasons of power and profit. In order for society to progress, for the American Idea or, if you prefer, the American Dream, to be preserved or obtained, identity politics must be eliminated.

    I don’t mean people should lose their identities, small “i.” Mexican-Americans should still celebrate Cinco de Mayo, Irish-Americans St. Patrick’s Day, and so forth, but that should not be their complete Identities (capital I deliberate).

    They are citizens of a country whose founding documents proclaim we are all “created equal” no matter race, religion, ethnicity, and all the rest. Often this was and still is hard to fulfill, but that makes it all the more worthy as a goal.

    During President Trump’s Bronx speech, he did the opposite of what has become conventional and offered to join New York Democratic Party officials, the state governor and city mayor, in an effort to Make New York Great Again (MNYGA).

    This was, in part, good politics, reaching across the aisle in a radically divided country, something the former president has been loath to do, but it seems he is doing now. He should keep it up.

    Yes, his Bronx rally had obvious electoral motives, trying to flip New York or at least make enough in-roads to force his opposition to devote more time and money to a state they normally win without effort. But as I am trying to indicate, more than electoral politics is involved. It is the soul of our nation.

    Soul of the nation sounds a bit like pompous rhetoric, I admit, but I submit we should concentrate on that as this election goes forward. I know of very few of our fellow citizens who have not suffered on the most personal levels from the degree to which our society is riven. Families and friendships have broken apart across the country.

    President Trump was less given to the politics of insult, humorous and/or deserved though it may be, in his Bronx speech than he normally is, concentrating instead more on bringing us together. The country needs healing more than it has in well over a century. In fact, it needs it desperately.

    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
    Tue, 05/28/2024 – 21:40

  • Mossad Chief Stalked, Threatened ICC Prosecutor Over War Crimes Probe: Report
    Mossad Chief Stalked, Threatened ICC Prosecutor Over War Crimes Probe: Report

    A new bombshell investigation undertaken jointly by the Guardian and +972 mag has revealed that the head of Mossad conducted surveillance on the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) related to her opening a formal investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes.

    Then ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda had opened the formal inquiry in 2021 to examine years of allegations of human rights abuse and war crimes against Palestinians committed by Israel’s military. The joint investigation found that then Mossad director Yossi Cohen used tactics to monitor her that amounted to “stalking”. 

    Yossi Cohen and Benjamin Netanyahu, Flash90

    Bensouda at one point was reportedly directly threatened, with one eyewitness account saying that Cohen told Bensouda, “You should help us and let us take care of you. You don’t want to be getting into things that could compromise your security or that of your family.”

    It appeared to be a spy op ordered from the highest levels, in order to protect the Israeli government’s international reputation and standing, as well as to oversee damage control. According to The Guardian report:

    Another Israeli source briefed on the operation against Bensouda said the Mossad’s objective was to compromise the prosecutor or enlist her as someone who would cooperate with Israel’s demands.

    A third source familiar with the operation said Cohen was acting as Netanyahu’s “unofficial messenger”.

    But the threats and tactics didn’t work, given that Bensouda’s successor, Karim Khan, pushed through an ICC arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister and his defense chief which came this month based on the investigation Bensouda set in motion.

    According to a particularly damning section in The Guardian report:

    One individual briefed on Cohen’s activities said he had used “despicable tactics” against Bensouda as part of an ultimately unsuccessful effort to intimidate and influence her. They likened his behavior to “stalking”.

    The Mossad also took a keen interest in Bensouda’s family members and obtained transcripts of secret recordings of her husband, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the situation. Israeli officials then attempted to use the material to discredit the prosecutor.

    In December 2011, Fatou Bensouda was elected by consensus by the Assembly of States Parties to serve as the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.

    This was part of what many are calling a decade-long covert “war” waged from the shadows by Israeli intelligence agencies against the Hague-based ICC.

    Going back years, this created some degree of paranoia within the ICC prosecution division. There were fears that Israeli intelligence employed assets there or were able to secretly influence decision-making. The Guardian details further: 

    According to two sources, there were even suspicions among senior ICC officials that Israel had cultivated sources within the court’s prosecution division, known as the office of the prosecutor. Another later recalled that although the Mossad “didn’t leave its signature”, it was an assumption the agency was behind some of the activity officials had been made aware of.

    Only a small group of senior figures at the ICC, however, were informed that the director of the Mossad had personally approached the chief prosecutor.

    Early this month, current ICC chief prosecutor Khan issued a strong statement condemning “all attempts to impede, intimidate or improperly influence its officials.”

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    In light of the new Guardian and +972 mag reports, this latest warning is being widely viewed as in part referencing the past history of Mossad’s stalking tactics. Pressure on a political level had also intensified against the Hague court in the weeks leading up to and after its announcing the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.

    Journalist and ex-Green Beret Jack Murphy commented on the revelations by saying of the lead-up to Oct.7: “Well, now we know what Israeli intelligence was busy doing instead of monitoring Hamas.”

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 05/28/2024 – 21:20

  • US 'Looking Closely' At Vaccinating Workers Exposed To Bird Flu: Official
    US ‘Looking Closely’ At Vaccinating Workers Exposed To Bird Flu: Official

    Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Officials in the United States, Canada, and Europe are considering the vaccination of workers and others against the highly pathogenic avian influenza.

    A dairy farmer herding cows in Carrying Place, Ontario, Canada, on March 24, 2020. (Alex Filipe/Reuters)

    The U.S. government is “looking closely” at the possibility of vaccinating farm workers and others in close contact with the virus, according to Dawn O’Connell, the assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the U.S. Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response.

    Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan, said she has been in discussions with U.S. and Canadian officials about using vaccines to protect workers after the influenza, or bird flu, jumped from birds to cattle.

    The first cases of H5N1, a strain of the flu, in cattle were detected earlier this year, although some scientists say available evidence points to the cases cropping up in late 2023.

    Discussions about using vaccines to try to prevent a pandemic are ongoing at the government level and among scientists in several places, including the UK, said Wendy Barclay, chair in influenza virology at University College London, who also researches avian flu for the UK Health Security Agency.

    The UK government did not comment but said it is monitoring the situation in the United States.

    In the European Union, the European Commission’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority is working on a joint procurement of CSL Seqirus’s vaccine to “potentially prevent a pandemic” sparked by individuals exposed to infected birds and animals, spokesman Stefan De Keersmaecker said.

    A spokeswoman for CSL, which has contracts for pandemic influenza vaccines with 30 governments, said the company has been in talks with several governments about procuring vaccines since 2022.

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a CSL influenza A vaccine in 2020, based largely on immunogenicity and safety results from a small clinical trial of 319 people.

    Dr. Peter McCullough, an epidemiologist based in Texas, said on the social media platform X that without larger trials, it’s not possible to know whether the vaccine is safe or effective in humans.

    The formulation for the CSL shot has been updated to more closely match the bird flu, which is an influenza A virus.

    U.S. officials said recently that they’re planning to produce 4.8 million doses of the updated CSL vaccine. European health officials also said they were in talks to acquire CSL’s shot.

    Canadian health officials said they have met with GSK, maker of Canada’s seasonal flu shots, to discuss acquiring and manufacturing a prepandemic bird flu vaccine.

    The United States is in talks with Pfizer and Moderna, which make messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccines, about potential pandemic vaccines.

    University of Pennsylvania researchers said in a May 23 paper that their experimental mRNA bird flu vaccine performed well in preclinical testing in ferrets.

    Since the bird flu cases in cattle were first detected, cases have been confirmed in 63 herds across nine states, including Colorado, Michigan, and South Dakota, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

    Human cases

    Two cases in humans—one in Michigan and one in Texas—have also been confirmed. Both have since recovered. Analysis of virus samples from the patients showed high similarities to the virus spreading in cows.

    Richard Webby, a St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital virologist who studies flu in animals and birds for the World Health Organization, said the situation in dairy cattle merits vaccine use.

    “If we look at the exposure levels that some of these farmers are getting, it’s high,” Mr. Webby said.

    The decision on how and when to use the vaccine will hinge on evidence of increased transmission, severity of disease, cases in people with no link to a dairy farm, and mutations in the virus, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Principal Deputy Director Nirav Shah said.

    The agency says on its website that the government is developing bird flu vaccines “in case they are needed.”

    Human exposure to the virus in poultry and dairy operations could increase the risk that the virus will mutate and gain the ability to spread easily in people. Vaccines that perform poorly can also increase that risk.

    So far, only one change has been detected in the human cases, the CDC said on May 24.

    “These data indicate viruses detected in both cows and the two human cases maintain primarily avian genetic characteristics and lack changes that would make them better adapted to infect or transmit between humans,” the agency stated.

    For now, CDC officials say the best way to avoid bird flu is to stay away from infected animals, fluids, and feces.

    Workers who must come into contact with animals are advised to wear protective equipment and monitor themselves for symptoms, which include fatigue.

    People who do become sick can take influenza antivirals, which are more effective when received shortly after symptoms develop.

    Health officials also recommend cooking eggs and poultry to at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit, cooking beef to appropriate temperatures, and only consuming pasteurized milk.

    Testing of beef found a surrogate virus was still present in burgers cooked rare, according to the Department of Agriculture. High levels of bird flu virus have been detected in raw milk. Some pasteurized samples tested positive, but further testing showed no viable virus, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

    Reuters contributed to this report. 

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 05/28/2024 – 21:00

  • Putin Threatens West's 'Dense Populations' In 'Small Land Masses' In Response To NATO Escalation
    Putin Threatens West’s ‘Dense Populations’ In ‘Small Land Masses’ In Response To NATO Escalation

    More and more European officials and NATO countries are on board with allowing Ukraine to use Western-supplied weapons to strike deep inside Russian territory. Among the latest to speak openly about this are NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, and the government of Sweden, which is the NATO alliance’s newest member state.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday issued one of his more dire warnings yet, putting Europe on notice by commenting on their possessing small land areas and dense populations. The veiled threat is very ominous especially in light of the fact that Russia just wrapped up tactical nuclear drills near Ukraine…

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    Putin told reporters gathered in Tashkent during an official visit to the central Asian country of Uzbekistan, which is a former Soviet Republic, “Constant escalation can lead to serious consequences.”

    He also hinted at the prospect of nuclear war in posing: “If these serious consequences occur in Europe, how will the United States behave, bearing in mind our parity in the field of strategic weapons?”

    “It’s hard to say – do they want a global conflict?” Putin questioned, warning that Ukraine hitting Russian territory with externally supplied long-range weapons would make the West directly involved in the conflict.

    He also appeared to reference a new agreement between Kiev and Paris which will see French military trainers be deployed to Ukrainian soil. Putin remarked that this puts the situation a big step closer to major direct confrontation between Russia and France – and ultimately the NATO alliance. That’s when he warned the following…

    They… “should be aware of what they are playing with” as they had small land areas and dense populations.

    “This is a factor that they should keep in mind before talking about striking deep into Russian territory. This is a serious thing, and we are of course watching it very closely,” Putin said.

    Week after week, officials in the West find new ways to escalate (also in light of Russian forces making rapid gains in Kharkiv), and given that Zelensky has said it’s ‘impossible’ to sit down at the negotiating table with Moscow so long as Putin is in power, there appears to be no off-ramp whatsoever.

    Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin this week. Kremlin Pool via AP

    Indeed we might add to Putin’s remarks that everyone is playing with fire… and this has been the case for a long time now. There are very few European leaders willing to openly resist this intensifying push to escalate at this point.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 05/28/2024 – 20:40

  • Rancher: Record High Beef Prices May Be 'New Norm'
    Rancher: Record High Beef Prices May Be ‘New Norm’

    Authored by Matthew Lysiak via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Beef prices skyrocketed to a new record high this Memorial Day weekend as industry experts warn costs could continue to rise even higher if current regulatory and economic conditions remain unchanged.

    Ground beef is displayed at a butcher shop in Greenbrae, Calif., on May 2, 2024. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

    Recently released data shows that “all fresh beef retail value,” a composite value based on choice beef, other beef, and hamburger retail prices, shot up to $794.90 in April, according to the Economic Research Council, the highest price on record.

    Further, the price of uncooked ground beef, beef roasts, beef steaks, and veal have all continued to rise in price—between .03 and 1.5 percent—from March’s record high numbers, according to this month’s Consumer Price Index.

    American rancher Shad Sullivan told The Epoch Times that the sharp rise in prices can be attributed to a “withering assault” from regulators and government authorities who have played an outsized role in the unprecedented increase.

    “We are seeing prices at an all-time high, and it is getting close to that point when the consumer is going to say, I can’t do this anymore; it’s just too costly,” said Mr. Sullivan.

    “They (officials and regulators) are trying to push these high prices as a new norm where meat is only a treat for the wealthy. That is where they are pushing us, and that is where we are going.”

    Further, smaller farms are being increasingly shuttered under the weight of regulatory burden as standards recently imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency have resulted in compliance costs soaring to as high as $3 million for a single beef processing plant, according to Mr. Sullivan.

    “How is the small guy supposed to compete?”

    Justin Tupper, president of the United States Cattlemen’s Association, told The Epoch Times that American ranchers aren’t the ones seeing the profit from high price increases, which he attributes to several factors, including regulations and the ongoing monetary inflation that is a consequence of an increase in the money supply.

    “We are cost takers, not cost makers, and everything we do costs more,” said Mr. Tupper.

    The beef cattle supply has already dropped to its lowest point in decades, further contributing to the rise in the price of beef and renewing concerns over the long-term health of the nation’s farming community. A series of severe droughts, coupled with government policies that continue to favor large, industrial food processors, has reduced the nation’s supply of beef cattle to a level not seen since the early 1950s, according to Mr. Tupper.

    Further exacerbating the shortage, increasing acres of cattle farms are being purchased by larger companies that, after acquiring them, often use them for alternative purposes, further decimating the supply of available beef.

    Currently, the nation’s most prolific farmland owner is Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft and an anti-meat activist. By 2023, Mr. Gates claimed he owned about 270,000 acres spread across 18 states.

    Mr. Gates, an investor in Upside Foods, one of the two synthetic meat producers approved by the USDA, has been vocal about his belief that meat alternatives are needed to save the world from upcoming catastrophic climate events caused by greenhouse gasses.

    In a 2021 interview with Technology Review, Mr. Gates said that all well-off nations need to switch to be completely weaned off of living, breathing cows.

    “All rich countries should move to 100% synthetic beef. You can get used to the taste difference, and the claim is they’re going to make it taste even better over time,” Mr. Gates told the interviewer.

    “Eventually that green premium is modest enough that you can sort of change the people or use regulation to totally shift demand. So for meat in the middle-income-and-above countries, I do think it’s possible,” he added.

    However, beef cattle production constitutes a small fraction of the gasses that many environmentalists claim have had a negative impact on the planet. Just 10 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions in the United States come from beef cattle production, while energy production and transportation produce a combined 54 percent of emissions, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

    Rancher Nathan Carver drops off bales of hay to feed his herd of cattle at the ranch his family has owned for five generations on the outskirts of Delano, Calif., on Feb. 3, 2014. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)

    However, despite the record-high prices, Mr. Tupper said that while there will always be a market for beef, he still has concerns about the future.

    “Beef is still the safest, best food on the planet, and that isn’t changing any time soon. It’s always going to be something people need,” he added. “Still, every generation gets further away from agriculture, and that’s a real problem,” said Mr. Tupper.

    According to Mr. Sullivan, if Americans don’t stand up and fight now for their small farmer, eventually, everyone will be priced out of nutrient-rich red meat.

    “Anti-meat ideology is an anti-life ideology,” said Mr. Sullivan. “If you don’t have a nation of red meat-eating men, you have a weak nation.”

    “Where there is beef, there is freedom, and it will always be that way,” he added.

    Travis
    Tue, 05/28/2024 – 20:20

  • F-35 Stealth Jet Crashes Near Albuquerque Airport
    F-35 Stealth Jet Crashes Near Albuquerque Airport

    A Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II crashed near Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ), New Mexico, on Tuesday afternoon. 

    “I just witnessed a major, horrific aircraft crash with an explosion and dust rising into the air while I’m on my flight on the runway. I will report on it soon, waiting for more details but the person behind me said it was possible it was a helicopter or some type of single engine aircraft but it was hard to tell,” X user RawAlerts wrote in a post. 

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    Two Defense Department officials told CBS News that the F-35 had just taken off from ABQ and was en route to Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California when it crashed around 1400 local time. 

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    The F-35 had just taken off from Runway 21 at ABQ.

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    Here’s ABQ’s Runway 21 via ForeFlight. 

    The latest NOTAMs at ABQ describe multiple runways as ‘out of service’. 

    CBS News says the pilot ejected but was in serious condition. 

    A pilot was seriously injured when a military aircraft crashed Tuesday afternoon near New Mexico’s Albuquerque International Sunport, authorities said.

    The plane was a developmental model of the F-35 fighter jet, which was being delivered by Lockheed Martin, two Defense Department officials told CBS News. It had just taken off from Albuquerque and was en route to Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California, the officials said.

    *Developing… 

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 05/28/2024 – 20:00

  • Professor Accuses UCLA Of "Torturing" Pro-Palestinian Protesters
    Professor Accuses UCLA Of “Torturing” Pro-Palestinian Protesters

    Authored by Jonathan Turley,

    UCLA Professor Hannah Appel has accused the school of human rights violations amounting to “torture” in the treatment of pro-Palestinian protesters. The reason is the denial of water and food from being brought into a building being unlawfully occupied by protesters, even though the students were free to leave at any time.

    Appel teaches in the anthropology department in the areas of “transnational capitalism and finance,” “the economic imagination,” and “anti-capitalist and abolitionist social movements.”

    She is also a member of Faculty for Justice in Palestine at UCLA.The Daily Bruin reports that a brief sit-in protest was held at the campus’s Dodd Hall. The students were soon cleared from the building. In the interim, Appel made her accusation of torture tactics. 

    In a video posted on X, Appel is seen declaring “even if this is unlawful which, of course, I don’t think it is […] you cannot deny people to send in water in an effort to get them to do something against their will.”

    While the students were free to leave at any time, Appel objected that “you cannot use a mechanism of torture” to force people to leave.

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    In another video Appel objects that she and other faculty were not allowed to bring food and water to the encampment demonstrators.Notably, Appel repeats a threat from faculty at various schools that they may withhold their grades in protest to pressure schools to drop any charges or allegations against protesters: 

    “When the university sees that folks are withholding grades, they get scared. They’re scared because we’re flexing our collective power, and optimally, that fear drives them to the bargaining table, and then we win.”

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    Such threats have already worked as universities have caved to demands at schools like Northwestern or dropped charges against students. Yet, these professors are using the grades of students to coerce universities.

    It is grossly unfair to students who were not involved in the protests or may oppose these protests. They have right to their grades and these professors have a contractual obligation to supply them. They should not be a tool for faculty protests.

    Professors were free to join these students in occupying university buildings so long as they were willing to bear the consequences for their actions. To withhold grades to achieve political ends should be treated as a serious violation of faculty rules of conduct.

    As for the torture allegation, Appel is dead wrong. There was no denial of food or water. The students had access to both outside of the building. Unlawful occupation of a building does not create an obligation on the part of the university to support the occupiers.

    To call this a human rights violation is to belittle the deprivations of true victims of torture and other abuses.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 05/28/2024 – 19:40

  • Co-Founder Of China's SenseTime Says AI Development Gap With US Is Closing 
    Co-Founder Of China’s SenseTime Says AI Development Gap With US Is Closing 

    The idea that China will collapse after decades of supergrowth, despite its current challenges with a real estate crisis and a demographic winter, is ridiculous, as the most significant risk to America’s big tech empire is the potential failure of US sanctions containing Chinese tech companies. 

    Chinese tech giant Huawei is a great example of the ‘Made in China’ theme ramping up, despite being blacklisted by the US. The company has produced two smartphones, the Mate 60 series and Pura 70 Pro, using advanced domestic chips. These phones have challenged Apple’s iPhone dominance in the world’s largest handset market. 

    On Tuesday, at the UBS Asian Investment Conference in Hong Kong, SenseTime Group co-founder Xu Bing told Bloomberg’s David Ingles that artificial intelligence chipmakers in China are quickly closing the technological gap versus international players. 

    The US Gov’t has repeatedly sanctioned SenseTime due to allegations that its facial recognition technology is used in surveillance programs monitoring Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities. These sanctions are primarily aimed at curbing the country’s advances in AI. 

    “There’s a shortage of resources here in Asia in general,” Bing told Bloomberg’s Ingles, adding, “It’s like a 10 times gap of the compute resources that we have here compared to the US leaders. But I think Asian markets never lack talent and never lack data.”

    Bing pointed out that domestic chip manufacturing is catching up quickly with global competition. He said SenseTime is working with local semiconductor companies to accelerate compute capabilities. 

    He did not mention specific companies, but Huawei has emerged in recent quarters as China’s saving grace in chip technology development. As we’ve pointed out, the company has easily navigated US sanctions, advancing its own advanced smartphone processor for its latest handsets. 

    Bing wasn’t entirely clear how far China lags behind the US in AI development. Bloomberg cites some estimates as 1-3 years. He noted that China’s lag in computing power won’t be permanent. 

    “Compute is a commodity,” he said, adding, “In the long run, compute won’t be a gap.”

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 05/28/2024 – 19:20

  • Former CIA Officer Pleads Guilty To Spying For The Chinese Regime
    Former CIA Officer Pleads Guilty To Spying For The Chinese Regime

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

    A former CIA officer pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to spy for the Chinese regime over a decade in a federal court in Honolulu, the Department of Justice announced on May 24.

    Alexander Ma counting cash given by an undercover FBI officer during a meeting in Aug. 2020. (FBI Affidavit)

    Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was arrested in 2020 and charged with conspiracy to transfer top-secret information to the Chinese regime’s intelligence officials.

    Mr. Ma, who worked for the CIA from 1982 to 1989, conspired with his blood relative, also a former CIA officer, to provide classified U.S. national defense information to the Chinese regime.

    During his tenure at the CIA, Mr. Ma held a top-secret clearance and signed multiple non-disclosure agreements, acknowledging his duty to protect U.S. government secrets. After leaving the agency, Ma lived and worked in Shanghai, China, before relocating to Hawaii in 2001.

    Notably, his blood relative had access to CIA top secret information, including “the identities of covert CIA officers,” according to a court document.

    The document says the two former CIA officers conspired with Chinese intelligence officials to share classified national defense information over a decade.

    Prosecutors said the espionage scheme began with three days of meetings in Hong Kong hotel rooms in 2001, where Mr. Ma and his relative met officers of China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS), the regime’s top intelligence agency. During these meetings, the two former CIA officers provided highly classified information on the CIA’s personnel, internal structure, operations, and communication methods. Part of these meetings was videotaped, showing Mr. Ma receiving and counting $50,000 in cash for the secrets they divulged.

    The plea deal showed that Mr. Ma sought employment with the FBI, aiming to regain access to classified information for Chinese intelligence. In 2003, he applied for a job as a contract linguist with the FBI’s Honolulu Field Office.

    Knowing his ties to Chinese intelligence, the FBI hired Mr. Ma as part of an investigative plan to monitor his activities. From August 2004 to October 2012, he worked as a contract linguist, reviewing and translating Chinese language documents at an off-site location.

    Prosecutors said over the next six years, Mr. Ma regularly copied, photographed, and stole classified documents. He took the stolen documents and images with him on frequent trips to China and handed them over to the Chinese handlers. He often returned from these China trips with substantial cash payments and expensive gifts, including new golf clubs.

    According to prosecutors, Mr. Ma admitted that he convinced his CIA relative to reveal the identities of at least two individuals in photographs that were given to him by Chinese spies. Mr. Ma confessed that he was aware that the Chinese regime could use this information to harm the United States, but he deliberately did it anyway.

    Court documents showed that in 2019, Mr. Ma met with an FBI undercover agent whom he believed to be a Chinese intelligence officer. During these meetings, Mr. Ma confirmed he worked for Chinese intelligence and accepted $2,000 in cash as a “small token” of appreciation for his work for the Chinese regime. He also offered to resume working for Chinese intelligence.

    In a final meeting with the FBI undercover agent in Aug. 2020 before his arrest, Mr. Ma again accepted more money for his past spying efforts and expressed his willingness to support the Chinese regime, saying he wanted “the motherland” to succeed.

    The plea agreement requires Mr. Ma to cooperate with U.S. authorities, including submitting to debriefings by government agencies. If accepted by the court, he will face a 10-year prison sentence.

    Espionage Attempts

    The case is one of many espionage attempts by the Chinese regime targeting U.S. military and intelligence personnel. In 2019, former CIA officer Jerry Chun Shing Lee received a 19-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to conspiring to provide classified information to Chinese intelligence following his departure from the agency in 2010.

    Earlier this year, a former U.S. Navy sailor was sentenced to 27 months in prison for providing the Chinese communist regime with sensitive U.S. military information in exchange for bribes. In 2021, a former U.S. Navy sailor was also sentenced to 30 months in prison and fined $20,000 for conspiring with her husband to send sensitive military equipment to China illegally.

    These cases highlight the Chinese regime’s intelligence efforts in the United States. In 202o, FBI Director Christopher Wray said the agency investigated one new Chinese counterintelligence case every 10 hours. Mr. Wray also noted that the bureau had over 2,000 China-related counterintelligence investigations at the time.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 05/28/2024 – 19:00

  • Sugar Traders In Denial As Ozempic Craze Ramps Up 
    Sugar Traders In Denial As Ozempic Craze Ramps Up 

    The junk-food industrial complex is on notice after pumping American consumers with sugars and carbs for decades, sparking an obesity crisis that has weighed on the nation’s healthcare system. Remarkably, big pharma’s response to the obesity crisis is an injectable drug, while the federal government is nowhere to be found in promoting healthy diets and exercise to the masses.

    The ongoing trading theme: “Ozempic is coming for your industry,” has been a hit with Wall Street traders. Just look at the massive outperformance of Goldman’s GLP-1 ‘Winners’ basket versus the ‘At-risk’ Pair basket… 

    At a recent NYC dinner with over 800 sugar traders, Sally Lyons Wyatt, an executive at consumer researcher Circana, warned, ‘Ozempic is coming for your industry.’ 

    “Does it have the ability to be huge in the future?” Wyatt asked during her speech at the New York Sugar Dinner earlier this month. She added, “It does.”

    Bloomberg pointed out Wyatt’s warnings went unnoticed as the bet on supplying obese Americans with sugary drinks and snacks is still in play. 

    However, the bet on sugar and junk food could sour in the coming years as more GLP-1 medications—originally designed to treat diabetes —hit the marketplace or ramp up production.  

    Source: Bloomberg

    Morgan Stanley analysts, including Pamela Kaufman, recently told clients that GLP-1s could reduce sweet demand, such as baked goods, confectionery, and soda consumption, by as much as 5% by 2035. 

    Meanwhile, Carlos Murilo Barros de Mello, the head of sugar in the Americas at brokerage Hedgepoint Global Markets, admits the industry has not spent much time estimating consumption shifts due to GLP-1s suppressing food cravings, indicating the moves are “minuscule” relative to production swings. 

    “The impact hasn’t been felt yet because it’s still quite far down the line,” said Kona Haque, head of research at ED&F Man, adding, “And don’t forget, this is still very much an advanced-economy, affluent-society syndrome where people are trying to tackle obesity.”

    Haque noted that sugar demand is still increasing in emerging markets, where the GLP-1s will likely not be available for years because of costs. 

    According to the International Sugar Organization, demand has slowed over the years, now at 1.2%, versus the 10-year average of 1.6%. 

    Source: Bloomberg

    While the GLP-1 craze will take years and must go global to spook sugar traders, the one thing these folks fear is if the US Department of Agriculture actually banned purchases of unhealthy junk food and sweetened beverages, including soda, from purchased items by recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — or SNAP (read: Five Simple Policies To Reset America’s “Rigged” Health System).

    *   *   * 

    As a side note, obese rapper Lizzo responds to South Park by roasting her in the show “The End of Obesity.” 

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    This is pretty accurate. 

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    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 05/28/2024 – 18:40

  • Illinois School District Set To Produce Next $8 Million Superintendent Pensioner
    Illinois School District Set To Produce Next $8 Million Superintendent Pensioner

    By Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner of Wirepoints

    New Trier Township HS District 203’s Superintendent Paul Sally is set to retire next year and he can count on lifetime pension benefits of nearly $8 million. When he does retire, he’ll join the ranks of the Teachers Retirement System’s top pensioners.

    We’ve written for years that Illinois’ pension systems are out-of-whack with what taxpayers can afford. It’s a two-class system where those in government get guaranteed lifetime pensions and other protected benefits while those in the private sector, who get no such guarantees and protections, are forced to pay for them. 

    But it’s the superintendent pensions that help bring attention to just how problematic public pensions are. Sally has done nothing wrong, of course. He’s simply benefitting from the system that’s been put in place by lawmakers. The true blame falls on the politicians who created the pension system, those who continuously sweetened benefits over the decades, and today’s lawmakers who refuse reforms.

    With no reforms expected in the near term, all we can do is highlight the results of Illinois’ two-class system.

    Paul Sally’s exact pension will be unknown until he officially retires, but based on FOIA data and his current pensionable salary of nearly $350,000, Wirepoints estimates his starting pension will be around $255,000 a year. If Sally lives to 82 – his approximate life expectancy according to Social Security actuarial tables – he’ll end up collecting about $8 million in total benefits. By then, his pension will have grown to $476,000 per year – thanks to the automatic 3% compounded cost-of-living increase he’ll automatically get each year. 

    And if he lives past 82, Sally can expect to collect over $8, $9, or even $10 million in total benefits.

    Sally is already one of the highest paid superintendents in the state. His pensionable earnings are currently the state’s 9th-highest at $346,609.

    Now, to be fair to New Trier, Paul Sally’s high salary is only a burden to the residents of the New Trier school district. 94% of the district’s operating costs are funded directly by the property taxes of New Trier residents.

    But that’s not the case when it comes to pension costs. Teacher pensions are paid for by state income taxes, so when Paul Sally gets a multimillion lifetime pension, all Illinois taxpayers have to chip in, from Carbondale to Rockford and from Quincy to Danville.

    Sally’s big pension isn’t just a one-off. There are many superintendents across the state retiring in their 50’s and collecting six-figure sums each year. The state’s top TRS pensioners, meanwhile, can all expect to collect more than $9 million in benefits.

    Some of the “retired” superintendents on the list above have gone on to work other big-paying jobs out of state, all the while drawing an Illinois pension. Yet others figure out how to double dip right here in Illinois, working interim superintendent jobs while still getting their full pensions. 

    The sad reality is that superintendent pensions are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Illinois’ pension problems. There are more than 1 million government workers and retirees who benefit from pensions, and the costs are simply too much to bear for ordinary Illinoisans. 

    For those looking to do a deep dive into just how extreme Illinois’ pension situation is, go to:

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 05/28/2024 – 18:20

  • Rafah Mass Casualty Strike Does Not Cross Biden's 'Red Line'
    Rafah Mass Casualty Strike Does Not Cross Biden’s ‘Red Line’

    Update(1813ET): Who could have seen this coming?

    The White House on Tuesday indicated an Israeli strike that killed dozens of Palestinians in Rafah did not cross a “red line” that would lead to a change in U.S. policy.

    Multiple administration officials in press briefings Tuesday described the images out of Rafah as “heartbreaking,” “tragic” and “horrific.” But there was no sign of an impending policy change as a result, because it was an airstrike and not a major ground operation. —The Hill

    Does anyone believe this administration after for months talking out of both sides of its mouth? On the one hand it seeks to present itself as ‘tough’ on Israel, withholding a single ammo/weapons shipment (in a largely symbolic move), but on the other can’t bring itself to condemn a strike which resulted in an outright civilian massacre which included women and children being incinerated as they slept in a refugee tent encampment.

    And we are told that the Israelis will ‘investigate’ themselves…

    “We still don’t believe that a major ground operation in Rafah is warranted. We still don’t want to see the Israelis, as we say, smash into Rafah with large units over large pieces of territory. We still believe that, and we haven’t seen that at this point,” White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters Tuesday afternoon.

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    “As a result of this strike on Sunday, I have no policy changes to speak to,” he added in reference to the attack which killed 45 Palestinians. “It just happened. The Israelis are going to investigate it. We’re going to be taking great interest in what they find in that investigation. And we’ll see where it goes from there.” Sure…

    * * *

    Israeli tanks have reached the heart of Rafah overnight amid continual heavy bombardment and shelling. Local eyewitnesses say they’ve reached a roundabout in the center of the city which forms a key landmark.

    Images and footages to emerge Tuesday have confirmed the advance of tank columns and IDF infantry deep into Rafah, which has sent thousands more displaced Palestinians fleeing from the Western half of the city, where the most intense fighting is happening. 

    Additionally BBC has observed of IDF tanks that overnight “they also seized control of the highest hilltop along the Gaza-Egypt border after reported gun battles with Hamas-led fighters.”

    Al Jazeera still frame of IDF tank in center of Rafah.

    Airstrikes have continued to increase in intensity on the Western outskirts, especially on the al-Faluja area which lies west of Jabalia camp.

    Following the Sunday bombing of a refugee tent camp in a designated safe zone which reportedly killed 45 people, there are emerging reports of another catastrophic air raid:

    The air raid targeted al-Mawasi in western Rafah, an area where tents have been set up to house displaced Palestinians. It is also a designated humanitarian area to which Israeli authorities told Palestinians to flee.

    “Among them are 13 females were killed. Israeli forces targeted another makeshift tent [area] where most of the people were women and children,” Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said, reporting from Deir el-Balah.

    Pressure out of Europe in particular is growing, amid ongoing EU discussions over possible sanctions against Israel and after last week’s ICJ (World Court) call for immediate ceasefire, but so far the Netanyahu government is defiantly pushing forward its anti-Hamas operation.

    Hamas has issued a statement meanwhile, as tanks plunge deeper into Rafah, calling on the UN Security Council to take “practical and immediate measures” to halt the invasion of Rafah city.

    The statement said that the southernmost major city in Gaza “is being subjected to indiscriminate barbaric Zionist bombing, affecting homes and tents of displaced people in various parts of the city.”

    “The UN Security Council is required to fulfill its legal and moral responsibilities in the face of the criminal Zionist entity’s disregard for the decision of the International Court of Justice, which ordered an immediate halt to the aggression against the city,” the Hamas statement added.

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    This comes a day after the White House appeared to justify Sunday’s Israeli attack on the refugee encampment. A Biden national security spokesperson told CNN on Monday, “The devastating images following the IDF strike in Rafah last night that killed dozens of innocent Palestinians are heartbreaking.”

    “Israel has a right to go after Hamas, and we understand this strike killed two senior Hamas terrorists who are responsible for attacks against Israeli civilians,” the statement said. Axios has since reported:

    The Biden administration is still assessing whether an Israeli strike that killed at least 45 displaced Palestinians at a tent camp in Rafah on Sunday is a violation of President Biden’s “red line,” two U.S. officials told Axios.

    So far the administration has stalled some ammo shipments, even while approving more massive defense aid packages and funding for Israel, in a largely symbolic move meant more for deflecting criticisms from Progressive Democrats.

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 05/28/2024 – 18:13

Digest powered by RSS Digest

May 28

Today’s News 28th May 2024

  • The Collective Shrug Over Fico Assassination Attempt Exposes The Drive For War
    The Collective Shrug Over Fico Assassination Attempt Exposes The Drive For War

    Authored by Craig Murray

    The collective shrug with which the Western media and political class noted the attempted assassination of Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico has been telling.

    Can you imagine the outrage and emotion that would have been expressed by Western powers if not Fico but a pro-Ukraine, anti-Russian leader within the EU had been attacked? The new orders for weapons that would have been presented to the arms manufacturers, the troops that would have been deployed, the sabers that would have been rattled?

    Prime Minister Róbert Fico at the E.U. Parliament in Strasbourg in July 2016.European Parliament, Flickr

    Instead we have the media telling us that Fico opposed sending arms to Ukraine and opposed threatening Russia. We are told he did not accept the mainstream narrative on Covid vaccinations. The media do not quite say he deserved to be shot, but they come very, very close.

    Fellow EU leaders followed correct form in making statements of shock and disgust at the attack on Fico, but they were formal and perfunctory. The “not actually one of us” message was very clear.

    There are now an ordered set of neoliberal beliefs to which anybody in a Western nation participating in public affairs must subscribe, or they are beyond the pale. Not to subscribe to all of these beliefs makes you a “populist”, a “conspiracy theorist”, a “Putin puppet” or a “useful idiot”.

    These are some of the “key beliefs”:

    No. 1) Wealth is only created by a small number of ultra-wealthy capitalists on whom the employment of everybody else ultimately depends.
    No. 2) The laws governing financial structures must therefore tend to concentrate wealth to these individuals, so that they may deploy it as they choose.
    No. 3) State-created currency must only be concentrated in and distributed to private financial institutions.
    No. 4) Public spending is always less efficient than private spending.
    No. 5) Russia, China and Iran pose an existential threat to the West. That comprises both an economic threat and a physical, military threat.
    No. 6) Colonialism was a boon to the world, bringing economic development, trade and education to people of inferior cultures.
    No. 7) Islam is a threat to Western values and to world development.
    No. 8) Israel is a necessary project for spreading Western values to the uncivilized Middle East.
    No. 9) Security necessitates devoting very substantial resources to arms production and the waging of continual war.
    No. 10) Nothing must threaten the military and arms industry interest. No battle against corruption or crime can override the need for the security military industrial complex to be completely unchallenged and internally supreme.

    Dependent Orthodoxies

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    Within this architecture of belief, other orthodoxies hang dependent, such as the correct way to respond to a complex pandemic, or support for NATO and impunity for the security services. (Support for Israel is probably better portrayed as a dependent point, but with the subject of Gaza so prominent at the moment I have figuratively moved it into the main structure.)

    Any deviation on any point of belief is a challenge to the entire system, and thus must be eradicated. You will note there is no room whatsoever, within this architecture of thought, for values like freedom of speech or freedom of assembly. They simply do not fit. Nor is it possible within this architecture to incorporate actual democracy, which would give people a choice of what to believe.

    Read the rest at Consortium News…

    Tyler Durden
    Tue, 05/28/2024 – 02:00

  • A Final Indignity To The Arsenal Of Democracy?
    A Final Indignity To The Arsenal Of Democracy?

    Authored by Thaddeus McCotter via American Greatness,

    It is Memorial Day weekend. A time for us to commemorate and reflect upon the ultimate sacrifices given by our fallen citizen-soldiers and the enduring grief of their families and loved ones, which were and are selflessly borne in the defense of their fellow Americans and our free republic.

    This spirit of self-sacrifice is rarely evidenced by far too many of the elected officials who will publicly eulogize these same fallen patriots and extend condolences to their families and loved ones. While exhorting others to emulate the example of those who made the ultimate sacrifice, these disingenuous politicians refuse to risk an ounce of political capital—not by opposing public sentiment—but by supporting it in the defense of our national security. Why? Because they fear alienating major corporations and their own party leaders.

    While currently occurring primarily in “Blue States,” abetting communist Chinese subnational incursions into our states has been a bipartisan disgrace—and this is despite the bipartisan warnings of the military, intelligence, and law enforcement communities.

    The complicit politicians’ reasoning is as follows: using taxpayer money to subsidize CCP-linked businesses locating in states will provide jobs and boost the economy of not only the local populace but also the profits of these companies’ American corporate partners. In sum, having failed to implement the necessary fiscal and free market policies to produce domestic economic growth, these politicians have latched onto these Chinese-linked companies as an electoral lifeline. Apparently, these politicians think the public believes a job is a job and will not care about the use of their tax dollars to import CCP-linked companies into our backyard.

    To wit: my home state of Michigan, which during World War II was rightly lauded with the name “The Arsenal of Democracy.” The “greatest generation” of Michiganians not only fought in foreign fields, they toiled in machine shops’ and factories’ floors to produce the armaments needed not only for our forces but for our allies as well. One shining example of American industrial and military might was the Ford Motor Company’s Willow Run Facility (Air Force Plant 31).

    As the Detroit Historical Society records, Willow Run was built in 1941 with $200,000,000 investment by the federal government. At its wartime peak,

    …Willow Run was able to achieve remarkable production rates. At its peak in 1944, it produced a B-24 [bomber aircraft] every hour. By 1945, it was able to produce 70 percent of its B-24s in two nine-hour shifts, with pilots and crew members sleeping on 1,300 cots as they waited for the B-24s to roll off the assembly line. The Ford Motor Company eventually produced half of their 18,000 total B-24s at Willow Run.

    Yet, over time, even as the threats to America ebbed and flowed, morphed and intensified, Willow Run ebbed in the minds of policymakers and the public. In 1953, Willow Run changed hands by lease and, ultimately, by deed from Ford to General Motors; and by 2010, Willow Run plant became a casualty of GM’s bankruptcy proceeding:

    Most of the plant was demolished in 2014 but a 175,000 foot portion was offered to the Yankee Air Museum, housed in a hangar until a 2004 fire. After successful fundraising, the Museum reopened in 2017 in the historic building.

    “The American Center for Mobility claimed the remainder of the massive site and in 2018 opened a proving ground and research facility for self-driving cars, the only one in Michigan and one of ten in the U.S., as designated by the U.S. Dept. of Transportation.

    What is of note to the present discussion is this: back in 1941, the U.S. government expended taxpayer dollars to an American corporation to provide employment in making armaments for the defense of our nation.

    Today, state governments are expending taxpayer dollars to CCP-linked companies that use the mantra of “jobs” to deflect from the potential to undermine our national security. All this for a talking point how “[Politician Name] Created [X Number of] Jobs.” (Sadly, the economic mendacity of this message remains lost upon far too many of our citizenry.)

    And the offending politicians show no signs of slowing in their feckless endangering of our national security. As the Daily Caller’s Nick Pope reports:

    Michigan Democrats shot down an effort to significantly expand the vetting process for China-tied companies seeking to cash in on state incentives earlier in May.

    Republican lawmakers in both chambers of the state’s legislature pushed budget amendments that would have prohibited the use of state funds to subsidize corporations originating from adversarial countries like China, but neither amendment made it into the budgets that passed on May 9 and May 15. House and Senate Democrats leveraged their control of each chamber to shoot down both amendments.

    The reason for the partisan divide is the support of the democratic administration of Governor Gretchen Whitmer for “Gotion, a company looking to build a subsidized facility in the Grand Rapids area… The state announced in October 2022 that it would be providing Gotion with incentives worth $715 million to attract its $2.4 billion factory to Michigan.”

    This is despite the fact that Gotion

    …is tied to China and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) via its parent company, Gotion High-Tech. The Daily Caller News Foundation has reported extensively on the company’s links to China and the CCP, which include Gotion High-Tech’s employment of more than 900 CCP members as of 2022 and the fact that a visiting delegation of CCP officials set up a talent recruitment work station at Gotion’s California headquarters in 2017.

    This is not a one-off by the wholly Democrat-controlled Michigan legislature, who, according to state Senator Jonathan Lindsey (R-17):

    Governor Whitmer and the Democrats in Michigan are so married to this idea of taking Michigan taxpayer dollars and giving them to these corporations with ties to China, they refuse to budge. Last year they voted against preventing tax dollars from supporting child slave labor in China. This year they voted against reviews and limitations on those dollars flowing toward our global adversaries. What they’re doing is absolutely wrong for the people of Michigan.

    As Michigan Senate minority leader Aric Nesbitt (R-20) further points out, “It’s shocking to watch the Democrat majority in Michigan hand over hundreds of millions in tax dollars from struggling Michigan families to multinational corporations that pledge allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party in their corporate documents.”

    Yet, what of the Ford Motor Company, the quintessentially American corporation that was a major artery pumping munitions and materiel through the heart of the Arsenal of Democracy and into our military and allies’ hands? Like the Willow Run plant, Ford has another project seeking public subsidies. Unlike the Willow Run plant, however:

    …Ford’s licensing deal with CATL, a Chinese battery manufacturer, has also drawn scrutiny. Ford planned to open a facility in [Michigan] – with the help of state incentives in excess of $1.5 billion – where it would manufacture batteries using CATL’s technology and know-how, but the company has since scaled down its planned factory, according to CNBC.

    Perhaps it is an elected official and Navy veteran, State Representative Andrew Beeler (R-64), who, being well versed in the self-sacrifice made by our men and women in uniform and their families, so well expressed his consternation and concerns:

    I didn’t spend years in the Navy pushing back against the Chinese Communist Party in the South China Sea only to come to the Michigan Legislature and give them government handouts… But House Democrats voted to let hostile foreign powers keep spreading influence and gathering intelligence on Michigan taxpayers’ dime.

    Given the bipartisan opposition to spending taxpayer money to subsidize CCP-linked companies, one might be tempted to chalk this up to a case of imbecilic political hacks cutting off their nose to spite their face and hoping no one notices. Granted, it would not be the first time. Yet this is far worse. These useful elected idiots are spending taxpayer dollars to buy the CCP the razor that barbaric regime will use to cut our throat. That this is happening in Michigan could well constitute a final—suicidal—indignity to the arsenal of Democracy.

    That this is happening at all constitutes an unconscionable affront to the citizen-soldiers who gave their last full measure of devotion for us.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/27/2024 – 23:00

  • Israeli & Egyptian Troops Clash At Rafah Border, Leaving One Dead
    Israeli & Egyptian Troops Clash At Rafah Border, Leaving One Dead

    In a significant escalation, an Egyptian soldier has been shot dead at the Rafah border crossing after a rare exchange of gunfire erupted between the two sides.

    Israel’s Channel 14 described that Egyptian security forces “fired on an Israeli truck at the Rafah crossing” and that immediately soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) “responded to this with gunfire.”

    Rafah border crossing, Israeli Army/AFP

    Quickly after, officials on both sides of the border agreed to cease firing, and the incident is under investigation.

    International reports including in Bloomberg and the BBC say that an Egyptian soldier at the border was left dead in the shootout. Israel media sources are calling it “a violation of the peace agreement with Egypt.”

    The IDF subsequently confirmed: “There was a shooting incident on the Egyptian border; the [incident] is under investigation, [and] dialogue is taking place with the Egyptian side.”

    Times of Israel has quoted the country’s Army Radio to describe current Israeli narrative of the incident:

    The Ynet news site and Army Radio quoted unnamed Israeli military sources blaming Egypt for the deadly exchange of fire.

    According to the reports, Egyptian forces opened fire first on Israeli troops at the Rafah Border Crossing, who responded with fire of their own.

    The situation at the Rafah border crossing has been incredibly tense after Israel’s military took over operations of the Gaza side. Palestinian officials had previously operated the post, but earlier this month the IDF took it over as part of the ongoing Rafah offensive.

    Tensions with Egypt are also at boiling point given the concern that hundreds of thousands of refugees displaced by Israel’s offensive could pour into the Sinai.

    A US-backed peace treaty has guided Israel-Egypt relations since 1979…

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    Egypt’s economy has already long been under strain and Cairo says it can’t absorb mass numbers of displaced Palestinians. Large walled and enclosed ‘tent cities’ have been erected in the scenario where tens of thousands get across the border.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/27/2024 – 22:20

  • Fear Trump… Or Bust?
    Fear Trump… Or Bust?

    Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness,

    As Trump continues to show leads in critical swing states, as various lawfare-inspired cases against him seem to the public to be more persecutions than prosecutions, and as Joe Biden appears daily more incoherent and lost, the left on spec has resorted to warning the nation about all the supposedly catastrophic consequences of a future Trump presidency…

    Ironically, the left seems oblivious to the reality that one reason Trump leads Biden in the polls is precisely because voters can compare the four-year record of the prior Trump presidency to Biden’s last 40 months.

    Recently, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez warned that Trump will conspire with oil executives to spike gasoline prices. But even after Biden drained the strategic petroleum reserve before the 2022 midterms and is now again doing the same as the 2024 election approaches, gas prices have averaged only one-third cheaper than under Trump.

    Trump tried to top off the reserve but was blocked by Democrats in Congress. Nevertheless, he left Biden a nearly full reservoir of 638 million barrels (about 90 percent full), which Biden has now drained by some 270 million barrels to the present 51 percent full—and the levels are falling further as voting nears.

    We are warned that 77-year-old Trump looks haggard after his long hours in court. He seems sleepy, we are told. He has aged terribly, the media tell us. But polls show that concern over Biden’s dementia greatly outweighs normal worry over septuagenarian candidate Trump.

    Why would any sane pro-Biden handler bring up Trump’s supposed gait or occasional forgotten word when that only reminds the public of the contrast with Biden, whose speeches seem delivered in something other than English and whose transcripts must be heavily edited to airbrush away his incoherence?

    We are told that Trump will increase racial tensions. Almost daily, blacks and Hispanics are warned that Trump is a racist—even as polls show that he may well receive the highest percentage of minority votes by any Republican in modern history and has some chance of winning outright the Hispanic vote. Oddly, the media is now attacking minorities on the Marxist principle of false consciousness, as if they are deluded into voting against themselves rather than being perceptive critics of the Biden disaster of high inflation, green mania, a deluge of illegal aliens, and loss of deterrence abroad.

    It was not Trump, but Biden, who, during the last election cycles, called one African-American journalist a “junkie” and warned another podcaster, “You ain’t black,” if he voted for Trump. And during his presidency, on occasion, Biden has referred to black subordinates as “boy,” uses the ossified term “Negro,” and has a long history of racist drivel and smears, from “put y’all back in chains” to referencing Barack Obama as the first “clean” and “articulate” presidential candidate to proudly reminding us that his home state of Delaware was once a “slave state.”

    As Trump’s polls climbed and the Fani Willis persecution was sidetracked by her own false testimonies, conflicts of interest, and the hiring of her unqualified clandestine paramour, hysterical cries mounted that a reelected Trump would use the powers of government to go after his enemies.

    As Jack Smith’s federal indictment became calcified over issues of presidential immunity, his failed efforts to ram through the prosecution before the election, and his office lying over tampering with evidence seized at Mar-A-Lago, tired warnings of Trump’s weaponization to come of the bureaucracy mounted even more.

    Now that the jury is out in the Alvin Bragg fiasco and his star witness, Michael Cohen, a convicted liar, has likely again perjured himself and admitted to stealing $60,000 from the Trump organization, Trumpophobia has further peaked.

    In other words, the more evidence mounts that Trump’s enemies have manipulated the court system in the manner that they previously impeached him twice, tried him as a private citizen in the Senate, sought to remove him from state ballots, rounded up ex-intelligence officers to lie about the authentic Hunter Biden laptop on the eve of the 2020 presidential debate, and were exposed concocting the Russian collusion yarn by hiring a foreign national in the 2016 campaign, paradoxically, the more the left-wing media warns America that a President Trump would do exactly what they have been doing by emulating their weaponization of the courts, the bureaucracy, and the Congress.

    It gets stranger still.

    The left warns the country that Trump will deport some or many of the 10 million illegal aliens that Joe Biden and his impeached Homeland Security director Alejandro Mayorkas have deliberately welcomed in.

    Consider the logic: the current president destroyed a once-secure border and, for political purposes, illegally rendered immigration law enforcement null and void. But we are still supposed to fear his successor, who would resecure the border, return millions of recently crossed illegal aliens to their countries of origin, and restore the sanctity of federal law. In Orwellian fashion, the Biden administration is now suing exasperated states that are doing their part to help enforce immigration laws that Biden has deliberately shredded.

    The absurdity extends to foreign policy. Team Biden and the media are issuing warnings here and abroad that another Trump presidency would tear apart the global order.

    Really? Vladimir Putin has invaded neighboring nations in three of the last four administrations, but did not only during the Trump 2017-2020 years. Why?

    Before October 7, even Biden National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan preened that his Middle East portfolio was “quieter than in two decades”—but only after Trump’s destroyed ISIS, took out the terrorist Iranian general Soleimani, ended the disastrous Iran deal, cut off aid to Hamas, designated the Houthi terrorists, crafted the Abraham Accords, pledged full support for Israel, our only democratic ally in the Middle East, and achieved U.S. oil independence.

    In contrast, Putin invaded Ukraine and may well absorb much of its eastern half. The U.S. suffered its greatest military humiliation of the last half century in fleeing from Kabul and handing over billions of dollars in weapons to the terrorist Taliban, abandoning our NATO-allied forces, sympathetic Afghans, and American contractors.

    Hamas killed more Jews in a single day than any since the Holocaust. A full-scale war rages in Gaza. Hezbollah has displaced thousands of Israelis with its daily attacks. And for the first time in history, Iran has attacked in force the Israeli homeland.

    China, with impunity, sent a spy balloon across the continental US. Some 25,000 Chinese male illegal aliens mysteriously barged into the U.S. And China has helped kill 100,000 Americans a year through its fentanyl exports to the Mexican cartels.

    Given all that, are we supposed to worry that “sharp as a knife” Biden’s disastrous foreign policy will be ruined by a return to the peaceful record of the earlier Trump presidency?

    So, what is Trumpophobia?

    The syndrome displays a number of symptoms.

    One, the left always projects its sins onto its opponents.

    It accuses Trump of doing precisely what it has done, as a way of avoiding blame for its self-inflicted disasters. And the left so vehemently projects because it knows what it would do if it were Trump and was treated as he has been by them.

    Two, desperate Democrats are scrambling to find some bizarre way to depose both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, especially should Biden have a disastrous, historic preconvention June presidential debate.

    As a result, the 2024 campaign has never been about comparison of 2017-2020 to 2021-2024. But rather, it has already descended into the Democratic de facto smear that “Trump is even worse than Biden.” And that fixation instills fears of what Trump might do rather than what he actually has done.

    Three, the left feels Biden may do more than just lose the Democrats the presidency, Senate, and its close margin in the House.

    His hyperinflation seriously damaged the middle class. He turns them off with his arrogance, screaming speeches, loud, obnoxious gibberish, compulsive lying, and generally impotent appearance.

    His racial condescension and pandering fool no one. As a result, Biden may well redefine the two parties as race is replaced by shared class concerns. Wealthy blacks may vote for Biden because they are black and wealthy, but more and more middle-class blacks may vote for Trump because they feel his policies benefit the middle class like themselves.

    The public increasingly agrees that the Democrat Party is the party of the very rich, the bicoastal privileged, and the subsidized poor, while the lower and middle classes feel far more confident and secure with Republicans.

    Four, the left fears a more organized, savvier Trump second term might hit the ground running‚ and thus rapidly and professionally instill a conservative agenda to stop the current neo-socialist revolution.

    Given all that, 2024 for the left is little more than “Fear Trump or Bust.”

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/27/2024 – 21:40

  • United Airlines Plane Catches Fire At Chicago’s O'Hare Airport
    United Airlines Plane Catches Fire At Chicago’s O’Hare Airport

    By Tom Ozimek of The Epoch Times

    An engine caught fire on a United Airlines flight at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport on May 27, causing the pilots to abort takeoff.

    United Airlines flight 2091 from Chicago to Seattle experienced an engine fire at around 2 p.m. local time at O’Hare airport shortly before takeoff, a spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement.

    The incident led the FAA to temporarily suspend arrivals to the airport, with normal operations resuming at around 2:45 p.m. local time, the spokesperson added.

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    The aircraft, an Airbus A320, was towed to the gate where passengers “safely deplaned,” per the FAA spokesperson.

    A spokesperson for United Airlines confirmed in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times that the flight in question, which was scheduled to depart for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, was delayed after experiencing an “issue” with the engine, “which our local ground crew and emergency responders immediately addressed.”

    “The plane was towed to the gate, passengers deplaned normally and no injuries were reported. We are working to make alternative travel arrangements for customers,” the spokesperson added.

    The United Airlines spokesperson said that 148 passengers and five crew members were on board the aircraft when the incident occurred.

    “The fire department and medical personnel met the aircraft out of an abundance of caution,” the spokesperson said.

    A post circulating on social media purportedly shows images and video of the grounded United Airlines flight 2091 with several fire trucks on standby.

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    While details of the engine fire remain unclear, it comes as a federal watchdog recently launched an audit of the FAA to evaluate its oversight of United Airlines’ maintenance programs after a run of safety events at the carrier were linked to mechanical problems.

    Continue reading at The Epoch Times

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/27/2024 – 21:34

  • Memorial Day 2050: How Will Future Americans Look Back On This Moment?
    Memorial Day 2050: How Will Future Americans Look Back On This Moment?

    Memorial Day 2024… honoring the men and women who bravely fought and died while serving in the US military. Across the country, many Americans will visit cemeteries and hold memorials for the fallen, and participate in patriotic parades. 

    Years down the road, or even by the middle of this century, will future historians and populations look back on this moment with a sense of regret, loathing, and disgust? 

    Will future generations of Americans one day be honoring the fallen of a World War 3 nuclear-armed confrontation with Russia? At this moment, Washington planners keep marching the nation (and the world) toward the abyss, seen in public messaging like the following…

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    What will the children and grandchildren of this current generation say when they look back and reflect on this moment?

    Will there be tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands more fallen to memorialize on Memorial Day 2050?

    Let us hope and pray this is not the case.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/27/2024 – 21:00

  • We Are Entering A New Phase In The War In Ukraine
    We Are Entering A New Phase In The War In Ukraine

    By Peter Tchir of Academy Securities

    Today we will just highlight a few things:

    • Thanks to all my colleagues and everyone who has served, and I want to spend an extra moment to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
    • If you missed this month’s Around the World, it is an important read as it outlines Academy’s take on:
      • Israel commencing operations in Rafah.
      • Russian forces advancing on Kharkiv.
      • Xi meets with Putin in China.
      • U.S. force reduction in the Sahel.
    • While we cover the Xi and Putin meeting in the Around the World, I think there is also a case to be made that we are entering a new “phase” in the war in Ukraine. One where Russia will attempt to use social media to convince everyone that “peace” should be achieved, and where Russia is able to hold on to much of the land it occupies in Eastern Ukraine. It seems to be more than a coincidence that Putin appears to be publicly amenable to this sort of outcome after the meeting with Xi. It would also not be surprising given the information learned by observing how much social media seems to be able to shape political outcomes in the U.S. (the war in Gaza as a prime example). Could we be at the early stages of where we see the sort of deal we have been expecting for some time?
      • Our base case is that both sides will ultimately get forced into settling for some agreement that satisfies both countries, while not being particularly appealing to either country. Basically, Ukraine will cede some land and receive some of Russia’s frozen dollar reserves as payment, enabling them to pay some debts and embark on the reconstruction of their country.
      • Any such deal will be good for Europe as the rebuilding efforts will create demand for labor and equipment, but it will also be inflationary (at least initially). Globally, there would be some excitement as one of the Geopolitical Risks is taken off the table, but ultimately, not much will change as new global orders have already taken shape and will continue to do so, regardless of the outcome with Russia and Ukraine.
    • Overall, Geopolitical Risks remain topical. In our first Geopolitical Risk Perception vs Reality, we discussed the difficulty of incorporating geopolitical risk into “actionable” strategies. We focused on Cyber, Trade War, Commodities, the Middle East, Russia, and “wildcard” risks. We continue to see the markets underestimating the risk on the trade war and commodity front, while other risks seem to be perceived reasonably accurately relative to our view of the actual risk. If anything, Russia may have drifted into the “green” (potential positive surprise) from what we considered a neutral risk.
    • On the markets front, a few things seem to pop up again and again in discussions:
      • How are markets so strong with all of the Geopolitical Risks? We have tried to address that in the Risk vs Perception piece, and also in Hedging the Unhedgeable. There is no easy answer to this one, though I think the market has done a reasonable job and I’d look to own commodities and companies that would benefit from reconstruction in Ukraine or an effort to extract AND process more commodities “domestically” (either in the U.S. or with countries that we are very comfortable with politically and geographically – i.e. better control and access to those countries).
      • Last week we suggested that the market was Too Narrowly Focused on inflation and the minutiae of Fed policy. After a week of conversations, I don’t think that is the case. The market participants I speak with all seem to have coalesced around a reasonable view on the Fed:
        • We will get a cut or two this year, and a few more next year. No one seems to care much about whether it is 0, 1, 2, or 3 this year.
        • No one is really worried about the possibility of a hike, and people are consigned to the view that if we get a hike, it will only be because the economy remains incredibly strong, so it won’t be a big deal.
        • No one, in their main analysis and positioning discussions, is watching the tape nervously as economic data comes out.
        • Yet, the markets seem to respond to each headline as meaningful. Since I find it so difficult to identify people who care that much about any given headline, I can only assume that it is the “machines” that care. That algos and quant models are driving the show. Not sure whether that is good or bad, but it goes a long way to explaining the difference in what I see and hear versus what is actually happening in and around economic data. I do have to admit that the Citi Economic Surprise Index bounced last week and is less negative, which helps to explain why the 10-year ended the week near the high end of our range of 4.3% to 4.5%.
      • More and more notes about complacency and low volumes. I saw somewhere that SPY, a large S&P 500 ETF, had its 2nd lowest volume day in a year (only higher than the early close during Thanksgiving and one of the lowest full day volumes in years). VIX dropped back to 12. Anemic volumes may be helping push markets higher, but they are giving little confidence to investors, leading me to wonder how much the “machines” are in charge.
      • AI remains the big story. Having said that, I’m not sure how many people had NVDA up roughly 10% with the Nasdaq 100 down on Thursday. That certainly wasn’t a scenario I thought was plausible, yet It happened. Once again, it makes me wonder about market participation and liquidity.

    As we spend time with friends and family at barbeques this weekend, these are the thoughts/questions we are facing as we start the week, and for many, there are no obvious answers. Maybe we continue to grind higher on stocks, setting new records (most barely above the prior record or where we were months ago), or maybe something shakes things up (likely a trade related or geopolitical event, that can be tied directly to the earnings prospects of companies).

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/27/2024 – 20:20

  • Absurd: Radical Leftist Rashida Tlaib Speaks At Conference Connected With Terrorist Group 
    Absurd: Radical Leftist Rashida Tlaib Speaks At Conference Connected With Terrorist Group 

    Rashida Tlaib, a Congresswoman from Detroit and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, spoke over the weekend at the “People’s Conference for Palestine,” linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

    This group, an Arab nationalist movement with Marxist-Leninist ideology, is designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the US. It has public-facing arms, such as Samidoun, working on behalf of the group, and active cells in many countries in Europe and North America. 

    During the Saturday speech, Tlaib referred to members of the audience as the “squad” and demanded President Biden establish a “red line” on Israel’s counteroffensive in Gaza. She criticized the president for “attacking the authority” of the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week over war crimes and crimes against humanity in Israel’s mission to eliminate Hamas in Gaza. 

    Among the speakers was Wisam Rafeedie, an activist linked to PFLP. The US State Department has designated the PFLP as a terrorist organization. 

    According to the Director of National Intelligence, PFLP is a terrorist group based in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. It unites Arab nationalism with Marxist-Leninist ideology. It promotes the destruction of “Israel as integral to the struggle to remove Western capitalism from the Middle East and ultimately establish a Communist Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital,” the DNI writes on its website. 

    DNI provides more valuable insight into the terror organization: 

    The PFLP fostered links and carried out attacks with leftist militant groups across the world during the 1970s and was actively involved in the Second Intifada from 2000 to 2005, during which the group carried out suicide operations and launched multiple joint operations with other Palestinian terrorist groups. The PFLP’s operational tempo has since declined, with only two attacks in the last five years, most recently in 2019 that killed an Israeli teen and injured multiple others.

    “I don’t need to tell you that you’re on the right side,” Tlaib said in her speech in Detroit, adding, “I don’t need to. But I’ll be damned if I wait ten years before they apologize to all of you for doing what was right at this moment.”

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    A recent statement by Israel’s Ministry of Defense specifies, “Samidoun organization was designated as a terrorist organization as it is part of the PFLP.” 

    “Representatives of the organization are active in many countries in Europe and North America, led by Khaled Barakat, who is part of the leadership of PFLP abroad. Barkat is involved with establishing militant cells and motivating terrorist activity in Judea & Samaria and abroad,” MoD said. 

    Barakat is married to leftist radical Charlotte Kates, the coordinator of Samidoun and a Rutgers University School of Law graduate. 

    According to NGO Monitor, PFLP and Samidoun “had a strong presence at encampments, demonstrations, and riots on American college campuses. Students have been documented carrying PFLP posters, flying the PFLP flag, hosting PFLP-linked speakers, and reading PFLP publications.” 

    The degrees of separation between PFLP and Samidoun are only a few steps, and now it should become increasingly apparent a terrorist group has been directly/indirectly fueling the chaos across America’s elite colleges and universities. Yet, the Biden administration could care less, and the FBI is nowhere to be found publicly.  

    As for Tlaib speaking at the PFLP-linked event in Detroit, we’ll refrain from adding our commentary. Instead, here are some reactions from X users:

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    Where is the FBI?

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/27/2024 – 19:40

  • The Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier & Our Societal Detachment From War
    The Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier & Our Societal Detachment From War

    Authored by John Weeks via The Libertarian Institute,

    Modern nation states have developed an impressive symbolic innovation to memorialize their war dead, the tomb of the unknown soldier:

    “No more arresting emblems of the modern culture of nationalism exist than cenotaphs and tombs of Unknown Soldiers. The public ceremonial reverence accorded these monuments precisely because they are either deliberately empty or no one knows who lies inside them, has no true precedents in earlier times…The ancient Greeks had cenotaphs, but for specific, known individuals whose bodies, for one reason or another, could not be retrieved for regular burial.” [Emphasis added]

    According to Arlington National Cemetery, which has hosted “The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier” since 1921, its creation addressed a longstanding problem:

    “Through the ages, one of the consequences of warfare has been large numbers of unidentified dead.”

    Another consequence of warfare is that combat veterans return home. They present a similar problem, one that is addressed through our symbolic representations of warfare.

    The living experience themselves as obligated to the dead, but also responsible to safeguard themselves against death’s pollution. The French sociologist Robert Hertz (who died in combat during World War I) described “primitive” societies:

    “The period which follows death is particularly dangerous in this respect; that is why the corpse must be exorcised and be forearmed against demons. This preoccupation inspires, at least partly, the ablutions and various rites connected with the body immediately after death: such as, for instance, the custom of closing the eyes and other orifices of the body with coins or beads; it also imposes on the survivors the duty of keeping the deceased company during this dreaded period.”

    Our enlightened society is no longer characterized by widespread, professed belief in demons. But we continue to act as if we believed in such entities, especially concerning the dead. Coins placed on eyes is no longer the standard, but eye caps are routinely inserted to keep them closed. Regardless of whether one is a theist, deist, atheist or whatever else you’ve got, no one wants dead eyes “looking” at them.

    The modern funeral industry has created an intricate series of rituals for the “dreaded period” between death and burial. Fun fact, modern embalming has its roots in the American Civil War. The next time someone tells you war is great because it leads to innovation, think of a field of corpses and the rise of embalming chemistry.

    This responsibility and revulsion is true both within the family and within our nation, which masquerades as a Great Family with its Founding Fathers, daughters of liberty, bands of brothers, Uncle Sam and president as Great Father. Unknown war dead must be cared for and kept from polluting us somehow. The tomb of the unknown soldier fills this need. And in a nation with millions of people, even the identified war dead are unknown to most members of the national community.

    Hertz said:

    “The ideas and practices occasioned by death can be classified under three headings, according to whether they concern the body of the deceased, his soul, or the survivors.”

    The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier assures survivors that the bodies of the war dead have been appropriately “exorcised and forearmed against demons,” their souls have been secured passage to a glorious afterlife and the living have avoided the pollution they can cause.

    But what of our returning combat veterans? If war is hell, then these are men and women who have been to hell and back. Like Odysseus in The Odyssey and Aeneas in The Aeneid, they descended to the Underworld, gained powerful knowledge and then returned to the world of the living.

    Their bodies survived the war, but their souls have been damaged or even killed. Their souls need healing or resurrection. At the same time, they are a threat to the civilian psyche. Our society does a terrible job of healing and resurrecting our soldiers’ souls, as evidenced by the fact that four times as many combat soldiers and veterans of the Global War On Terrorism have committed suicide as have been killed in combat. But our society does a great job at protecting the civilian psyche.

    How many Americans realize that during World War II the U.S. Army raped its way across Europe? Spielberg didn’t put that in Saving Private Ryan, did he? There’s a lot that wasn’t put in that movie. There’s no torture, no suicide, and no soldiers murdering commanding officers. In one scene, the American GIs actually allow a Nazi prisoner to go free. I personally know of a World War II veteran who walked out of the theater after that absurd fantasy appeared on the screen.

    There are also no Soviets in the film, even though the Soviet Union killed most of the Nazis.

    Saving Private Ryan is representative of American portrayals of war. Despite its reputation for realism, it is extraordinarily detached from the experiences of our soldiers. And that’s because it isn’t for them. It’s for the civilians who never descend to the Underworld. Our culture encourages us to believe that our military is awesomely destructive. But it also encourages us not to dwell too much on all the actual death being dealt out. And certainly not to realize it rapes and tortures. That’s what the enemy does!

    That veteran who stormed out of Saving Private Ryan liked to say, “There are no autopsies in war.” We can extend that to say there are no autopsies of the souls of the soldiers who return from war. We prefer their souls embalmed, made up, and buried quickly. A war veteran’s daily immersion in our culture is like going to his own funeral and hearing a priest eulogize someone completely alien to him.

    On Memorial Day, let’s do our veterans the honor of recognizing that while we value their service and can romanticize their heroics, we are only capable of celebrating their return. When it comes to confronting where they’re returning from, we really cannot handle the truth.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/27/2024 – 19:00

  • "Global Trade War Looms, But It's Not Just Trade War To Fear"
    “Global Trade War Looms, But It’s Not Just Trade War To Fear”

    By Michael Every of Rabobank

    History, Humility, and Wishful Thinking

    The UK election and the “I will protect you, but forgot my umbrella” Tory campaign have both been shaken up by its pledge to bring back conscription for 18-year-olds. This is seen as a desperate gamble and sad joke by many commentators, and even ex-military leaders say it’s silly to enroll unskilled, unwilling young adults when the armed forces need more equipment of all sorts, which the recent 2.5% of GDP defense spending pledge falls very far short of. Yet the joke must also be on those laughing when the global backdrop is so very serious.

    Stop thinking about Friday’s US PCE deflator data for a moment and look at the bigger picture. The main Bloomberg headline today is the G7 warning China over its trade practices. They want “balanced and reciprocal collaboration,” and will “consider taking steps to ensure a level playing field.” The US is already going to let tariff exclusions on hundreds of Chinese items expire, and the EU may be leaning towards a high tariff on Chinese EVs. Elsewhere, China is asking South Korea to maintain stable supply chains, as it moves closer to the US, and even Brazil, Chile, and Mexico have recently raised tariffs on Chinese steel.

    In short, global trade war looms, and as Bastiat noted, “If goods don’t cross borders, soldiers will.” The problematic inverse is that even Adam Smith implied if some goods cross borders, soldiers don’t need to, and others won’t be able to when needed.

    It’s not just trade war to fear. China just finished a huge military exercise that clearly rehearsed a blockade of Taiwan and says it will no longer accept US congressional delegations to Taipei: one including the CEO of Nvidia just opted to visit anyway. Tens of thousands of Taiwanese are on the streets protesting a “parliamentary coup” led by the pro-China KMT party and its ally aimed at weakening the new president, further stirring the national-security pot.

    Russia apparently wants a ceasefire in Ukraine, which would allow it to keep all it has already taken. Of course it does: those are the most attractive terms available for anyone in that position. However, a further escalation in fighting still seems more likely. Indeed, NATO chief Stoltenberg now backs allowing Ukraine to use Western weapons to hit Russian forces inside Russia’s pre-2014 territory, which will only deepen the perception in Moscow that it is at war with the West and not just Ukraine. Russian responses obviously could range from the military within Ukraine, where fears of the potential use of tactical nuclear weapons may again re-emerge following recent military drills with them, but likely in the grey zone of sabotage and economic warfare wherever they can hurt most – which for the EU is lots of places.

    The US just lifted its ban on arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The Israel-Hamas war continues despite the recent rulings of the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, the latter giving a more nuanced legal opinion than many initially read into it. Israel’s fight with Hezbollah in Lebanon continues to escalate in tandem. Related Houthi attacks just claimed their first (unsuccessful) strike on a ship in the Med: others will follow, maybe closing off another major international waterway; and when do the Houthis share that military technology with forces in East and West Africa who want to block Western shipping going that alternative route rather than via Suez? Freight rates already spiking again, with warnings this can get worse. Relatedly, Russia just struck a Red-Sea-port-for-guns deal with Sudan, meaning they now have belt of influence and boots on the ground right across the Sahel.

    If you have time today, read ‘Confronting Another Axis? History, Humility, and Wishful Thinking’ by Peter Zelikow. It’s the most detailed historical argument yet showing what I flagged in 2018 as a key risk markets were ignoring – that the US would see a coordinated pushback from China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, which it would be ill-placed to resist with its current economic structure. The author says, “a serious possibility of worldwide warfare may be only in the 20–30% range. But that assessment is not reassuring.” Indeed, it isn’t!

    While he agrees US defense supply chains will be rebuilt –transforming it, global trade, and markets– the next 1-3 years will prove exceptionally perilous as this all happens. He specifically warns, “The US does not have the strategic initiative in the present conflict. It is reacting to choices made by others, which its analysts may not anticipate and understand… I believe the anti-American partnership has probably decided to double down. They are probably preparing in earnest for a period of major confrontation.”

    Yet markets are wishing for large rate cuts. The only way this makes sense is the geopolitical argument of keeping debt servicing costs low enough to expand military production: but today that implies locking in higher inflation too. Hence my view that we will need a hybrid tight-and-loose fiscal-and-monetary policy, as was the case prior to our roll-out of neoliberal global financialisation in the 1980s.

    Those in the real economy cannot be as blithe as markets: the physical economy is changing. We can see that in the global trade war that looms, and the policies being offered in the UK and the US.

    And if the politics and the physical economy must change more, logically so must central bank architecture: it’s impossible it remains the same against that kind of backdrop. Coincidentally, an Australian senator recently lashed out at the RBA in a manner applicable to all Western central banks now:

    “The RBA is clueless as to how monetary policy works. In 1985, Paul Keating lifted government capital controls. This meant that private banks were no longer restricted as to how much money they could borrow from offshore banks and what they used it for.

    The private banks had $8bn in foreign debt in 1985. By 2008 they had $800bn in foreign debt. This lifted house prices from 4 times average earnings to around 12 times average earnings. Banks now lend 70% to households and only 30% to business… The 1937 Banking Royal Commission recommended that the central bank should control the volume of credit in the system as opposed to private banks.

    In 1992, the RBA was made independent, and APRA was split off in the late 1990s. It’s a sad reflection on just how little monetary policy is understood that RBA officials had no idea as to what I was talking about when I asked why they don’t establish an infrastructure bank.

    It beggars belief that the RBA could print $300bn to pay people to stay at home and get brainwashed by State Premiers but not actually set about funding Australia’s infrastructure, which would actually solve our productivity crises, which is what is driving inflation.”

    Just include national security in with ‘infrastructure’, and you are where I’ve said we would be: which is a long, long way from thinking that US personal consumption expenditure is the most important global metric to be focusing on.

    Of course, financial markets will Keep Calm and Carry On: because they are in denial; 20-25% is ‘not worth trading’ as a tail risk; they have no idea how to translate into their specific assets; if they take the WW3 view, they might as well just ‘Buy All the Things’ anyway; and, as Zelikow puts it, “It is really hard, cognitively and institutionally hard, to hold open a doorway to the emptiness of what we don’t know and adapt to changing circumstances.”

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/27/2024 – 18:20

  • Trust The "Science"…That Just Retracted 11,000 "Peer Reviewed" Papers
    Trust The “Science”…That Just Retracted 11,000 “Peer Reviewed” Papers

    It’s yet another reminder of why blindly ‘trusting the science’ may not always be the best go-to move in the future.

    217 year old Wiley science publisher has reportedly “peer reviewed” more than 11,000 papers that were determined to be fake without ever noticing. The papers were referred to as “naked gobbledygook sandwiches”,  Australian blogger Jo Nova wrote on her blog last week. 

    “It’s not just a scam, it’s an industry,” she said. “Who knew, academic journals were a $30 billion dollar industry?”

    According to Nova‘s post, professional cheating services are employing AI to craft seemingly “original” academic papers by shuffling around words. For instance, terms like “breast cancer” morphed into “bosom peril,” and a “naïve Bayes” classifier turns into “gullible Bayes.”

    Similarly, in one paper, an ant colony was bizarrely rebranded as an “underground creepy crawly state.” 

    The misuse of terminology extends to machine learning, where a ‘random forest’ is whimsically translated to ‘irregular backwoods’ or ‘arbitrary timberland’.

    Nova writes that shockingly, these papers undergo peer review without any rigorous human oversight, allowing egregious errors, like converting ‘local average energy’ to ‘territorial normal vitality’, to slip through.

    The publisher Wiley has confessed that fraudulent activities have rendered 19 of its journals so compromised that they must be shuttered. In response, the industry is developing AI tools to detect these fakes, a necessary yet disheartening development. Nova writes:

    The rot at Wiley started decades ago, but it got caught when it spent US $298 million on an Egyptian publishing house called Hindawi. We could say we hope no babies were hurt by fake papers but we know bad science already kills people. What we need are not “peer reviewed” papers but actual live face to face debate. Only when the best of both sides have to answer questions, with the data will we get real science:

    In March, it revealed to the NYSE a $US9 million ($13.5 million) plunge in research revenue after being forced to “pause” the publication of so-called “special issue” journals by its Hindawi imprint, which it had acquired in 2021 for US$298 million ($450 million).

    Its statement noted the Hindawi program, which comprised some 250 journals, had been “suspended temporarily due to the presence in certain special issues of compromised articles”.

    Many of these suspect papers purported to be serious medical studies, including examinations of drug resistance in newborns with pneumonia and the value of MRI scans in the diagnosis of early liver disease. The journals involved included Disease Markers, BioMed Research International and Computational Intelligence and Neuroscience.

    The problem is only becoming more urgent. The recent explosion of artificial intelligence raises the stakes even further. A researcher at University College London recently found more than 1 per cent of all scientific articles published last year, some 60,000 papers, were likely written by a computer.

    In some sectors, it’s worse. Almost one out of every five computer science papers published in the past four years may not have been written by humans.

    In Australia, ABC has reported on this issue, reflecting concerns over diminishing public trust in universities, which are increasingly seen as businesses rather than educational institutions. This perception is fueled by incidents where universities, driven by financial incentives, overlook academic fraud.

    The core of the scientific community is corroded, exacerbated by entities like the ABC Science Unit, which rather than scrutinizing dubious research, often shields it.

    This ongoing degradation calls for a shift from traditional peer review to rigorous live debates, ensuring accountability by having people argue their cases in real time.

    In December 2023, Nature posted that more than 10,000 papers were retracted in 2023 — a new record.

    You can read Nova’s full blog post here. 

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/27/2024 – 17:45

  • Friday Airline Travel Sets Record For Passenger Screenings: TSA
    Friday Airline Travel Sets Record For Passenger Screenings: TSA

    Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,

    Friday set a new record for the most airline passengers screened by U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials in a single day, according to the agency.

    “On Friday, May 24, 2,951,163 individuals were screened at checkpoints nationwide, surpassing the previous record on Nov. 26, 2023. We recommend arriving early,” the TSA said in a May 25 post on the social media platform X.

    On Nov. 26 last year, the TSA screened a slightly lower figure of 2.90 million travelers. The third-highest screened day was on May 23, when officers screened 2.89 million people.

    The record numbers come days after the TSA said it was prepared for the “highest passenger volumes the agency has seen at airport security checkpoints nationwide during this summer’s travel season,” according to a May 16 press release. The summer travel season begins on the Memorial Day weekend and runs through Labor Day.

    The agency forecasted that May 24 would be the busiest travel day of the Memorial weekend, anticipating almost three million passengers.

    For the week of May 23-29, the TSA expects to screen over 18 million passengers and crew, which would be a 6.4 percent increase in checkpoint volume compared to the same period last year.

    TSA Administrator David Pekoske said the agency was coordinating with airport, airline, and travel partners and was “more than ready” to handle the expected high travel volumes.

    “We are also continuing to deploy state-of-the-art checkpoint technology that increases security effectiveness, efficiency and enhances the passenger experience and our retention and recruitment numbers are the highest they’ve ever been.”

    Airlines for America (A4A), an association of airline companies, also predicts a “record-setting” summer season for air travel this year.

    In a May 14 press release, A4A forecasts that U.S. airlines will carry 271 million passengers worldwide this summer season between June 1 and Aug. 31, a 6.3 percent increase from last summer. If the prediction comes true, it’ll eclipse the previous record set last year when 255 million individuals went airborne.

    To accommodate higher demand, U.S. carriers will be offering more flights this summer. Airlines have planned more than 26,000 scheduled flights per day for the season, up by over 1,400 from 2023.

    “Our carriers have adjusted their schedules to adapt to current realities of our National Airspace System (NAS), helping to alleviate some of those pressure points and making for a smooth summer travel season,” A4A’s senior vice president of communications, Rebecca Spicer, said.

    Profitability of Airlines

    The higher U.S. airline passenger numbers come as the industry attempts to consistently match pre-pandemic operating revenue levels.

    Between 2013 and 2019, operating revenues netted more than $200 billion every single year. Revenues in 2018 came in at $240 billion, which increased to $248 billion in 2019.

    In 2020, following worldwide restrictions and lockdowns, revenues crashed to $131 billion, then rose to $194 billion in 2021, and netted nearly $280 billion in 2022. However, revenues fell to $223 billion in 2023.

    The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is expecting the global airline industry’s net profits to hit $25.7 billion in 2024, a slight improvement from 2023’s $23.3 billion. This points to a 2.7 percent net profit margin rate for the year.

    Willie Walsh, the IATA’s director general, pointed out that the $25.7 billion net profit in 2024 is a “tribute to aviation’s resilience” given the major losses the industry suffered in recent years.

    However, industry profits “must be put into proper perspective,” he said. “A net profit margin of 2.7 percent is far below what investors in almost any other industry would accept … On average, airlines will retain just $5.45 for every passenger carried. That’s about enough to buy a basic ‘grande latte’ at a London Starbucks.”

    Even though operating profits in 2024 are expected to jump by 21.1 percent, net profit margins are only projected to rise by 10 percent, which the IATA blames mostly on increased interest rates.

    New Screening Protocols

    Meanwhile, the TSA announced that airline passengers could expect to encounter some new checkpoint technologies this year.

    For instance, the agency is using the second generation Credential Authentication Technology (CAT-2). Like its earlier version CAT, the updated CAT-2 will confirm the authenticity of a passenger’s identity with their photo ID as well as flight details and pre-screening status.

    However, the updated version comes with new camera features, with passengers potentially having to agree to have a photo of them taken in real time for identity verification. This is done to ensure that “the person standing at the checkpoint is the same person pictured on their ID,” the agency said.

    The TSA highlighted that photos taken will not be stored or saved after a positive ID match has been made. However, the agency said it may retain the image for conducting tests to evaluate tech effectiveness.

    “Passengers who do not want their photo taken may ask the Transportation Security Officer (TSO) for a manual ID check without penalty and losing their place in line.”

    Multiple airports have also installed Computed Tomography (CT) units, which the agency claims will “significantly improve” scanning and threat detection of carry-on bags. CT units generate a 3D image of passengers’ bags, thus reducing the need to physically search their contents.

    The TSA has so far deployed 2,050 CAT units at 223 airports, out of which 238 units are the updated CAT-2 versions. The agency has set up over 820 CT units at more than 240 airports.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/27/2024 – 17:40

  • Boeing's Starliner Crewed ISS Mission Will Still Launch Despite Helium Leak
    Boeing’s Starliner Crewed ISS Mission Will Still Launch Despite Helium Leak

    After a nearly one-month delay, NASA and Boeing are moving forward with the CST-100 Starliner launch despite a helium leak. This crewed mission will mark the first time the spacecraft ferries astronauts to the International Space Station.

    On Friday, NASA and Boeing officials told reporters that a problematic valve was replaced after the scrubbed May 6 launch attempt. Shortly after, engineers found a “small” helium leak with Starliner. 

    NASA Associate Administrator Ken Bowersox said, “It’s taken a while for us to be ready to discuss” the helium leak problem. 

    “It’s so complicated. There are so many things going on. We really just needed to work through it as a team,” Bowersox said.

    NASA and Boeing say a defective seal caused the leak in one of the flanges of the spacecraft’s helium propulsion system. It was not immediately clear whether the seal was installed improperly or manufactured incorrectly.

    Steve Stich, the manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, explained the Starliner can still fly with the helium leak:

    “Should we be wrong about something, we could handle up to four more leaks.

    “And we could handle this particular leak if that leak rate were to grow, even up to 100 times in this one (propulsion module).”

    Stich pointed out that NASA has “flown vehicles with small helium leaks” before, including “a couple of cases” from Elon Musk’s SpaceX’s rockets. 

    Another review of the leak is slated for Wednesday. The rocket and capsule are set to be rolled out onto the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Saturday. 

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/27/2024 – 17:00

  • The Fed Vs. The Treasury: All Roads Lead To Inflation
    The Fed Vs. The Treasury: All Roads Lead To Inflation

    Via SchiffGold.com,

    In the fight against inflation, is it the Fed or the Treasury that calls the shots? The answer is, it’s both.

    The Fed raises interest rates to make loans less attractive and bring inflation down, but The Treasury has its own set of magic tricks to artificially “stimulate” or “tighten” the economy as well.

    One of them is a Treasury buyback program, something that was just reincarnated for the first time in about two decades. This is where the Treasury repurchases its own outstanding securities from the open market to increase liquidity, stoke, demand, and bring down yields. 

    If Treasury markets can’t be reigned in, the Fed expands its balance sheet by buying those Treasury securities to add liquidity and stability. These “open market operations” are usually the “money printing” that people are talking about happening at the Fed. “QE” refers more specifically to operations where the Fed is buying other assets beyond just Treasury securities, as occurred in the 2008 crisis and during COVID. But the Treasury buying back its own issued debt is, in essence, QE by another name.

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    While this occurs outside the halls of the Federal Reserve itself, Treasury buybacks are merely a different way to print money from nothing. The US is running a deep, sustained fiscal deficit with no true debt ceiling — so the Treasury buys back its own securities by issuing new debt, which it creates out of thin air. With spending far exceeding revenue, higher interest rates plus more debt means that fiscal deficits accelerate. The short-term stimulative effect of this somewhat offsets the Fed’s tightened monetary policy but digs a deeper hole in the longer term.

    One method the Treasury uses is to shorten the average duration of securities so that debts mature sooner. That means more short-term debt (like Treasury bills) versus long-term debt (like Treasury bonds). This encourages more capital flows into the banking sector and helps stave off instability. If it fails, the big banks still win: when smaller banks fail, they’re usually just absorbed by bigger ones where the profits are private but the losses are socialized. The “Too Big to Fail” club becomes even bigger and more powerful.

    When the Treasury issues more short-term debt, it’s waging war on the Fed’s higher interest rate policy. Both the Treasury and Fed need to keep Treasury yields down, but tightened monetary policy encourages higher yields. If yields get too high, the bond market — and challenged industries like commercial real estate that rely on debt — are screwed. So while the Fed tightens, the Treasury must loosen. Yields have since gone down, but if inflationary pressures and other factors push them back past 5%, both the Fed and Treasury are trapped.

    “Higher for longer” policy at the Fed is even more essential for holding back inflation as the Treasury injects liquidity into markets. If the Fed lowers rates now, the results of simultaneously expansionary monetary and fiscal policy will send consumer prices soaring.

    So are the Fed and Treasury in opposition, or are they working together, one changing its policy to prevent a disaster caused by the policies of the other? The answer is complex, but the oversimplified version is that the two have locked the economy into a game of musical chairs where, eventually, the music is bound to stop.

    The end result of the Treasury’s showdown with the Fed will still be out-of-control inflation. Both artificially contract and expand the money supply, and their policies have both created an inescapable trap. COVID QE is one big unexploded bomb that is sitting in the center of that trap. And even with the Fed holding off on interest rate cuts in the short term, the Treasury’s buybacks are QE by a different name. With too much inflationary pressure and not enough tools to stop it, the end result of all this fiscal and monetary tinkering will be a disaster for the dollar.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/27/2024 – 16:20

  • CEO Of Russia's Second-Largest Bank Warns: "US Is Inevitably Headed For A Serious Economic Crisis"
    CEO Of Russia’s Second-Largest Bank Warns: “US Is Inevitably Headed For A Serious Economic Crisis”

    Last September, we told readers that the US national debt was skyrocketing at a staggering $1 trillion every three months—roughly every 100 days.

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    Since then, the debt spending has gotten worse. 

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    Out-of-control spending has delayed the US economy’s day of reckoning in this year’s presidential election cycle. But it has become very evident an economic crisis looms in the years ahead. 

    One River Asset Management CIO, Eric Peters, recently said, “I have a growing conviction that in the coming 2-5 years, we’re going to face a US debt sustainability crisis, sparking a major global market event.” 

    BofA CIO Michael Hartnett recently noted what we said previously about the unsustainable debt explosion… 

    And now, fresh comments from Andrey Kostin, CEO of Russia’s second-largest bank, have emerged—comments that Western mainstream media dare not share with their audiences. Why is that? … Well, the Washington censorship blob wouldn’t allow it.

    Russian state-owned news agency TASS cited Kostin’s interview with the Fontanka publication, who warned if it wasn’t for the dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency, a sovereign debt crisis would’ve already been underway in the US. No matter what, he warned the US economy is on the verge of an economic crisis. 

    “I am thoroughly convinced that America is inevitably headed for a serious economic crisis. The amount of debt currently held by the US today has reached inconceivable, astronomical levels. And the dollar’s monopoly on the global stage is the only thing enabling the Americans to maintain such a level of debt. If the Chinese or the Arabs took their money out of the US, a complete collapse would ensue for the financial sector and the government,” he said. 

    Kostin added:

    “If the West fails to revise its policy I think that the move toward the collapse of the colonial system will only accelerate.” 

    Kostin noted that China has been disposing of US government debt. Last month, we asked: “Is China’s ‘Dumping’ Driving US Treasury Yields Higher?” 

    China’s Treasury holdings are back to levels not seen since June 2009. 

    It’s not just China. Treasury holdings are ‘relatively’ flat (based on Fed custody data), while according to The IMF, the world’s sovereign nations have been panic-buying gold.

    It’s not just Kostin sounding the alarm about a looming US debt crisis — Wall Street analysts have echoed the same dire warnings. 

    Here’s a question: What ever happened to the economic collapse of Russia via endless Western sanctions? 

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/27/2024 – 15:40

  • Saving Our Democracy This Memorial Day
    Saving Our Democracy This Memorial Day

    Authored by James Howard Kunstler via Kunstler.com,

    “We must stop Donald Trump.”

    – President “Joe Biden”

    Surely it was the right thing to do for President “Joe Biden” to remind the nation of the tragic loss of George Floyd four years ago this Memorial Day weekend.

    At the time, the man known as “the Black Thomas Edison” was rumored to be this close to achieving an economically viable system for producing electricity via atomic fusion using the fentanyl molecule (C22H28N2O) combined with the nuclei of alcohol (C2H6O), releasing enough energy from one gram to power a city the size of Minneapolis for a day.

    The math he left behind on his chalkboard spells it out:

    17.6 MeV×1.60218×10?13 J/MeV?2.82×10?12 J

    You see how that works?

    Alas, Dr. Floyd had apparently ingested a small amount of these experimental substances accidently before leaving his lab May 25, 2020, when he encountered the white supremacist police officer Derek Chauvin outside a Cup Foods convenience store in Minneapolis’s “Powderhorn” neighborhood. For reasons never understood, despite manifold judicial inquiries, the officer dragged the Great Man out of his car — where he was polishing some of the requisite algebra in his notebook — and for no reason at all placed one knee, and all his weight, on Dr. Floyd’s neck, constricting his airway and causing his death.

    The nation erupted in violence, and you know the rest of the story: no cheap energy for you, you nation of white supremacist asswipes!

    And so it has gone since that fateful day: one darn thing after another.

    Luckily though — and with a little help from Mark Zuckerberg’s Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) – the vigilant “Joe Biden” presides in the White House, keeping America safe for democracy, by democracy, and of democracy. The country has never experienced so much democracy. The Brookings Institution even warns that the country might be close to a democracy overload, in which the popular will is so immense that everyone in all fifty states thinks the same morally correct thoughts all day long without giving offense or making any space unsafe or dis-including any diverse category of human (except white supremacists) from his, her, or they’s share of the nation’s limitless wealth.

    “Joe Biden” has been especially effective at containing the Grand Golem of all white supremacists, Trump, from deconstructing our utopian democracy. This Trump uttered perfidious misinformation that the 2020 election was less than fair and upright. He is under indictment in Fulton County, GA, for conspiring to transmit this incorrect thinking to other white supremacists and creating an unsafe space for GA Sec’y of State Brad Raffensberger by asking him to “find” additional votes. What log was Bradraff supposed to look under, anyway (ha ha!)?

    The case is being guided by Fulton County DA, the indomitable Fani Willis, at least for now, as she awaits a process known as getting the bidness from a white supremacist so-called ethics committee in the Georgia State Senate, where she has been falsely accused of mis-spending state money on vacations with erstwhile special prosecutor Nathan Wade. These trips were, of course, fact-finding efforts. One fact found is that the white supremacist cruise ship directors attempt to kill black people by luring them into all-you-can-eat buffets at sea, from which escape is impossible.

    “Joe Biden” also got Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint Lawfare paladin Jack Smith to prosecute this nefarious Trump in the most upright of all federal court districts, Washington, DC, for instigating what “Joe Biden” recently called an “erection” against our democracy. Trump, you see, told a gigantic mob of white supremacists to penetrate our nation’s capitol building so as to obstruct certification of the 2020 electoral vote and murder then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, if possible, along with all congresspersons of color. Legal experts at MSNBC, Andrew Weissmann (of the Mueller Special Counsel office), and Andy McCabe (former Deputy Director of the FBI), have already found this Trump guilty, and they know about these matters better than anybody, so the trial under Judge Tanya Chutkan may be unnecessary.

    Things are not going quite so well for SC Smith in the Martin County Federal Court of Judge Aileen Cannon, where this Trump stands accused of fobbing off with classified government documents, claiming some fabricated sort of presidential privilege — unlike “Joe Biden” who got his classified docs before he was president and therefore does not have to claim any such privilege (and was understandably “forgetful” when asked about the docs by the other SC Robert Hur). In any case, AG Garland can always dispatch an FBI SWAT team to Judge Cannon’s home to spur an attitude adjustment on the bench, if required.

    Hopes really rest, though, on the current case against the Grand Golem Trump in Judge Juan Marchan’s Manhattan courtroom, where the most supreme of all white supremacists stands accused of book-keeping irregularities in furtherance of federal crimes so unspeakable that they have never actually been spoken. The case, engineered by veteran DC Golem hunters Mary McCord, Norm Eisen, Lisa Monaco, and Matthew Colangelo, fronted by Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, goes to the jury after final arguments this week.

    Judge Marchan is expected to instruct the jury to vote guilty because no other conclusion is possible. Thus, Judge Merchan will be celebrated far and wide for saving our democracy. But that’s not all. After the most excellent verdict of guilty X-23-Plus, he will have the pleasure of sentencing this Trump to life in the Rikers Island prison complex, where it will be difficult for the Grand Golem to organize any white supremacist activities and will be relegated to a diet of baloney sandwiches for the duration of his term.

    The only downside for this scenario is that Trump might get elected President of the USA despite conviction, and on January 20, 2025, commence operations to put “Joe Biden” and all the others in his train of officials in jail for the rest of their natural lives. You have to wonder if they’re thinking about that this holiday weekend.

    *  *  *

    Support his blog by visiting Jim’s Patreon Page or Substack

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/27/2024 – 15:00

  • "Holy F**K": US Military Hid Quantico Breach Attempt By Jordanians In Box Truck In Possible Dry-Run
    “Holy F**K”: US Military Hid Quantico Breach Attempt By Jordanians In Box Truck In Possible Dry-Run

    Weeks ago, two individuals in a box truck attempted to breach the gates at Quantico Marine Corps Base in Triangle, Virginia. Armed guards immediately stopped them, and the base’s top brass quickly covered up the incident.

    The reason for burying this incident? It’s an election year for President Biden – and this type of news is politically explosive. The suspects were two Jordanian nationals, one reportedly on the FBI’s terrorist watch list, raising suspicions that they entered illegally through the Biden administration’s open southern border, as one report says, adding this could’ve been a dry run for a potential vehicle-borne improvised explosive device attack.

    Potomac Local News first reported the incident. Since then, the New York Post has exposed how the May 3 incident was potentially covered up, even for those on the base for two weeks. 

    Matt Strickland was the first to report the incident to the local media outlet. He told NYPost, “After I [raised the alarm], I had people who work at Quantico messaging me saying, ‘Holy f—k, when did this happen?” 

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    He said, “Two weeks after it happened, Quantico finally put an email out to employees on base letting them know.” 

    “It was basically ‘F—k, guys, I guess we aren’t going to be able to keep this secret, we should try to do some CYA’ [cover your ass],” said Strickland, a former Blackwater contractor and combat incident analyst at the National Ground Intelligence Center. 

    Strickland said, “Every American has a right to know what happened at Quantico,” adding, “Citizens have a right to know what is going on in their backyard.” 

    Why is that, you ask?

    Well, as the NYPost explained:

    Some reports speculated the two men arrested had recently crossed the southern border into the US, and one was [said to be] on the US government’s terrorist watch list.

    Strickland was told one of the people involved had a Virginia ID, while the other was a terrorist. The Post has not been able to independently verify either rumor.

    Both men are in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. Authorities would not comment further, only saying the two will remain in ICE custody until deported.

    Strickland continued:

    “Who would they be keeping that information from? The reasoning would be so the terrorists, or whoever the Jordanians are working for, don’t know all the information. But whoever those two Jordanian men are working for already know what they planned to do and that they were apprehended.

    “The only people who don’t know what happened are the American people.”

    This is why Strickland believes the incident was abruptly covered up:

    “The secrecy is purposeful because it was illegal immigrants, one of who was on the terror watch list, who breached the gates. 

    “And they’re allowing these illegal immigrants to come across the border.”

    The NYPost’s Editorial Board asks…

    And this is not the first incident. We covered a report over the weekend of two undocumented Chechens, with one using a “telephoto lens” – taking photos outside the home of an elite US Army special forces colonel near Fort Liberty, formerly Fort Bragg, in North Carolina.

    None of this should be surprising to ZeroHedge readers. The Biden administration’s experiment of letting unvetted and unvaxxed illegal aliens into the nation – upwards of ten million – is truly shocking. Even the Department of Homeland Security admitted the southern border has been open to terrorists and criminals. The FBI has made similar warnings, with known terrorists apprehended on the border. 

    Recall earlier this year, Ohio Sheriff Richard K. Jones warned, “There are more red flags going off now than before 9-11” thanks to open southern borders. 

    Also, an Iranian intelligence officer is running around America, plotting assassination attacks against former and current government officials. 

    Don’t forget the countless terrorists that have already crossed the border and are unknown at this point because of open southern border policies. 

    Great job, Democrats. The American people will never forget how open southern borders have fueled chaos nationwide—all because you want a new voting base. How selfish. This issue will haunt the party in the upcoming elections, as the majority of Americans are fed up.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/27/2024 – 14:20

  • David Stockman On The Continual Rise In The Cost Of Living… And Why The Fed Has No Shame
    David Stockman On The Continual Rise In The Cost Of Living… And Why The Fed Has No Shame

    Authored by David Stockman via InternationalMan.com,

    Jay Powell did it again assuring the 1% that he has their back.

    Markets recovered their poise over the last 24 hours, as investors were relieved after Fed Chair Powell stuck to his recent views on the economic outlook. In his remarks yesterday, he said that recent data didn’t “materially change the overall picture” and that on inflation “it is too soon to say whether the recent readings represent more than just a bump.” In addition, he reiterated that if “the economy evolves broadly as we expect, most FOMC participants see it as likely to be appropriate to begin lowering the policy rate at some point this year.” So that all helped to validate market pricing, which still expects 71 bps of rate cuts from the Fed by the December meeting.

    Needless to say, the man has no shame. And that’s to say nothing of intellectual firepower. There is not even a smidgen of a case that rate cuts in the present context will help main street, and the Fed heads and their Wall Street megaphones don’t actually even try to make that argument.

    Instead, they argue for rates cuts by default. If by some tortured version of the CPI (i.e. the “supercore” index, which eliminates 61% of the CPI items by weight) they can espy the in-coming inflation trend settling into a liberally defined vicinity of 2.00%, that’s purportedly good enough to end the money-printing pause that has been in place since March 2022. Thereafter, it’s back to business as usual, flooding the canyons of Wall Street with cheap credit and a new burst of financial asset inflation.

    Never mind that in this particular inflation-cycle, the general price level is up by 28% since January 2017 and that tens of millions of households and businesses have been badly damaged, even as others harvested windfall gains. When it comes to inflation and all the other so-called macroeconomic metrics on their dashboards, past history–even the recent past—is dead to the Fed heads.

    Instead, it’s all about the current and especially the prospective rate of change as embodied in the silly “dot-plots” they gurgle around in their brains and update four times per year.

    And we do mean silly. After all, if the consensus of the 19 geniuses who participate in the dot-plot guessing game espies say a 2.27% gain in the supercore index over the next year, so what?!

    The fact is, the US economy needs a lot more relief from its recent inflationary pounding than the Fed’s guesstimated rate of slowdown in the forward year rise of the price level. After all, here is the increase in the core cost of living items since January 2017.

    Change in Core Cost-of-Living Components Since January 2017:

    • Food: +32%.

    • Shelter: +34%.

    • Energy: +35%.

    • Transportation Services: +36%.

    In the case of savers, retirees, wage-earners in globally impacted industries where wages haven’t kept up with the CPI, isn’t the above enough punishment? Doesn’t it actually amount to state-directed expropriation of their living standards and modest accumulated wealth?

    In any event, what the hell is so almighty urgent about rate cuts when the economy is still growing apace and the cumulative inflation of the last seven years has not been relieved in the slightest?

    Increase In Major Cost-of-Living Components of the CPI Since January 2017

    The dog-eared claim that rate cuts will enhance the growth rate of output, jobs, investment and spending on main street just doesn’t wash. Artificially low interest rates overwhelmingly fuel borrowing for speculation and financial engineering (e.g. stock buybacks) on Wall Street, not borrowing for productive investment on main street or even for enhanced “consumption” by the household sector, which is now buried in debt up to the gills after decades of easy money.

    In fact, the only way that easy money causes households to spend more than the growth rate of their incomes is if they steadily increase their debt-to-income or leverage ratio. That generates incremental borrowings, which in turn can supplement spending derived from current period income.

    And that’s exactly what happened in the half-century leading up to the great financial crisis. The household debt-to-income (wage and salary basis) ratio posted at 70% in 1960, but vaulted skyward thereafter, especially after Greenspan opened the spigots at the Fed after 1987. By Q1 2009 that household leverage ratio stood at 227% (purple area), and it was that massive increase in leverage which goosed household spending during this interval of time.

    No more. Since Q1 2009 the household sector has been slowly but steadily deleveraging, with the ratio now down to 166% as of Q4 2023. What that means is that the Fed’s magic “stimulus” elixir simply doesn’t work any more in the household sector. It gooses organic spending not one whit.

    Explosion of Household Debt Leverage During 1960 to 2009 and Deleveraging Since Then

    As to the supply-side growth canard, it cannot be gainsaid that the amount of monetary stimulus has been off the charts relative to all prior history. In fact, the Fed’s balance sheet at @ $7.5 trillion is still more than 8X its pre-crisis level in Q4 2007.

    Yet when it comes to real growth of value-added production during the six year period from Q1 2018 to Q4 2023, the chart below tells you all you need to know. To wit, real value added output in the health care, education and social services sector grew at a 2.71% per annum rate, which was 3X the 0.90% real growth rate of the nondurable goods production sector.

    Self-evidently, the former sector does not need easy money or ultra-low interest rates to grow. Demand in the health, education and social services sector is overwhelmingly financed by government fiscal transfers, including the massive subsidies implicit in the medical care deductions and preferences of the IRS code.

    Indeed, the red line in the chart below represented the fastest growing sector of the US economy by far during that six year period, but we’d dare say none of those gains depended upon low interest rates. The sector’s munificent funding actually flows from statutory entitlements and long-standing tax code provisions, which generate essentially the same level of demand and sector output whether the Federal funds rate is 1% or 7%.

    At the same time, it is highly unlikely that a return to low rates will do much for the moribund growth rates in the industrial economy, as represented here by real-value added in the nondurable goods industries. Long ago, much of US production of shoes, shirts, sheets, household supplies and the like was off-shored to lower cost venues abroad. And locking in the current inflated domestic costs levels plus another 2-3% per year going forward will not bring them back.

    In sum, the Fed’s fiddling with interest rates is largely irrelevant to the supply-side path of the two industries shown below, and countless more just like them.

    Real Value Added: Education, Health Care and Social Assistance Sector Versus Durable Goods, 2018 to 2023

    Finally, it is tantamount to laughable to claim that the Fed needs to revert to the rate cutting modality in order to stabilize the financial markets and main street economy and to compensate for the purported inherent volatility of the free market.

    Oh, puleese!

    Every one of the main street recessions and financial market crises of the past six decades has been caused by the state and the machinations of its central banking branch. The very idea that there is an implicit third mandate called “financial stability” (after inflation control and full employment) is risible. It puts you in mind of the young man who killed both parents and then threw himself upon the mercy of the court on the grounds that he was an orphan!

    At the end of the day, sharply cutting rates any time this year or for some time to come thereafter would amount to a financial crime. After just a short stay of approximately eight months barely in positive territory (purple area) since July 2023, inflation-adjusted or real rates would be back below the zero bound, where they have destructively dwelled for much of the last several decades, as the chart makes crystal clear.

    Inflation-Adjusted Federal Funds Rate, 2001 to 2024

    Of course, that development would be heartily welcomed by Wall Street speculators and the Washington war-mongers and spenders alike. And that’s exactly the reason it should not be done.

    *  *  *

    The truth is, we’re on the cusp of an economic crisis that could eclipse anything we’ve seen before. And most people won’t be prepared for what’s coming. That’s exactly why bestselling author Doug Casey and his team just released a free report with all the details on how to survive an economic collapse. Click here to download the PDF now.

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/27/2024 – 13:40

  • Global Outrage After Deadly Israeli Strike On Refugee Tent Camp In Rafah
    Global Outrage After Deadly Israeli Strike On Refugee Tent Camp In Rafah

    There have been widespread reports of a civilian massacre following a Sunday Israeli air strike on a camp for displaced Palestinians in the besieged southern city of Rafah, which the Gaza Health Ministry says killed 45 people, including women and children.

    Israel says it is investigating the strike, amid widespread international condemnation and as horrific videos of the attack aftermath circulate widely, with Israel’s top military prosecutor calling the attack “very grave”.

    Major-General Yifat Tomer Yerushalmi said in a briefing the Israeli army “regrets any harm to non-combatants during the war” and that “The details of the incident are still under an investigation, which we are committed to conducting to the fullest extent.”

    Fire rages after the airstrike, via Al Jazeera

    The targeted area of the Tal al-Sultan neighborhood had been a recognized UN-run “safe zone” which lies about 2km to the northwest of the Rafah city center.

    Incredibly graphic and disturbing social media videos show people burning in tents and rescuers carrying mangled and burned children’s bodies. According to an eyewitness description:

    Mohammad al-Mughayyir, a senior official at the civil defense agency, told AFP that at least 40 Palestinians were killed and at least 65 wounded in the Israeli strikes.

    “We saw charred bodies and dismembered limbs… We also saw cases of amputations, wounded children, women and the elderly,” Mughayyir said. Eyewitnesses told Reuters that tents were “melting” after the bombardment, burning people alive. 

    The Israeli strikes followed a rare Hamas rocket launch on Tel Aviv earlier the same day, which included at least eight projectiles, most of which were intercepted.

    An international humanitarian organization, ActionAid, said it was “outraged and heartbroken” that the strike hit a tent area to a UNRWQ warehouses stocking “vital aid.”

    “The images coming from our partners of burned bodies are a scar on the face of humanity and the global community, which so far has failed to protect the people of Gaza. One of our own ActionAid colleagues narrowly escaped this atrocity, having left the shelter just a day before the attack,” ActionAid said.

    A Hamas statement called it a “massacre” and said the group also holds the United States responsible as it supplies Israel’s military with weaponry.

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    The Palestinian Authority’s (PA) Mahmoud Abbas charged Israel with deliberately targeting civilians. “The perpetration of this heinous massacre by the Israeli occupation forces is a challenge to all international legitimacy resolutions.” He alleged the IDF was “deliberately targeting” refugee tents.

    The high casualty event has elicited statements of condemnation from leaders across the Middle East and Europe, as well as from some Democratic Congressional members in the US. This has included EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell who demanded that the ICJ call for immediate ceasefire must be adhered to.

    German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock’s words were especially strong. “No Israeli hostage will be freed if more people now have to shelter in tents,” Baerbock said. “International humanitarian law applies for all, also for Israel’s conduct of the war,” she added.

    Against this avalanche of criticism, also at a moment of investigations and legal actions by both the International Criminal Court (ICC) and UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) – both accusing the Israeli side of genocide – the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have pushed back, saying Hamas militants were in the area that was hit Sunday.

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    “The strike was carried out against legitimate targets under international law, through the use of precise munitions and on the basis of precise intelligence that indicated Hamas’s use of the area,” the IDF said. “The IDF [Israeli army] is aware of reports indicating that, as a result of the strike and fire that was ignited, several civilians in the area were harmed. The incident is under review.”

    Tyler Durden
    Mon, 05/27/2024 – 13:00

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May 27

Today’s News 27th May 2024

  • AI Vs America: Deepfakes, Disinformation, Social Engineering, & The 2024 Election
    AI Vs America: Deepfakes, Disinformation, Social Engineering, & The 2024 Election

    Authored by Julio Rivera via American Greatness,

    Artificial intelligence (AI) and its integration within various sectors is moving at a speed that couldn’t have been imagined just a few years ago. As a result, the United States now stands on the brink of a new era of cybersecurity challenges. With AI technologies becoming increasingly sophisticated, the potential for their exploitation by malicious actors grows exponentially.

    Because of this evolving threat, government agencies like the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), alongside private sector entities, must urgently work to harden America’s defenses to account for any soft spots that may be exploited. Failure to do so could have dire consequences on a multitude of levels, especially as we approach the upcoming U.S. presidential election, which is likely to be the first to contend with the profound implications of AI-driven cyber warfare.

    AI’s transformative potential is undeniable, revolutionizing industries from healthcare to finance. However, this same potential poses a significant threat when harnessed by cybercriminals. According to a report by the UK’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the rise of AI is expected to lead to a marked increase in cyberattacks in the coming years. AI can automate and enhance the scale, speed, and sophistication of these attacks, making them more difficult to detect and counteract.

    The nature of AI-driven cyber threats is multifaceted. AI can be used to create highly convincing phishing attacks, automate vulnerability discovery by foreign adversaries in software systems to identify backdoors, and launch large-scale Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks.

    Moreover, AI algorithms can be employed to develop malware or trojans that adapt and evolve to evade detection. The GCHQ report warns of the growing use of AI by cyber adversaries to improve the effectiveness of their attacks, posing a significant challenge for traditional cybersecurity protocols.

    The stakes are particularly high as the United States prepares for the November election. DHS has already issued warnings about the threats posed by AI to the election process. Among the potential threats posed by AI are deepfakes, automated disinformation campaigns, and targeted social engineering attacks. These tactics could undermine the integrity of the election, erode public trust in democratic institutions, and sow discord among the electorate.

    The potential for disruptions in trust and accuracy in the election process is not exactly an unprecedented threat. In the 2020 election, there were already instances of misinformation and foreign interference. With AI’s capabilities advancing rapidly, the 2024 election could see these efforts become more sophisticated and harder to counter.

    It seems that every day, more and more AI-generated deepfakes are being disseminated on social media. Many of these are intended to be humorous, or they are being used in digital marketing campaigns to sell products, but in an election scenario, disrupters could create realistic but fake videos of candidates, potentially influencing voter perceptions and decisions.

    One of the most significant challenges in addressing AI-driven cyber threats is the pervasive underestimation of their potential impact. Many in both the public and private sectors fail to grasp the severity and immediacy of these threats. This complacency is partly due to the abstract nature of AI and a lack of understanding of how it can be weaponized. However, as AI continues to integrate into critical infrastructure and various sectors of the economy, the risks become more tangible and immediate.

    In response to funding proposals from the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, a bipartisan group of senators just unveiled a $32 billion spending proposal. This investment is not merely in developing AI for civilian or commercial use but explicitly in enhancing offensive cyber capabilities. The potential for AI to augment cyberwarfare necessitates a reevaluation of our current cybersecurity strategies.

    Addressing the AI-driven cyber threat landscape requires a concerted effort from both government agencies and the private sector. Government agencies like DHS and CISA must update and expand existing cybersecurity frameworks to address AI-specific threats. This includes developing guidelines for detecting and mitigating AI-driven malware attacks and ensuring that these guidelines are disseminated across all levels of government and critical infrastructure sectors.

    Beyond the scope of just the public sector, we must realize that effective cybersecurity is a collaborative effort. The government must foster stronger partnerships with the private sector, leveraging the expertise and resources of technology companies, cybersecurity firms, and other stakeholders. These kinds of joint initiatives and information-sharing platforms can help in the rapid identification and response to AI-driven threats. CISA has previously attempted to strengthen these relationships, but much more must be done.

    Additionally, raising public awareness about the risks posed by AI-driven cyber threats is essential. Educational campaigns can help individuals recognize and respond to phishing attempts, data collection efforts, disinformation, and other cyber threats, while fostering a culture of cybersecurity awareness in organizations can reduce the risk of successful attacks.

    Lastly, policymakers must consider new regulations and legislative measures to address the unique challenges posed by AI in cybersecurity. This includes updating cybersecurity laws to incorporate AI-specific considerations and ensuring that regulatory frameworks keep pace with technological advancements.

    America, as a nation, stands on the precipice of an increasingly AI-driven future. The potential for AI-based cyber attacks represents one of the most pressing security challenges of our time, and November’s election underscores the urgency of addressing these threats as the integrity of our democratic process hangs in the balance.

    The time for complacency has passed. The United States must act decisively to protect its digital infrastructure and democratic institutions from the evolving threats posed by AI-driven cyber attacks. Our national security, economic and global stability, and the very fabric of our democracy depend on it.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 05/26/2024 – 23:55

  • Trust The "Science"…That Just Retracted 11,000 "Peer Reviewed" Papers
    Trust The “Science”…That Just Retracted 11,000 “Peer Reviewed” Papers

    It’s yet another reminder of why blindly ‘trusting the science’ may not always be the best go-to move in the future.

    217 year old Wiley science publisher has reportedly “peer reviewed” more than 11,000 papers that were determined to be fake without ever noticing. The papers were referred to as “naked gobbledygook sandwiches”,  Australian blogger Jo Nova wrote on her blog last week. 

    “It’s not just a scam, it’s an industry,” she said. “Who knew, academic journals were a $30 billion dollar industry?”

    According to Nova‘s post, professional cheating services are employing AI to craft seemingly “original” academic papers by shuffling around words. For instance, terms like “breast cancer” morphed into “bosom peril,” and a “naïve Bayes” classifier turns into “gullible Bayes.”

    Similarly, in one paper, an ant colony was bizarrely rebranded as an “underground creepy crawly state.” 

    The misuse of terminology extends to machine learning, where a ‘random forest’ is whimsically translated to ‘irregular backwoods’ or ‘arbitrary timberland’.

    Nova writes that shockingly, these papers undergo peer review without any rigorous human oversight, allowing egregious errors, like converting ‘local average energy’ to ‘territorial normal vitality’, to slip through.

    The publisher Wiley has confessed that fraudulent activities have rendered 19 of its journals so compromised that they must be shuttered. In response, the industry is developing AI tools to detect these fakes, a necessary yet disheartening development. Nova writes:

    The rot at Wiley started decades ago, but it got caught when it spent US $298 million on an Egyptian publishing house called Hindawi. We could say we hope no babies were hurt by fake papers but we know bad science already kills people. What we need are not “peer reviewed” papers but actual live face to face debate. Only when the best of both sides have to answer questions, with the data will we get real science:

    In March, it revealed to the NYSE a $US9 million ($13.5 million) plunge in research revenue after being forced to “pause” the publication of so-called “special issue” journals by its Hindawi imprint, which it had acquired in 2021 for US$298 million ($450 million).

    Its statement noted the Hindawi program, which comprised some 250 journals, had been “suspended temporarily due to the presence in certain special issues of compromised articles”.

    Many of these suspect papers purported to be serious medical studies, including examinations of drug resistance in newborns with pneumonia and the value of MRI scans in the diagnosis of early liver disease. The journals involved included Disease Markers, BioMed Research International and Computational Intelligence and Neuroscience.

    The problem is only becoming more urgent. The recent explosion of artificial intelligence raises the stakes even further. A researcher at University College London recently found more than 1 per cent of all scientific articles published last year, some 60,000 papers, were likely written by a computer.

    In some sectors, it’s worse. Almost one out of every five computer science papers published in the past four years may not have been written by humans.

    In Australia, ABC has reported on this issue, reflecting concerns over diminishing public trust in universities, which are increasingly seen as businesses rather than educational institutions. This perception is fueled by incidents where universities, driven by financial incentives, overlook academic fraud.

    The core of the scientific community is corroded, exacerbated by entities like the ABC Science Unit, which rather than scrutinizing dubious research, often shields it.

    This ongoing degradation calls for a shift from traditional peer review to rigorous live debates, ensuring accountability by having people argue their cases in real time.

    In December 2023, Nature posted that more than 10,000 papers were retracted in 2023 — a new record.

    You can read Nova’s full blog post here. 

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 05/26/2024 – 23:20

  • The Endgame, Part II: How The Conflict In Ukraine Ends
    The Endgame, Part II: How The Conflict In Ukraine Ends

    By Tuomas Malinen

    In this piece I present four scenarios for the ‘endgame’ to the Russo-Ukrainian war. They are:

    1. The overruling majority (peace).
    2. The immovable majority (wider war).
    3. Regime change in Russia (risky conflict).
    4. World War III (nuclear holocaust).

    Scenarios concentrate on the drivers of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance, or NATO. More precisely, they deal with whether NATO is being driven by simply erratic decisions, or whether it’s an aggressor. I went through these basic scenarios in length in my last entry.

    I have not visited Russia since 2011. I made this decision after the annexation of Crimea. I don’t think that wars of invasion should be allowed in modern Europe. Yet, I’ve visited Russia, and even the Soviet Union, many times. My relatives were working at the Finnish embassies in Russia, which led me and my mother to visit the Soviet Union two times, when I was just a kid. The visions of a chaotic Soviet Moscow have been burned into my memory for the rest of my life.

    In 2009, we went to Moscow with a group of family and friends. The theme of the few day trip became nje rabotaet, which essentially means “it does not work”. This was because nothing seemed to work, and everyone kept telling us that phrase (in metro stations, bars, cafeterias, etc.). Russia is a chaotic, but funny place. Slavic people are not actually known for their exuberant niceness, but you do get help in Russia, when you ask for it.

    The leadership of a country naturally often tends to mimic the culture and national characteristics. The spontaneous actions of the current Russian leader President Putin are not anomalies in their history. Many Russian leaders from Ivan the Terrible to Char Peter I and further to Stalin and other leaders of the Soviet Union have fought invasive wars and acted very reactively.

    In my view, the demonization of Russia arises mainly from two sources:

    1. People do not understand Russia, and thus fear it, and

    2. War propaganda.

    This piece essentially deals with both. First, I go through the Finnish experience with Russia, which should act as a comforting lesson for the rest of the world, and how it applies to the current situation in Europe. Then, I will present four scenarios for the endgame of the Russo-Ukrainian war.

    The Finnish experience

    Finns fought two wars against Russia, more precisely against the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was, or it became a military behemoth during WWII. It has been said that before Operation Barbarossa, for example, the air force of the Soviet Union was larger than that of the rest of world. The purge of the Red Amy, by then-dictator of Russia Josif Stalin in 1937, reduced the morale and efficiency of Soviet military right before the onset of WWII. This was visible in the Winter War fought between Finland and the Soviet Union between 30th November 1939 and 13th March 1940. The Finnish seriously unequipped military inflicted devastating losses on the Red Army almost solely with ‘Sisu’. After the Finnish troops had stopped all progress of an over-whelming Russian invasion force at the end of December, Soviet high command went into re-thinking and re-grouping mode. On February 1st 1940, the Red Army started its crushing attack against an already stretched Finnish defenders. Heroic resistance of the Finnish soldiers and growing international pressure saved Finland, while she lost some 12% of her landmass.

    Wars between Russia and Finland did not end with the Winter War, because Finland took part to Operation Barbarossa as an unofficial ally to Nazi Germany. An excerpt from my Finland and NATO piece in the Epoch Times:

    The Winter War was largely bilateral, caused by territorial claims of the then-leader of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, and the secret amendment of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact placing Finland under the Soviet “sphere of influence.” The Continuation War was fought alongside Nazi Germany in an effort to reclaim territories lost in the Winter War. Finland actually had very little choice under the constraints created by the ongoing European war. There was a constant threat of a Soviet invasion, and Finland held the largest known nickel deposit in Europe in Petsamo, the northern “arm” of Finland, which both Hitler and Stalin sought to command. It thus had to either join forces with Germany or face a possible new Soviet invasion. The wars resulted in the loss of around 12 percent of Finland’s territory, including Petsamo.

    After the wars, Presidents Juho Paasikivi and Urho Kekkonen formulated a policy line of passive neutrality called the Paasikivi–Kekkonen doctrine. It was based on the “fear factor” Finland acquired during the two wars and friendly co-existence. While Finland lost 12% of her landmass, we earned our right to co-exist, independent, during the Cold War right next to the most formidable military power the world had ever seen.

    Finns also understood that you should not poke the Russian bear. While she may seem vulnerable and weak, she’s not, and will become much more dangerous if wounded. I don’t think we will ever know for sure, why Stalin spared Finland after the Moscow Armistice after the Continuation War, but we know why the relationship with Russia (Soviet Union) later became so prosperous and friendly, which brings us to the current problem Europe faces.

    The problem of Europe

    The Russian mindset is not so complex or chaotic as many in the West make it to be. Like I explained in my previous entry, Russian leadership seeks to increase its influence in the neighboring regions driven by bezopasnost. They also follow strength instead of diplomacy. Finland cemented her position beside the Soviet Union by not making herself a threat and making herself strong both economically and militarily (that is, a very ‘bitter pill’ for Russia to swallow). So, the success of Finland to coexist and prosper alongside Russia (Soviet Union) was based on strength and keeping friendly relations with Moscow. Easy recipe.

    The problem Europe now faces is two-fold. First, after Finland became a full member of the NATO, Russia has been cornered from every side in Europe by a force it does not consider peaceful, which is something we really cannot blame the Russian leadership from. Previous Finnish leaders knew that if Finland makes herself a threat to Russia, consequences will be dire. Ukrainian leadership must have known this too, but they were clearly manipulated by western leaders. Secondly, we can now conclude that NATO is not what it says it is.

    The future of Europe now basically hangs in the balance between two dangerous scenarios of what is actually driving NATO, which can be categorized as:

    1. NATO, the erratic, and

    2. NATO, the aggressor.

    These characterizations draw from utterly irresponsible or deliberately aggressive actions taken by NATO leadership over the past three decades and especially during the past year. You can simplify this by stating that either NATO leadership massively underestimated Russian resources and the devotion of her leadership to bezopasnost or then they deliberately over-stepped the red lines of Moscow in an effort to create a military conflict that would engulf Europe.

    In what follows, I sketch future scenarios based on the two assumptions of the motives of NATO. They show that the underlying assumptions (erratic or aggressive NATO), dominates the future paths of Europe, and the world, while three of the four scenarios may end up in the same terrifying end-result, that is, a nuclear holocaust. Scenarios are behind a paywall, but you can read them through the 7-day free trial.

    NATO, the erratic

    Here I assume that the leadership of NATO has (is) simply making cataclysmic mistakes and is currently engaged in a desperate effort to ‘save face’ with the collapse of Ukraine looming. I will concentrate on the political response of the ordinary populace of how the future will play out through overruling majority and immovable minority.1

    Scenario I: The overruling majority

    On March 4, our Minister of Defense, Antti Häkkänen, said in a speech he held at the opening of the National Defense Course that “It’s time to recognize the facts. Russia is a threat to the whole democratic world”. Coming from a Finnish Minister of Defense, this is as close as we can get to a declaration of war without actually declaring it.

    I consider that this speech was a marker, signaling that Finland is committed to a war against Russia. I naturally sincerely hope that I am wrong about this. However, this is so exceptional coming from a Finnish Minister of Defense that I am having difficulties explaining it by any other motive (I don’t, for example, buy the extreme stupidity argument).

    If we assume that the leaders of NATO, and member countries, are simply making mistakes, then this speech can be seen as a cataclysmic one, because Moscow is likely to take it as a sign, or a “marker” of aggressive future plans by leaders of Finland and NATO. This means that Russia will most likely start to gear up for a war at her north-western border, again. The Finnish-Russian border, and especially the Karelian Isthmus (peninsula) has been one of the main ‘hotspots’ of Europe for centuries. It was the main battleground for Swedish and Russian empires from the Russo-Swedish war in 1475, till the Finnish war in 1809, when Sweden finally lost Finland to Russia, effectively ending the Swedish Empire. The isthmus was also the main battleground in the Winter and Continuation Wars.

    It’s obvious that neither the vast majority of Finns nor Europeans want a war, but could they be manipulated into one?

    The people naturally have the final say in every system, because if they start to revolt, no dictator can hold that force at bay. Could there be an actual rebellion against the erratic, or even aggressive, NATO leadership? Of course there could, but I am not seeing such signs yet, which does not mean they could not appear, if (when) the war starts to look imminent.2

    There’s also the possibility that NATO leadership is looking for a way out of the conflict in Ukraine. If this would be the case, public opinion turning against the war, even in smaller portions, could provide support for the leadership of NATO to retreat from their prior erratic decisions and enact the process of de-escalation, while saving face.

    Taking everything that is going on into account, there are too many errors made for them to be random, imho. And if the errors are not random, then they are systemic (deliberate), which implies that NATO is the aggressor. However, before diving into that, let’s consider one more scenario.

    Scenario II: The immovable minority

    Worryingly many European political leaders seem to support, if not an outright war, but a confrontation with Russia. There’s also a very vocal minority of Europeans demanding harsher measures against Russia, while some are even advocating for a wider war.

    In this second scenario, of NATO the erratic, these minority forces prevail and control the public narrative and thus the conflict, pushing it into a wider European war. This scenario coincidences with the World War III scenario below. The difference is that in this scenario the world drifts into a WWIII and nuclear annihilation that would likely follow, while in the scenario presented below, a deliberate escalation by NATO ignites the conflict. In this scenario, escalation comes in the form of toughening rhetoric towards Russia and re-armament, fueling the conflict, while in the deliberate escalation scenario nuclear war ignites from pushing the envelope too far or through an intentional act. I will not speculate on the possible military developments that could lead to this scenario in any detail, but mention, that at some point, escalation (naturally) leads to a broadening of the conflict.

    NATO, the aggressor

    In the next two scenarios that follow, I assume that the aim of NATO is to either force a regime change in Russia or destroy the nation in a war. The motivation for these aims can rise from three sources, which can intertwine. So, the endgame for NATO the aggressor can be to:

    1. Gain control of vast Russian mineral resources,

    2. Destroy the Eurasian alliance (and keep it that way), and/or

    3. Ignite a world war, for the global elite to gain widespread control over societies.

    It’s my current thinking that all of these motives can act as drivers, while the last one is highly speculative.

    Scenario III: Regime change in Russia

    It is obvious that a nuclear holocaust would not serve the aim of this scenario, as it would evaporate most of the populace, machinery and infrastructure from the world. Major cities and areas would be uninhabitable for years, including, most likely, mineral deposits in Russia, Europe and in the U.S. This is why we can assume that in this scenario the escalation of the conflict to a wider war in Europe is not the aim of NATO, but there is a high likelihood it will lead to that.

    The likelihood of this scenario can be considered to be relatively high, considering everything that has happened in Ukraine. It looks like NATO tried to slowly increase the pressure and to cause heavy losses to Russian forces. The ‘Prigozhing incident’, also fits with this narrative, as the “mutiny” started during the (failed) Ukrainian counter-offensive, which makes it looks pre-planned. Often, when such plans for a coup have been laid, one has to go through with them regardless, because there’s no actual way to retreat. In this case, the likely plan assumed that Prigozhin would have started his march to Moscow after devastating Russian losses, which would have angered the Russian populace and de-moralized the troops. None of this happened, because the counter-offensive of the AFU (Armed Forces of Ukraine) failed. Moreover, it’s likely that Yevgeni Prigozhin were supported by, at least some western intelligence offices. These plans would have most certainly been revealed at some point, if Prigozhin would have failed to act as planned. Thus, while there’s no certainty that a coup was part of a western plan that is how it looked, and Prigozhin was forced to follow it through with the most extreme personal cost.

    The question we now face is, what would be the next steps for NATO to accomplish a regime change? Two scenarios rise above others:

    1. A re-armament race that eats through Russian economic resources, leading the country to collapse from inside out, similarly to what happened to the Soviet Union in the late-1980s.

    2. Major conflicts in the neighbouring regions (Abkhazia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, etc.), destabilizing large parts of Russia.

    The first would essential bring back the darkest times of the Cold War, while the latter could create a highly unstable Russia. Both of these can, naturally, lead to the extreme scenario of nuclear holocaust. The former would take us there through some escalation, during which a nuclear detonation occurs (through a mistake or deliberately) enacting a nuclear war. In the latter, the risk of a nuclear confrontation arises from some extreme faction taking power in Kremlin after  Putin’s regime fails, and/or some nuclear arms fall into the possession of such a group after such an event. This latter was essentially the main fear, after the collapse of the Soviet Union pushed Russian military forces into a state of near-anarchy.

    Scenario IV: World War III (nuclear holocaust)

    A nuclear holocaust is naturally something the vast majority of the populace would not want to see, but could there be some who would? Such ‘crazies’ naturally exist among us humans, but the question is, could they hold key places in our supra-national organizations, like NATO?

    If we assume that such people do not exist in the leadership of NATO nor in the leadership of those countries running it (essentially the U.S.), the aggressive actions of NATO could still lead us into nuclear confrontation. NATO leadership could be, very aggressively, seeking one of the two first-mentioned scenarios, that is, to:

    1. Gain control of vast Russian mineral resources,

    2. Destroy the Eurasian alliance (and keep it that way).

    The first one could be achieved with the regime change scenario described above. The latter would require that there will be no peace in Ukraine, which in this situation (Ukraine has effectively lost) requires that the war spreads. This would mean that some of the ‘frontline countries’, i.e. Finland, the Baltics or Poland, escalates (note that a ‘false flag’ blaming Russians is also possible), igniting a direct conflict between NATO and Russia. If that occurs, there’s a high likelihood that nuclear weapons will be used at some point, leading to a nuclear holocaust. Nuclear conflict would probably arise from a failure to understand the red lines of the other side and/or from a miscalculation. Russia has drawn a red line by incorporating the eastern regions of Ukraine it has annexed into Russian ‘motherland’. Crossing of it would most likely lead to a nuclear confrontation. Cyberattacks to ICT or power systems leading to a wide spread devastation could also trigger a response with nuclear arms. Moreover, in a sitution, where war propaganda is dominating, like it is now, the risk of over-reacting grows.

    But, what if there are factions in key places in NATO leadership actually pushing for a nuclear confrontation?

    This would naturally be the most dangerous scenario for us all, because it would imply that, if escalation through “traditional means” (war propaganda and luring Russia to respond militarily) does not succeed, there will, most likely, be a major false flag blamed on Russia. If, for example, the general populace cannot be turned to support a wider war using propaganda, a major false flag operation could be enacted. In practice, any escalation, in this scenario, needs to be on the scale of a nuclear detonation. In the worst case, the deranged background power players of NATO decide that an actual nuclear detonation in some populous area, like in a major European or Russian city, is required.

    What could be the aim of such a suicidal power faction? They could foster an omnipotent view that they can control even a nuclear confrontation so that it could serve their aims of, e.g., establishing world-wide control systems. Also, there simply are men that “want to see the world burn”, albeit I highly doubt such persons could be in ruling positions in NATO or in our governments.

    This last part of the nuclear holocaust scenario is naturally extremely speculative, and I really have not thought it through thoroughly yet. However, I don’t think we should be ruling out any scenario, considering the madness that seems to have taken over our political leaders. In that note, we should also acknowledge the possibility of a “lone wolf scenario”, where some small group of individuals is able to produce some cataclysmic false flag event leading to a retaliation from one side of the conflict with nuclear weapons.

    Conclusions

    Talking with ordinary people on the current situation in the world usually yields an answer: “this makes no sense”. I fully concur, but this only applies if we fully believe on the prevailing western narrative, which is that global elite and most of our political leaders are benevolent and Russia/Putin is “bad”.

    I have speculated on the drivers behind recent developments in several entries (see, e.g, the Apocalypse Scenario -series). I think we should not shy away even on the most preposterous explanations, like some extremely secretive group ‘pulling the strings’. What we do know, however, is the the perilous direction we are currently heading into.

    The scenarios presented here concentrated on NATO because it holds the definite role in the current crisis. Currently, NATO is escalating by, e.g., building military bases right next to Russian border in Finland and with its leadership giving comments of NATO-membership of Ukraine. These can be just extremely grave mistakes or deliberate actions of escalation.

    In this piece, I have mapped the scenarios we are likely to face based on the actions by NATO. They are not the ones I would like to champion for, but I find them to be the ones we are facing.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 05/26/2024 – 22:45

  • Gallant In Rafah Vows To Advance Deeper Despite World Court Demand For Ceasefire
    Gallant In Rafah Vows To Advance Deeper Despite World Court Demand For Ceasefire

    Rockets sent from Gaza rained down on Tel Aviv for the first time in months on Sunday, with Israeli media saying they were launched all the way from Rafah.

    It also came as Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant visited IDF frontline positions on the outskirts of Rafah and vowed the military will forge ahead deeper into the southern city despite the Friday UN World Court order (ICJ) to implement an immediate ceasefire and to halt the Rafah offensive.

    Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in Rafah on Sunday, via defense ministry

    “Our goals in Gaza are emphasized here in Rafah: to destroy Hamas, return the hostages and maintain freedom of operation,” Gallant told the troops. “Regarding the hostage issue—we are making tremendous efforts and will continue to do so, via both physical activities and by reaching agreements.”

    He then vowed to carry out Netanyahu’s order to not stop until Hamas is eradicated. “Remember, your job is to eliminate Hamas, to win this war. Our job is to take it [your achievement] and take it to the next level in Gaza and across the Middle East,” he said. “These issues are connected.”

    The timing of the Hamas rocket attacks out of Tel Aviv are no doubt intent on sending a message of defiance. At least three rockets were intercepted but one home in a Tel Aviv suburb was damaged, and possibly more.

    Times of Israel writes, “The Hamas terror group fired eight rockets at central Israel on Sunday afternoon, marking the most significant attack out of the Gaza Strip in some four months and underscoring some of the challenges remaining for the Israeli military as it seeks to oust the Palestinian group from its last major stronghold.”

    This likely further confirms for Israeli leadership the need to take Rafah, despite international condemnation including from UN agencies.

    Israel believes that not only have Hamas leaders found refuge in Rafah, but that it’s among the last locations where major rocket stockpiles exist, and there remains the possibility even of rocket manufacturing capabilities, but the IDF believes it has eradicated all the weapons-making factories at this point.

    Heavy urban fighting has continued to be intense…

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

    Later on Sunday one of Hamas armed wings, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, posted on Telegram it targeted Tel Aviv “with a large rocket barrage in response to the Zionist massacres against civilians.”

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 05/26/2024 – 22:10

  • Judge Approves Class-Action Lawsuit Against American Airlines Over ESG Pension Investments
    Judge Approves Class-Action Lawsuit Against American Airlines Over ESG Pension Investments

    Authored by Matt McGregor via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),A district judge has granted a pilot’s request for a class-action lawsuit against American Airlines for allegedly investing pension funds into environmental, social, and governance (ESG) funds.

    An American Airlines flight takes off from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C., on July 10, 2023. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

    The case revolves around the allegation that American Airlines—headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas—violated its fiduciary obligation to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) “by investing millions of dollars of American Airlines employees’ retirement savings with investment managers and investment funds that pursue political agendas” through ESG initiatives. 

    “By pursuing ESG goals, Defendants gave Plan assets to fund managers, such as BlackRock, who allegedly ignored financial returns as the exclusive purpose and lowered the value of Plan participants’ investments,” the order states.

    In addition to being disloyal to the employees, the plaintiff, Bryan Spence, argues that American Airlines’ investments were “imprudent because it is well known that ESG funds are associated with poor performance given the detrimental effects of such activism on stock prices.”

    “To remedy these alleged ERISA violations, Plaintiff filed this lawsuit individually and on behalf of a proposed class of Plan participants and beneficiaries,” the order says. “ERISA authorized participants in a qualifying plan to bring an action on behalf of other participants to enforce the statute’s fiduciary obligations and remedial provisions, as well as recover all losses to a plan caused by a breach of a fiduciary duty.”

    Texas District Judge Reed O’Conner—a George W. Bush appointee—writes in his order that the case is eligible for class action because of the similarities of ERISA violations.

    “Even if the damages are diverse, finding in favor of Plaintiff on his ERISA claims would also resolve the ERISA claims of this class,” he writes.

    The remedy for damages would be the same for all plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit, he says.

    ‘Underperforms Financially’

    According to the complaint, ESG funds are usually more expensive for pension enrollees than non-ESG funds.

    They also “underperform financially,” and instead of maximizing “risk-adjusted financial returns” for enrollees, they “engage in shareholder activism to achieve ESG policy agendas.”

    “Defendants have also selected and included as investment options funds that are managed by investment companies that pursue ESG policy agendas through proxy voting and shareholding activism,” the complaint says. “Many of these funds are not branded or marketed as ESG funds; however, the actions of their investment advisors and managers give rise to the same ERISA violations as those funds that do market themselves as ESG funds.”

    The complaint states that Mr. Spence, an American Airlines pilot and Lt. Col. in the U.S. Air Force, “has suffered specific financial damages” as a result of American Airlines’ “unlawful conduct.”

    The pension plan itself “has suffered millions of dollars in losses because of the Defendants’ fiduciary breaches and the Plan remains vulnerable to continuing harm.”

    The complaint defines ESG as an investment strategy “aimed at influencing societal changes.”

    “Generally, three criteria are used to evaluate companies for ESG investing,” the complaint says.

    ‘Aggressive Climate Goals’

    Among the criteria are environmental commitments to reduce a company’s carbon footprint and a pledge to support Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) agendas.

    “American Airlines is fully committed to ESG strategy as a company,” the complaint says. “According to its annual ESG Report, American Airlines views its ESG efforts as a ‘key part of American’s success,’ and ‘an important part of American’s long-term strategy,’’ the complaint says. “It sets DEI goals and strives to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.”

    On its ESG webpage, American Airlines declares its commitment to “aggressive climate goals.”

    American Airlines states on its DEI webpage that it strives for diversity in hiring and that its employees “work to make American a place where people of all generations, races, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, gender identity, disabilities, religious affiliations and backgrounds feel welcome and valued.”

    The Human Rights Campaign awarded American Airlines a “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality” in 2021, according to the webpage.

    The Epoch Times contacted American Airlines for comment.

    Sacrificing Safety for Ideology

    Currently, the airline industry is under scrutiny for what critics say is sacrificing safety and performance for DEI ideology.

    The airline has faced several complications this year, including an “anomaly” in the braking system on one of its aircraft to run past the end of a runway, The Associated Press reported, and another mechanical issue in one of its planes while in flight.

    In January, one of its flights landed hard, putting five flight attendants and one passenger in the hospital.

    In January, SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk criticized the airline industry’s emphasis on DEI initiatives in a post on X.

    “Do you want to fly in an airplane where they prioritized DEI hiring over your safety? That is actually happening,” he said.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 05/26/2024 – 21:35

  • Biden Marketing Team To Create Trump Mega-Martyr With 'Guilty' Verdict Campaign Strategy
    Biden Marketing Team To Create Trump Mega-Martyr With ‘Guilty’ Verdict Campaign Strategy

    Joe Biden’s galaxy brain handlers plan to use any ‘guilty’ verdicts in Donald Trump’s criminal trials to campaign on, unaware that most of the country views them as political lawfare by the permanent ruling class hatched in coordination with Biden’s own DOJ.

    According to Politico, citing four people familiar with internal deliberations;

    Biden intends to initially address the verdict in a White House setting — not a campaign one — to show his statement isn’t political, according to the people, who were granted anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

    If the jury convicts Trump, Biden’s team will then argue that the result shows Trump is ill-suited for office and that it demonstrates the extremes to which the former president would go to win again. The campaign’s social media team is considering leveraging the line of attack further, with discussions underway about referring to the ex-president online as “Convicted Felon Donald Trump.”

    The report comes as closing arguments are set for Tuesday in Trump’s ‘hush money’ trial, which saw the prosecution’s star witness, Michael Cohen, implode on the stand. Of course, a Manhattan jury won’t care – so a Trump ‘guilty’ verdict wouldn’t come as a surprise.

    “This is an important moment and the president first and foremost needs to stress that the American system works, even and especially in an election year,” said one of Politico‘s anonymous sources. “And in a measured way, it becomes part of his argument against Trump too: Do Americans really want this?“

    Do voters want a president being transparently pursued for partisan reasons by a behemoth government that fewer than two-in-ten Americans trust?

    This goes hand-in-hand with why the left can’t meme and are desperate to find someone who can.

    At least one Democrat sees how stupid this is.

    “I don’t think it’s important to rub it in,” Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) told Politico. “I don’t think anybody on our side should be reacting with glee. It just should be a tragedy that an American president has been convicted of real crimes.”

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 05/26/2024 – 21:00

  • Obnoxious Weeds Team Up To Fight Cancer–New Review
    Obnoxious Weeds Team Up To Fight Cancer–New Review

    Authored by Alexandra Roach via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    Recently, I gave a presentation about edible plants at my local library. Kitchen herbs, in fact, that double as medicinals, which people can easily grow in their gardens or on window sills. While preparing my presentation, I was reminded that this topic is immense in its breadth and depth. One number especially stood out and even stopped me in my tracks.

    (Nataliia Sirobaba/Shutterstock)

    There are 50,000 – 80,000 plants used medicinally worldwide, according to the Center for Biological Diversity. What a number! I feel a bit inadequate with my limited knowledge of several hundred of them.

    The millennia-old knowledge of herbal medicine is practiced in all regions of the world and backed up by much international research—the Near East, Russia, East Africa, North East India, and even Transylvania. The list clearly goes on.

    New Review Reapproves Plants’ Anti-Cancer Qualities

    In recent years, scientists have re-discovered their urge to learn more about our floral companions. This rekindling of passed-down wisdom is possibly driven by the need to find remedies for diseases that otherwise modern medicine seems unable to prevail over.

    A 2024 review, published in the journal Pharmaceuticals, appears to follow this direction. The new release highlights 15 medicinal plants with potential anti-tumorigenic qualities, meaning these plants have active compounds that fight abnormal cell growth.

    Interesting to me was the selection of plants featured in the review. Some of them, we are familiar with—much having been written about them—for instance, dandelion, nettles, or Curcuma longa, better known as turmeric.

    Others, like the Madagascar periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus), the tropical soursop, and even a houseplant with the name of Kalanchoe blossfeldiana, we find less familiar.

    However, all these plants have one common characteristic —they work “against the Majority of Common Types of Cancer,” reads the review’s headline.

    Efficient Treatment for Immediate Development

    The International Agency for Research on Cancer describes the worldwide cancer situation as dire. Their 2022 report states that globally most people died from lung cancer (18.7 percent), followed by colorectal cancer (9.3 percent), and liver cancer (7.8 percent). A total of 3,480,213 individuals.

    Therefore, researchers of the current review call for an immediate development of “more targeted and efficient treatment plans.” In their eyes, “Plants and products derived from them have promising potential as a source of less toxic anticancer drugs.”

    Blending Traditional Wisdom and Novel Nanotechnologies

    To accomplish this goal, herbs are employed to keep the immune system strong, kill off carcinogens, and improve antioxidant levels in our bodies. Scientists see new nanomedicines and bioengineering techniques for immune cell therapies as innovative approaches to treating the disease.

    As a community herbalist, I view things with the eyes of longevity. What traditional wisdom about these herbs has been passed on for centuries? How can the two worlds of novel research and ancient knowledge be combined for the benefit of the patient?

    Anti-Cancer Plants: Research and Application

    There are several herbs the recently released review mentions, which might grow abundantly in our gardens—often, we might even see them as annoying weeds that need to be fended off. Such is frequently the case for dandelions.

    In the back of my head, I hear my herbal teacher repeat over and over, “Often, the herbs show up where we need them.” This holds true for one of the most robust herbaceous perennials that is native to Europe but grows all over the world in gardens and lawns, along roads and fields, and even waste areas.

    Common Dandelion

    (Shutterstock)

    Taraxacum officinale, commonly known as dandelion, is not only a medicinal herb but an edible vegetable. Especially young leaves are tender and round out the taste in any salad, gifting it a slightly bitter flavor—which is a sign of assisting digestion.

    The Taraxacum genus includes over three hundred species. These have been discovered and utilized in traditional and folk medicines for centuries. German botanist Leonhart Fuchs, for example, featured the healthy properties of the plant in the 16th century in his herbal compendium, “De Historia Stirpium.”

    Dandelion was also known as a drug in Arabian medicine. There, physicians recorded its utilization as early as the 10th century. Indian and Chinese medicine treated liver and digestive diseases with the common dandelion, states an article about the plant published in the National Library of Medicine.

    Dandelion is a true all-rounder. Featuring among others, vitamins A, C, B, and D, the minerals potassium and calcium, and traces of iron, magnesium, manganese, and zinc.

    A 2023 review carefully examined the dandelion and remarked upon its bioactive compounds. “Sesquiterpenoids, phenolic compounds, essential oils, saccharides, flavonoids, sphingolipids, triterpenoids, sterols, [and] coumarins” are sources for “therapeutic potential, including anti-bacterial, anti-oxidant, anti-cancer, and anti-rheumatic activities.”

    Korean research showed that the amount of phenols and flavonoids in the plant drives its anticancer and antioxidant activities. This varies in different taraxacum species but exists in the common dandelion.

    Researchers investigated a dandelion extract combination in a 2023 study. The results, published in the journal Scientific Reports, highlight the importance of inhibiting the “rapid proliferation of cancer cells and its invasion into healthy tissues” specific to breast cancer. This is exactly what dandelion extract does—it inhibits their spread and “induce death in them.”

    Photodynamic Therapy is another method to target cancerous tissue. In it, a photosensitizing agent is stimulated by light, for instance by a laser. In a 2023 article in Nanomedicine, this process was tested with dandelion for “synergistic chemotherapy and photo-dynamic cancer therapy.” This transportation method succeeded in the delivery of the active compound to the cancer cells and disrupted their homeostasis, thus portraying anti-cancer and anti-tumor effects.

    Stinging Nettle

    (Alfonso de Tomas/Shutterstock)

    Runner-up in the title of highly medicinal weeds is Urtica dioica. In many temperate places, nettles grow like a pest and are unwanted wildflowers by many.

    Contrary to popular reason, I recently transplanted some nettles into my garden and even spread nettle seeds in my best effort to establish them there. Nettles are delicious plant nutrition and are a great addition to soups and salad dressings, as the hairy stingers lose their power when processed.

    Full of provitamin beta-carotene, vitamins A, B, and C, minerals iron, magnesium, potassium, and calcium, this protein-rich perennial herb is loaded with health benefits. But the loaded weed can do more.

    A 2020 research article features the potentially anticancer properties of nettles. When evaluated, the extract of Urtica dioica showed promising effects on the proliferation rate of “hepatocarcinoma and colon-cancer cell lines at specific doses.”

    In a 2022 study published in the Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention, plant medicine proved its anticancer qualities against three different types of cancer cell lines. Testing of urtica dioica’s cytotoxicity was performed in vitro (via mycoplasma testing) and in vivo (in a living organism, in this case, rats). Findings were positive and showed that nettles may work against breast cancer through their anti-tumoral properties.

    According to another study, directed to research the herb’s potential healing qualities in regards to human colon and gastric cancer, nettles also induced apoptosis and “inhibited proliferation of gastric and colorectal cancer cells,” while not having any toxic side effects on normal cells.

    Greater Burdock

    (Shutterstock)

    Continuing to feature weedy wildflowers that grow in many disturbed areas around the United States, and are surely to be found in an empty parking lot, pasture, or along fields and roads in your area, is burdock.

    Like Dandelion, burdock is a member of the Asteraceae family (the Aster family) and grows seemingly everywhere. Similarly, the medicinal parts of burdock include roots and leaves, with the addition of seeds.

    Arcticum lappa is likewise high in minerals and vitamins, including the B vitamins thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin. However, it also features lignans in roots and seeds, amino acids in the roots, phenols, sterols, and fatty acids in the seeds, and a “plethora of biological activities and pharmacological functions.”

    One of burdock’s compounds, lappaol F (a natural lignan), is an anticancer agent that “inhibits tumour cell growth by inducing cell cycle arrest,” states a 2021 study while noting that the underlying processes of burdock’s anticancer qualities remain unclear.

    Nevertheless, the plant is effective and researchers suggest that a potential anticancer drug could be developed from the medicinal herb.

    A review published in Inflammopharmacology, emphasizes the century-old traditional medicinal uses of burdock in Europe, North America, and Asia. It highlights the plant’s anti-inflammatory qualities and detoxifying effects, as well as anti-tumor properties, especially its “potent inhibitory effects on the growth of tumors such as pancreatic carcinoma.”

    Burdock has even proven effective against “multi-drug resistant cancer cells.” A study investigated six lignans present in the burdock seed and combined them as non-toxic chemotherapeutic agents. Results showed that they “possess promising MDR [multidrug resistant] reversal activities.” The study also tested and verified this effect in combination with a chemotherapy drug named doxorubicin.

    Remaining 12 Anti-Cancer Plants

    The remaining 12 plants examined in the recent review are soursop (Annona muricata), black calla (Arum palaestinum), hemp (Cannabis sativa), Madagascar periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus), turmeric (Curcuma longa), licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra), moringa (Moringa oleifera), hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis), milk thistle (Silybum marianum ), oleander (Nerium oleander), kalanchoe (Kalanchoe blossfeldiana ), and ashwagandha (Withania somnifera L).

    Turmeric, licorice, hibiscus, hemp, ashwagandha, and milk thistle are well known—beyond the ears of an herbalist. Soursop might fall into this category for some, especially those living in tropical regions.

    Then, some might make us pause, as we see the plants more as blooming decoratives in the garden or house plants, like oleander, the black calla, Madagascar periwinkle, or kalanchoe. Being native to the Indian subcontinent, and being used mostly in Southern Asia, moringa may be the most foreign of them all.

    Yet, in total, they are acclaimed plant medicines.

    Ongoing Phytopharmaceutical Research

    A 2022 review, for instance, hails the healing qualities of soursop. Its “pharmacological effects of anti-cancer, anti-microbial, antioxidant, anti-ulcer, anti-diabetic, anti-hypertensive, and wound healing” are impressive.

    Another review features a study in which patients were given 300 milligrams of soursop extract (leaf water) in capsules after breakfast. This restrained colorectal cancer cell growth.

    A phytotherapeutic that likewise targets colorectal cancer is ashwagandha. A 2023 study found that the herb and its bioactive compounds “kill cancer cells via at least five separate routes.”

    It has even been named “a wonder drug” in the alternative field and has shown remarkable bioactive compounds that function as “anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, apoptotic, immunomodulatory, antimicrobial, anti-diabetic, hepatoprotective, hypoglycaemic, hypolipidemic, cardio-protective and spermatogenic agents,” as outlined in a comprehensive review.

    Numerous studies and reviews, however, stress the unfortunate fact that further research is needed due to “the lack of established quantities and concentration measurements,” or simply the lack of wide-ranging medical research about our floral surroundings.

    Contraindications and Side-Effects

    In general, phytopharmaceuticals are powerful medicine.

    Although many of the plants do not have any side effects and often naturally target cancer cells without affecting healthy cells, a mechanism not quite understood by science yet (as mentioned above). At the same time, ingesting the wrong plant or the wrong dosage can harm or even kill.

    As for dandelions, nettles, and burdock—there are some guiding principles:

    • Nettles should not be eaten raw. The fresh leaves will sting.
    • Dandelions can make your stomach upset if too many leaves are ingested or after prolonged use, as it can increase the hydrochloric acid production (HCl) in the stomach and lead to loose stool.
    • Dandelion root should be taken with caution if the individual suffers from excess HCl, gastritis, ulcers, or heartburn.
    • During the first trimester of pregnancy, burdock should only be prescribed in mild doses. Also, take with caution if suffering from hypoglycemia.

    Tips:

    When gathering herbs or plants in the wild or public spaces, please collect your specimens wisely. This means, pick plant matter only away from dirty or polluted areas and wash before eating or processing. Also, never take the whole plant (you want it to continue to live and come back the next year).

    Note:

    For all individualized herbal recommendations and dosages, please consult with your local herbalist. If you are on any medications consult with a physician before taking herbal supplements. The author is writing for informational purposes only and is not acting in the capacity of a doctor or licensed dietitian-nutritionist.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 05/26/2024 – 20:25

  • Regular Cannabis Users Exceeds Drinkers For First Time Ever 
    Regular Cannabis Users Exceeds Drinkers For First Time Ever 

    For the first time, a nationwide study providing current data on tobacco, alcohol, and drug use, mental health, and other health-related issues has found that the number of people smoking cannabis daily has surpassed those drinking beer or vodka daily. This development coincides with the Biden administration’s efforts to reclassify cannabis as a less dangerous substance.

    The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) has been conducted annually since 1990 and four times before (1979, 1982, 1985, and 1988). Data shows an explosive amount of daily cannabis use a few years after the Great Financial Crisis. The trend has become parabolic in the last ten years due to “a period of federal non-interference with the legalization of supply,” according to the study’s authors. 

    Figure 1 shows sharp declines during the Reagan-Bush era to a nadir in 1992, a partial recovery between then and 2008, and substantial increases since 2008. Increases are greater, proportionally, for measures of more intense use. For example, between 2008 and 2022, the per capita rate of reporting past-year use increased by 120%, and days of use reported per capita increased by 218% (in absolute terms from the annual equivalent of 2.3 to 8.1 billion days per year). Since the 2022 NSDUH-estimated population 12 and older is 282.0 million, that is, 29 days per person per year, on average.

    Growth is most striking for DND use, defined here as reporting use on 21 or more days in the past month. 2 From 1992 to 2022, there was a 15-fold increase in the per capita rate of reporting DND marijuana use (in absolute terms, from 0.9 million to 17.7 million DND users). That was because of a fivefold increase in the number of PM users (from 7.9 to 41.9 million) and a fourfold increase in the proportion of PM users who report DND use (from 11% to 42%).

    Given the increased marijuana usage nationwide and legalization trends, with the Drug Enforcement Administration moving closer to reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug, the gap between the number of daily drinkers and marijuana has officially closed in the multi-decade dataset. In fact, there are now more regular marijuana users than alcohol users for the first time. 

    Figure 2 compares growth in DND marijuana use to contemporaneous changes in DND alcohol use. In 1992, the household survey recorded 10 times as many DND alcohol as DND marijuana users (8.9 vs 0.9 million). Back then, a conversation about DND use of a dependence-inducing intoxicant was essentially a conversation about alcohol use. In the most recent survey, for the first time, NSDUH recorded more DND marijuana than DND alcohol users (17.7 vs 14.7 million).

    That change reflects both growth in the number of PM marijuana users and changes in patterns of marijuana use. In 2022, the median drinker reported alcohol use on 4 to 5 days in the PM, whereas the median marijuana user reported use on 15 to 16 days in the PM.

    This increased access has allowed the general population to consume more and more cannabis. A map from think-tank Pew Research shows that 74% of Americans reside in states that have legalized marijuana for either recreational or medical purposes, with 54% living in states where pot is only permitted for recreational use. 

    Here’s a map of America’s 15,000 cannabis dispensaries. 

    A separate study from Gallup found regular cannabis usage differs by education and income, with the highest rates seen among the working poor. 

    In markets, the top exchange-traded funds that buy marijuana companies have been rounding a multi-year bottom after the speculation craze during Covid. 

    The next market driver could be the DEA’s approval of an opinion by the Department of Health and Human Services that states marijuana should be reclassified from the strictest Schedule I to the less stringent Schedule III. 

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 05/26/2024 – 19:50

  • Hamas Says It Captured Members Of Israeli Force In Ambush
    Hamas Says It Captured Members Of Israeli Force In Ambush

    Via Middle East Eye

    Hamas said Palestinian fighters captured members of an Israeli force in an ambush inside the Gaza Strip on Saturday, a claim denied by the Israeli military. 

    Abu Obaida, spokesman for the group’s armed wing, al-Qassam Brigades, said fighters killed, wounded or captured members of the Israeli force during fighting in Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.

    Via AFP

    He did not say how many had been abducted and provided no further information about their identities. He said more details would follow soon. 

    “Our fighters lured a Zionist force into an ambush inside a tunnel … The fighters withdrew after they left all members of the force dead, wounded, and captured,” Abu Obaida said in a recorded message broadcast by Al Jazeera early on Sunday.

    The Israeli military was quick to deny the claim. “The IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) clarifies that there is no incident in which a soldier was abducted,” a military spokesperson said in a statement.

    Abu Obaida’s message was followed by a video released [warning: graphic] by al-Qassam Brigades showing fighters pulling inside a tunnel a man who appeared to be unconscious. He was pulled alongside military gear. 

    The video separately showed three semi-automatic rifles and other military gear that Hamas said were taken from the captured Israelis. Middle East Eye could not independently verify when or where the video was filmed.  

    The comments by Abu Obaida came after weeks of renewed intense close-quarter combat across the Gaza Strip in recent weeks, according to Israeli and Palestinian media. 

    The Israeli military sent tanks and troops to Rafah and north Gaza in fresh attacks early in May. The advances have been met by some of the fiercest resistance by Hamas and other Palestinian groups, especially in the Jabalia refugee camp.

    The heavy fighting has coincided with an increase in carpet bombing by Israeli jets, flattening neighborhoods in Jabalia and Rafah. 

    Meanwhile on Sunday rockets were launched from Gaza on Tel Aviv, a first in months:

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    Israeli forces have reportedly killed more than 36,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank since 7 October, the majority of them children and women according to Gaza Health Ministry figures.

    Palestinians have killed more than 1,500 Israelis in the same period, the majority of them during the Hamas-led attack in southern Israel on 7 October. 

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 05/26/2024 – 19:15

  • Exposing The CIA's Secret Effort To Seize Control Of Social Media
    Exposing The CIA’s Secret Effort To Seize Control Of Social Media

    While the CIA is strictly prohibited from spying on or running clandestine operations against American citizens on US soil, a bombshell new “Twitter Files” report reveals that a member of the Board of Trustees of InQtel – the CIA’s mission-driving venture capital firm, along with “former” intelligence community (IC) and CIA analysts, were involved in a massive effort in 2021-2022 to take over Twitter’s content management system, as Michael Shellenberger, Matt Taibbi and Alex Gutentag report over at Shellenberger’s Public (subscribers can check out the extensive 6,800 word report here).

    According to “thousands of pages of Twitter Files and documents,” these efforts were part of a broader strategy to manage how information is disseminated and consumed on social media under the guise of combating ‘misinformation’ and foreign propaganda efforts – as this complex of government-linked individuals and organizations has gone to great lengths to suggest that narrative control is a national security issue.

    According to the report, the effort also involved;

    • a long-time IC contractor and senior Department of Defense R&D official who spent years developing technologies to detect whistleblowers (“insider threats”) like Edward Snowden and Wikileaks’ leakers;

    • the proposed head of the DHS’ aborted Disinformation Governance Board, Nina Jankowicz, who aided US military and NATO “hybrid war” operations in Europe;

    • Jim Baker, who, as FBI General Counsel, helped start the Russiagate hoax, and, as Twitter’s Deputy General Counsel, urged Twitter executives to censor The New York Post story about Hunter Biden.

    Jankowicz (aka ‘Scary Poppins’), previously tipped to lead the DHS’s now-aborted Disinformation Governance Board, has been a vocal advocate for more stringent regulation of online speech to counteract ‘rampant disinformation.’ Jim Baker, in his capacity as FBI General Counsel and later as Twitter’s Deputy General Counsel, advocated for and implemented policies that would restrict certain types of speech on the platform, including decisions that affected the visibility of politically sensitive content.

    Furthermore, companies like PayPal, Amazon Web Services, and GoDaddy were mentioned as part of a concerted effort to de-platform and financially de-incentivize individuals and organizations deemed threats by the IC. This approach represents a significant escalation in the use of corporate cooperation to achieve what might essentially be considered censorship under the guise of national security.

    Nina Jankowicz And The Alethea Group

    Remember Nina? A huge fan of Christopher Steele – architect of the infamous Clinton-funded Dossier which underpinned the Trump-Russia hoax, and who joined the chorus of disinformation agents that downplayed the Hunter Biden laptop bombshell, Jankowicz previously served as a disinformation fellow at the Wilson Center, and advised the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry as part of the Fulbright-Clinton Public Policy Fellowship. She also oversaw the Russia and Belarus programs at the National Democratic Institute.

    Jankowicz compares the lack of regulation of speech on social media to the lack of government regulation of automobiles in the 1960s. She calls for a “cross-platform” and public-private approach, so whatever actions are taken are taken by Google, Facebook, and Twitter, simultaneously.

    Jankowicz points to Europe as the model for regulating speech. “Germany’s NetzDG law requires social media companies and other content hosts to remove ‘obviously illegal’ speech within twenty-four hours,” she says, “or face a fine of up to $50 million.”

    By contrast, in the US, she laments, “Congress has yet to pass a bill imposing even the most basic of regulations related to social media and election advertising.” -Public

    In a 2020 book, How to Lose the Information War: Russia, Fake News, and the Future of Conflict, Jankowicz praises a NATO cyber security expert for having created a “Center of Excellence,” a concept promoted by Renée Diresta of the Stanford Internet Observatory, in which she made the case for the (now failed) Disinformation Governance Board that Jankowicz would briefly head up.

    One year later, Jankowicz began working with ‘anti-disinformation’ consulting firm, Althea Group, staffed by “former” IC analysts.

    Althea notably came after ZeroHedge at one point, shopping a ‘dossier’ around which suggested we were allegedly contributing to “increased online panic” amid the monumental collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

    The outlets they peddled said dossier to included Bloomberg – which elected to exclude ZeroHedge from their report following a brief email exchange. Eventually, one of their operatives dropped the dossier on Twitter, only to be mocked as a propagandist.

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    Their SVB thesis was debunked by a Federal Reserve report which admitted that its own regulatory failures contributed to the bank’s collapse. We can only imagine what else they’ve cooked up about us behind closed doors.

    Alethea notably secured $20 million in Series B financing led by Google Ventures.

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

    Another Alethea Group operative until July 2021 was former CIA analyst, Cindy Otis, who wrote a book called “True or False: A CIA Analyst’s Guide to Spotting Fake News” – in which she thanks Pieter “Mudge” Zatko – a notorious hacker who was hired by Twitter to “tackle everything from engineering missteps to misinformation,” Reuters wrote at the time.

    According to Jankowicz, “My full time employment with Alethea began September 13, 2021. Ms. Otis left Alethea prior to that period. To my knowledge, she has not been employed with Alethea since that time.”

    “My work with Alethea Group as a consultant (summer 2021) was narrowly focused on my subject matter expertise related to Russia,” she continued. “I conducted Russian language translation and provided cultural analysis. When I joined Alethea as an employee (fall 2021) my work was entirely focused on public products: Changes to Alethea’s website, editing public reports, liaising with media, etc.”

    Is Nina lying?

    According to Shellenberger et. al, “that claim contradicts Alethea’s Statement of Work contract with Twitter, which lists her as “Technical Research Director” for work relating to Twitter’s management of misinformation during the 2020 election, and specifically a “retrospective analysis of how then President Trump or other key figures may have violated Twitters [sic] policies, or otherwise leveraged the platform in a way that may have contributed to key events…”

    Alethea Group founder, Lisa Kaplan, told us that Jankowicz “was never given the title Technical Research Director, that is a reference to a labor category for a contract.” Added Kaplan, “We respect client confidentiality and do not discuss relationships with our customers. In reviewing Nina’s timesheets she did provide support to one client that I cannot disclose, however I can confirm that while she was employed as the Director for External Affairs, Nina never conducted work at Alethea on behalf of Twitter.”

    When shown the Statement of Work listing her as “Supplier Personnel,”  Jankowicz said, “I have never seen this document before. A statement of work is generally a speculative document that informs clients of potential staffing and work plans. They are usually crafted to allow contractors a degree of flexibility in implementation by listing staff even if they are not assigned to a particular project in case they might do future work for that project. I assume this is what happened in this case.”

    In fact, the Statement of Work between Alethea and Twitter was a formal contract between the two firms, signed by Alethea’s Founder and CEO and Twitter’s Senior Director and Associate General Counsel, and the contract specifies, “Any changes to the above listed Personnel must be approved by Twitter in writing.” There is no record in the Twitter Files of any change to the project’s personnel. -Public

    Jankowicz defended herself, telling Public: “Ms. Otis and I were friends and colleagues prior to my short stint there and remain friends and colleagues. Yes, I knew Ms. Otis had worked — emphasis on the past tense — at the CIA. That does not constitute a ‘relationship’ with the intelligence community.“

    Mudge

    Pieter “Mudge” Zatko (Getty Images)

    Following a phishing attack on Twitter employees in July of 2020 which resulted in Joe Biden’s account tweeting “I am giving back to the community. All Bitcoin sent to the address below will be sent back doubled! If you send $1,000, I will send back $2,000,” along with a crypto wallet address (similar fake tweets were sent from the accouints of Barack Obama, Michael Bloomberg and Elon Musk,” 17-year-old Graham Ivan Clark was arrested. 

    Three months later, Jack Dorsey wrote in an email: “Mudge signed.“

    Less than three months later, Zatko made his first big recommendation to Twitter execs: “hire the Alethea Group.“

    “I feel an external investigation may be quite valuable,” he said over the company’s Slack channel. “I’d recommend Alethea group for the disinformation angle.”

    Twitter authorized the move. Several weeks later, Zatko suggested that Twitter’s legal team hire Alethea for a report focusing on Jan. 6.

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

    “As folks can understand,” he wrote on Feb. 4, 2021, “there’s a lot still going on around Jan 6th and the 2020 election in general. Alethea is a boutique consultancy that specializes on disinformation and counter-messaging operations. They have been working with myself and Yoel [Roth].“

    Meanwhile, on March 24, 2021, Zatko emailed a 12-page report pushing for more government-linked censorship – suggesting that “The organizations and people behind this recommendation have the connection [sic] to get this in front of the right people in the administration.“

    The report is co-authored by Aspen Institute’s Vivian Schiller, who led the “pre-bunking” of the Hunter Biden laptop story, and Hamilton68 hoax author Clint Watts, and is published by the Mossavar-Rahmani Center at the Harvard Kennedy School and NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights. -Public

    Then it came out that Zatko, who pushed Alethea, “had engaged with members of US intelligence agencies…” As Public notes, “Attitudes toward Zatko would be quite different two years later.”

    Zatko turned whistleblower, sued the company, and settled for $7.75 million. He then filed a complaint with the Justice Department, SEC, and FTC, alleging Twitter executives had misled the government, been negligent in protecting user data, and had violated a 2011 consent decree with the FTC.

    Somebody leaked Zatko’s complaint to the Washington Post, which reached out to Twitter for comment on August 19, 2022.

    In a shared Google Doc, dated August 21, 2022, called “Comms Statements/Tracking,” Twitter executives fine-tuned the language for responding to the news media about Zatko’s allegations.

    Buried deep within that discussion was this revelatory sentence:

    “Without the knowledge or support of management or the Board, Twitter learned that Zatko had engaged with members of US intelligence agencies and sought to enter a formal agreement that would allow him to work with them and provide information to them.”

    CIA, In-Q-Tel, And Alethea

    In late 2022, Alethea received $10 million from Ballistic Ventures, whose general partner is Ted Schlein. Ted “provides counsel to the U.S. intelligence community, serves on the Board of Trustees at InQTel [the CIA’s mission-driven venture capital firm] and was recently named as a board member of the CISA Cybersecurity Advisory Committee.”

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

    In 2022, IQT published a report describing its “Disinformation Workshop,” which recommended several activities similar to those Alethea has offered, including “Track the confluence of bad narratives.”

    Schlein can neither confirm nor deny…

    According to the Wall Street Journal, a full one-third of IQT investments were secret as of 2016. The Journal also reported that Schlein had at least one connection to a firm in which IQT invested, and that was over seven years ago.

    “I do not know Zatko, Jankowicz or Otis. Lisa is the CEO of Alethea and I serve on her board of directors,” Schlein told us. He added that he is not aware of any relationship between Alethea and the IC and that he has no operational role in the firm.

    “I get the feeling that Alethea is a byproduct of Ted Schlein,” a high-tech entrepreneur told us, “and the CEO is merely a titular head….Without meaningful experience, it’s not clear to me how [Lisa Kaplan] received $10m in a series A round.”

    In March 2022, the Department of Homeland Security made Schlein a member of its advisory council. -Public

    Here’s Kaplan on promoting aggressive censorship:

    https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jshttps://substack.com/embedjs/embed.js

    We are now approximately halfway hrough Public‘s report. As X user Sean Michael Murray accurately observes: “It’s such a well sourced report… and there’s so much context to summarize in this post, it’s best to read it..” 

    So, click here and subscribe to Public if you haven’t already to read the rest – including:

    • The effort to infiltrate PayPal, GoDaddy and Amazon Web Services
    • Zatko’s engagement with the CIA
    • Who is Zatko, really?
    • Althea in, Zatko out
    • Kaplan’s “aggressive censorship vision”
    • “The Big Boss”
    • First Amendment vs. “Information War”
    • CODA 

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 05/26/2024 – 18:44

  • Sam Altman-Backed Oklo Signs Deal To Power Another Data Center
    Sam Altman-Backed Oklo Signs Deal To Power Another Data Center

    Sam Altman backed nuclear startup Oklo inked a deal to supply 100MW of nuclear power to data center company Wyoming Hyperscale, it was announced last week.

    The news sent shares of NYSE-listed Oklo up more than 30% in trading on Friday. 

    The companies signed a “non-binding letter of intent outlining plans for the PPA, which will last for 10 years,” according to industry publication Data Center Dynamics. This comes on top of the revelation that, last month, Oklo signed to supply up to 500MW of power to another data center, Equinix. 

    “Wyoming Hyperscale is building a data center campus on 58 acres of land,” the report says. 

    Jacob DeWitte, co-founder and CEO of Oklo, commented: “As the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence increases, Oklo remains dedicated to providing clean, reliable, and affordable energy solutions to meet the needs of our data center partners.”

    “Our partnership with Wyoming Hyperscale underscores our commitment to advancing sustainable energy practices and supporting high-efficiency operations within the data center industry.”

    Trenton Thornock, founder of Wyoming Hyperscale, added: “Our goal is to create data centers with minimal environmental impact. This collaboration with Oklo perfectly aligns with our vision for sustainable, efficient operations. By merging sustainability with advanced technology, we are setting a new standard for the future of accelerated computing.”

    As we wrote earlier this month, Oklo won shareholder approval on May 8 for its NYSE listing. The company’s mission is “to provide clean, reliable, affordable energy on a global scale through the design and deployment of next-generation fast reactor technology”.

    Backed by investors like Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Peter Thiel, the who’s who of the AI revolution, nuclear fusion startups are gaining traction. Sam Altman, who invested in Oklo in 2015, believes the company is “best positioned to commercialize advanced fission energy solutions,” per a July press release.

    Last month, we published a lengthy report discussing why even as the AI trade may be fizzling, the “electrification” trade, aka the “Power-Up America” trade – so urgently needed to run all those electricity-gobbling data centers needed to run AI – is just getting started and has in fact outperformed substantially both the broader AI and Data-Center Equipment baskets over the past two months…

    … and Altman – who teamed up with another power company, Exowatt, earlier this year to focus on clean energy for AI power -agrees: “Fundamentally today in the world, the two limiting commodities you see everywhere are intelligence, which we’re trying to work on with AI, and energy,” Altman told CNBC in 2021. 

    For those who missed it, in “The Next AI Trade,” we outlined various investment opportunities for powering up America, most of which have dramatically outperformed the market. In the next iteration, we will likely add Oklo to the list of beneficiaries certainly ahead of the inevitable cascade of Buy ratings sure flood the name over the next month.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 05/26/2024 – 18:40

  • "The Laptop Is Real": Justice Department Denounces Claims Of Russian Disinformation As A Biden "Conspiracy Theory"
    “The Laptop Is Real”: Justice Department Denounces Claims Of Russian Disinformation As A Biden “Conspiracy Theory”

    Authored by Jonathan Turley,

    “The defendant’s laptop is real.”

    With those words and pictures like this one of Biden using crack, the Justice Department introduced the Hunter Biden laptop as evidence in his upcoming trial over federal gun violations. 

    The federal prosecutors went on to denounce suggestions of Russian disinformation, long peddled by the Bidens, the media and former intelligence officials, as nothing more than a “conspiracy theory.”

    The media eagerly spread the claim of Russian disinformation before the presidential election. Twitter and others suppressed the story. This was done through one of the most skillful disinformation campaigns in history.

    It later came out that associates of the Biden campaign (including now Secretary of State Antony Blinken) pushed a long effort to get former intelligence officials to sign a letter making the claim, knowing that an ever-accommodating media would accept the claim without question or further inquiry.

    At the time, some of us wrote that the laptop was “self-authenticating” since many of the emails were confirmed by third parties and other evidence. The Justice Department last week made the same claim of “self-authentication” as well as independent confirmation by federal investigators.

    In the now-debunked letter of former intelligence officials just before the election, figures such as Leon Panetta, former CIA Director in the Obama Administration, claimed that the letter had all of the markings of a Russian disinformation effort by intelligence services. (Panetta continued to make the assertion late last year in pushing what the federal government is now calling a “conspiracy theory.”).

    The Washington Post’s Phillip Bump and others also continued to push the conspiracy theory. Indeed, in 2021, when media organizations were finally admitting that the laptop was authentic, Bump was still declaring that it was a “conspiracy theory.” Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Bump continued to suggest that “the laptop was seeded by Russian intelligence.”

    What is equally astonishing is that in 2023 the Post expressly stood by Bump’s reporting on the laptop and other debunked claims. Even after the government has declared this reporting as part of a “conspiracy theory,” the Post continues to support the reporting by Bump and others.

    The laptop includes not just pictures of Hunter using drugs but brandishing a handgun. The court clearly agrees with the government on the authenticity of the laptop. It has ruled against the defense and will allow it to be introduced into evidence.

    Despite the conclusions of American intelligence and others, the Biden team continued to push the disinformation.

    That led the Justice Department to tell the court that:

    “The defendant’s theory about the laptop is a conspiracy theory with no supporting evidence.” 

    It added that Hunter’s “laptop is real (it will be introduced as a trial exhibit) and it contains significant evidence of the defendant’s guilt.”

     

    The response from the media has been a collective shrug.

    Worse yet, many of these same political and media figures continue to support censorship and government regulations of “disinformation” while the government is now acknowledging that they carried off one of the most successful disinformation campaigns in history.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 05/26/2024 – 18:05

  • Could Ticket-Splitters Hurt Biden In 2024?
    Could Ticket-Splitters Hurt Biden In 2024?

    Authored by Emel Akan via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    President Joe Biden is struggling to win over key Democratic voting blocs in battleground states, according to recent polls. Yet, it’s becoming increasingly evident that this challenge is largely unique to the incumbent president himself, rather than indicative of a broader issue within the Democratic Party.

    (Illustration by The Epoch Times, Shutterstock)

    According to a recent poll by the New York Times and Siena College, the president trailed former President Donald Trump among registered voters in a head-to-head matchup in five out of six key swing states: Michigan, Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, and Pennsylvania. Wisconsin was the only state where the president had the advantage.

    Among likely voters, which are considered a more accurate reflection, the race was tighter, with President Trump holding his advantage in five states and President Biden edging ahead in Michigan.

    Meanwhile, the Senate races are showing a very different picture.

    In four battleground states, Democratic Senate candidates outperformed President Biden, according to the New York Times/Siena College survey.

    In Nevada, for example, where President Biden is facing his biggest challenge, President Trump holds a 12-point lead. However, in the Senate race, polls indicate that Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) is heading off her Republican opponent, Sam Brown, by 40 percent to 38 percent among registered voters.

    In Arizona, the former president leads 49 percent to 42 percent. Meanwhile, Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) is ahead of his Republican rival for Senate, Kari Lake, by 4 points. And a most recent CBS News poll indicates an even wider margin, with Mr. Gallego holding a 13-point lead.

    A study by the Center for Politics, since World War II, shows 196 instances of ticket-splitting, which means that states voted for a president from one party and a Senate candidate from another party.

    However, that trend has become a lot less common in recent years.

    In 2020, nearly 90 percent of candidate Biden and President Trump voters also opted for a congressional candidate from the same party. However, in the 1970s and ‘80s, that ratio was roughly 70 percent, according to the American National Election Studies.

    “Split ticket voting at the Senate level is not as prevalent as it used to be,” Ford O’Connell, a political analyst and Republican strategist, told The Epoch Times.

    Maine was the only state in 2020 where voters split their tickets, electing Democrat Mr. Biden for president and Republican Susan Collins for Senate.

    President Joe Biden takes a selfie with supporters at a YMCA in Nashua, N.H., on May 21, 2024. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

    Is 2024 Ripe for Ticket-Splitting?

    Some observers are wondering if ticket splitters will return in 2024, given the large gaps in the survey results of presidential and Senate races.

    Aside from Nevada and Arizona, President Biden is underperforming in Pennsylvania, where Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) leads by 5 points, and in Wisconsin, where Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) leads by 9 points, according to the New York Times/Siena College poll.

    Even in red states like Ohio and Montana, where President Trump enjoys overwhelming popularity, Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) lead their Republican opponents in polls.

    This is the opposite of what happened in 2020 when congressional Republicans outperformed President Trump and President Biden outperformed congressional Democrats.

    Mitchell Brown, pollster and director of political strategy at Cygnal, said the large gaps are driven by President Biden’s historically low approval ratings.

    This creates the possibility that President Trump could win several battleground states in 2024, while Democratic incumbent senators retain their seats in those races, Mr. Brown told The Epoch Times.

    Read more here…

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 05/26/2024 – 16:55

  • Injuries Reported After Qatar Airways Boeing 787 Hits Turbulence
    Injuries Reported After Qatar Airways Boeing 787 Hits Turbulence

    Just days after a Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER experienced ‘severe turbulence‘ on a flight from London to Singapore, injuring dozens, another Boeing aircraft, this time operated by Qatar Airways, encountered severe turbulence, resulting in passenger injuries.

    AP News reported that Qatar Airways flight QR017, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, was hit with turbulence on Sunday on a flight from Doha to Dublin. The plane has since landed in Dublin, and local officials say eight passengers were injured. 

    Here’s more from AP: 

    It said that upon landing the aircraft was met by emergency services, including airport police and the fire and rescue department, “due to six passengers and six crew … reporting injuries after the aircraft experienced turbulence while airborne over Turkey.”

    The airport said all passengers were assessed for injuries aboard the plane, and eight were then taken to hospital.

    Qatar Airways said in a statement that “a small number of passengers and crew sustained minor injuries in flight and are now receiving medical attention.”

    QR017’s flight data from Flightrader24 shows the incident may have occurred in the Black Sea. 

    However, Flightrader24 cautions the data might be fraught with errors because of high “GPS jamming” in the region due to the war in Eastern Europe. 

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

    On Tuesday, the other severe turbulence incident occurred on a Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER. The plane was flying from London to Singapore when an abrupt drop in altitude injured dozens. 

    One X user asked: “Two extreme turbulence flights in one week?” 

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    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 05/26/2024 – 16:20

  • Cocaine, Meth Found In Tractor-Trailers During California Border Searches
    Cocaine, Meth Found In Tractor-Trailers During California Border Searches

    By Trucker News

    U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at a California commercial facility made two major drug seizures recently. The interceptions of illegal drugs found in tractor-trailers included:

    • 400 pounds of cocaine 

    • 11,469 pounds of methamphetamine

    Cocaine found in a truck’s fuel tank; Source: Custom and Border Protection

    Cocaine found in fuel tank

    U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Otay Port Commercial Facility discovered over 400 pounds of cocaine concealed in a tractor-trailer’s fuel tanks on Friday, May 17.

    At approximately 9 p.m., CBP officers encountered a 35-year-old man driving a commercial tractor-trailer and empty trailer applying for entry from Mexico at the Otay Mesa Commercial Facility. The driver, a valid border crossing card holder, was referred for further examination by CBP officers along with the tractor and empty trailer.

    In the secondary inspection area, a CBP canine unit screened the tractor-trailer and alerted officers to examine the fuel tanks.

    After an intensive examination, CBP officers discovered packages hidden in a non-factory compartment inside both fuel tanks of the semi-truck. The contents of the packages were tested and identified as cocaine, with a total of 160 packages extracted weighing 412.26 pounds.

    CBP officers seized the narcotics and commercial tractor-trailer while the driver was turned over to the custody of Homeland Security Investigations for further investigation

    “The continued success of OFO canine teams in the detection of narcotics is a team effort,” stated Rosa E. Hernandez, Port Director for the Area Ports of Otay Mesa. “We will continue to conduct operations, including Operation Apollo, while leveraging intelligence and investigative information to target drug traffickers’ supply chains.”

    Over $18 million in meth found in squash

    CBP officers working at the Otay Mesa Commercial Facility discovered $18 million dollars’ worth of methamphetamine hidden within a shipment of squash.

    On Monday, May 20, at about 6:47 a.m., CBP officers encountered a 44-year-old male driving a commercial tractor-trailer with a shipment manifested for squash. The driver, a valid border crossing card holder, was referred for further examination by CBP officers along with the tractor-trailer and shipment.  

    Non-intrusive scanning technology was utilized to conduct a full scan of the tractor-trailer. After examination, irregularities were observed and CBP officers requested a CBP human and narcotics detection canine. The canine team responded and alerted officers to the presence of narcotics. 

    CBP officers discovered and extracted a total of 1,419 packages concealed within the shipment of squash. The narcotics were tested and identified as methamphetamine with a total weight of 11,469 pounds with an estimated street value of $18,350,400.

    “Our officers’ commitment to duty, excellence, and the safety of our nation is truly commendable. These results serve as an outstanding display of effectiveness in thwarting the illegal importation of narcotics,” stated Rosa E. Hernandez, Otay Mesa Area Port Director. “Their exceptional efforts truly embody the highest standards of service.”

    CBP officers seized the narcotics, commercial tractor, and trailer while the driver was turned over to the custody of Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) for further investigation.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 05/26/2024 – 15:45

  • Vivek Ramaswamy Calls For 'Libertarian-Nationalist Alliance'
    Vivek Ramaswamy Calls For ‘Libertarian-Nationalist Alliance’

    Authored by Nathan Worcester via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    In remarks at the Libertarian National Convention, Trump surrogate and former Libertarian Party voter Vivek Ramaswamy called for the men and women in attendance to ally with the “America First” wing of the Republican Party.

    “I believe the future of this country depends on a libertarian-nationalist alliance,” the entrepreneur said. The crowd mostly booed in response.

    The call for tactical cooperation came after Mr. Ramaswamy outlined his skepticism with both Democrats and what he characterized as “the establishment wing of the Republican Party,” criticizing Republican support for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), among other policies.

    Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy speaks during a Team Trump South Carolina press conference at AGY Aiken LLC in Aiken, S.C., on Feb. 21, 2024. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)

    He also said that independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who spoke earlier that day to the convention, was “in no sense a libertarian,” citing his past support for “punish[ing]” skeptics of the mainstream scientific narrative on climate change.

    In his opening comments and a subsequent debate with the Libertarians’ vice presidential nominee, Clint Russell, Mr. Ramaswamy suggested that the current political moment offered an opportunity for libertarian ideals to influence the future of former President Donald J. Trump’s “America First” movement.

    “I have had extensive conversations with Donald Trump about libertarian objectives,” the entrepreneur said.

    In New Hampshire, after Mr. Ramaswamy left the race, President Trump stressed his opposition to central-bank digital currencies, adding that “Vivek [also] wanted this.”

    Yet, President Trump’s warm response to new support from another past presidential hopeful, Nikki Haley, has some wondering whether Ms. Haley’s more neoconservative politics would significantly influence a future Trump administration.

    “You know, we had a nasty campaign, it was pretty nasty, but she’s a very capable person, and I’m sure she’s going to be on our team in some form absolutely,” President Trump said in an interview after his rally in the Bronx on May 22.

    President Trump will also be speaking at the Libertarian National Convention.

    In his remarks in D.C., Mr. Ramaswamy also criticized what he described as two other possible future paths for “America First,” aside from a more libertarian or constitutionalist vision.

    One was neoconservatism, “the way of Dick Cheney.” The other, he said, was “what they would call industrial policy, but what increasingly looks and smells like a right-wing version of the nanny state.”

    He reiterated his criticism of industrial policy during his debate with Mr. Russell, which was moderated by comedian Dave Smith.

    Yet, when defending his views on China—an area of meaningful disagreement between many Republicans and many libertarians—the businessman and investor leaned on concerns about Chinese domination of America’s defense-industrial base while indicating that some would disagree that such a sector is necessary at all.

    When asked about legislators’ intensified worries about TikTok, Mr. Ramaswamy also hewed to the GOP-friendly view.

    “Why do you think there was this push to ban TikTok? Do you think it’s really because, as they say, it’s partially owned by a Chinese subsidiary. Or is it because of, let’s say, a different foreign nation?” Mr. Smith asked.

    It was a clear reference to Israel and the Israel lobby, the frequent target of Mr. Smith and many other libertarian commentators as the nation’s war with Hamas rages.

    The Wall Street Journal’s Georgia Wells wrote that pro-Palestine content on the app “helped galvanize lawmakers to want to take action” after years of comparative indifference.

    Mr. Ramaswamy, known for his comments on the U.S.-Israel relationship while on the campaign trail, laughed before reframing the question.

    “I think you’re talking about a foreign nation beginning in Silicon Valley, actually. It’s Facebook lobbying is the reason we passed that bill,” he said.

    “He’s not entirely wrong,” Mr. Smith interjected as the former candidate kept talking.

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 05/26/2024 – 14:35

  • Even CNN (!) Debunks Trump 'Reich' Ad Hysteria
    Even CNN (!) Debunks Trump ‘Reich’ Ad Hysteria

    While CNN remains an undisputed propaganda arm of the ruling class (see: Ted Cruz’s recent ‘will you accept the results’ purity test interview), the network committed two recent acts of journalism we felt warranted recognition in the hope they’ll change their ways (don’t hold your breath).

    First, they debunked the absurd “unified Reich” hoax – in which the Trump campaign ‘reTruth’d’ a video which used a stock video template that anyone can buy online, called “Newspaper Vintage History Headlines Promo,” and which flashed the image of a headline from 1871 which reads “”German Industrial Strength After 1871 Driven By The Creation Of A Unified Reich.””

    The leftist media complex, which unrepentantly helped the US intelligence community frame Trump as a Russian asset, flipped out – with networks including CNN going into literal shakes to whip up their goldfish-brained viewers.

    Former CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden amplified the hysteria to his 345,000 followers.

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

    CNN does journalism!

    What’s amazing here is that CNN then devoted resources to actual journalism to track down the origin of the video (no doubt in the hopes of finding a tiki-torch aficionado at the bottom of it) – only to discover, and report, that a 30-year-old Turkish graphic designer made it, and that “All signs point to it’s inclusion being an oversight, not a fascist dog whistle.“

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

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

    How did this slip past the editors!?

    Of course, this moment of journalistic integrity is likely an outlier, as the same CNN journalist, Jon Sarlin, was pushing ‘it’s not the economy, you’re just stupid‘ propaganda earlier this year.

    Except…

    While underlying costs have similarly risen – including forced wage hikes, ruining the ‘greedflation’ narrative. Even James Carville is willing to tell the truth.

    CNN’s second act of journalism in the course of two weeks was when Manu Raju ambushed Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and badgered him over his bribery case.

    What’s going on here?

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

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 05/26/2024 – 14:00

  • Why Are They Drugging The Students?
    Why Are They Drugging The Students?

    Authored by Jeffrey A. Tucker via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

    The last few years have blown wide open a scandal that has long existed but is not that well known aside from specialists. The problem is the collaboration between pharmaceutical companies, government regulators, and the medical industry. The problem is so vast that it is hardly describable in a short article.

    (joel bubble ben/Shutterstock)

    It turns out that the ineffective COVID shots were just the beginning. As far as we know and have discovered in the course of investigations, the shot was developed quickly as a countermeasure to distract from the problem of a lab leak. The world’s population was held hostage for a year and more while the inoculation was rolled out. But once deployed, it became obvious that it could not actually block infection or stop the spread. So everyone got the bug anyway, and we are left with tremendous damage caused by the shots themselves.

    I described this short history to Dr. Drew Pinsky, the famed addiction doctor who now has a popular video podcast. He found no fault with my scenario as mapped above. He immediately added that this has many parallels with the opioid crisis that led him into public advocacy. The pharma companies advertised some miracle drugs to fix pain with no risk of addiction.

    The frenzy to prescribe was so intense that some doctors even feared penalties for not prescribing. The result of course was a disastrous addiction crisis that continues to this day. Unlike vaccine companies, the producers were not indemnified against payouts for harms, and as much as $50 billion ended up going to victims just last year. The numbers are mind-boggling.

    Just when you think you have reached the bottom of this problem, new information comes along. Last night I was privileged to attend a talk by Sheila Matthews-Gallo who founded AbleChild, an organization that advocates for child rights against forced medicalization. Why would such a thing be needed? As it turns out, many if not most kids in public schools today face this threat daily. They can be identified as having ADHD or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

    It turns out that there is nothing proven chemically to constitute ADHD. It is entirely a diagnosis applied based on behavior as identified throughout a checklist questionnaire. The checklist is about fidgeting, forgetting, boredom, finishing tasks, various acting up, expressions of frustrations, and so on. In other words, what we have here is a list of all the signs you might expect when boys in particular are told to sit perfectly still at a desk for months and years and complete tasks assigned to them by some authority figure.

    With this kind of diagnosis, you are likely to rope in a vast number of kids, particularly the exceptional ones and those once considered to be “gifted and talented.” As it turns out, there is a vast industry working today to pathologize perfectly normal behavioral traits. It hits boys in particular very hard because, in general, they mature more slowly than girls and tend toward behavioral resistance to environmental adaptivity relative to girls.

    For more on this amazing reality, see “The ADHD Fraud,” an eye-opening book.

    What could be the purpose of such a diagnosis? You guessed it: there are drugs for this supposed problem. They have various names: Ritalin (methylphenidate), Adderall (amphetamine), Dexmethylphenidate, Lisdexamfetamine, Clonidine, and Atomoxetine. Not even one of them has been proven to be a chemical fix for any biological abnormality. They are all behavioral-adjustment drugs; that is, psychotropic drugs; that is, narcotics for kids.

    Millions of kids take them, as many as 13 percent of teens. The rate grows higher in the college population. Some one in three adults are taking psychiatric meds. It’s getting worse. It starts in school.

    Listening to all of this, I found myself astounded. And yet, in some ways, it fits with everything else we know. We have an industry here that is in a tight working relationship with government institutions like public schools, plus regulators, plus medical authorities that are throwing drugs at people with the promise of miracles but with results that actually ruin lives.

    Think of how different your school years would have been if you had developed a drug addiction and lived off psychotropic meds from the age of 7. I was fortunately spared such a fate. But millions of kids today cannot say the same. It’s utterly astonishing. It strikes me that this is a scandal just waiting to be blown wide open.

    Among the related factors, as RFK, Jr. has been pointing out in public lately, is the odd relationship between school shootings and the wide distribution of these drugs. Many cases we know about already but the medical records of others are being withheld, even though the public is more and more understanding that the real problem is not guns but pharmacological products. And yet the activists themselves are entirely focused on taking away guns rather than looking more deeply.

    I have had personal experience with young adults who are addicted to Adderall. In many ways, when you are a college student, it seems like a miracle drug. In college, discipline over the use of time recedes into a low priority. Instead the demand is to turn in long papers on deadline, memorize vast material you can spit out on a test and forget the next day, and otherwise stay intensely focused sporadically. For many students, this drug is exactly what the doctor ordered: it permits hyper-focused all-nighters followed by a day or two of feeling like a zombie but no one notices.

    I’ve known many people who develop addictions, not only physical ones but psychological ones: life without the drug seems dull by comparison and who wants that? These students carry this over into professional life and attempt the same pattern. They can work all day and stay up all night and achieve something that seems mind-blowing but not quite what you asked for. You ask for fixes and they don’t happen. In fact, you don’t hear from them for days after until they reemerge with no memory of the work they did. This pattern repeats itself.

    I gradually came to learn that the real problem was the drugs. I concluded that I would rather have a moderately productive employee who at least had a steady pattern of labor and a mild recall of skills that could be built up over time. The issue is that when hiring someone, it’s not quite kosher to ask such questions as: what drugs do you take? You end up guessing, and sometimes guessing wrong.

    I’m telling you from long experience that these drugs are a catastrophe for professional life. No one should ever take them. That’s my considered opinion in any case, and I frequently warn college students against them. And what’s true for college kids is thousands of times more so for high school and grade school. It’s a complete scandal that these drugs are given out like candy to school kids. Parents have every right and obligation to resist.

    It’s all the more astonishing to learn, as I did last night, that there never was any science to the diagnosis of ADHD, any more than there was any science behind social distancing. It’s all made up to service the state and its adjacent players in the private sector who benefit from various mandates that somehow always end in drugging the population. The whole thing astounds me.

    Think about the bigger picture. We’ve created these public schools, force the kids to attend them, ban them from any remunerative work, shove boys and girls together, impose uniform curricula as if every student learns at the same pace, take away discretion from teachers, and saddle the institutions with massive bureaucracies. When the kids don’t take well to the environment, we call them mentally ill and drug them up in ways from which state-connected pharma companies can profit.

    This level of cruelty is really baked into the system. It’s a wonder any civilized society could ever accept it. And once you discover the fullness of the scandal about what’s going on, you have to start asking other questions about weight-loss drugs, other vaccines and miracle cures, and the entire machinery of allopathic medicine itself. Yes, the rabbit hole is very deep.

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

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 05/26/2024 – 13:25

  • Sinaloa's Top Assassin Extradited To US For Flooding Nation With Fentanyl
    Sinaloa’s Top Assassin Extradited To US For Flooding Nation With Fentanyl

    The US Justice Department announced on Saturday the extradition of a top assassin for the Sinaloa drug cartel to the US who was recently arrested by Mexican authorities. The cartel has been responsible for flooding America with fentanyl via the Biden administration’s open southern borders, sparking the worst overdose drug crisis this nation has ever seen. 

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    Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas, also known as “El Nini,” one of America’s most-wanted criminals, was extradited to the US for his role in “illicit fentanyl trafficking.” 

    Attorney General Merrick B. Garland released this statement: 

    “This morning, Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas, also known as ‘El Nini,’ was extradited to the United States. We allege El Nini was one of the Sinaloa Cartel’s lead sicarios, or assassins, and was responsible for the murder, torture, and kidnapping of rivals and witnesses who threatened the cartel’s criminal drug trafficking enterprise.

    “We also allege El Nini was a part of the Sinaloa Cartel’s production and sale of fentanyl, including in the United States. I am grateful to our Mexican government counterparts for their extraordinary efforts in apprehending and extraditing El Nini. 

    “With this enforcement action, El Nini joins the growing list of cartel leaders and associates indicted in, and extradited to, the United States. The Justice Department will continue to go after the cartels responsible for flooding our communities with fentanyl and other drugs.”

    The majority of Americans will never forget the disastrous open southern borders, flooding the nation with ten million unvetted illegal aliens and fentanyl, that has caused chaos and death from coast to coast. The US drug death catastrophe has now exceeded the entire Vietnam War every six months. Most of this is linked to fentanyl-laced narcotics pushed by Mexican cartels. 

    News from Baltimore this week, just north of the White House, shows the imploding metro area run by radical Democrats (half-century of Democratic control) has been crowned the overdose capital of America. 

    Source: NYT 

    Remember, Nancy Pelosi got her political start in Baltimore – yet she’s too focused on trading stocks than actually caring about issues plaguing the working poor and black community. The very fact that federal, state, and local progressive lawmakers care very little about enforcing common sense law and order, not just at the southern border but in metro areas, has sparked monumental failures and led to surges in the drug death catastrophe nationwide. 

    Americans must demand accountability at the polls this November for the chaos radical leftists who pushed failed open southern borders, embraced Soros-backed DAs and mayors, and failed criminal and social justice reforms that have only ignited crime and chaos nationwide. 

    Don’t worry. Americans will never get accountability from the radical left because as they try to install a socialist hellhole, they will flee to their second, third, and or fourth homes on liberal elite islands, such as Martha’s Vineyard. 

    You know, if Trump wins in November – it’s game over for the cartels. It’s time to get serious – also, potentially hitting Mexican banks with sanctions. Follow the money. Why can’t the Biden team do that? 

    Tyler Durden
    Sun, 05/26/2024 – 12:50

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