• The Great Reset, Part 2: A Camp With No Outside
  The Great Reset, Part 2: A Camp With No Outside

  Authored by Simon Elmer via Off-Guardian.org,

  ‘Today, it is not the city but rather the camp that is the fundamental biopolitical paradigm of the West.’

  – Giorgio Agamben, Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life, 1995

  In Part 1 of this article, I identified the apparatuses of biopower by which our freedoms and our democracies are threatened in the West today, and which I described as the ‘Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse’.

  As I devote a chapter of my new book, The Great Reset, to each of the last three of these apparatuses of biopower – the UN’s Agenda 2030, the WHO’s Pandemic Treaty and Central Bank Digital Currency – I’m only going to discuss the first of them here, although it comes up throughout my book, because a system of Digital Identity is the gateway to the digital camp in which the other three will imprison us.

  They all rely on it being in place for their own enforcement, and in this respect it is the most important and the one that has to be most resisted and defeated. Some form of Digital Identity has been talked about for some time, and although everyone appears to know what it is, there doesn’t seem to be much opposition to its implementation in the UK, which I’d suggest indicates that in reality we don’t understand it at all.

  

  THE GATEWAY OF DIGITAL IDENTITY

  During the lockdown of the UK, Digital Identity was discussed in relation to the China Health Pass, which is now fully operative and linked to the Chinese system of Social Credit, and which like a traffic light has three signals of access to different aspects of the public realm and services: green for freedom of access; amber for limited access or only on condition of further proofs or acts of compliance (like taking a PCR test); and red for prohibition on everything from receiving a bank loan, accessing your bank account, using public transport, passing between zones of a city to being permitted to leave your home itself. In Europe, a lot of the member states of the European Union universally or partially imposed — for instance, on members of certain industries, like health, education, police and other public services — the use of the EU Digital COVID Certificate, which was collectively known as the ‘Green Pass’. The technology for this was subsequently taken up by the World Health Organization, which in June 2023, in tandem with the European Commission, announced the WHO’s Global Digital Health Certification Network, which it invited all member states — which includes the UK — to adopt and participate in developing.

  In the UK itself, we had the NHS COVID Pass, which was never enforced as a requirement of employment except for care workers, but which private businesses were permitted and encouraged to enforce as a condition of employment, access to their premises and use of their services. In April 2022, as coronavirus-justified regulations were lifted in the UK, the Department for Health and Social Care awarded the £18 million contract to develop the NHS COVID Pass to the Danish IT firm, Netcompany Ltd. The specification for the project stated:

  The government may introduce a mandatory COVID Pass to access high-risk venues if the data suggests further measures are necessary to protect the NHS. In preparation for this eventuality, we have built the changes to support two levels of domestic passes. The functionality will be toggled off until required. This enables a quick response if/when the Government invokes mandate. If a citizen is fully vaccinated, medically exempt or has been in a clinical trial, they will be eligible for an ‘all venues’ (mandatory) pass. If a citizen only has natural immunity or negative test results, they will only be eligible for a ‘limited venues’ (voluntary) pass.

  In anticipation of this mandate and the functionality of Digital Identity being ‘toggled on’, in the first three months of 2023 the UK Government conducted a consultation on draft legislation for what it called — presumably in an attempt to distance it from the widely opposed ‘vaccine passport’ — ‘identity verification’.

  The consultation closed on 1 March, 2023; but the legal framework for a system of Digital Identity was first put in place by the Digital Economy Act 2017, which removed the legal barriers to data sharing in the UK. It was initially anticipated that the Statutory Instrument implementing a system of Digital Identity in the UK would be made in July 2023, but we are still waiting for the Government mandate.

  What will this system do?

  At present, the UK Government is promoting Digital Identity in terms of ease of access, greater convenience and increased safety. So, under the Online Safety Act 2023, Digital Identity will be a requirement of access to the internet, not in order to censor what we can see, read and write but to protect children from pornography and grooming gangs.

  Under the Elections Act 2022, it will be a requirement of voting, not in order to further discourage public participation in the electoral process but to stop illegal voting. It will be a requirement of receiving Universal Credit or, in the future, Universal Basic Income, not in order to force the immiserated and unemployed into obligatory retraining and work but to stop fraudulent benefit claims. It will be a requirement of gaining access to public transport, medical care, education and employment, not in order to control us whenever the World Health Organization declares a new pandemic but to protect the population from future health crises. It will be a requirement of travel and movement between nation states and within the UK, not in order to enforce the restrictions on our freedoms imposed by Agenda 2030 but to stop illegal immigration into the UK and save the planet from ‘global boiling’. It will be a requirement of opening a bank account, not to force us into opening a Digital Pound account but to stop financial crime.

  And just as it is in China, the system of Social Credit that relies on Digital Identity for its enforcement will not be restricted to individuals, but will apply to both privately-owned companies and publicly-funded institutions. US asset managers like BlackRock, for example, have made it clear that adherence to the behaviours written into the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the Environmental, Social and corporate Governance criteria by which they are enforced are now a condition of employment, bank loans, investment and other aspects of business formerly determined by the employment and trading laws of a sovereign state; and the monitoring and enforcement of compliance with these new norms will be increased exponentially with the development and expansion of systems of Digital Identity across the globe.

  This enforcement of the biopolitical requirements of citizenship outside of the juridical frameworks of nation states or international law is consistent with the way the NHS COVID Pass was employed in the UK during the two years of lockdown. The decision to require this pass was made by the UK Government, but it wasn’t mandated through legislation, even in the daily coronavirus-justified regulations being made into law. Rather, the responsibility for the enforcement of the COVID Pass was passed onto the private sector. Ultimately, although we have been promised a Statutory Instrument making its requirement into law, I believe the UK’s system of Digital Identity will be handed over to the UK’s businesses, in both the public and private sectors, where it will be enforced as a condition of employment and custom by both employers and those who trade with and make loans to their businesses.

  As I will discuss in far greater depth in this book, once the requirements of citizenship are taken out of a juridical framework and become, as Foucault wrote, ‘distributions around the norm’, the more difficult those norms are to challenge. This is the goal of biopower.

  The first question any public consultation on Digital Identity should be asking the British public is not — as it did — whether and to what extent it meets this or that objective required by the Digital Economy Act 2017, but rather whether the British public wishes for such a system. The Government has no mandate for its imposition in its election manifesto, and its failure to inform the British public about the system of surveillance and control of which Digital Identity is the key constitutes a dereliction of the duty of any elected executive body to receive informed consent before interfering with the rights and freedoms of those it has been elected to govern. The Government’s sham consultation, to which I responded, provided none of the contexts necessary for the public to make such informed consent. Worse, it assumed the imposition of a system of Digital Identity as a fait accompli. Indeed, by couching its consultation in terms of undisclosed ‘benefits’ to the public and undefined and ideological terms like ‘well-being’, the consultation deliberately concealed the real import, reach and purpose of Digital Identity.

  Contrary to what the Government has told us, a system of ‘identity verification’ does not benefit individuals of households or improve public services. We saw this with the UK Health Security Agency’s proposals for the NHS COVID Pass that were nearly introduced in the UK on the justification of tracking and limiting the movements of UK citizens under lockdown. What is more accurately called a system of Digital Identity only benefits those who wish to use such a system to monitor, regulate, correct and, when necessary, to punish those who do not comply with whatever new codes of behaviour, including our speech, the Government and the unelected international technocracies formulating those codes impose upon us.

  The ‘Green Pass’ introduced across Europe demonstrated that these will be imposed through prohibitions on our movements, sanctions on our consumptions, extra-legal fixed penalty notices and the removal of our human rights and civil liberties, all of which the Governments of the West have demonstrated they are willing to enforce with extraordinary and in many countries unprecedented levels of police brutality.

  Once it is imposed, however, the intervention of the police and the juridical framework within which they loosely act will become less and less necessary, as we move into the biopolitics of stakeholder capitalism. As the UK Government well knows, Digital Identity is not being implemented in isolation from, but in conjunction with, other technologies and programmes for the surveillance and control of the UK population, including the Bank of England’s Digital Pound, 15-Minute Cities, the London Mayor’s Ultra-Low Emission Zone, the requirements of Agenda 2030 and the enforceable obligations of the WHO’s Pandemic Treaty. Currently being implemented as mere upgrades to the infrastructure of the UK state, these will fundamentally — and, as I have said, perhaps irreversibly — change the ability of the British people to scrutinise, influence or hold our rulers to account. And yet, few members of the British public are even aware of these programmes, let alone how they will be used. We certainly haven’t voted for them. Nor, as the Government’s sham consultation on ‘identity verification’ demonstrates, will we be asked to do so. Digital Identity is the gateway to this collective system of surveillance and control that truly deserves the description ‘totalitarian’.

  So little has been divulged about how it will function that it is difficult to say what it will contain; but as part of system of Social Credit, Digital Identity will certainly hold our credit history. It will almost undoubtedly hold our online browsing history. And as the World Health Organization’s Global Digital Health Certification Network indicates, it will definitely hold our biometric data. It will equally certainly hold a record of our social compliance, and what we can learn from China is that social compliance will not only be with the regulations of biosecurity set by a juridical framework but also with the new norms of behaviour we have already so readily accepted and normalised since March 2020. These now include censorship of speech and opinions contrary to those espoused by our Government; increased conditions imposed on our previously inalienable rights and freedoms; and adherence to the dictates of technocracies over whose membership and decisions we have no influence. It will be used to monitor, limit and control our movement through and out of not just our countries but also the 15-Minute Cities currently being imposed on the justification of reducing everything from air pollution to global warming. To this spurious end, it will record and restrict our consumption of energy, heat, food and water.

  In practice, it will monitor and record our behaviour, opinions and compliance with the new orthodoxies of woke ideology. And in doing so, it will condition our access to everything from the internet, banking and employment to healthcare, welfare and education. One day, if the Bank of England has its way, it will be the condition of accessing the only kind of currency still in existence, over which it will have complete control.

  A CAMP WITH NO OUTSIDE

  Why, then, is the British public showing so little interest in, presenting so little opposition to, and demonstrating such passive acceptance of our enclosure in the biosecurity camp to which Digital Identity is the gateway? It’s in order to try and answer this question that, in addition to writing about these new apparatuses of biopower, the second part of my book looks at what are not, properly speaking, technologies of biopower but, rather, the ideologies indoctrinating us for its implementation as the dominant paradigm of governance in the West.

  The first of these, of course, is the US proxy war in the Ukraine, which although started in February 2014 with the overthrow of the democratically elected Government, in the minds of most Westerners began in February 2022, as we were emerging from two years of lockdown restrictions. The transition, therefore, from the so-called ‘war on COVID’ to the war on Russia was an almost seamless one, and those obedient to the terms of the former have proven the loudest advocates of the lies of the latter, most obviously about when and why it began.

  In certain respects this is a new form of warfare, insofar as the US asset managers that have been driving US foreign policy for some time now are not using the lives of young US soldiers to enforce their interests, as they have in Syria, Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan, but are now using the lives of the citizens of foreign countries — in this instance hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian victims — to force the public assets, natural resources and even the economy of the Ukraine into their hands. It’s a matter of indifference to them that, in doing so, they have reduced parts of the country to ruins, its people to poverty and its institutions to political impotence, except insofar as the carnage justifies them calling on even more US taxpayers’ money to ‘rebuild’ what they have demolished.

  Ukraine is a bloody example and warning to the world of what can be done to a formerly sovereign state when the bodies and lives of its people are subject to a war whose goal is biopolitical control over an entire people. Indeed, Ukraine is the testing ground for the digital transformation of the infrastructure of an entire state, including online education and health services, Central Bank Digital Currency, so-called e-governance, including a civil service replaced by smartphone apps, COVID certification on the same, and a judiciary and military run by artificial intelligence. As an image of its dystopian future drawn direct from Hollywood cinema — Ukraine’s 32-year-old Deputy Prime Minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, has dubbed it ‘Judge Dredd’ — the country has already piloted an AI system that produces pre-trial and pre-sentencing reports that assess the risk of a suspect offending.

  It’s to the same end, although employing different means, that the orthodoxies of transgenderism have attained their now unquestionable status as part of the official ideology of stakeholder capitalism in the West in a period of time barely longer than it took to impose the equally official orthodoxies of the war in the Ukraine. Few appear to have considered why, in the middle of the vast upheavals we have undergone since March 2020, governments, corporations and public institutions otherwise struggling to save humankind from any number of manufactured ‘crises’ should suddenly devote so much time and effort and money to writing the orthodoxies of ‘trans’ into our laws, implementing them in our policies, promoting them in our media, indoctrinating them through our institutions of education and normalising them in our culture industries.

  It is my belief, for which a chapter of this book provides the argument and evidence, that the orthodoxies of trans are not incidental to the revolution in Western capitalism we are undergoing but, rather, instrumental to the new biopolitical paradigm of citizenship to which we will be expected to adhere — and compelled to obey by the technologies of biopower — in the Global Biosecurity State under construction.

  Over the last few years I’ve written many times about the ideology of woke, which has now taken its place as the official ideology of stakeholder capitalism, having infiltrated the Cabinets of Western governments along with Klaus Schwab’s Young Global Leaders, and with just as much brazenness and indeed pride.

  In my penultimate chapter, I look at how the discourse of White racism developed by woke is being used not only to silence opposition to the regulations, programmes and technologies of the Great Reset of the UK, but also to force through the changes in attitudes, beliefs and behaviours they require for our acceptance and compliance with such blatant attacks on our freedoms.

  As with the apparatuses of biopower, therefore, my aim in the second part of my book is to show how the orthodoxies of woke — which now include dehumanisation of the Russian people and the Lysenkoism of transgenderism — are instrumental to the incorporation of the judicial institution, through which the limits of citizenship have until now been made in law, into a biopolitical paradigm, in which the requirements of citizenship in the Global Biosecurity State are normalised by technologies of power, as Foucault wrote, ‘centred on life’.

  Finally, the body of my book is topped and tailed by two short texts. The first introduces the book with the argument that one of the conclusions we can draw from the last three-and-a-half years is that the already questionable division of our parliamentary politics into Left and Right no longer has any descriptive or practical purchase on the paradigm of governance by which we are now ruled, and should be abandoned by anyone serious about forming opposition to it. The second text, in the absence of the comforting dreams with which the UK Left has rocked itself to sleep over the past forty years of neoliberalism, concludes my book by proposing one of the ways in which we can resist — initially at least — the construction of the digital camp being built not only around and between but also within us by the technologies of biopower.

  In the UK, as across most of the Western World, we lived through an extreme two-year period of lockdown in which almost all our human rights and civil liberties were removed by wave after wave of legislation on the justification of combatting a respiratory virus which anyone who troubled to look at the statistics and the criteria by which they were produced knew had the infection fatality rate of seasonal influenza. Even that’s not quite accurate since, unlike influenza, coronavirus has no effect on the young, who despite being masked for two years, deprived of their education and injected with experimental gene therapies, are as statistically immune to COVID-19 as they are statistically vulnerable to the myocarditis, pericarditis and other damages to their health and immune systems caused by the messenger RNA sequencing the UK state injected into their arms as a vaccine.

  Now, however, the West has entered into a more generalised crisis carousel whose names change, week by week, from global boiling to Russian aggression to the cost-of-living to the resurrection of the threat of Islamic terrorism and, as I write, another made-to-order viral strain. But whatever their ostensible cause, the ultimate goal of the technologies of biopower whose imposition these crises justify is to make permanent what were the temporary restrictions on our rights and freedoms under lockdown.

  Indeed, the best way to understand these crises is to ask how these new agendas, these new treaties, these new programmes and these new technologies make the State of Emergency under which we lived for two years permanent. Unfortunately, very few people are asking that question, of themselves or others. Under lockdown, thousands of people were forced into quarantine camps, most famously in China; but the digital camp into which we’re being corralled now, and which is enclosing and dividing us even as we return to bickering about Brexit and immigration, is co-extensive with the space of the state itself.

  How is it being built? As I’ve said, Digital Identity is the gateway to this camp, over which is written not Arbeit Macht Frei — for there is no escape from a space without an outside — but rather ‘Freedom is Slavery’. And if we imagine this camp and try to visualise its structure, the Internet of Things, which includes the digital panopticon of quick response codes, facial recognition technology and now ULEZ cameras, and the Internet of Bodies to which it connects us, which as I argue in my conclusion includes smartphones, is the camp’s system of surveillance.

  15-Minute Cities, which despite being proposed by the World Economic Forum — a corporate think-tank with no legislative authority over the populations of nation states — are being imposed on UK citizens by our local councils and metropolitan authorities, are the barracks into which the different areas of the camp are divided. Despite their vociferous denials to the contrary, as soon as a municipal authority or legislative body decides when, how, where, how often and in what its citizens can move about in their own country, you are on the road to fascism. 15-Minute Cities are the beginning of the transformation of the space of the state itself into a permanent spatialisation of the State of Emergency, which is why they are both justified as a means to ‘save the planet’ and denied as a ‘conspiracy theory’.

  And in case we’re naïve enough — which the UK public has demonstrated itself to be beyond the dreams of even the most cynical globalist — to believe that the limits on our freedom of movement will only apply to cars, and are therefore a good thing, Transport for London has already proposed what it calls, with the ubiquity of one of the most powerful information technology companies in the world, ‘smart transport’. Employing not just facial recognition cameras but the AI technology within them, the purpose of smart transport is not merely to monitor our actions but also to learn from our behaviour, turning public transport into a vast training camp for the digital guards of our future.

  Finally, Central Bank Digital Currency, in this spatial visualisation of a digital structure, is the perimeter fence of the camp, which it renders impossible to escape; for once this fence is constructed there will no longer be a space outside its extent and reach, or at least, no space inhabitable by a human society larger than a small commune, and most likely nowhere in the West.

  Although the Internet of Bodies is ready and waiting to insert its system of monitoring inside us, with the proto-cyborgs for the future already implanting computer chips under their skin and ingesting them into their bodies, these technologies of biopower are, for the present, being implemented through the nation’s smartphones. This includes, of course, a system of Digital Identity; but, initially at least, Central Bank Digital Currency wallets will also go through a smartphone software application.

  In anticipation of which, in March of this year the Government launched its Emergency Alert System, which was then tested the following month on the 82 million smartphones in the UK. It has not been made public how many of their owners responded; but what the UK public needs to understand, and soon, is that when the technologies of biopower constituting the digital camp are in place, this alert will not be used to inform us of whatever crisis the Government has invented to terrorise us with next, but rather to instruct us in the operational status of mechanisms of compliance it will be impossible to disobey except at the cost of our liberty.

  I say it again, once the legal framework for citizenship is incorporated into a biopolitical paradigm of governance administered by a continuum of regulatory apparatuses, then legislative, legal and political means of contestation will no longer exist except as spectacles of a democracy long since dismantled. In reality, Western democracy, for some time now, has only existed in the fantasies of an endlessly deceived electorate. But it’s a measure of how far we have come since March 2020, how far we have declined as a citizenry worthy of the name, and how ready we are for the totalitarianism of biopower, that there was no protest and little outrage in response to this trial of our abject obedience. On the contrary, the same mouths and faces were wheeled out by the media to repeat the mantra of the unfailing obedient: ‘Well, if it saves lives . . .’ This is the essence of biopower to which the politics of the West is being reset by stakeholder capitalism. And, somehow, the people of the West have to stop it, if we don’t want to live in a camp with no outside.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/05/2023 – 23:50

• South Korean Stocks Soar After Country Inexplicably Bans Short Selling Until June 2024
  South Korean Stocks Soar After Country Inexplicably Bans Short Selling Until June 2024

  Coming soon to a “developed” capital market near you.

  On Sunday, South Korea’s Financial Services Commission shocked markets when it announced it would prohibit stock short-selling until June 2024 to allow regulators to “actively” improve rules and systems, a move analysts said was “unusual” and “unwarranted” when no (obvious) financial crisis or external shock that would lead to a sell-off exists. The news sent Korean stocks surging in early Monday trade.

  In a rehash of various short selling bans implemented in the US during periods of market turmoil, the commission announced that trading with borrowed shares will be banned for equities on the Kospi 200 Index and Kosdaq 150 Index from Monday until the end of June.

  “Amidst market turmoil, we’ve discovered massive illegal naked short-selling by global investment banks and circumstances of additional illegal activities,” Financial Services Commission Chairman Kim Joo-hyun told a briefing. “It’s a grave situation where illegal short-selling undermines fair price formation and hurts market confidence.”

  Lee Bokhyun, governor of the Financial Supervisory Service watchdog, told reporters about 10 global banks will face investigations which account for most short-selling transactions in South Korea.

  Translation: stocks are lower than where we want them to be, and so we will blame the short sellers, a familiar refrain. The only problem is what happens when stocks now crash for real, and this time the country won’t be able to blame shorts.

  During the ban, South Korea will seek a “fundamental improvement” to level the playing field for retail investors in the coming months, including seeking ways to narrow the different short-selling requirements and conditions between institutions and individual investors, Kim said.  Authorities will also seek stronger punishments on illegal short-selling activities. They will continue to look into short-selling transactions of global banks with the introduction of a special investigation team on Monday.

  South Korea started allowing short-selling of stocks on the two indexes in May 2021 while keeping a pandemic-era ban in place for more than 2,000 equities. Reimposing the full ban on the widely used trading practice could hinder the nation’s efforts to seek an upgrade in a key global index, according to Smartkarma Holdings Pte. analyst Brian Freitas.

  “The short-sell ban will further jeopardize Korea’s chances of moving from Emerging Market to Developed Market,” Freitas said. “Expect bubbles to form in pockets of the market that are favored by retail investors as short selling no longer acts as a brake on absurd valuations.”

  Hilariously, short selling accounts for a tiny portion of the nation’s $1.7 trillion stock market — about 0.6% of the Kospi’s market value and 1.6% of the Kosdaq’s, according to exchange data. And yet, according to regulators, it is the evil short sellers who are responsible for the market not complying with central planning mandates.

  According to Bloomberg, the regulator’s announcement comes ahead of general legislative elections to select National Assembly members in April. Some ruling party lawmakers have urged the government to temporarily end stock short-selling in response to demands by retail investors who have staged protests against the practice.

  The investors say short-selling leads to unfair advantages for foreign and institutional investors.

  South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and his party have campaigned on reforms, including changes to the pension
  system and the prevention of market monopolies. Yoon’s popularity has edged up in recent months to a high of 34% on Friday, after dipping last year.

  The regulator’s ban coincides with a nascent recovery in the main South Korean equity benchmark index. The Kospi has climbed in November after suffering its worst monthly drop in October amid foreign sell-offs. The index is still down more than 10% from its August peak. The small-cap Kosdaq Index also bounced back from the lowest level since January, but is down 17% from its July peak.

  Following news of the ban, the Kospi surged 4%, extending its recent gains.

  

  The response from analysts and traders was one of puzzled confusion, with consensus that the move to ban short-selling is “unusual” and “unwarranted” when no financial crisis or external shock that would lead to a sell-off exists (suggesting that it would be warranted to ban short-selling when there is a crisis, which is why markets remain a complete farce 15 years after Lehman). Here are some thoughts from Wongmo Kang of Exome Asset Management.

  The ban’s impact could be “more limited” compared to such policy in the past as South Korea has been allowing short selling on companies listed in Kospi 200 Index and Kosdaq 150 Index

  • As South Korea is heavily influenced by retail investors, individual investors might exhibit increased confidence and willingness to engage in the stock market after the measure; that could lead to perception that downside risks are relatively restricted when short selling is prohibited, which may not necessarily be true
  • Funds that employ long-short strategies may need to adjust their long position in accordance with limitations on short position; that may potentially lead to sell out in their long positions
  • There is a possibility that international investors may lose trust and opportunity in the Korean market
  • This policy reversal in short selling is unwarranted now as South Korea is increasingly viewed with excitement and as being diverse as its popular music and electric vehicles. Given this view, short selling should be encouraged as a means of building an efficient market
  • Although financial system improvements to prevent illegal and inefficient activities are necessary, there seems to be a need for efforts to evaluate true values through short selling, especially in markets like South Korea where there are significant surges in “theme” stocks without any clear reasons and company fundamentals

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/05/2023 – 22:40

• The 7th Circuit Holds That AR-15s Aren't Protected By The Second Amendment
  The 7th Circuit Holds That AR-15s Aren’t Protected By The Second Amendment

  Authored by Andrea Widburg via American Thinker,

  Illinois desperately wants to ensure that, within the state’s borders, only criminals have guns.

  When it comes to law-abiding citizens, the state will do anything to disarm them.

  That includes passing a law that pretty much bans “assault weapons” (a non-existent category that really covers AR-15s, America’s most popular gun) and large-capacity magazines (which really do exist). A federal district court issued an injunction against that part of the law, but a three-judge panel reversed the injunction on grounds that are so asinine and juvenile that they could come only from judges.

  The three-judge panel in Barnett v. Raoul (Case No. 23-13530 consisted of a Reagan appointee, a Clinton appointee, and a Trump appointee. Only the latter supported the trial court. The other two judges came up with some astounding logic. I’ve summarized the judges’ logic, along with my commentary (in bolded text).

  1. The Supreme Court in District of Columbia v. Heller, which protects an individual’s right to keep and bear arms irrespective of active involvement in a formal militia, said that the Second Amendment is not a completely unlimited right. This is true. Heller said that.
  2. The Heller decision said that the arms meant to be protected under the Second Amendment were those that were not dedicated solely to military use but were of the type that ordinary citizens would ordinarily have. To that end, the court held that “the Second Amendment does not protect those weapons not typically possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes….” America’s law-abiding citizens own around 20 million AR-15s, which they use for law-abiding purposes.
  3. In the military, there is a weapon known as the M16.
  4. M16s, because they are military weapons, can be calibrated to function as fully automatic weapons (they keep firing as long as you keep your finger on the trigger) or fired in three-round burst modes per single trigger pull. AR-15s are semi-automatic weapons. This means that you don’t have to manually place a new bullet into the chamber after every shot. Instead, after you fire a shot, a new round is automatically chambered. Every shot requires the user to pull the trigger.
  5. Bump stocks can turn the AR-15 into a fully automatic weapon.
  6. Both M16s and AR-15s use the same ammo and “deliver the same kinetic energy.”
  7. Therefore, the court held that the AR-15 is essentially an M16, making it a weapon of war that can be denied to ordinary civilians.

  A few things need to be said here:

  First, all civilian weapons can be used in war.

  By this logic, because all civilian weapons can be used in war, all civilian weapons are weapons of war and, therefore, are not protected under the Second Amendment. This is insanely stupid logic.

  Second, the ammo used for AR-15s and M16s isn’t very powerful.

  That’s why the AR-15 is not a good hunting weapon for medium to large game—it’s cruel to the animals because it may injure them without killing them. The reason the military opted for 5.56 ammo is because it meant that soldiers wouldn’t be so weighed down by their ammo. In other words, civilians aren’t using military ammo; the military is using civilian ammo.

  Third, the court is saying that the possibility that a weapon can be augmented to become more powerful (i.e., military-esque) removes it from the reach of the Second Amendment.

  Again, that’s insane.

  Of the 20 million AR-15s in use in America, it’s impossible to imagine how small the percentage is of people who use bump stocks. Most Americans don’t want automatic weapons. They chew up ammo, which means that their time-utility is limited, and the average citizen would have to be weighed down with hundreds of bullets.

  

  Image: A civilian’s long guns.

  I’m unsurprised that a Clinton judge would be behind this risible “logic.”

  I’m saddened that a Reagan judge would be, and I can’t even guess his motives.

  However, given my very deep disrespect for judges, I’m ready to be very unimpressed by both judges’ intelligence.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/05/2023 – 21:30

• Israel, Palestine, & The "Weaponized Morality" Of The Media
  Israel, Palestine, & The “Weaponized Morality” Of The Media

  In his inimitable style, comedian JP Sears dares to touch the third rail of ‘whose side to be on’ – Israel vs Palestine in his latest clip.

  

  The satirical conversation between two individuals cynically discuss being pro-war and anti-peace, highlighting a grim acceptance of conflict as inevitable.

  “I think we’re on the brink of World War III. I’m very happy for the military-industrial complex.”

  The discussion is framed to suggest that their enthusiasm for war is not genuine, but rather a product of media influence, which is depicted as “weaponized morality.”

  “I’ve effectively been manipulated by weaponized morality via the media.”

  The two ‘Sears’ imply – in their ironic manner – that the media’s portrayal of events has the power to manipulate public sentiment, skewing perceptions of the conflict to support a war agenda.

  “The media is just telling us what’s going on, it just so happens that hearing what they tell us has swayed us all to want an incredibly deadly thing.”

  Throughout the conversation, there’s a mocking acknowledgment of the reciprocal nature of the aggression and the underlying causes of the conflict. The speakers sarcastically agree on the necessity of retribution against Hamas for attacks on Israeli civilians, while simultaneously noting the disproportionate response that leads to Palestinian civilian casualties; highlighting the polarized views around the world, including extreme positions that echo historical prejudices and the actions of the Israeli government that some deem unjust.

  “There’s just no justice in peace.”

  The dialogue also references the role of US foreign policy and its financial involvement in the region, hinting at the possibility of a hidden agenda behind the support of both sides, where governments might be conspiring to instigate conflict to serve undisclosed goals (and leveraging media narratives to rally public support).

  “The US is funding both sides of the war, giving $6 billion to Iran to give to Hamas, and we’re sending billions to Israel to aid in their military effort.”

  JP encapsulates this ‘conspiracy’ by noting Netanyahu’s recent presentation at the UN (showing a map of the MidEast with no Palestine on it) and the insinuation that the Israeli government’s previous funding of Hamas could be part of a calculated plan to justify military actions against Palestine.

  “War was the goal all along meant to accomplish a further goal that’s not being honestly shared by certain governments.”

  Enjoy JP’s satirical take on the debacle…

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/05/2023 – 20:55

• Trump Campaign Fights For Place On Michigan Ballot
  Trump Campaign Fights For Place On Michigan Ballot

  Authored by Steven Kovac via The Epoch Times,

  Attorneys for President Donald Trump have filed suit in the Michigan Court of Claims in a preemptive effort to preserve his place on the state’s 2024 ballot.

  

  The proactive move is designed to counter at least two pending lawsuits that are attempting to have President Trump disqualified under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution for being an alleged “insurrectionist” in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021 rally-turned-riot at the Capitol Building in Washington.

  Because the factual allegations of both anti-Trump suits overlap with one another, this article will focus on LaBrandt et al. v. Benson, filed on Sept. 29, 2023.

  The plaintiffs are four registered voters from Michigan.

  They are represented by Michigan attorney Mark Brewer and five Massachusetts lawyers from the group Free Speech for People (FSP).

  According to its website, FSP is a national “non-profit, non-partisan” political advocacy organization.

  The defendant in the suit is Michigan’s Democrat Sect. of State Jocelyn Benson.

  FSP has also filed a nearly identical lawsuit in Minnesota.

  

  Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson speaks in Detroit, Michigan, on Aug. 18, 2020. (Rebecca Cook/Reuters)

  A separate high-profile case against President Trump is currently being tried in Colorado.

  Court Order Could Disqualify Donald Trump

  In the Michigan complaint, the plaintiffs asked the court to declare President Trump ineligible to hold public office ever again.

  They also asked the court to permanently enjoin Ms. Benson from including President Trump as a candidate in the upcoming Feb. 27 Michigan Republican presidential primary and the Nov. 5, 2024, general election.

  Michigan law requires the secretary of state to compile and issue a list of the presidential candidates generally recognized by the national news media and place them on their party’s primary ballot by Nov. 10.

  Political Cover?

  The plaintiffs assert in their complaint that legal action is necessary because, on Sept. 13, 2023, Ms. Benson published an op-ed in the Washington Post claiming that she lacks the legal authority to investigate and determine whether a presidential candidate should be ineligible to run for office because of a Fourteenth Amendment violation.

  “She has declared that she will place Trump’s name on the Michigan 2024 presidential primary ballot unless a court prevents her from doing so,” reads the complaint.

  Political observers see Ms. Benson, a former law school dean, as a strong candidate to succeed Democrat Governor Gretchen Whitmer when both are term-limited out of their present positions in 2026.

  Serious Allegations

  The pleadings allege that President Trump concocted a “scheme to overthrow the government” and “to retain power even if he lost.”

  They also allege, “Trump engaged in insurrection or rebellion and is thus disqualified from public office,” pursuant to Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment.

  The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified in 1868 for the purpose of keeping ex-Confederates from holding office in the reconstructed Union.

  The complaint also alleged that President Trump “attempted to enlist government officials to illegally overturn the election.”

  Not Since Rutherford B. Hayes

  In the hotly contested presidential election of 1876 between Republican Rutherford B. Hayes and Democrat Samuel Tilden, the race could not be decided by the Electoral College because the disputes over the electors from four states could not be resolved. Congress created a special Electoral Commission that ultimately sorted things out in favor of Mr. Hayes in March 1877.

  This precedent was the basis for the Trump strategy of January 6, 2020.

  The 1877 procedure was banned in a bill passed by Congress and signed by President Biden in Dec. 2022.

  “On January 4, 2021, Trump and his then-attorney John Eastman met with then-Vice-President Mike Pence and his attorney Greg Jacob to discuss Eastman’s legal theory that Pence might either reject votes on January 6 during the certification process or suspend the proceedings so that states could reexamine the results,” alleges the complaint.

  Article Two, Section One of the U.S. Constitution requires the vice-president, in his capacity as President of the Senate, to preside over the counting of electoral votes in a joint session of Congress.

  Plaintiffs’ pleadings quote a portion of President Trump’s explanation of the procedure from the speech he delivered at the scene of the Save America Rally held on Jan. 6, 2021, in the Ellipse, a large park south of the White House.

  Referring to Mr. Pence, President Trump is alleged to have said, “All he has to do is refer the illegally-submitted electoral votes back to the states that were given false, fraudulent information where they want to recertify.”

  Earlier in the program, Mr. Eastman is alleged to have told the crowd, “All that we are demanding of Pence is, this afternoon at 1 o’clock, he let the legislators of the states look into this so we get to the bottom of it.”

  Incendiary Rhetoric?

  The complaint makes much of what it calls President Trump’s incitement of the crowd to violence. This is important, say the plaintiffs, because, though President Trump committed no overt acts of insurrection, his remarks tie him to the criminal conduct of some of his supporters at the Capitol Building.

  The complaint cites a couple of quotes from President Trump’s Ellipse speech as examples of his inflammatory talk.

  President Trump is alleged to have said: “We want to go back, and we want to get this right because we’re going to have somebody in there that should not be in there, and our country will be destroyed, and we’re not going to stand for that.

  “And we’re going to have to fight much harder.

  “And we fight. We fight like hell. And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”

  Similar Remarks

  Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Michigan’s Democrat Governor Gretchen Whitmer repeatedly said in public statements, “I will fight like hell” to preserve the right to obtain an abortion.

  To date, no legal action has been taken against Ms. Whitmer for her choice of words.

  Ten Thousand National Guardsmen

  The complaint does not mention that, days before the Ellipse rally, President Trump asked then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser to concur with his request to deploy 10,000 National Guardsmen to protect the Capitol—something they declined to do.

  However, the complaint does list several instances on Jan. 6, in which President Trump appealed to the large and boisterous crowd to remain peaceful.

  March ‘Peacefully and Patriotically’

  In his Ellipse speech, President Trump is quoted in the complaint as allegedly saying, “I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol Building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.”

  Among several other appeals for peace and calm by President Trump cited in the complaint are the following:

  At 2:38 p.m., Trump posted on X: “Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful!”

  Later, at 4:17 p.m., the complaint states that President Trump released a video on Twitter directed to the protestors in which he allegedly said: “I know your pain. I know your hurt…I know how you feel, but go home, and go in peace.”

  The Trump Team Sues Benson

  Representing President Trump in his lawsuit against Ms. Benson is constitutional lawyer David Kallman and his partner Stephen Kallman of the Kallman Legal Group of Lansing, Michigan, as well as Mark Meuser of the Dhillon Law Group.

  In a complaint filed on Oct. 30, 2023, President Trump’s legal team asserted that “President Trump did not engage in an insurrection as those terms are used in Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment.”

  His attorneys argue that neither the secretary of state, other state officials, nor the state courts have the legal authority to decide whether a candidate for president is ineligible to appear on the ballot. They contend that the Constitution commits to Congress the responsibility of determining matters of presidential candidates’ qualifications and that the amendment is not self-enforcing but requires an operative act of Congress to carry it out.

  None of President Trump’s constitutionally protected free speech concerning the Jan. 6 protest meets the “stringent requirements for ‘incitement’ both because the content itself is not sufficiently explicit and because it does not evince a specific intent to engage in unlawful activity,” reads his complaint.

  President Trump’s lawyers asked the court to declare that, as “a matter of federal constitutional law” and according to Michigan statute, Ms. Benson lacks the authority to determine whether a presidential candidate may be disqualified.

  A Preemptive Blow

  They also asked the court to enjoin Ms. Benson from refusing to place President Trump on the ballot based on allegations relating to Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment.

  As early as Aug. 18, 2023, Trump attorney David Warrington of the Dhillon Law Group sought confirmation from Ms. Benson that, pursuant to Michigan law, she would include President Trump’s name on the Secretary of State’s list and be placed on the ballot.

  According to the Trump complaint, Ms. Benson did not respond.

  The Michigan Office of the Secretary of State does not comment on pending litigation.

  All three cases are scheduled for hearings on Nov. 9 at the Michigan Court of Appeals courtroom in Grand Rapids.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/05/2023 – 20:20

• Florida "Booty Patrol" Driver Busted, Cops Mocked
  Florida “Booty Patrol” Driver Busted, Cops Mocked

  Sheriffs in central Florida are being mocked online after an 18-year-old man accused of “impersonating law enforcement” was ticketed for plastering “Booty Patrol” on his truck, which he styled to look similar to a Border Patrol vehicle.

  

  The DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office warned the public about the Florida Teen, Gabriel Luviano, who they slapped with a $113 citation for adding red and blue rights to his Chevy Silverado, which also features a green diagonal stripe and a logo which reads “National Booty Behavior Protection” in addition to “BOOTY PATROL.”

  

  Luviano told NBC 2: he choose “Booty Patrol” because “it’s the closest you could get to Border Patrol and still have the B in it,” adding that it was never his intention to impersonate federal agents.

  “It was just to have a little fun, you know?” he said, adding that “It was never my intent to pull over people or nothing.”

  Luviano told the outlet that local cops – aside from the guy who pulled him over, love the truck.

  “I have videos of cops coming up to me and they just want a picture,” he said.

  Facebook Warning

  “We want to emphasize that DCSO located the vehicle on Sunday, and our initial post aimed to raise awareness about this incident, ensuring that the public can avoid being duped by such individuals,” deputies posted on Facebook. “We extend our sincere gratitude to everyone who called in with information about the suspicious vehicle, as your continued support is crucial in helping us maintain a safe and secure community for our residents.”

  According to the NY Post, the comments section was full of hilarious replies.

  “Is this serious? If anyone thinks this is a real officer they have a problem. I have seen this drive around all the time and I always get such a chuckle out of it,” said one Floridian. “Leave the man alone.”

  ““It’s a little sad to see this happening to the car community,” wrote another person. “This is just merely a show truck. Always has been. Never seen him have his blue lights on and seen him all over Desoto, Manatee, and Sarasota county.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/05/2023 – 19:45

• Netanyahu's 'Political Days Are Numbered': White House
  Netanyahu’s ‘Political Days Are Numbered’: White House

  Via The Cradle,

  Joe Biden and top White House aides have discussed the likelihood that Benjamin Netanyahu’s “political days are numbered,” and are gauging potential successors as the popularity of the Israeli prime minister continues to plummet following last month’s successful Hamas attack on Israel, Politico reported on 2 November. 

  

  The topic of Netanyahu’s anticipated fall from power has come up in recent White House meetings including following Biden’s most recent trip to Israel in which he met with Netanyahu following the surprise Hamas attack on 7 October, according to two senior administration officials.

  Biden has even suggested to Netanyahu that he should think about lessons he would share with his eventual successor, the two administration officials added.

  Separately, a current US official and a former US official both confirmed that the Biden administration believes Netanyahu will not remain in office for long. The current official believes Netanyahu’s term as prime minister may last a just matter of months due to the Israeli public’s anger resulting from the surprise Hamas attack on 7 October and the intelligence failures that appeared to have occurred to allow it.

  Some 1,400 Israelis died during the Hamas attack, including soldiers and civilians. Some were killed by Hamas fighters, while others were killed in the crossfire as Israel used overwhelming force to eliminate Hamas fighters who had taken many Israelis captive.

  Hamas managed to take over 200 Israelis captive back to Gaza, and the Israeli public and even the captives themselves have been harshly critical of Netanyahu and his right-wing settler government, which have prioritized targeting Hamas and killing Palestinian civilians in Gaza over the captives’ safe return.

  Further, many Israelis believe the government deliberately allowed the Hamas attack to happen, citing the slow response of the army and police as Hamas fighters penetrated deep into Israeli territory and targeted both military bases and settlements in the Gaza envelope.

  Netanyahu has promised to investigate the intelligence failings, but refuses to do so until the war is over, which may take months or even years.

  “There’s going to have to be a reckoning within Israeli society about what happened,” said the official who, like others, was granted anonymity to detail private conversations.

  “Ultimately, the buck stops on the prime minister’s desk.”

  Biden’s trip to Tel Aviv last month was one largely of support, but the current US official said that Netanyahu’s tenuous hold on power is always “in the background” during internal Biden administration talks about West Asia. And Biden aides already are engaging an array of other Israeli politicians, both in the government and the opposition, in the war effort.

  According to the two senior administration officials as well as the current and former US official, “those talks have also provided a way to gauge the thinking of various Israelis who might take the helm of the country,” Politico wrote. 

  This suggests the US may be looking to choose Netanyahu’s successor, as they did in Ukraine following the 2014 coup against then President Viktor Yanukovych.

  US officials have taken note of Netanyahu’s falling approval ratings and predict that any forthcoming Israeli or US assessments about the intelligence failure will likely be even more damning for the prime minister.

  Biden administration officials have offered public declarations of solidarity with the Israeli government, despite condemnations from human rights groups that Israel has targeted Palestinian civilians “on a mass scale.” But they are nevertheless concerned with who Netanyahu’s successor may be, and what the “day after” will look like in Gaza if Hamas is defeated. 

  The Israeli government has prepared plans to ethnically cleanse and annex Gaza, forcing the strip’s 2.3 million residents to flee to Egypt as refugees, never to return. The White House included funding for relocating Gazans to Egypt’s Sinai in its recent supplemental funding request to Congress, suggesting approval of such an effort. 

  At the same time, White House officials have also floated the possibility of installing the Palestinian Authority, led by Mahmoud Abbas, in power in Gaza, or possibility of sending a multinational force, though not necessarily one with US troops, to control the territory.

  Netanyahu and Biden were at odds even before the war. Netanyahu was a strong supporter of former President Donald Trump, and did not appear pleased that Biden defeated him in the 2020 election. Biden has also distanced himself from Netanyahu following the prime minister’s effort to overhaul Israel’s judiciary upon regaining power in elections last December. Netanyahu has also been critical of US efforts to negotiate with Iran and the Biden White House’s lax efforts to enforce sanctions on Iran’s oil exports. This is presumably due to the influence of China, Iran’s biggest purchaser of oil, on Biden through business dealings with his son Hunter. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/05/2023 – 19:10

• Appeals Court Freezes Trump Gag Order Issued By Out-Of-Control Woke Judge
  Appeals Court Freezes Trump Gag Order Issued By Out-Of-Control Woke Judge

  A federal appeals court late Friday slapped down a gag order issued against former President Donald Trump, after his legal team filed an emergency motion Thursday to lift it while his appeal plays out before the court regarding the Biden DOJ’s charges of conspiracy for challenging the results of the 2020 election.

  

  According to a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, the gag order from District Judge Tanya Chutkan is “administratively stayed pending further order of the court.”

  The gag order prohibited Trump from making any public statements that might “target” the prosecution and defense legal teams, court staff, supporting personnel, and any “reasonably foreseeable” potential witnesses in the case. Trump had originally asked Chutkan to halt the gag order – which she briefly did, before later reimposing it after the prosecution handed her (Chutkan)

  “The purpose of this administrative stay is to give the court sufficient opportunity to consider the emergency motion for a stay pending appeal and should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits of that motion.”

  The move by the appeals court is the latest in the gag order saga, which was triggered by a request by special counsel Jack Smith and imposed when Judge Chutkan issued the order on Oct. 17.

  President Trump has been outspoken in the past about Mr. Smith, who is leading the election interference case against him, and others.

  The former president has pleaded not guilty in the case. –Epoch Times

  Chutkan, a US District Court judge in the District of Columbia, previously worked at a law firm that represented Fusion GPS, the company that helped orchestrate the Russia collusion hoax targeting former President Donald Trump. During her stint with Boies Schiller Flexner, the Democrat-friendly law firm also reportedly represented Clinton Cabal foot soldier Huma Abedin, the former wife of disgraced Democrat Anthony Weiner.

  

  If it’s any indication of how radical-left Judge Chutkan is, two of the appeals court judges are Obama appointees, and one is a Biden appointee.

  In August, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) introduced a resolution to censure Chutkan “for showing open bias and partisanship in her official duties on the bench.”

  “Judge Tanya Chutkan’s extreme sentencing of January 6th defendants, while openly supporting the violent Black Lives Matter riots of 2020, showcases a complete disregard for her duty of impartiality and the rule of law,” Mr. Gaetz said.

  

  Mr. Gaetz’s resolution points to a few other cases of “open partisanship,” including the fact that the Obama-appointed district judge had donated thousands of dollars to his presidential campaign, and that during another Jan. 6-related sentencing she “lamented” that President Trump “remains free to this day.“

  More via The Epoch Times:

  ‘Heckler’s Veto’

  President Trump’s attorneys have argued that their client had made public statements about the Washington election case “for months” but that the Justice Department has so far “submitted no evidence of any actual or imminent threat to the administration of justice.”

  “The prosecution’s claim that his core political speech suddenly poses a threat to the administration of justice is baseless. The prosecutors and potential witnesses addressed by President Trump’s speech are high-level government officials and public figures, many of whom routinely attack President Trump in their own public statements, media interviews, and books,” they wrote in court filings.

  They argued that the gag order reflected bias and animosity against President Trump and was meritless.

  “The prosecution’s request for a Gag Order bristles with hostility to President Trump’s viewpoint and his relentless criticism of the government—including of the prosecution itself,” his attorneys wrote in the filing.

  “The Gag Order embodies this unconstitutional hostility to President Trump’s viewpoint. It should be immediately stayed,” they said.

  “No court in American history has imposed a gag order on a criminal defendant who is actively campaigning for public office—let alone the leading candidate for President of the United States,” his attorneys continued. “Given the Gag Order’s extraordinary nature, one would expect an extraordinary justification for it. Yet none exists.”

  As Jonathan Turley wrote two weeks ago regarding Chutkan’s order;

  As has long been the case, many are turning a blind eye to the implications of this order. They cannot see beyond the name at the top of the caption page. But this order would allow any judge to effectively strip a political candidate of the ability to contest the merits and motivations involved in his own prosecution, including challenging the veracity of prosecutors or witnesses.

  In some of these cases, there is ample reason for such criticism. While I have long said that the Mar-a-Lago prosecution by Smith is well-supported in both law and facts, other prosecutions currently ongoing are clearly politically motivated. The most obvious is the prosecution brought by Alvin Bragg in New York — a case that contorts existing law in an attempt to bag a political figure unpopular in his jurisdiction.

  While the Chutkan gag order does not extend to the other cases, they constitute a daisy-chain of trials that will have Trump running between courts before the election. There is much to criticize in Smith’s second indictment, which will be tried before a judge who previously denounced Trump in a district where 95 percent of the voters opposed Trump.

  After Chutkan ordered a trial just before Super Tuesday, she is now gagging only one candidate — the very candidate who is campaigning against the weaponization of the criminal justice system. You do not have to like or support Trump to recognize the serious problem inherent in such a gag order.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/05/2023 – 18:35

• Tverberg: Today's Energy Bottleneck May Bring Down Major Governments
  Tverberg: Today’s Energy Bottleneck May Bring Down Major Governments

  Authored by Gail Tverberg via OurFiniteWorld.com,

  Recently, I explained the key role played by diesel and jet fuel. In this post, I try to explain the energy bottleneck the world is facing because of an inadequate supply of these types of fuels, and the effects such a bottleneck may have. The world’s self-organizing economy tends to squeeze out what may be considered non-essential parts when bottlenecks are hit. Strangely, it appears to me that some central governments may be squeezed out. Countries that are rich enough to have big pension programs for their citizens seem to be especially vulnerable to having their governments collapse.

  

  Figure 1. World supply of diesel and jet fuel per person, based on Middle Distillate data of the 2023 Statistical Review of World Energy, produced by the Energy Institute. Notes added by Gail Tverberg.

  This squeezing out of non-essential parts of the economy can happen by war, but it can also happen because of financial problems brought about by “not sufficient actual goods and services to go around.” An underlying problem is that governments can print money, but they cannot print the actual resources needed to produce finished goods and services. I think that in the current situation, a squeezing out for financial reasons, or because legislators can’t agree, is at least as likely as another world war.

  For example, the US had trouble electing a Speaker of the House of Representatives because legislators disagreed about funding plans. I can imagine a long shutdown occurring because of this impasse. Perhaps not this time around, but sometime in the next few years, such a disagreement may lead to a permanent shutdown of the US central government, leaving the individual states on their own. Programs of the US central government, such as Social Security and Medicare, would likely disappear. It would be up to the individual states to sponsor whatever replacement programs they are able to afford.

  [1] An overview of the problem

  In my view, we are in the midst of a great “squeezing out.” The economy, and in fact the entire universe, is a physics-based system that constantly evolves. Every part of the economy requires energy of the right types. Humans and animals eat food. Today’s economy requires many forms of fossil fuels, plus human labor. This evolution is in the direction of ever-greater complexity and ever-greater efficiency.

  Right now, there is a bottleneck in energy supply caused by too much population relative to the amount of oil of the type used to make diesel and jet fuel (Figure 1). My concern is that many governments and businesses will collapse in response to what I call the Second Squeezing Out. In 1991, the central government of the Soviet Union collapsed, following a long downward slide starting about 1982.

  All parts of economies, including government organizations and businesses, constantly evolve. They grow for a while, but when limits are hit, they are likely to shrink and may collapse. The current energy bottleneck is sufficiently dire that some observers worry about another world war taking place. Such a war could change national boundaries and reduce import capabilities of parts of the world. This would be a type of squeezing out of major parts of the world economy. In fact, shortages of coal seem to have set the stage for both World War I and World War II.

  Each squeezing out is different. When there are physically not enough goods and services to go around, some inefficient parts of the economy must be squeezed out. Payments to pensioners seem to me to be particularly inefficient because pensioners are not themselves creating finished goods and services.

  World leaders would like us to believe that they are in charge of what happens in the world economy. But what these leaders can accomplish is limited by the actual resources that can be extracted and the finished goods and services that can be produced with these resources. When there are not enough goods and services to go around, unplanned changes to the economy tend to take place. These changes work in the direction of allowing parts of the system to go forward, without being burdened by the less efficient portions.

  [2] The importance of diesel and jet fuel

  Diesel and jet fuel are important to today’s industrial economy because they fuel nearly all long-distance transportation of goods, whether by ship, train, large truck, or airplane. Diesel also powers most of today’s modern agricultural equipment. Without the use of modern agricultural equipment, overall food production would decline drastically.

  Without diesel, there would also be many other problems besides reduced food production. Diesel is used to power many of the specialized vehicles used in road maintenance. Without the ability to use these vehicles, it would become difficult to keep roads repaired.

  Without diesel and jet fuel, there would also be an electricity problem because transmission lines are maintained using a combination of land-based vehicles powered by diesel and helicopters powered by jet fuel. Without electricity transmission, homes and offices without their own solar panels and batteries wouldn’t be able to keep the lights on. Gasoline pumps require electricity to operate, so they wouldn’t operate either. Without diesel and electricity, the list of problems is endless.

  [3] Green energy is itself a dead end, but subsidizing green energy can temporarily hide other problems.

  Green energy sounds appealing, but it is terribly limited in what it can do. Green energy cannot operate agricultural machinery. It cannot make new wind turbines or solar panels. Green energy cannot exist without fossil fuels. It is simply an add-on to the current system.

  The reason why we hear so much about green energy is because making people believe that a green revolution is possible provides many temporary benefits. For example:

  • The extra debt needed to subsidize green energy indirectly increases GDP. (GDP calculations ignore whether added debt was used to produce the added goods and services counted as GDP.)

  • Manufacturers can pretend that their products (such as vehicles) will operate as they do today for years and years.

  • The educational system is given many more areas to provide courses in.

  • Citizens are given the hope that the economy will grow endlessly.

  • Young people are given hope for the future.

  • Politicians look like they are doing something for voters.

  Unfortunately, by the time that the debt comes due to pay for subsidized green energy, it will be apparent that the return on this technology is far too low. The overall system will tend to collapse. Green energy is only a temporary Band-Aid to hide a very disturbing problem. Its impact is tiny and short-lived. And it cannot prevent climate change.

  [4] Energy bottlenecks are a frequent problem.

  Energy bottlenecks are a frequent problem partly because the human population has tended to increase ever since early humans learned to control fire. At the same time, resources, such as arable land, fresh water supply, and minerals of all kinds, are in limited supply. Extraction becomes increasingly difficult over time (requiring more inputs to produce the same output) because the easiest-to-produce resources tend to be exploited first. Extracting more fossil fuels to meet the energy needs of a growing economy may look like it would be easy, but, in practice, it is not.

  As a result of energy bottlenecks, civilizations often collapse. Sometimes war with another group is involved. In such a case, the population of the losing civilization falls.

  [5] The standard supply and demand model of economics makes it look like prices will rise in response to fossil fuel shortages. The discussion in Section [4] shows that energy supply bottlenecks often occur. When they do occur, the response is very different.

  

  Figure 2. From Wikipedia: The price P of a product is determined by a balance between production at each price (supply S) and the desires of those with purchasing power at each price (demand D). The diagram shows a positive shift in demand from D1 to D2, resulting in an increase in price (P) and quantity sold (Q) of the product.

  The model of many economists is far too simple. Based on the model shown on Figure 2, it is easy to get the idea that a shortage of oil will lead to a rise in prices. As a result, more oil will be produced, and the problem will be solved. Or perhaps efficiency changes, or substitution for a different type of fuel, will fix the problem.

  When bottlenecks appear, the real situation is quite different. For example, increases in oil prices tend to cause food prices to rise, and thus increase inflation. Politicians know that citizens don’t like inflation and therefore will not vote for them. As a result, politicians tend to hold down prices. The resulting prices tend to fall too low for producers, and they start producing less, rather than more.

  Energy products of the right kinds are essential for making every part of GDP. If there is not enough of the right kinds of energy products to go around, what I call some kind of “squeezing out” is likely to take place. Early on, there may be changes that reduce energy consumption, such as cutbacks in international trade. More businesses may fail. Eventually, some parts of the world economy may disappear, such as the central government of the Soviet Union in 1991. Or war may take place.

  [6] When there is not enough energy of the right kinds to go around, spreading what little is available “thinner” doesn’t work.

  As an example, if people need to eat 2,000 kilocalories per day, and if the food supply that is available would only supply 500 kilocalories per day (on average), giving everyone the same quantity would lead to everyone starving. Similarly, if a communist government gives every worker the same wage, lateness and “slacking off” become huge problems. Experience in many places has shown that equal pay for all, regardless of native abilities, responsibilities, or effort, simply doesn’t work. Somehow, diligent work and greater responsibility needs to be rewarded.

  When an energy bottleneck occurs (leading to too little finished goods and services in total being produced), what I call a “squeezing out” takes place. Such a squeezing out may be initiated in many ways, including a war, angry citizens overturning a government, financial problems, or a shift in climate. The winners in a squeezing out end up ahead; the losers see collapsing institutions of many kinds, including failing businesses and disappearing government organizations.

  [7] Most people do not understand the interconnected nature of the world economy, and the way the whole system tends to evolve.

  The Universe is made up of many temporary structures, each of which needs to “dissipate” energy to stay away from a cold, dead state. We are all aware that plants and animals behave in this manner, but businesses of all kinds and government organizations also require energy of the right kinds to grow. They get much of their energy from financial payments that act as temporary placeholders for goods and services that will be made in the future using various types of energy, including human labor.

  Strangely enough, because of the physics of the situation, business and government organizations are also temporary in nature, and in some sense, they also evolve. In physics terms, all these structures are dissipative structures. Physicist Francois Roddier writes about this broader kind of evolution in his book, The Thermodynamics of Evolution. In fact, economies themselves are dissipative structures. I have written about the economy as a self-organizing system powered by energy many times, including here, here, and here. All these self-organizing structures eventually come to an end.

  History is full of records of economies that have collapsed. The book Secular Cycles by Peter Turchin and Serjey Nefedov analyzes eight of these failed economies. Populations tend to grow after a new resource is found or is acquired through war. Once population growth hits what Turchin calls carrying capacity, these economies hit a period of stagflation. This period lasted 50 to 60 years in the sample of eight economies analyzed. Stagflation was followed by a major contraction, typically with failing or overturned governments and declining overall population.

  [8] Logic and some calculations suggest that the world economy is likely to be reaching a major downturn, about now.

  One way of estimating when a major contraction (or squeezing out) would occur would be to look at oil supply. We know that US oil production hit a peak and started to decline in 1970, changing the dynamics of the world economy. This started a period of stagflation for many of the wealthier economies of the world. Adding 50 to 60 years to 1970 suggests that a major downturn would take place in the 2020 to 2030 timeframe. Since it was the wealthier economies that first entered stagflation, it would not be surprising if these economies tend to collapse first.

  There have been several studies computing estimates of when the extraction of fossil fuels would become unaffordable. Back in 1957, Rear Admiral Hyman Rickover of the US Navy gave a speech in which he talked about the connection of the level of fossil fuel supply to the standard of living of an economy, and to the ability of its military to defend the country. With respect to the timing of limits to affordable supply, he said, “. . .total fossil fuel reserves recoverable at not over twice today’s unit cost are likely to run out at some time between the years 2000 and 2050, if present standards of living and population growth rates are taken into account.”

  Confusion arises because some people would like to believe that fossil fuel prices can rise to extraordinarily high levels, and this will somehow permit more fossil fuels to be extracted. However, as I discussed in Section [5], the problem is really a two-sided one. Politicians want to hold fossil fuel prices down to prevent inflation, while oil producers (such as those in OPEC+) choose to reduce production if prices are not sufficiently high to meet their needs.

  An easily missed point is that tax revenue from the sale of oil is often a large share of the total tax revenue of oil exporting countries. Because of this issue, in order for prices of oil to be adequate for oil exporters, they must include a wide margin for payment of taxes. These taxes are used to support the rest of the economy. For example, in Saudi Arabia, taxes provide support for huge building programs that provide jobs for citizens, but are of questionable long term value. These projects keep citizens happy, at least temporarily. Without adequate subsidy from tax revenue, citizens would want to overturn governments–a form of collapse.

  [9] Energy problems are easily hidden because “scientific models” are considered to be important in forecasting the future. These models tend to be misleading because they leave out important elements regarding how the economy really works.

  The easiest models to make are the ones that seem to say, “the future will be very similar to the recent past.” These models miss turning points. They assume that growth will continue even though resource extraction can be expected to become more difficult. Some examples of overly simple models include the following:

  • Money is a store of value. (Not if the economy has stopped functioning properly because insufficient energy resources are available.)

  • Forecasts of Social Security payments recipients will be able to receive in the future are overstated. (It takes energy of the right kinds to produce the goods and services that the elderly require. If the economy is not producing enough goods and services because of energy extraction limits, the share that pensioners can receive will need to fall so that workers can be paid adequately. Inflation-adjusted benefits to the elderly must be much lower or disappear completely.)

  • Climate models give high estimates. (These models miss the real-world difficulty of extracting fossil fuels. They also assume the economy can grow indefinitely, greatly overstating future CO2.)

  • Future energy supply based on “Reserve to Production” ratios give high estimates. (Reserve amounts are often puffed-up numbers to make an oil exporting country look wealthy.)

  • Energy Return on Energy Invested models greatly overestimate the value of intermittent wind and solar energy. (It is easy to assume that all types of energy are equivalent, but intermittent wind and solar cannot replace diesel and jet fuel.)

  [10] Added complexity is not a solution to our energy problems.

  Many people believe that if we can just be smarter, we can solve our energy problem. We can add more fuel-efficient engines, more advanced education, and more international trade, for example. Unfortunately, many things go wrong, leading to an upward energy complexity spiral. Difficulties include:

  • The complexity changes with the best payback tend to be discovered and implemented very early.

  • Added complexity may lead to higher energy consumption if cost savings result. For example, more vehicles may be sold if reduced fuel consumption makes their operation more affordable to a wider number of users.

  • Wage disparity results because the wages paid to highly educated employees and those in managerial positions leave little funding available to pay less-skilled workers.

  • Less-skilled workers indirectly compete with similarly skilled workers in low-wage countries, further holding their wages down.

  It is clear that we are now moving past the limits of complexity. For example, international trade as a percentage of GDP has been falling for the world, the US, and China.

  

  Figure 3. Trade as a percentage of GDP based on World Bank data for the World, the United States, and China.

  Countries are now actively trying to bring supply lines back closer to home. Trips for goods across the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans are being reduced, saving diesel and jet fuel.

  [11] Repayment of debt with interest acts like a Ponzi Scheme if there is inadequate growth in the energy supply.

  Most people today do not realize the extent to which the entire financial system is dependent on growing inexpensive-to-produce energy supply of the right kinds. It takes physical resources of the right kinds to produce goods and services. Resources such as fresh water, copper, lithium, and fossil fuels require more and more energy consumption to produce the same amount of supply because the easiest-to-extract resources are extracted first.

  When the economy is far from limits, adding more debt (or other types of promises, such as shares of stock) does seem to increase “demand” for finished goods and services, and this, in turn, tends to increase the production of fossil fuels and other commodities. Thus, for a while, increased debt does indeed increase energy supply.

  But when we start reaching extraction limits, instead of producing more fossil fuels and other commodities, higher debt tends to produce inflation. (In other words, more money plus practically the same amount of finished goods and services tends to lead to inflation.) This is the issue central banks are up against today. Central banks raise interest rates in response to the higher level of inflation, partly to compensate lenders for the inflation that is taking place, and partly to make their own economies more competitive in the world economy. The combination of higher interest rates and higher inflation is problematic in many ways:

  (a) Ordinary citizens find that they must cut back on discretionary goods and services to balance their budgets. This tends to push economies in the direction of recession and debt defaults. Some citizens find they need to apply for government assistance programs for the first time.

  (b) Businesses find it more difficult to operate profitably with higher interest rates and inflation. Businesses increasingly expand in programs supported by government subsidies, such as those for electric cars and batteries, as it becomes increasingly difficult to make a profit without a subsidy. In the US, defaults seem especially likely on commercial real estate loans.

  (c) Governments become especially squeezed. Many of them find that their own tax revenue is falling at precisely the time when citizens need their programs most. Governments also find that with higher interest rates, interest costs on their own debt rises. Subsidized programs increasingly seem to be needed to keep the economy operating. The number of retirees also grows year after year. Government debt levels spiral upward, as shown for the US on Figure 6.

  With all these issues, the world becomes increasingly prone to war. Political parties, and even groups within political parties, find it increasingly difficult to agree on solutions to problems. The stage seems to be set for an array of worrisome outcomes, including major debt defaults, failing governments, and even widespread war.

  [12] The world economy was able to grow rapidly in the 1950 to 1980 period because of a rapid rise in energy consumption. Now, there is an energy bottleneck. The recent increases in interest rates seem likely to burst debt bubbles. They may even squeeze out some major economies with pension programs for their citizens.

  

  Figure 4. Measures of average interest rates of 3-month US Treasury Bills and 10-year Treasury Securities, in a chart produced by the Federal Reserve of St. Louis.

  On Figure 4, the significant increases in interest rates up until 1981 corresponded to a huge increase in world energy consumption in the 1950 to 1980 period (Figure 5).

  

  Figure 5. World per capita energy consumption, with the 1950-1980 period of rapid growth highlighted. World Energy Consumption by source, based on Vaclav Smil’s estimates from Energy Transitions: History, Requirements and Prospects (Appendix) together with data from BP’s Statistical Review of World Energy for 1965 and subsequent years. Population estimates used to produce per capita amounts are based on estimates by Angus Maddison for dates prior to 1950. They are based on UN estimates for more recent years. Chart prepared by Gail Tverberg in 2018.

  The rapid rise in fossil fuel consumption in Figure 5 was the reason why the economy was able to grow as rapidly as it did in the 1950 to 1980 period. Raising interest rates acted like brakes on the economy and lowered oil prices. The Soviet Union was the economy most harmed by these low oil prices. It also had a communist form of government that did not work well, compared to capitalism. Ultimately, the central government of the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

  Now, the rise in interest rates during 2022 and 2023 on Figure 4 correspond to a very different situation. Extraction of fossil fuels, and in particular the heavy oil used to produce diesel and jet fuel, is no longer growing rapidly. Instead, what has been growing is debt, especially government debt. Figure 6 shows US government debt through April 2023. US government debt spurted upward in 2020 and is still rising rapidly.

  

  Figure 6. US Public Debt, based on a chart prepared by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

  The business closures in 2020 and interruptions in travel reduced oil prices and provided a good excuse for more government debt. All this debt added buying power, but it didn’t actually produce very many goods and services. Instead, it added a debt bubble. Similarly, investing in close-to-useless green energy temporarily added GDP, but it mostly added a huge debt bubble. Raising interest rates is likely to burst these debt bubbles.

  The US and other rich countries have also put in place pension plans for the elderly. These are not treated as debt, but they depend upon resources of all kinds being available to feed, clothe, and provide shelter to a growing army of retirees. If there is not enough diesel to allow as many goods and services to be produced as are produced today, there is likely to be a huge problem if payouts to pensioners aren’t significantly reduced. Other citizens will be unhappy if retirees get a disproportionately large share of the reduced supply of goods and services. Some will say, “Why work if retirees on pensions get more than those of us who are still working?”

  Thus, the world seems to be increasingly in a situation where more squeezing out will take place. Major governments, especially those with pension plans for their citizens, seem especially vulnerable. No one understood that there had been a temporary rapid rise in energy consumption per capita in the 1950 to 1980 period (Figure 5) that led to a temporary spurt in interest rates on bonds. This temporary rise in interest rates made pension programs look far more feasible than they really are for the longterm.

  [13] How does the problem resolve itself?

  It seems to me that the problem of debt bubbles and of unaffordably generous pension plans is very widespread. Analysts of all kinds have missed the hidden brakes on economies caused by inadequate energy resources of the right kinds, relative to rising populations. Collapse of at least some central governments seems possible. Perhaps some of these collapses can be postponed by rollbacks in government-sponsored programs, particularly those for the elderly and for those who are not working.

  But even aside from the pension problem, there is a problem with many debts not being repayable in an economy that is forced to slow, as described in Section [11]. Many other promises become iffy as well. For instance, derivatives may not be able to pay as planned.

  If there are problems with inadequate supply of essential materials, they are likely to spill over to asset values. For example, a farm that cannot purchase fuel for its agricultural equipment is, in some sense, not worth very much, since workers with simple tools like shovels cannot produce very much food. Likewise, a factory with permanently broken supply lines is not worth much.

  I wish I could provide a happy-ever-after ending. The closest I can come to such an ending is to say that it appears to me that there is a literal Higher Power that is somehow providing an enormous amount of energy in a way that allows the Universe to continually expand. This literal Higher Power is, in some way, influencing the world today, through the self-organizing nature of the economy. The book Rare Earth: Why Complex Life Is Uncommon in the Universe, by Ward and Brownlee, explains that life could not have happened on the Earth, as quickly as it did, by chance alone. Perhaps things will turn out differently than we expect.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/05/2023 – 18:00

• Blinken Tells Abbas He Asked Israel To Use 'Smaller Bombs' On Gaza
  Blinken Tells Abbas He Asked Israel To Use ‘Smaller Bombs’ On Gaza

  US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is on another multi-day tour of the Middle East, where this time Arab leaders have finally acquiesced to meet with him as the Gaza crisis continues, at a moment the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) say that Gaza City is surrounded.

  On Sunday Blinken visited Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, to meet with President Mahmoud Abbas of the internationally backed Palestinian Authority (PA). Blinken reportedly told Abbas that the US is pressing Israel to “minimize civilian harm”. He had some interesting ideas on how to do that.

  

  Blinken had previously again met with Netanyahu Friday where according to fresh reports he pressed the Israeli prime minister to use “smaller bombs”. 

  “U.S. officials told the Israelis that they could reduce civilian casualties if they improved how they targeted Hamas leaders, gathered more intelligence on Hamas command and control networks before launching strikes, used smaller bombs to collapse the tunnel network and employed their ground forces to separate civilian population centers from where the militants are concentrated,” The New York Times reported.

  Blinken of course stressed Israel’s “right to defend itself” but still pressed for a humanitarian “pause”. In Ramallah, he vowed to Abbas that the US will step up humanitarian aid efforts to the besieged Gaza Strip.

  According to the latest grim figures, some 1.5 million Gazans have now been internally displaced: 

  The UN agency OCHA has said that of them, 710,275 are sheltering in 149 UNRWA facilities, 122,000 people are in hospitals, churches, and public buildings, 109,755 people are in 89 non-UNRWA schools, and the remainder are residing with host families.

  Palestinian Authority leaders have charged that Israel is conducting “ethnic cleansing” – also by encouraging Palestinians to leave the entire northern half of the Strip while under bombardment.

  Abbas has yet to publicly condemn Hamas’ Oct.7 terror attack, with the NY Times saying if he did so it would create severe backlash among his own population, also at a moment of increased sporadic fighting in the West Bank:

  Still, he has not publicly condemned Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks, largely out of fear of inflaming sentiment among Palestinians, with whom he is deeply unpopular. He has called more generally for a cease-fire and protections for Palestinian civilians, including in the West Bank.

  Mr. Abbas echoed those messages on Sunday in his meetings with Mr. Blinken, according to Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency. It said Mr. Abbas had called for “an immediate halt” to the war in Gaza and an end to the attacks in the West Bank, which he described as “no less horrific.”

  The U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken rebuffed calls from his counterparts in Egypt and Jordan for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, saying that a halt would allow Hamas to repeat its Oct. 7 attack on Israel. https://t.co/7tds2ilvgU pic.twitter.com/3YYsQtC2IZ

  — The New York Times (@nytimes) November 4, 2023

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  Interestingly, Abbas told Blinken that the Palestinian Authority could assume power in a post-conflict Gaza. This comes after Blinken earlier said the US remains open to the possibility of an international peacekeeping force to assume control in Gaza. Abbas stipulated the following:

  But Abbas said the Palestinian Authority would only assume power in Gaza as part of a “comprehensive political solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to the Palestinians’ official WAFA news agency. Abbas condemned Israel’s bombardment of Gaza as a “genocidal war” and urged Blinken “to immediately stop them from committing such crimes,” the agency reported.

  Over the weekend the death toll from Israel’s air and ground campaign in Gaza surpassed 9,500 killed – with some half of these being women and children. Some 240 Israeli and foreign hostages are still being held in the Gaza strip, though there are reports some may have been killed. Possibly dozens of IDF troops have been killed and wounded amid the ground operation, but Israel has been slow to publish these figures.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/05/2023 – 17:45

• Democrats Rattled After NYT Poll Shows Trump Beating Biden In Majority Of Swing States
  Democrats Rattled After NYT Poll Shows Trump Beating Biden In Majority Of Swing States

  Democrats are in panic mode after a NY Times poll released on Sunday shows Trump wiping the floor with President Biden in 5 out of 6 battleground swing states that Biden carried in 2020. In short, if the 2024 election were held today, according to the Times, Trump would absolutely clobber Biden.

  

  According to the poll from NYT and Sienna College, Biden would lose to Trump by margins ranging from three to 10 percentage points among registered voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania, while Biden only leads Trump by 2% in the 6th state, Wisconsin.

  

  As Axios sums up:

  • Biden led Trump in Wisconsin but is down 4 points in Pennsylvania, 5 in Arizona, 6 in Georgia, 5 in Michigan, and 10 in Nevada.
  • 71 percent said Biden was “too old,” including 54 percent of Biden’s supporters.
  • Only 39 percent of those voters felt the same about Trump, who would be the oldest president ever inaugurated and has shared no details about his health.
  • Swing state voters said they trust Trump over Biden on the economy by a 22-point margin, 59 to 37 percent.
  • Trump and Biden are effectively tied among voters under 30 — a large shift from 2020.

  “Trump and Biden are effectively tied among voters under 30 — a large shift from 2020.” https://t.co/dOS3NAsXY6 pic.twitter.com/WY9joZW2DX

  — Jevaughn (@Jevaughn_Brown) November 5, 2023

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  What’s more, Biden is also polling weaker than alternative Democrats – including Vice President Kamala Harris. According to the poll, Trump leads Biden by 5 points and Harris by 3, while a generic, unnamed Democrat would fare even better with an 8-point lead over Trump (13% better than Biden).

  According to Democratic strategist David Axelrod, it’s ‘very late to change horses’ in terms of Biden’s 2024 run, and this poll will “send tremors of doubt thru the party.’

  “The stakes of miscalculation here are too dramatic to ignore,” Axelrod continued.

  The @POTUS is justly proud of his accomplishments. Trump is a dangerous, unhinged demagogue whose brazen disdain for the rules, norms, laws and institutions or democracy should be disqualifying. But the stakes of miscalculation here are too dramatic to ignore.

  — David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) November 5, 2023

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  Only @JoeBiden can make this decision. If he continues to run, he will be the nominee of the Democratic Party. What he needs to decide is whether that is wise; whether it’s in HIS best interest or the country’s?

  — David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) November 5, 2023

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  Former Obama senior advisor and Pod Save America host Dan Pfeiffer wrote a blog post on how Democrats should react to the “very bad NYT Poll,” and said that he didn’t want to sugarcoat it: “While some of Trump’s gains among Black, Hispanic, and young voters may be hard to believe, numbers like these are broadly consistent with the trendlines in recent polls. This poll shows that not only can Trump win, he might now be a slight favorite to do so. Even if we don’t take the results literally, we should take them very, very seriously.“

  In short, Democrats have to win back demographics they’ve lost since 2020:

  Instead of doom-scrolling and tweeting through our panic, we should see this poll as a roadmap on how to reconstitute the anti-MAGA majority. We have to persuade the voters we have lost since 2020. Here’s one place to start. -Message Box News

  Team Biden downplayed the poll, with re-election campaign spox Kevin Munoz telling Axios that “predictions more than a year out tend to look a little different a year later. Don’t take our word for it: Gallup predicted an eight point loss for President Obama only for him to win handedly a year later.”

  “We’ll win in 2024 by putting our heads down and doing the work, not by fretting about a poll,” he continued.

  Maybe that’s why mercenary neocon Bill Kristol just told ol’ Joe to pack it in?

  It’s time.

  President Biden has served our country well. I’m confident he’ll do so for the next year.

  But it’s time for an act of personal sacrifice and public spirit.

  It’s time to pass the torch to the next generation.

  It’s time for Biden to announce he won’t run in 2024.

  — Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) November 5, 2023

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  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/05/2023 – 17:25

• Police Find No Evidence That Israel Supporter Attack UNC Muslim Student With Knife
  Police Find No Evidence That Israel Supporter Attack UNC Muslim Student With Knife

  Authored by Micaiah Bilger via TheCollegeFix.com,

  Police are investigating an online claim alleging an individual wearing an Israeli flag attacked a Muslim student Tuesday near the University North Carolina, Chapel Hill — but so far say there is no evidence the attack took place.

  The UNC Muslim Students Association claimed on its Instagram page Thursday that a Muslim student was attacked with a knife by “an individual wearing an Israeli flag” on the evening of Oct. 31 on Franklin Street.

   

   

   

   

  View this post on Instagram

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  A post shared by UNC MSA (@uncmsa)

  //www.instagram.com/embed.js

  A UNC Chapel Hill police spokesperson told the News & Observer the only evidence they have of the alleged attack is a social media post, and no one reported the incident to their department.

  “Was a student attacked on Franklin Street? Neither Chapel Hill Police nor UNC-Chapel Hill can confirm this attack happened as described,” the newspaper reported Nov. 1

  “According to the UNC police blotter, no incidents of assault or harassment were reported around 6 p.m. Tuesday evening,” the Observer reported in a fact-check piece.

  “Additionally, Chapel Hill police said no one has reported this crime. The department currently does not have any evidence of the attack happening, outside of the social media post, according to police spokesperson Alex Carrasquillo,” the newspaper reported.

  The alleged attacked happened on Halloween night on Franklin Street, a very popular and heavily traversed road next to campus.

  The News & Observer reported that its request to the association for more information has not been answered.

  The reports of the alleged attack appear to have come from Instagram posts by the UNC Muslim Students Association.

  In an Oct. 31 Instagram story, the association wrote: “Attention: There are pro-Israeli people on Franklin attacking Muslim students. Please stay away from the area, especially if you’re hijabi, and be careful,” according to the News & Observer.

  In a Nov. 1 statement, the Chapel Hill Police Department said it was aware of “a social media post describing an assault of a community member who is Muslim” and was working to contact the victim and investigate.

  The Muslim Students Association stated the student is not available for media interviews.

  “We thank law enforcement for investigating this incident and we encourage any interested reporters to contact them for additional information,” it wrote on Instagram.

  However, the allegations have raised questions.

  The activism group Stop Antisemitism posted on X:

  “If this is true, it’s awful. Where can we find more details – a police report? media not reporting on it?”

  The College Fix could not find any alerts about an assault or similar incident on Alert Carolina, an emergency alert system for UNC students, their families and local residents.

  A message, which appears to have been sent by the Muslim student group to its members earlier this week, stated that “police were present on the scene and are aware of the situation,” according to an X post by Abed Ayoub, executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

  The hate doesn’t stop. A Muslim student in NC was attacked with a knife by an individual with an Israel flag.

  Our students are under attack in the US. The Biden Administration needs to do more to protect Arab, Palestinian, and Muslim students on campus. pic.twitter.com/4LETOXNQ3R

  — Abed A. Ayoub (@aayoub) November 1, 2023

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  A spokesperson for the department confirmed to The Daily Tar Heel, the UNC Chapel Hill student newspaper, that police did speak “to someone who anonymously identified as a victim and, while respecting their anonymity, we are still working to determine what happened.”

  Police also told the student newspaper, as of Wednesday afternoon, no one had filed an official incident report, but they continue to investigate. Police asked anyone with information to call 911 or contact the Chapel Hill Police Department.

  “The circumstances that were described in the post must not be tolerated in our community,” Chapel Hill Police Chief Celisa Lehew said in a statement.

  “It is important that anyone who has information reach out to us as soon as possible. We recognize the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in our community and will continue to work carefully to ensure an environment where everyone feels safe and respected.”

  Since Oct. 7 when Hamas terrorists attacked Israel, killing more than 1,200 civilians, there has been a wave of attacks targeting Jewish students and Israel supporters at U.S. higher education institutions.

  On Oct. 12 at UNC Chapel Hill, an Israeli professor was pushed during a pro-Palestinian protest, WRAL News reported.

  Last week, a pro-Palestine protest turned violent at Tulane University and three students were assaulted, The College Fix reported. And at Drexel University in Pennsylvania, a Jewish student’s door was set on fire.

  Meanwhile, students who were arrested at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst during a pro-Palestinian sit-in last week were arraigned on trespassing charges.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/05/2023 – 16:50

• US Rolls Out 50th Weapons Package For Ukraine
  US Rolls Out 50th Weapons Package For Ukraine

  Authored by Kyle Anzalone via The Libertarian Institute, 

  The US rolled out its 50th weapons package for Ukraine. The arms shipment will include air defenses, artillery rounds, and anti-armor weapons. The Pentagon will purchase $300 million in arms on behalf of Kiev, depleting all the funds in the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI).

  On Friday, The Department of Defense announced a new $425 million in military aid package for Ukraine. $125 million in weapons will be sent directly from American stockpiles through the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA). The funds used to transfer the arms came from a Pentagon accounting error that gave the White House access to an additional $6 billion in PDA funds.

  

  The weapons to be shipped to Ukraine include:

  • Additional munitions for National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS)
  • Additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS)
  • 155mm and 105mm artillery rounds
  • Tube-Launched, Optically-Tracked, Wire-Guided (TOW) missiles
  • Javelin and AT-4 anti-armor systems
  • More than 3 million rounds of small arms ammunition and grenades
  • Demolitions munitions for obstacle clearing
  • M18A1 Claymore anti-personnel munitions
  • 12 trucks to transport heavy equipment
  • Cold weather gear
  • Spare parts, maintenance, and other field equipment

  The Pentagon will additionally purchase $300 million in “laser-guided munitions to counter Unmanned Aerial Systems” for Ukraine. The weapons will be bought with USAI funds. The Department of Defense reports that its USAI funding has now been depleted. Arms purchased through this program will take months or years to reach Ukraine.

  For months, the White House has pressed Congress to pass a multi-billion aid package for Ukraine. In October, the Biden administration rolled out a $105 billion bill that includes $61 billion in assistance for Kiev. The White House hopes the aid will maintain the Ukrainian military and the Zelensky administration through 2024 election.

  However, the situation in Ukraine is becoming increasingly bleak. The top Ukrainian defense official told the Economist outlets that the war has reached a stalemate. Additionally, an aide to Zelensky said corruption was rampant, and Ukrainian officials were stealing “like there is no tomorrow.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/05/2023 – 15:40

• Kamala Harris' Stepdaughter Helps Raise $8M For Gaza While Mom's Admin Pushing Billions For Israel
  Kamala Harris’ Stepdaughter Helps Raise $8M For Gaza While Mom’s Admin Pushing Billions For Israel

  Vice President Kamala Harris’ stepdaughter, Ella Emhoff, has begun publicly raising money for Gaza – promoting a fundraiser on her personal Instagram account “supporting urgent relief for Gaza’s children” which is now absent from her profile.

  

  The promotion asks her 315,000 Instagram followers to support the Palestinian cause, without mentioning that her stepmother’s administration wants to send billions to Israel as part of a $100 billion package.

  

  The fundraiser, which has netted more than $7.8 million so far, is being operated by the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund, a nonprofit based in Kent, Ohio, which raked in more than $21 million in 2021, according to ProPublica.

  It’s unclear how much, if anything, Ella Emhoff has personally donated to the cause. –NY Post

  “It’s of tremendous concern and I find it abhorrent,” Rep. Jeff VanDrew (R-NJ), a member of the House Homeland Security Committee told the outlet. “To be honest with you, I am kind of stunned by it. It’s disturbing to the maximum degree.”

  VanDrew said it was almost certain that Hamas would be able to siphon any humanitarian cash that went to Gaza.

  

  Despite her father being Jewish, Ella’s rep told The Forward in 2021 that “Ella is not Jewish.”

  “It’s not something she grew up with. Ella truly has no qualms with the faith, but she does not want to speak on behalf of Judaism, as she does not celebrate herself.”

  Emhoff — whose biological mom is film producer Kerstin Emhoff — has styled herself as a model and making boobs-out appearances at New York Fashion Week.

  She is close with her stepmother, who congratulated her in an X posting after Emhoff’s graduation from Parsons in 2021.

  “Keep dreaming with ambition and there is nothing you cannot achieve,” Harris wrote. -NY Post

  We wonder if Ella was perhaps protesting outside the White House on Saturday? Maybe she wore this:

  

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/05/2023 – 15:05

• What A Fire!
  What A Fire!

  By Peter Tchir of Academy Securities

  Last week we wrote the “We Didn’t Start the Fire” remake. It was meant to be a quick (and hopefully mildly entertaining) way to highlight just how many things are affecting markets and the global economy (geopolitically, internationally, and domestically). The list of issues facing us is long, and certainly helped create the “wall of worry” that Wall Street managed to climb this week.

  

  The Geopolitical Front

  While there were many headlines this week, nothing much has changed from our previous view that the risk of escalation remains real, and that we’ll have difficulty forming a domestic policy that keeps everyone happy.

  We tackled the Middle East in this week’s webinar. The replay runs just under an hour but it’s a fantastic way to keep up to date on the many moving parts in the region along with some global issues. Beyond the military aspects, we explore supply chain issues, energy policy, and even the roles of various international organizations. Rachel Washburn, who was embedded with special forces in Afghanistan as an Army Intelligence officer, moderated the conversation and did a great job of including many questions that the audience was peppering her with from the get-go. Generals (Ret.) Deptula and Robeson brought a wealth of relevant information, perspective, and thoughts on where this could go. General Deptula, a retired Air Force general, was able to provide some deep insight into the air campaign, while General Robeson’s Marine Corps career was extremely relevant to the discussion around the fighting on the ground. I highly recommend watching the replay.

  As a backdrop, prior to the webinar and last weekend’s Billy Joel tribute, you can find:

  • Multiple SITREPS on the events in the region. Each SITREP is a reaction to events as they occur in real time. They are driven by the expertise of Academy’s Geopolitical Intelligence Group, and are a key tool in our efforts to keep clients informed of what the events mean and what the reactions and consequences are likely to be.
  • On the more “macro” front, there is not much of a change following our two prior pieces:
    • A Difficult Week outlined several scenarios and risks for the global economy. It also included our initial podcast on the war.
    • Increasing the Risk Assessment. Basically, where we still are.

  We will continue to do our best to provide insights that hopefully help you navigate this on many levels, as it is a complex, treacherous, and highly emotional situation that is constantly evolving (or devolving, as the case may be).

  The Market Dumpster Fire

  Ok, we had the exact opposite of a dumpster fire in markets last week, unless you were short or owned puts. Stock indices were up around 6% for the week! If we want to nitpick, the Russell 2000 was up almost 8%!

  Credit spreads tightened, though the CDX indices heavily outperformed the actual bond market (the CDX indices tend to correlate much more to equities than actual bonds). The rally in high yield bonds was impressive, but very much in line with what would be expected given the rally in bond yields and equities.

  But the market that’s “truly on fire” (or at least the market that sparked the flames) was the Treasury market.

  On October 23rd, the 10-year breached 5%. It almost did it again on the 26th, and it briefly traded below 4.5% on Friday! A move between 40 bps and 50 bps in just over a week is extreme by any standard and drove markets. WIRP (and the probability of Fed actions) has almost completely ruled out a hike and we now have an almost 30% chance of a cut at the March meeting! What a difference a week makes!

  While the move is quite large, it is completely understandable:

  • The Fed’s refunding was not as bad as feared (or priced in) especially at the long end. In D.C. Has Done The Fed’s Job, we expressed several reasons why the fear about supply, while likely correct longer-term, was overdone.
  • We suspected that Powell would try to sound hawkish, but include many caveats (especially surrounding the moves in the yield curve and real yields). He couldn’t be as hawkish as many were positioned for (The Game is Slipping Away).
  • Our assessment of the Fed meeting (The Fed & Treasury Behind Us) was bullish with the caveats that the Middle East could disrupt the “everything rally” (it hasn’t yet) and that the economic data could be bad enough to bring recession chatter back to the headlines (not yet).
  • The Jobs Report Was Universally Weak. One thing that I learned quickly was that when you send out a report titled “weak report” and you only glance at the replies, your first reaction is to think that the comments were calling my report weak . In any case, this report was weak enough to keep the “everything rally” going.

  But all that is history, where are we going?

  Bottom Line

  The “easy” part of the Treasury rally is over. We could bounce around, but I am looking for more weakness on the data side to push us below 4.3% on the 10-year. After the recent rally, we might drift higher in yields first and see some shorts get put on, but I think that we’ll see 4.3% before 4.75%.

  The Treasury market moves will be mainly expressed 5 years and out as the Fed will be in no rush to cut rates. This implies that a bet on more negative curves is the direction to lean towards.

  On credit spreads, I like credit spreads a lot here, especially for high quality IG.

  • Cash credit spreads have some room to move tighter, given the move in CDX spreads and other risk assets.
  • The calendar should start to slow as we head towards Thanksgiving.
  • With all the noise still coming out of D.C., I keep thinking that investors should be overweight high-quality corporates as opposed to government securities. These corporates have good governance, global businesses, and every intention to pay back every dollar that they owe, when they owe it. I am still toying with the idea of what the “new safe asset” is, and it isn’t super important today, but it is a “hypothetical” question worth exploring and high-quality corporates keep coming to mind.

  Stocks will likely follow earnings, yields, and may try to rally some more as we’re about to be bombarded with “seasonal” effects (or at least the reporting will focus on seasonal effects). I like stocks until we get to 4.3% on the 10-year, and then would be extremely nervous as we won’t get there without greater recession concerns!

  We should expect some consolidation, but I continue to favor more of the “everything” rally.

  Hope you enjoyed the extra hour of sleep, though the cost of it getting dark so early doesn’t seem to be worth the price.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/05/2023 – 14:30

• Gateway Project Rail Tunnel Between NY And NJ Breaks Ground After Decades Of Red Tape
  Gateway Project Rail Tunnel Between NY And NJ Breaks Ground After Decades Of Red Tape

  A $16.1 billion rail tunnel in between New York and New Jersey is finally set to break ground after more than 10 years of delays. And we’re sure we’ll be happy to report that its up and operating in probably another 100 years.  

  But we digress. “A new rail tunnel linking New York and New Jersey is officially starting construction,” Bloomberg reported last week. The project is called the “Gateway Project”. 

  US Secretary of Transportation Mayor Pete was joined at a ceremony in Hudson Yards by New York Governor Kathy Hochul, Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer. He remarked: “This is a day that I know that this city, this region, this country has been looking for and waiting for for a very long time.” 

  Uh, no, Pete. That will be the day when the tunnel is actually up and running and people don’t need to wait 2 hours and pay $75 to get through the Lincoln Tunnel. 

  But we digress again. The Bloomberg report notes that The Gateway Project should be a crucial solution for alleviating traffic bottlenecks beneath the Hudson River—a pivotal juncture on the Northeast Corridor that spans from Boston to Washington.

  

  It is the nation’s most frequented passenger rail line, catering to over 750,000 passengers daily. The current tunnel, under Amtrak’s ownership and also serving New Jersey Transit, has stood for over a hundred years and faces mounting reliability concerns.

  The first construction phase will lay underground casings linking the new tunnel to New York’s Pennsylvania Station. However, commuters won’t see benefits until the tunnel, with its two tracks, is operational by 2035. And we’ll take the “over” on that date. 

  This year, the Gateway tunnel secured a $6.9 billion grant from the Federal Transit Administration, with an additional $3.8 billion announced on Friday. This brings Washington’s total contribution to over $11 billion, covering around 70% of the project’s cost, according to Schumer. New York and New Jersey will shoulder the remaining expenses.

  The push for a tunnel alleviating rail congestion between New York and New Jersey began in the 1990s but faced political hindrances and delays. A prior tunnel initiative, already funded, was halted by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in 2010. The Gateway proposal surfaced in 2011 but faced challenges during the Trump era, according to Bloomberg. 

  Biden’s infrastructure legislation allocated $8 billion over five years to the Capital Investment Grant program, which prioritized Gateway. Additionally, Biden’s team earmarked $292 million from this law earlier this year for a pivotal early stage of the project.

  Think of how many tunnels we could have built – and how quickly we could have them finished – with the $100 billion we just shipped to Ukraine?

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/05/2023 – 13:55

• FDA Responds After Being Urged To Recall Pfizer's Vaccine Over DNA Fragments
  FDA Responds After Being Urged To Recall Pfizer’s Vaccine Over DNA Fragments

  Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is refusing to recall the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, promoting the view that the inclusion of a previously-undisclosed DNA sequence that leaves behind fragments is not of concern.

  

  The FDA is not required to take the COVID-19 vaccine, or other COVID-19 shots, off the market, an agency spokeswoman told The Epoch Times via email.

  “With over a billion doses of the mRNA vaccines administered, no safety concerns related to the sequence of, or amount of, residual DNA have been identified. With regard to the FDA-approved mRNA vaccines, available scientific evidence supports the conclusion that they are safe and effective,” the spokeswoman added.

  The FDA did not provide any evidence to back up its position.

  The email came in response to 10 questions about the inclusion of the Simian Virus 40 (SV40) DNA sequence in the Pfizer-BioNTech shot.

  The Epoch Times has submitted a Freedom of Information Act query to try to unlock when the FDA learned about the sequence, and from whom. The FDA denied expedited processing for the request, claiming there is not a “compelling need” to quickly provide the information.

  Several foreign agencies, including Health Canada, have confirmed outside scientists’ assessment that the vaccine contains the DNA sequence. They’ve also said BioNTech did not highlight the inclusion in regulatory filings.

  The FDA would not answer a number of questions about the sequence, including when the agency learned about its inclusion and whether it learned about it from Pfizer or BioNTech .

  BioNTech and Pfizer have not responded to inquiries.

  The inclusion was first identified by Kevin McKernan, a former researcher and team leader for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Human Genome Project.

  “Nothing will be identified if they continue to choose not to look,” Mr. McKernan told The Epoch Times via email.

  

  A number of scientists have said the inclusion raises major concerns, such as having potential for oncogenesis—or a process that leads to cancer—including Dr. Robert Malone, a vaccine expert whose work has been cited by Pfizer.

  The inclusion means the Pfizer-BioNTech shot is “adulterated” and should be recalled, Dr. Malone told The Epoch Times.

  Federal law states that the FDA can test drugs suspected of being adulterated. If the drugs fail to meet certain standards, and a health hazard is found, the FDA is directed to advise the manufacturer to issue a recall.

  If the manufacturer then fails to issue a recall, “seizure should be considered,” the law states.

  “The general policy is that if there’s adulteration and reasonable risk of toxicity, there must be immediate action,” Dr. Malone told The Epoch Times. “This is a core mandate to the FDA from Congress to prevent adulteration of drugs, medical devices, and food. And then the next question is, is that adulteration? Is it associated with a reasonable risk of toxicity in humans? And my opinion is, absolutely.”

  Dr. Malone, after reviewing the FDA’s response, said that regulators have not done their job.

  “The normal process worldwide has been that that risk must be rigorously assessed proactively. But they haven’t done it, and their rationale for not doing it is the reason why they were so adamant that this is not a gene therapy technology,” Dr. Malone said.

  Moderna has said that its vaccine meets the FDA’s gene therapy definition, but regulators have defined the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna products as vaccines, avoiding questions about oncogenesis.

  Why Was SV40 Included?

  SV40 sequences have been used by biotechnology companies in drug products.

  “Specific sequences for the non-infectious parts of SV40 are commonly present in plasmids used for manufacturing of biological active substances,” the European Medicines Agency (EMA) told The Epoch Times via email.

  The purpose is primarily to “drive very aggressive expression of a gene,” Mr. McKernan told The Epoch Times.

  EMA alleged that Pfizer considered the sequence “a non-functional part of the plasmid.”

  “If commonly used, then why are they included if they serve no function?” Dr. Malone wondered in a Substack post.

  But the result is residual DNA left behind, according to testing. That could have negative effects, some scientists say.

  David Wiseman, a former Johnson & Johnson scientist who conducted some of the testing, said that he’s concerned the residual DNA pieces “could actually get into your genome.”

  If it does that, “it can disrupt gene regulation and potentially lead to the oncogenesis,” Mr. McKernan said.

  Phillip Buckhaults, professor of cancer genomics and director of the Cancer Genetics Lab at the University of South Carolina, said earlier this year that he tested vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and detected DNA.

  “I’m kind of alarmed about the possible consequences of this both in terms of human health and biology, but you should be alarmed about the regulatory process that allowed it to get there,” he told the South Carolina Senate.

  Mr. Buckhaults said the DNA “could be causing some of the rare but serious side effects like death from cardiac arrest.”

  He has encouraged regulators to test the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

  “This is probably not a problem, but it is surprising and therefore causing concern,” Mr. Buckhaults wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, tagging the FDA. “You should address with rigorous safety review ASAP.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/05/2023 – 13:20

• New Forecast Reveals Strong El Niño May Boost Wintery Activity Across Mid-Atlantic
  New Forecast Reveals Strong El Niño May Boost Wintery Activity Across Mid-Atlantic

  A newly published forecast map from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reveals that the El Niño weather pattern might bring increased snowfall to regions such as the Sierra, the southwestern mountains, the Plains, and the Mid-Atlantic states. This forecast aligns with the typical southward shift of the jet stream during an El Niño event, which usually carries more moisture and precipitation along the southern tier of the US. 

  The map below shows snowfall totals for past moderate-to-strong El Niños. Notice how wetter-than-average conditions are shown across the southern Plains, Southeast, Gulf Coast and Mid-Alantic. While drier-than-average conditions are expected across parts of the Midwest, Pacific Northwest, and interior Northeast. 

  

  “An enhanced southern jet stream and associated moisture often present during strong El Nino events supports high odds for above-average precipitation for the Gulf Coast, lower Mississippi Valley, and Southeast states this winter,” Jon Gottschalck, chief of the Operational Prediction Branch of the Climate Prediction Center, wrote in a report. 

  

  Although actual snowfall depends on many factors, the latest forecast indicates that El Niño, the first in four years, might be a change for residences in Washington, DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City. These areas have experienced several years of La Niña conditions, which have resulted in winters with minimal snowfall. 

  Here’s what the weather community on X is saying about this upcoming winter:

  For those of you following, I have been saying this is a migrating Modoki el nino ( my own phrase) where core of warmest water migrates from enso 1.2 to enso 3.4. Those are the stormy cold el nino winters in US. Canadian SST all in pic.twitter.com/NmG4QmSbJv

  — The American Storm (@BigJoeBastardi) November 3, 2023

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

  CANSIPS model depicting a migrating Modoki El Niño where core of the warmest water migrates from ENSO region 1+2 to 3.4. 1986-1987, 2002-2003 (stormy & cold winters) good analog years for winter 2024. #OnWx #WxTwitter #Winter #ENSO #ShareYourWeather pic.twitter.com/wC5SMiArCC

  — Ajuk Snir 🇨🇦🇷🇸 ☔🌡️☀️🌪️❄️ (@KWBlizzard2008) November 3, 2023

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

  I think you’re onto something here. The Multivariate ENSO Index (MEI) is currently only a 0.6(weak atmospheric response to El Nino), but If we assume it increases to around 1.0 in the November update, these analogues will fit very nicely.

  — Mark Margavage (@MeteoMark) November 1, 2023

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

  Recall some of our earlier forecasts for this winter (read: here & here & here). 

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/05/2023 – 12:10

• Congress Sneaks In Stealth $34,000 Pay Raise; Gaetz, AOC Among More Than 200 Lawmakers To Benefit
  Congress Sneaks In Stealth $34,000 Pay Raise; Gaetz, AOC Among More Than 200 Lawmakers To Benefit

  As House Democrats were set to hand power over to the Republicans following their midterm loss, they slipped in a provision into the House’s internal rules under the guise of aiding their less affluent members; a $34,000 allowance to ostensibly help with living expenses in Washington D.C.

  

  A deep dive into the records by the Washington Free Beacon reveals that over 200 lawmakers, including the vociferous Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), have dipped into this taxpayer-funded pot, a sumptuous feast on the nation’s dime.

  Ocasio-Cortez, who has previously lamented the costliness of D.C. living on a Congressperson’s salary, now enjoys taxpayer support for accommodations in a luxury building replete with amenities that seem more Silicon Valley than Capitol Hill.

  Bipartisan handout

  So far, 113 Democrats and 104 Republicans, including millionaire members like Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) and House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA), have partaken in the program, drawing $1.4 million from taxpayers during the first half of 2023 alone.

  Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), a critic of past budgetary excesses (whose wife says she’s got a ‘chef husband’), claimed the largest share of the fund.

  Perks of having a chef husband 🦚 pic.twitter.com/Il9NU0wFDN

  — Ginger Gaetz (@LuckeyGinger) October 17, 2023

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

  When pressed about the apparent contradiction, Gaetz justified his actions to the Washington Free Beacon, emphasizing his adherence to the law and his thrifty shopping habits: “I’ve complied with the law, and my cooking is often with discount BOGO products. I try to do the best in the kitchen from the BOGO life,” Gaetz said. He also highlighted his record of fiscal responsibility: “During my time in Congress, I’ve returned over $860,000 to taxpayers from the Members’ Representational Allowance (MRA).”

  In January the NY Times shed light on the secretive subsidy, reporting that the Democrats’ move to authorize it through an internal rule change effectively provided representatives with a pay raise sans political fallout. Former Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AK) criticized the lack of transparency, stating, “You can have a good public policy debate on whether congressmen should be paid more… but it really ought to be done in public,” lamenting the secretive process.

  Amidst these revelations, Zoe Bluffstone, spokeswoman for the Congressional Progressive Staff Association, directed attention to the plight of congressional staffers, telling the Times that the focus should be on “increasing pay for staffers,” many of whom struggle financially.

  The subsidy itself is derived from members’ office budgets and allows for lodging expenses up to $258 per day and meal expenses up to $79 per day. The rules stipulate that members can be reimbursed for hotels or rentals linked to their official duties, though not for mortgage payments, and they do not need to submit receipts—only a certification of incurring the eligible expenses.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 11/05/2023 – 11:35

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• The Great Reset, Part 1: The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse
  The Great Reset, Part 1: The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse

  Authored by Simon Elmer via Off-Guardian.org,

  ‘The technologies at the heart of the Fourth Industrial Revolution are connected in many ways — in the way they extend digital capabilities; in the way they scale, emerge and embed themselves in our lives; in their combinatorial power; and in their potential to concentrate privilege and challenge existing governance systems.’

  – Klaus Schwab, Shaping the Future of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, 2018

  The Wikipedia entry for the Great Reset, the first part of which is quoted in a blue panel as a corrective to any mention or discussion of this term on YouTube, reads as follows:

  The Great Reset Initiative is an economic recovery plan drawn up by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The project was launched in June 2020, with a video featuring the then Prince of Wales Charles released to mark its launch. The initiative’s stated aim is to facilitate rebuilding from the global COVID-19 crisis in a way that prioritizes sustainable development.

  The initiative triggered a range of diverse conspiracy theories spread by American far-right and conservative commentators on social media such as Facebook and Twitter. Such theories include that the COVID-19 pandemic was created by a secret group in order to seize control of the global economy, that lockdown restrictions were deliberately designed to induce economic meltdown, or that a global elite was attempting to abolish private property while using COVID-19 to enslave humanity with vaccines.

  I am not an American, have never belonged to any far-right organisation, my views are not conservative with either a big or a little ‘c’, and I have published a number of articles arguing against the conspiracy theory of history; but I have also argued that a virus with the infection fatality rate of seasonal influenza never constituted anything approaching a ‘pandemic’; that lockdown restrictions were imposed not to induce the ‘meltdown’ of the economy but, to the contrary, to insulate the real economy from the $12 trillion of quantitative easing created to bail out the collapsing financial sector between September 2019 and April 2022; and that, far from attempting to ‘abolish’ private property, the stakeholder model of capitalism promoted by the World Economic Forum and implemented by its corporate partners under the umbrella of ‘sustainable development goals’ is designed to privatise national assets, natural resources and, ultimately — as Klaus Schwab openly advocates — the existing system of governance in the West.

  In this respect, the Wikipedia entry is exemplary of how the accusation of ‘conspiracy theory’, illustrated with extreme or inaccurate or just plain ridiculous examples (‘enslave humanity with vaccines’) to which very few people subscribe, works to discredit and dismiss by association any and more rational criticisms of the global technocracies, international companies and national governments that, in the wake of multiple manufactured ‘crises’, have taken into their control the institutions, procedures and platforms by which a political, scientific and media consensus is reached.

  Strange as it may seem, however, this grudging concession of the existence of a global economic plan, its origins in a corporate think-tank and its support by the now Head of State of the UK is an age away from the vociferous denials and mocking denunciations of being a ‘conspiracy theorist’ that were hurled at anyone who dared even to refer to the ‘Great Reset’ in the first year of lockdown. These only gradually diminished when someone pointed out that the term was openly used on the website of the World Economic Forum and had provided the title of the book published by its founder and Executive Chairman, Klaus Schwab, in July 2020, barely 4 months since the ‘pandemic’ was declared by the World Health Organization.

  And while the accusation of conspiracy theory is still used to silence anyone who attributes anything other than purely beneficent motives to the 1,200 banks, asset managers, information technology conglomerates, media corporations, energy utilities, industrial manufacturers and other companies that, on the same day the ‘pandemic’ was declared, formed themselves into a ‘COVID-19 Action Platform’, the term itself is now more or less openly used by politicians, civil servants, corporate CEOs, marketing executives, digital engineers, journalists, activists and other promoters of what the World Economic Forum calls ‘stakeholder capitalism’.

  It’s hard to say which term is more likely to attract censure and censorship when used by those not authorised to do so, but the most accurate description of the Great Reset — and the one most suppressed by those overseeing its implementation — is that it is the historical shift from the economic, political and social paradigm by which the West has been governed for the past forty years into stakeholder capitalism. As the emerging political economy of the West, this seeks to merge the separation of powers between executive, legislature and judiciary on which Western democracy has been founded into a technocratic form of governance that will signal the end of politics, properly speaking, insofar as politics designates — at least in principle — a space of debate, contestation, representation and accountability.

  For Schwab, whose latest book is titled Stakeholder Capitalism, this merger represents a revolution from shareholder capitalism, in which individual economies overseen by national governments were run for the benefit of company shareholders, into a global economy governed by the same companies, but ostensibly for the benefit of all, inclusively, sustainably, profitably. The investment in which these multinational companies hold a stake, therefore, is the world itself. ‘A global economy that works for progress, people and the planet’ is the subtitle of Schwab’s book, which like those preceding it doesn’t lack in ambition, hubris and a complete disregard for anything one could call democratic process, accountability or a mandate from those it claims to benefit.

  If we were to pick a starting date for this revolution in Western capitalism, whose economic forces lie in the neoliberal revolution of the late 1970s and the rise of finance capitalism as the dominant economic model of the West, it began in September 2019 with the spike in interest rates in the US repurchase agreement market that triggered the latest Global Financial Crisis, and to which the lockdown of the real economies of global capitalism in March 2020 was the concerted response. My two collections of essays, Virtue and Terror and The New Normal, written between March 2020 and October 2021 when the UK was still ruled by emergency powers under lockdown restrictions, sought to describe this first phase of the Great Reset, its legislative frameworks and economic motivations.

  My argument in this book is that we have now moved out of the first phase of this revolution, whose trajectory and precedents I described in The Road to Fascism: For a Critique of the Global Biosecurity State, and into the second phase. In its sequel, The Great Reset: Biopolitics for Stakeholder Capitalism, I try to articulate what this new phase is and what it means for us. Hopefully — and what hope we have is one of the questions this book tries to address — by understanding this new phase of the Great Reset better, we will be able to offer more resistance to its enforcement than we managed in its first phase, which was met with almost universal credulity, compliance and collaboration.

  FROM LEGISLATION TO BIOPOWER

  A lot of things have changed in the UK and across the Western World since, in March 2022, the coronavirus-justified restrictions on our human rights and civil liberties began to be lifted; but that doesn’t mean, as too many opposed to lockdown initially thought, that the Great Reset of Western capitalism for which those restrictions laid the ground is over. Far from it. To emphasise how far from over the Great Reset is, I have referred to this new phase as the ‘Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse’. This is not only for dramatic effect but also because it gravitates around four apparatuses of biopower, not all of which are new, but which are being implemented simultaneously and are, indeed, dependent on each other for their implementation. Much of this book is about this interdependence, which Schwab refers to as their ‘combinatorial power’.

  

  But what is ‘biopower’?

  It’s a term I’ve been using since we were first locked in our homes on the justification of stopping the spread of the coronavirus, and I’ve made many attempts to describe it — which I shall continue to do, no doubt, because it is under its paradigm that the world is now governed and will be for the foreseeable future. The term was first introduced into political discourse by the French philosopher and historian, Michel Foucault, who died in 1984. As Professor of the History of Systems of Thought at the Collège de France, Foucault explored its genesis in his lecture series of 1975-1979. But he first used the term in his published work in The Will to Knowledge, where, in the pages titled ‘Right of Death and Power over Life’, Foucault described the movement from a juridical to a biopolitical paradigm of governance:

  Another consequence of this development of bio-power was the growing importance assumed by the action of the norm, at the expense of the juridical system of the law. Law cannot help but be armed, and its arm, par excellence, is death; to those who transgress it, it replies, at least as a last resort, with that absolute menace. The law always refers to the sword. But a power whose task is to take charge of life needs continuous regulatory and corrective mechanisms. Such a power has to qualify, measure, appraise and hierarchise, rather than display itself in its murderous splendour; it does not have to draw the line that separates the enemies of the sovereign from his obedient subjects; it effects distributions around the norm. I do not mean to say that the law fades into the background or that the institutions of justice tend to disappear, but rather that the judicial institution is increasingly incorporated into a continuum of apparatuses (medical, administrative, and so on) whose functions are for the most part regulatory. A normalising society is the historical outcome of a technology of power centred on life.

  Foucault viewed the rise of biopower and the technologies of its implementation within a historical context that began around the time of the French Revolution of 1788, and which he associated with the First Republic’s formulation of human rights. It was through these rights that the state first assumed its duty and its right to defend, but also to control, not only the life but also the quality of life of its citizens: our health, our bodies, our needs, our happiness — which have most recently been condensed into the new category of our ‘well-being’. For Foucault, this represented a historical shift from the legislative power by which the sovereign and his government had authority over the life and death of his subjects, and within which laws have a purely punitive function that sets restrictions and obligations which, if broken, have penalties up to and including death, into a biopolitical paradigm, within which the technologies of power qualify, measure, appraise and hierarchise the life of the citizen.

  This shift has parallels with what is happening now largely in the West under the banner of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, by which the new apparatuses of biopower and the technologies of which they dispose will qualify our access to what were previously the universal, indivisible and inalienable rights of citizenship; measure our levels of compliance with regulatory and corrective mechanisms that have not been written into any laws; appraise us through a system of surveillance and monitoring justified by ‘crises’ whose very existence it prohibits us from questioning; and, by doing so, will produce a new hierarchy of Social Credit rated according to our levels of obedience not only to the by-now familiar regulations of the Global Biosecurity State but also to new actions of the norm extending into every aspect of our lives.

  It’s important to bear in mind that the shift Foucault described is an historical one that happened over several hundred years; but history does not move at an even pace, and at times of social and political revolution — such as the one the West entered in March 2020 — what might otherwise have taken a century to unfold can be implemented in a decade or less. We’ve seen this demonstrated most materially in the succession of industrial revolutions that the People’s Republic of China has undergone in the space of 70 years, but which took the UK, by contrast, 250 years or more. Moreover, the shift from a juridical to a biopolitical paradigm does not happen all at once and definitively. Just as there are emergent social, political, legal and technological forces in any given society, so too there are residual elements formed under earlier economic models that continue to play a role.

  Under lockdown, for example, Western capitalism was governed — if we can use this word to describe the vast levels of theft of the future wealth of its populations — under a State of Emergency whose legal precedents can be traced back to the French Revolution. But now, as we have emerged out of lockdown to be plunged into a biopolitical paradigm of governance, that juridical framework of human rights, legislative oversight, judicial appeal, media scrutiny of government and democratic accountability to the electorate — all of which utterly failed to defend what democracy we had — is being replaced — again, not completely but to a further and greatly expanded degree — by the technologies of biopower.

  To recall, briefly, the juridical framework by which we were ruled for two years in the UK, and which continues to implement the biopolitical framework within which the apparatuses of biopower are being implemented, since March 2020 the following Acts and Statutes have been made into UK law:

  • The Coronavirus Act 2020, whose 384 pages, 102 provisions and 29 schedules went through just one week of reading and three days of debate in Parliament before, according to a convention agreed to by Her Majesty’s Opposition, being ‘nodded through’ by MPs rather than approved by a democratic vote.

  • 580 coronavirus-justified Statutory Instruments made into law at a rate of 6 per week, 537 of which were only laid before Parliament after they came into force.

  • The Health and Care Act 2022, which furthered the privatisation and outsourcing of the National Health Service while granting the Secretary of State authority over its procurement.

  • The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, which empowers the police to impose conditions on demonstrations, effectively banning protest in the UK. It also permits the police to have access to our private education and health records, and criminalises trespass on privately-owned land.

  • The Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022, which empowered the law courts to suspend and limit challenges by UK citizens to the legality of, and redress for, the decisions and actions of the UK Government and other public bodies.

  • The Nationality and Borders Act 2022, which empowers the Home Secretary to revoke, without prior notification, the British citizenship of anyone who is not born in the UK, who is of dual nationality, who is judged to be a threat to national security, or whose behaviour is deemed to be ‘unacceptable’.

  • The Elections Act 2022, which made voter ID a requirement for voting, setting another precedent for the implementation of a system of Digital Identity in the UK.

  • The Public Order Act 2023, which further increases the powers of police to criminalise protest through extending stop and search powers to allow police to search for and seize objects that may be used in the commission of a protest-related offence; as well as issuing Serious Disruption Prevention Orders.

  • The Online Safety Act 2023, whose title, like that of most UK legislation, means the opposite of the powers it makes into law, and which in this case requires the providers of online platforms to censor and impose restrictions on what we can and cannot say, write, watch, read and hear online in compliance with the dictates of Ofcom, the UK Government and, ultimately, the transnational technocracies in which it has membership. Fines for non-compliance are set at up to £18 million or 10 per cent of global turnover.

  • The Energy Bill 2023, when made into law, will amend existing legislation to empower the Government to regulate and fine those responsible for the supply, transport, storage, safety, performance, consumption and disposal of energy for failing to comply with the restrictions consequent upon the drive to Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050. This include the installation of smart meters in all homes and businesses by the end of 2025, with non-compliance incurring a fine up to £15,000 or imprisonment for 1 year.

  Significantly, the bulk of these Parliamentary Acts, as distinct from the Statutory Instruments under which we lived during lockdown, were made as the regulations for the latter were revoked, with the remainder made into law this year. We haven’t, therefore, moved out of a juridical framework — ‘incorporated’ is the word Foucault uses to describe this transition — and which is not, moreover, limited to the legislation I’ve listed here.

  But what I want to focus on in this book is the incorporation of the judicial institution, which this legislation is clearing the legal barriers to, into what Foucault called the regulatory apparatuses of biopower.

  These — my Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse — are:

  • Digital Identity

  • The United Nations’ Agenda 2030

  • The World Health Organization’s Pandemic Treaty

  • Central Bank Digital Currency

  Most citizens of the UK — if we can still call ourselves that — will have heard of some or all of these. It’s safe to say that, after two years of lockdown and the threat of what were called ‘vaccine passports’, everyone in the UK will know something about Digital Identity. But few, perhaps, will be aware of the programme of eco-austerity imposed by the UN’s Agenda 2030 and 2050, even though all will be familiar with the claims of the environmental activists that receive promotion in our media that only the world’s richest individuals and institutions can buy. Fewer still will have heard of the World Health Organization’s Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response Treaty, or of the Bank of England’s plans for a Central Bank Digital Currency. But the problem, as it was under lockdown, is that as soon as the plans and intentions of the so-called global elite become sufficiently public for opposition to them to gain critical mass, the media — both mainstream and social — first dismisses that knowledge as a conspiracy theory and then — as we saw with the leaked text messages of Matt Hancock about the Government’s use of terror to enforce compliance from the British people — the actual import of those plans are displaced onto mundane concerns.

  As examples of which — and which I discuss in greater detail in my book — what concerns there have been around the Pandemic Treaty and Central Bank Digital Currency have been about the UK’s loss of national sovereignty, or elderly people who don’t have a bank account or smartphone being excluded, or not being able to give spare change to beggars. Time and again we are told that CBDC is merely another form of digital payment and not appreciably different from existing bank cards; or that the WHO Treaty will simply make us more prepared for the next pandemic and therefore must be a good thing — except to those who denied the existence of the last one. Similarly, what concerns have been expressed about Agenda 2030 is that the corporate influence on the UN might be inhibiting its implementation of Net Zero rather than, as is the case, driving it to their own ends.

  To use a word that is as abused as any other these days, this is ‘disinformation’, created and disseminated to inform the public just enough to allow us to inform ourselves no further, and to comfortably dismiss anyone who does as a conspiracy theorist. The truth, which this book sets out to demonstrate, is that these four regulatory apparatuses of biopower are going to fundamentally, and in certain aspects irreversibly, change the social contract between the British people and the state.

  Crucially, in this book I show how all four of these regulatory apparatuses — the discourses justifying them, the institutions formulating them, the programmes implementing them, the legislation imposing them, the agendas requiring them, the treaties agreeing to them and the technologies enforcing them — are all interdependent on each other. Indeed, as instruments of the new totalitarianism I discussed in The Road to Fascism, they couldn’t be other than part of a totalising system of surveillance, control and domination.

  The Book of Revelation was written around 90 A.D., almost two thousand years ago, and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse it announced appeared, respectively, wearing a crown, wielding a sword, carrying a scales and bearing the name of death. The emblems and technologies of power have changed since then, but the means by which the powerful seek to control us remain the same today: by conquest of a people, by waging war, by economic destitution, and by causing plagues and famine. The difference is, now it’s being done, under the beneficent hand of stakeholder capitalism, ‘for our own good’.

  In Part 2 of this article, I will look at the consequences of incorporating the legal framework within which the rights of citizenship have been written into law into regulatory apparatuses through which the obligations of biosecurity are enforced by the state.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/04/2023 – 23:55

• Seattle Limits Cops From 'Knowingly Lying' After Suspect Commits Suicide
  Seattle Limits Cops From ‘Knowingly Lying’ After Suspect Commits Suicide

  The city of Seattle has implemented a new policy that prevents police officers from knowingly lying to influence suspects, after incidents in 2018 and 2020 may have contributed to a suicide, and incited chaos during the George Floyd protests, MYNorthwest reports.

  

  Following the two incidents, the Office of Inspector General for Public Safety and City Councilmember Lisa Herbold pushed for the policy change, which Mayor Bruce Harrell (D) announced on Oct. 30.

  In the 2018 case, a suspect in a Seattle automobile accident committed suicide after an SPD officer lied in a ruse, falsely telling the man’s friend that a woman was in critical condition from the crash.

  The man — who has since been identified as Porter Feller — had fled from the scene of a multi-vehicle accident in May of 2018. Two officers followed up at the home his car was registered to, telling his friend, Maggie Parks, that a victim in the hit-and-run was near death, despite the fact that there no actual injuries reported from the crash. One of the officers remarked to his partner, “it’s a lie, but it’s fun.” -MYNorthwest

  “Effective public safety requires community buy-in, and this new policy is an important step to build understanding with the public, demonstrating that for SPD operations to be successful, they must be paired with a commitment to unbiased, constitutional policing,” said Harrell in a statement. “This innovative new policy will lead to better police work thanks to the voices of many, including the media who brought attention to this tactic, community members who called for guidelines to match our values, and Seattle accountability and police leaders who developed a plan to make that vision real.”

  According to Seattle PD Chief Adrian Diaz, the policy is the first of its kind in the US, and continues SPD’s “long tradition of public safety innovation rooted in accountability and a commitment to building public confidence.”

  Remember kids, cops are allowed to lie…

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/04/2023 – 23:20

• The World's Largest Biometric Digital ID System, India's Aadhaar, Just Suffered Its Biggest Ever Data Breach
  The World’s Largest Biometric Digital ID System, India’s Aadhaar, Just Suffered Its Biggest Ever Data Breach

  Authored by Nick Corbishley via NakedCapitalism.com,

  In one fell swoop, roughly 10% of the global population appears to have had some of their most valuable personal identifiable information (PII) compromised. Yet Aadhaar continues to receive plaudits from Silicon Valley. 

  

  An anonymous hacker claims to have breached the digital ID numbers, as well as other sensitive personal data, of around 815 million Indian citizens.

  To put that number in perspective, it is more than 60% of the 1.3 billion Indian people enrolled in the government’s Aadhaar biometric digital identity program, and roughly 10% of the entire global population. Thanks to the breach — the largest single one in the country’s history, according to the Hindustan Times — the personal data of hundreds of millions of Indians are now up for grabs on the dark web, for as little as $80,000.

  To register for an Aadhaar card, Indian residents have to provide basic demographic information, including name, date of birth, age, address and gender, as well as biometric information, including ten fingerprints, two eyeball scans and a facial photograph. Much of that data has apparently been compromised.

  Media reports suggest that the source of the leak was the Covid-19 test data of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), which is linked to each individual’s Aadhaar number.

  The alarm was first raised by Resecurity, a Los Angeles-based cyber security company, which on Oct 15 included the following in a blogpost on its corporate website:

  On October 9th, a threat actor going by the alias ‘pwn0001’ posted a thread on Breach Forums brokering access to 815 million “Indian Citizen Aadhaar & Passport” records. To put this victim group in perspective, India’s entire population is just over 1.486 billion people.

  HUNTER investigators established contact with the threat actor and learned they were willing to sell the entire Aadhaar and Indian passport dataset for $80,000.

  The data set offered by pwn0001 contains multiple fields related to the PII of Indian citizens, including but not limited to:

  – name
  – father’s Name
  – phone Number
  – other Number
  – passport Number
  – aadhar Number
  – age
  – gender
  – address
  – district
  – pincode
  – state…

  One of the leaked samples contains 100,000 records of personal identifiable information (PII) related to Indian residents. In this sample leak, HUNTER analysts identified valid Aadhaar Card IDs, which were corroborated via a government portal that provides a “Verify Aadhaar” feature. This feature allows people to validate the authenticity of Aadhaar credentials,” Resecurity said…

  Resecurity acquired… 400,000 records and contacted multiple victims to validate the information, as well as used the “Verify Aadhaar” feature available via official government WEB-resource in India.

  The contacted victims from the acquired data set confirmed the validity of their data, and stated they have never been notified about [the breach] before.

  Digital Identity Theft

  A leak of such highly sensitive personal identifiable information (PII) creates a significant risk of digital identity theft, warns Security Affairs:

  Threat actors leverage stolen identity information to commit online banking theft, tax refund fraud, and other cyber-enabled financial crimes. Nation-state actors are also hunting for Aadhaar data with the goal of espionage and influence campaigns that leverage detailed insights on the Indian population. Resecurity observed a spike in incidents involving Aadhaar IDs and their leakage on underground cybercriminal forums by threat actors who look to harm Indian nationals and residents.

  Aadhaar (Hindi for “foundation”) is a 12-digit unique identity (UID) number issued by the government after confirming a person’s biometric and demographic information. Launched in 2012 as part of an initiative to give each Indian resident with a unique identification number, it is the largest digital identity system on the planet, with 1.3 billion UIDs issued by 2021, covering a staggering 92% of India’s population.

  It was ostensibly created to provide people without identification a formal government ID as well as crack down on duplicate, fake or stolen IDs used to benefit from government programs and welfare schemes.

  And it quickly drew interest and praise from elite quarters around the world, including Silicon Valley.

  In a 2019 entry of his “Gates Notes” blog, Bill Gates lauded Aadhaar for making “India’s invisible people visible.” Three years earlier, in a lecture on Technology for Transformation, Gates had said that Aadhaar is something that had never been done before by any government, not even in a rich country. He also claimed it does not pose any privacy risks; try telling that to the 815 million people whose personal data is now up for grabs on the Dark Web!

  Together with Nandan Nilekani, one of the co-founders of Indian tech giant Infosys who is widely recognised as Aadhaar’s chief architect, Gates went on to play a key role in exporting Aadhaar to other parts of the so-called Global South, much of it financed by the World Bank. The two tech billionaires also reportedly helped persuade the Modi government to embark on the disastrous path of demonetisation in order to expand cashless payment alternatives. Demonetisation is believed to have caused a 2% drop in India’s GDP growth in 2016/17 alone — the equivalent of $52 billion, according to the Sunday Guardian.

  Even today, Aadhaar continues to receive plaudits from Silicon Valley, despite all of its security flaws, privacy concerns and other issues. Worldcoin, the controversial cryptocurrency project set up by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman that uses an eye-scanning “orb” to give users a unique digital identity to verify whether they are human, recently said it seeks to emulate India’s Aadhaar system in its own creation of a global identity and financial network.

  Ironically, both Aadhaar and World Coin were featured in a recent report by Moody’s Investor Services as examples of how not to develop a digital identity system. As I noted at the time, it is not clear whether Moody’s criticisms were merely poorly timed, given the geopolitical backdrop, or form part of a broader campaign in the Anglosphere against India’s interests. The Modi government and Indian tech businesses are desperately keen to export the so-called “Indian Stack” — the Jan Dhan Yojana, a financial inclusion program; UPI, an instant payments system launched in 2016, just six months before the government yanked 84% of India’s cash notes out of circulation in its infamous demonetisation campaign; and Aadhaar.

  Mission Creep on Steroids

  Aadhaar was first introduced as a voluntary way of improving welfare service delivery. But the Modi government rapidly expanded its scope by making it mandatory for welfare programs and state benefits.

  The mission creep didn’t end there. Aadhaar has become all but necessary to access a growing list of private sector services, including medical records, bank accounts and pension payments. According to Security Affairs, it is the security weaknesses of many of these third parties, including utility companies, independent service providers, mobile and telecommunication operators, and lending and fintech services, that are behind many of the data breeches.

  Plans are also afoot to link voter registration to Aadhaar, despite the system’s glaring security flaws. Besides the vulnerability of its data storage, India’s Aadhaar system has many other downsides, as I noted in my book Scanned:

  For a start, it tracks users’ movements between cities, their employment status and purchasing records. It is a de facto social credit system that serves as the key entry point for accessing services in India. While the system has helped to speed and clean up India’s bureaucracy, it has also massively increased the Indian government’s surveillance powers and excluded over 100 million people from welfare programs as well as basic services.

  The public body in charge of Aadhaar, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), is yet to comment on the latest breach. But if past form is any guide, when it does it will deny all charges. It has so far refuted all accusations of data breaches, since the Aadhaar system went fully live seven years ago, including claims from Wikileaks that the CIA might have access to the database and allegations in the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2019 that Aadhaar had “suffered multiple breaches that potentially compromised the records of all 1.1 billion registered citizens.”

  Given the sheer number of breaches Aadhaar has suffered, this level of denialism is becoming untenable. Even Biometric Update, the most important trade publication for the biometrics industry, has warned that India is “bleeding biometric data.” And biometric data is our most valuable personal identifiable information. If it is hacked there is no way of undoing the damage. You cannot change or cancel your iris or fingerprint like you can change a password or cancel a credit card.

  The chances of that data being hacked are significant given how pourous most databases are, notes Professor Sandra Watcher, a data ethics professor at the Oxford Internet Institute:

  “The idea of a data breach is not a question of if, it’s a question of when. Welcome to the internet: everything is hackable.

  Given the sheer number and scale of recent breaches,  the “Indian govt’s insistence that Aadhaar is secure rings hollow,” concludes Biometric Update:

  A piece in Security Affairs reports that earlier this month, the cybersecurity firm Resecurity found hundreds of millions of records containing personally identifiable information (PII) for sale on the dark web. Aadhaar cards were among the data on offer.

  Also in October, the PII of applicants to a program for young filmmakers at the International Film Festival of India was exposed on a government website for the event. The Deccan Herald reports that the Times of India was able to access a parent directory that contained the Aadhaar IDs, PAN cards and other PII of more than 100 people who applied through the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC).

  Furthermore, as reported in The Hindu, a police raid on a brothel in Bengaluru found that sex workers had been given fake Aadhaar cards, and prompted an investigation into wider production of fake government IDs, voter cards and other documents.

  And finally, there is the now-resolved case of fingerprint biometrics, digital ID numbers, identity documents, photographs and images submitted to Aadhaar being exposed by the West Bengal state government website.

  The latter case is particularly pertinent since it reveals how fragile biometric identifiers can be, especially when it comes to finance. In recent years, a consortium of public and private sector players, including the Reserve Bank of India, UIDAI, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and the Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology, has developed a cardless banking system called the Aadhaar-enabled Payment System, or AePS. To avail of the service, all customers need is a bank name, an Aadhaar number and the biometric identifiers captured during their Aadhaar enrolment. It’s quick, easy but not remotely safe.

  A recent criminal case in Bengal has revealed that a purely biometric-enabled payment system, involving no cards and no PIN numbers, is not secure, particularly when the biometric identifiers in question and Aadhaar numbers are easily accessible on the World Wide Web. As always in these cases, enterprising fraudsters are leagues ahead of the authorities. From Business Standard:

  The latest scam alert came to light after Kolkata Police uncovered cases where fraudsters are stealing data, including thumbprints, from land registries off the West Bengal Government’s land records website. Two individuals were reportedly arrested for their involvement in fraudulent transactions using the Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS).

  “These accused developed fake fingerprints that were used to withdraw money from the complainant’s bank account. Primarily. It has been found that the electronic data are gathered from different public domains/websites,” a senior officer of Kolkata Police told the Indian Express.

  Subsequently, Kolkata Police requested the state Finance Department to conceal biometric data, including fingerprints, and Aadhaar card numbers extracted from property deeds or any other documents uploaded to the state government’s property registration website.

  The response from certain banks and law enforcement agencies is revealing: they are telling bank customers to lock their biometrics at m-Aadhaar app/UIDAI portal and start using a four-digit pin to authenticate payments and prevent unauthorized access to their bank accounts. It is an open admission that biometric identifiers, on their own, are not safe enough for transaction purposes. Nor are they being stored securely by public or private entities. This should (but probably won’t) serve as a cautionary tale for all the other governments and companies around the world seeking to harness the power of biometric identifiers and digital identity.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/04/2023 – 22:45

• "Allahu Akbar, Fu*k Joe Biden!": Enraged Pro-Palestinian Protesters Gather Outside White House
  “Allahu Akbar, Fu*k Joe Biden!”: Enraged Pro-Palestinian Protesters Gather Outside White House

  Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters marched across Washington DC on Saturday to protest US involvement in the Israel-Hamas war, stopping outside the White House to shout “Allahu Akbar” , “Fuck Joe Biden,” and “Biden, Biden, you can’t hide! We charge you with genocide!” –  while smearing red paint and pushing on the gate.

  

  ‘Genocide Joe!’, ‘Fuck Joe Biden!’ and ‘Genocide Joe has gotta go!’ are some of the chants outside White House #March4Palestine pic.twitter.com/kbWpXMEjOT

  — Steven Nelson (@stevennelson10) November 4, 2023

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

  The White House’s NW entrance has been smeared with red paint and protesters are pushing on gate #March4Palestine pic.twitter.com/D4cFNOCyiU

  — Steven Nelson (@stevennelson10) November 4, 2023

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

  HAPPENING NOW: PROTESTOOORS TRYING TO WAKE UP SLEEPY JOE WITH CHANTS OF ALLAHU AKBAR OUTSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE ###pic.twitter.com/N0jHPY0Gqj

  — iBankCoin, A Reliable Source (@iBankCoin4tw) November 5, 2023

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

  Pro-Palestine protestors scale the White House fence to raise the Palestinian flag @arjunswritings pic.twitter.com/GiUJrtgsGG

  — Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) November 4, 2023

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

  They also defaced and vandalized historic monuments across DC.

  Historic monuments in Washington DC were vandalized and desecrated by pro-Palestine protestors today pic.twitter.com/prGDnAeafg

  — End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) November 5, 2023

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

  Statue of President Andrew Jackson gets DESECRATED with the Palestinian flag in Lafayette Park as thousands of Palestinian protesters swarm the streets in Washington DC.

  📸@stevennelson10 pic.twitter.com/orr4xE1dmq

  — Oli London (@OliLondonTV) November 5, 2023

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

  🚨 BREAKING: Pro-Palestine protesters are vandalizing the statues in Lafayette Park outside of the White House pic.twitter.com/3qRiwdmvZS

  — Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) November 5, 2023

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

  Earlier Saturday, rapper Macklemore spoke at a pro-Palestinian rally in DC, in which he told the crowd that “They told me to be quiet, they told me to do my research, to go back, that it’s too complex to say something, to be silent in this moment,” referring to the pro-Israel camp.

  “In the last three weeks, I’ve gone back and I have done some research, I’m teachable,” he told the crowd. “I don’t know everything, but I know enough to know that this is a genocide.”

  Macklemore speaks at the “Free Palestine” rally in DC:

  “They told me to do my research, that it’s too complex, to be silent … In the last 3 weeks, I’ve gone back & I have done some research, I don’t know everything, but I know enough to know that this is a genocide.” pic.twitter.com/QQcjZQcSFQ

  — philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) November 4, 2023

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

  Macklemore first offered Palestinians his support two weeks ago on Instagram, where he said he couldn’t “stay silent any longer.”

  The rapper said he was “deeply hurt for the Israelis that lost loved ones,” but didn’t believe in “killing innocent humans in retaliation.”

  “This is why I am supporting the people around the world who are calling for a ceasefire. We are witnessing an unfolding genocide in Palestine at this very moment.”

  At the DC event, many speakers took hits at the President, especially his pledge to send $14 billion in aid to Israel. -NY Post

  

  

  Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) also spoke out, posting a video in which he condemned Israel’s “indiscriminate bombing” for “hitting hospitals, refugee camps, and killing thousands of innocent people.”

  Israel’s indiscriminate bombing is hitting hospitals, refugee camps, and killing thousands of innocent people. It must stop now. pic.twitter.com/WA2x2Gosti

  — Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) November 4, 2023

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsThe anti-Biden backlash to US support of Israel is a serious issue for Democrats, whose support they rely on.

  The leftists at The Hill panicked, framing the situation as “Sure – American Muslims might be pissed, but Trump’s worse!“

  …which comes on the heels of the White House’s ham-fisted ‘strategy to combat Islamophobia,” which the DC protesters immediately saw right through.

  Kamala Harris announces the “country’s first National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia” to “combat a surge of hate in America.”

  pic.twitter.com/lmkb5bDISp

  — Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) November 1, 2023

  Oh, and Kamala Harris’s stepdaughter (whose father is Jewish) just raised $8 million for Gaza. Let’s see if that’s enough to convince protesters that $14.3 billion to Israel right now isn’t ‘funding genocide,’ as they say.

  Bonus footage:

  ANTIFA MEETS ISLAM pic.twitter.com/0ynFFGcRIe

  — The_Real_Fly (@The_Real_Fly) November 4, 2023

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  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/04/2023 – 22:13

• Zelensky Complains War In Gaza Is "Taking Away The Focus" From Ukraine
  Zelensky Complains War In Gaza Is “Taking Away The Focus” From Ukraine

  He really spoke the words out loud… Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that the war in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas is “taking away the focus” from the Ukraine conflict. 

  He made the remarks in a press conference in Kiev while standing alongside EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, at a moment headlines have turned negative on the prospect of ever being able to beat back the Russians. “Of course, it’s clear that the war in the Middle East, this conflict, is taking away the focus,” Zelensky said in the surprisingly blunt admission.

  He began his remarks by commenting on the front line situation, which hasn’t changed significantly in many months. “Time has passed, people are tired… But this is not a stalemate,” he said.

  

  “No one among our partners is pressuring us to sit down with Russia, talk to it, and give it something,” he added, after reports have in the last days emerged that Washington is exploring possible concessions to the Russians behind the scenes. 

  Zelensky claimed that it’s “Russia’s goal” to take global focus away from the Ukraine war. “We have already been in very difficult situations when there was almost no focus on Ukraine,” he said, before adding, “I am absolutely sure we will overcome this challenge.”

  Now nearly one month after the horrific Hamas Oct.7 terror attack on southern Israel, the crisis in Gaza is completely dominating headlines. In recent weeks, news of Ukraine-Russia has actually slipped from the front page of major American newspapers.

  In Saturday’s press conference he also tried to push back against the slew of recent pessimistic headlines, per Bloomberg:

  President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pushed back on an NBC report that US and European officials have begun pressuring Kyiv toward possible peace negotiations with Moscow. “I do not know who is publishing this and for what,” Zelenskiy said

  As we explained earlier, in the wake of Ukraine’s costly and futile counteroffensive, Washington’s proxy war with Russia is facing strong headwinds at home: 

  • The war between Hamas and Israel has diverted public attention and sapped the war state’s ability to propagandize voters. Indeed, Biden’s Oval Office address appealing for aid for Ukraine and Israel was originally planned to focus solely on Ukraine, NBC reports. 
  • The US public’s pro-Ukraine fervor has cooled: A new Gallup poll found 41% say the US is doing too much for Ukraine — a big leap from the 29% who said that in June. Many Americans think that money should be used to improve conditions at home. 
  • A growing number of congressional Republicans have put away their rubber stamp for Ukraine aid, and have thus far thwarted Biden’s request for $61 billion in additional funding for the war. Biden’s ploy of a joint funding request that combines controversial Ukraine aid with Israel aid is in grave jeopardy, as House Republicans demand separate votes. 

  This is what desperation looks like…..

  (Von der Leyen visiting Zelensky) pic.twitter.com/U3VePYthgx

  — Richard (@ricwe123) November 4, 2023

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  Washington’s blank-check support for Israel’s destruction of Gaza is further straining an already Ukraine-sapped American arsenal. Tens of thousands of artillery shells that had been earmarked for Ukraine are being redirected to the IDF.

  Even before Hamas attacked Israel, an increasingly severe shortage of conventional shells for the artillery-heavy war in Ukraine led Biden to give Zelensky toxic, depleted uranium shells, stirring an international outcry.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/04/2023 – 22:10

• From Gold To Bitcoin: The Evolution Of Retirement Assets & The Rise Of Bitcoin IRA
  From Gold To Bitcoin: The Evolution Of Retirement Assets & The Rise Of Bitcoin IRA

  Authored by Ivan Serrano via Bitcoin Magazine,

  Gold has traditionally played the role of a conservative and uncorrelated investment vehicle, but that is starting to be seriously challenged by Bitcoin…

  

  Gold has played a vital role in economics and politics, influencing much of human financial activity through shifts in economic systems. It has proven versatile and stable across upheavals and social changes. It even became a vital tool in global trade and currency exchange as we know it today.

  In the 19th century, gold was the backbone of the global monetary system. Nations relied on the gold standard until the Great Depression and World War I. These events were significant inflationary catalysts, and economies, in a decades-long transition, abandoned the gold standard.

  This process culminated in 1971 when the Federal Exchange could no longer exchange US dollars for gold. In 1976, the gold standard was abandoned entirely, and gold became a free asset.

  Today, it is still considered a reliable store of value with a well-established market. After all, it has had the luxury of centuries—through various cycles of prosperity and economic upheavals—to prove its reputation. Gold boasts high liquidity and can be easily traded or sold in multiple forms: bars, coins, jewelry, or other representative instruments.

  GOLD VS BITCOIN: THE BATTLE OF UNCORRELATED ASSETS

  In retirement investments, gold is an uncorrelated asset, showing an average annual return that has reliably kept pace with inflation. In times of economic uncertainty, investors move to gold because of its reputation as a store of value and its non-correlation with stocks, which makes it ideal during market downturns.

  However, today’s evolving monetary technology has provided investors with a new option: Bitcoin. Although it is a relatively new asset whose economic impact is still unfolding, Bitcoin has already been called “digital gold.” It shares many characteristics with gold, including its capped supply and its potential as a store of value.

  In addition, Bitcoin offers a new type of value in the age of connectivity. It can be transferred digitally, something that physical gold cannot do. It is the world’s first digital bearer asset, a remarkable feat achieved through the convergence of economic design, cryptography, and decentralized networks.

  For investors, the perfect portfolio—a balance of assets that echoes an individual’s risk preference and fits the economic climate of the times—is an ever-evolving target. All investors and professional fund managers seek new ways to add growth and diversification.

  Retirees seek investments that provide diversification, preservation of wealth, and stability. On top of these, many retirees seek continued income that can only arise from growth—investments that capitalize on the opportunities of the times.

  Finding the right mix of less risky, stable, and higher-risk growth assets has always been challenging for even the most experienced financial planners. Some believe Bitcoin fits into the new retirement portfolio as an added diversifier. Like gold, it can work as an uncorrelated asset and hedge against systemic risks.

  BITCOIN IRAS: EXPOSURE TO THE BEST PERFORMING ASSET OF 2023

  Another way to replicate current investment products is the creation of Bitcoin IRAs. The IRS considers Bitcoin and other crypto investments in retirement accounts as property. Government rules prevent Roth IRAs from holding “coins” and “collectibles,” but these do not appear to cover Bitcoin.

  According to NYDIG’s most recent reports, Bitcoin tops its 2023 returns list based on asset class. As of October 6, 2023, it boasts a 63.3% increase YTD, besting US large caps (28.2%), commodities (6%), cash (3.8%), and gold (1.1%). On a countdown to its next halving—around April 2024—many investors are eyeing Bitcoin as a possible addition to their retirement accounts.

  Some IRA providers are already offering crypto investments in the form of cryptocurrency IRAs—specifically Bitcoin IRAs. A Bitcoin IRA works like any traditional self-directed IRA (SDIRA) and carries the same benefits. Instead of investing in Bitcoin directly and taking charge of one’s custody, Bitcoin IRAs provide the investor convenience, security, and ease.

  A Bitcoin IRA lets you buy and sell Bitcoin in a tax-advantaged retirement account. A Bitcoin IRA allows retirees to maintain traditional retirement accounts while having a separate account that invests in novel currencies like Bitcoin.

  WHY ADD IT TO YOUR PORTFOLIO?

  Many Bitcoin advocates promote Bitcoin as “digital gold.” This simplified view has been held and promoted by those who believe Bitcoin can serve as a reliable store of value in digital form.

  Based on this view, Bitcoin investments analogous to gold products are already being created. Just as gold ETFs hold physical gold as their underlying asset, Bitcoin products are structured similarly to these ETFs and provide exposure through funds traded on stock exchanges.

  The first applications of Bitcoin ETFs have been lodged in recent years, with multi-trillion asset managers like BlackRock and Fidelity providing optimism about their future. The recent verdict of a DC court on Grayscale’s bitcoin ETF application invalidating the SEC’s argument for denying its Bitcoin investment product has been interpreted as a turning point for the industry.

  Proponents of Bitcoin ETFs remain vigilant as efforts to gain approval for a spot Bitcoin ETF persist from prominent asset managers. Depending on how the SEC reacts, Bitcoin ETF approvals may follow, opening the floodgates for increased demand.

  

  Image by Kanchanara on Unsplash

  MAKE RETIREMENT PLANNING LESS COMPLEX WITH A BITCOIN IRA

  Despite its status as a new asset, Bitcoin’s performance in 2023 stood out for its ability to keep a narrow trading range despite intense external pressures. It’s been trading sideways around the $25,000 to $31,000 range, resisting volatility and breakouts in either direction.

  Retirees or those planning for retirement interested in adding riskier assets to their portfolios, moving with the times, and seeking avenues for future growth can add Bitcoin to their retirement investments without learning the technical nuances of keeping their Bitcoin safe.

  They can set up Bitcoin IRAs either as traditional or Roth accounts. A Roth Bitcoin IRA permits tax-free withdrawals in retirement. A traditional Bitcoin IRA offers tax-deferred growth. Retirees in higher tax brackets can take advantage of this feature.

  Why consider Bitcoin IRAs over purchasing and storing Bitcoin directly? Bitcoin IRAs extend to estate planning easily, providing a new advantage compared to traditional retirement accounts. Swan Bitcoin IRA, for example, offers enterprise-grade custody with insurance coverage. It provides a layer of protection essential for retirees who may not be well-versed in crypto security.

  Moreover, Bitcoin IRAs provide a legal framework for individual investors, protecting them from tax issues, legal uncertainties, and non-compliance risks. Investors are assured that their investments are fully compliant with existing financial regulations.

  Despite being a novel instrument, Bitcoin IRAs may provide a path for continued wealth-building during retirement. They offer the potential for growth, diversification, and tax advantages in one package within the framework of a familiar and regulated environment. They are one way to benefit from Bitcoin’s uncorrelated nature and future potential.

  As with any investment, retirees should consult a financial advisor to confirm whether a Bitcoin IRA investment conforms with their resources, risk tolerance, time horizon, and financial goals. In a brave new world of retirement planning, Bitcoin IRAs offer an alternative, innovative, and compelling proposition to explore the rewards of Bitcoin investments, even for those not delving into the technological complexities of crypto.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/04/2023 – 21:35

• Berkshire Cash Pile Hits All-Time High $157 Billion, As Buffett Sells A Record $38BN In Stock In Past Year
  Berkshire Cash Pile Hits All-Time High $157 Billion, As Buffett Sells A Record $38BN In Stock In Past Year

  Over the years, Warren Buffett has been opportunistic and “fluid” with his ideals and political opinions – he describes himself as a “democrat” yet without batting an eyelid will demand government bailouts for his portfolio of companies –  but he has been steadfast about one thing: he refuses to spend money on stock purchases or corporate acquisitions unless there is significant value to be exploited. In which case, one can probably conclude that the market is still woefully overvalued because earlier today Buffett’s conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway reported solid Q3 earnings but more importantly, revealed a cash pile that had grown by $10 billion in the third quarter to a record $157.2 billion (consisting of $30.8 billion in cash and $126.4 billion in investments in T-Bills, up from $93 billion at the end of last year), and set to overtake Apple’s own cash hoard (which as we noted earlier this week has been declining) of $162 billion as soon as this quarter.

  

  “Cash deployment is definitely slowing,” said Jim Shanahan, an analyst with Edward Jones. “Ultimately Berkshire’s going to start feeling some pressure to put cash to work.”

  Perhaps… but not yet; in fact in the third quarter, Berkshire was a net seller of stock for the fourth quarter, liquidating another $5.3 billion in shares and bringing the total sales over the past 12 months to a record $38.3 billion.

  

  Despite ramping up Berkshire’s acquisition machine in recent years, the company has still struggled to find many of the big-ticket deals that galvanized Buffett’s renown, leaving him with more cash than he and his investing deputies could quickly deploy. After hanging back during the pandemic, he’s since snapped up shares in Occidental Petroleum (despite owning 26% of the company, Buffett has said he has no plans to acquire the company outright) and struck a $11.6 billion deal to buy Alleghany. Buffett has also leaned heavily on share repurchases amid the dearth of appealing alternatives, saying the measures benefit shareholders.

  Separately, the conglomerate also reported operating earnings of $10.76 billion, a jump on the prior year, as it benefited from the impact of elevated interest rates on the cash pile and gains at its insurance businesses. However, including investment and derivatives losses, Berkshire posted a loss for the quarter of almost $12.8 billion, well above last year’s $2.8 billion loss, which largely came from a decline in its big Apple stake. Shares of the iPhone maker fell 11.7% during the quarter but have rebounded over 3% since.

  Strength in Berkshire’s insurance unit, plus the inclusion of Pilot Flying J earnings which Berkshire did not include in results last year, helped drive profitability. Berkshire said its insurance businesses posted a profit of $2.42 billion versus a loss in the prior-year period, when the insurance industry was being pummeled by catastrophes.

  Geico, the crown jewel of Berkshire’s insurance empire and Buffett’s “favorite child,” reported another profitable quarter as it curtailed advertising expenses by 54% year-to-date; total underwriting earnings at the unit were $1.1 billion. The auto insurer is in the middle of a turnaround after losing market share to competitor Progressive. The improvement follows efforts by the division to overhaul underwriting after struggling with higher costs for replacing or repairing damaged vehicles. The effort cost it market share — raising the question if it will seek to reclaim that ground.

  Berkshire’s railroad, BNSF, however, saw a 15% decline in earnings as the railroad division grappled with lower volumes and higher costs.

  Berkshire posted stronger operating earnings despite Buffett cautioning at its annual meeting in Omaha in May that earnings at the majority of its operating units could fall this year as an “incredible period” for the US economy draws to the end. Still, the Fed’s rapid rate hikes helped the firm reap huge returns on the cash it stockpiles mostly in short-dated US Treasuries.

  That said, those higher rates also created headaches for some of Berkshire’s industrial businesses: the conglomerate’s building products businesses saw revenue slip 11% due to the run-up in mortgage rates.

  “The effects of significant increases in home mortgage interest rates in the US over the past year has slowed demand for our home building businesses and our other building products businesses,” Berkshire said in a report detailing results. “We continue to anticipate certain of our businesses will experience weakening demand and declines in revenues and earnings into 2024.”

  The jump in profits has been rewarded by the market, which pushed Berkshire’s Class B shares to a record high in September as investors sought out its diversified range of businesses as a hedge against deteriorating economic conditions. And while the shares pared some of those gains, the stock is still up almost 14% for the full year, in line with the S&P500.

  A part of that boost to BRK’s stock came from the company itself: the firm spent $1.1 billion on buybacks in Q3, bringing the total for the first nine months of the year to about $7 billion. The conglomerate trimmed its overall equities portfolio in the quarter, making almost $15.7 billion on sales net of purchases.

  As usual, Berkshire Hathaway asked investors to look past the quarterly fluctuations in Berkshire’s equity portfolio.

  “The amount of investment gains/losses in any given quarter is usually meaningless and delivers figures for net earnings (losses) per share that can be extremely misleading to investors who have little or no knowledge of accounting rules,” the company said in a statement.

  Berkshire also acknowledged the negative economic impact from the pandemic, as well as geopolitical risks and inflation pressures.

  “To varying degrees, our operating businesses have been impacted by government and private sector actions to mitigate the adverse economic effects of the COVID-19 virus and its variants as well as by the development of geopolitical conflicts, supply chain disruptions and government actions to slow inflation,” Berkshire said. “The economic effects from these events over longer terms cannot be reasonably estimated at this time.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/04/2023 – 21:00

• Don't Fall For Biden's Latest Talking Point
  Don’t Fall For Biden’s Latest Talking Point

  Authored by Connor O’Keefe via The Mises Institute,

  As the long-hyped Ukrainian counteroffensive against Russia stalls and a new war in Gaza draws the world’s attention, American support for funding Kyiv’s war has waned. In an effort to reverse this, the Biden administration is changing its messaging. A Politico report from last week details how White House aides are now telling members of Congress to sell Americans the lie that continuing to send money and weapons to Ukraine is good for the economy.

  

  President Joe Biden made this point himself when he introduced a $105 billion proposal to send military aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan:

  We send Ukraine equipment sitting in our stockpiles. And when we use the money allocated by Congress, we use it to replenish our own stores, our own stockpiles, with new equipment. Equipment that defends America and is made in America. Patriot missiles for air defense batteries, made in Arizona. Artillery shells manufactured in 12 states across the country, in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas. And so much more.

  With this new talking point, the Biden administration is echoing Senator Mitch McConnell, who has for months been saying that the war in Ukraine is an excellent deal because American companies get paid, the Russian regime is weakened, and only Ukrainians have to die.

  Setting aside the morality or practicality of Biden and McConnell’s foreign policy ambitions, the argument that all this military spending is good for the American economy relies on one of the oldest, most pervasive economic fallacies in our political discourse—the broken window fallacy.

  First outlined by French economist Frédéric Bastiat in his essay “That Which Is Seen and That Which Is Not Seen” and later expounded upon by economic journalist Henry Hazlitt in his book Economics in One Lesson, the broken window fallacy is the false belief that spending money on restoring things that have been destroyed can make an economy richer.

  To make this point, Bastiat used the example of a broken shop window. After his careless son breaks a pane of glass, a shopkeeper is forced to hire a glazier to repair the damage. A group of bystanders reflect on the situation and question their impulse to condemn the boy. After all, they ask, “what would become of the glaziers if panes of glass were never broken?”

  In Hazlitt’s telling, the bystanders point to all the economic activity that will come from the shopkeeper’s purchase of a new $50 windowpane. “The glazier will have $50 more to spend with other merchants, and these in turn will have $50 more to spend with still other merchants, and so ad infinitum.” That leads the crowd to the fallacious conclusion that because of all the resulting economic activity that his breaking of the window incited, the shopkeeper’s son should be considered a public benefactor.

  The problem with this thinking, Bastiat and Hazlitt explain, is that it cites only the economic activity that can be seen to result from the broken window. What goes unseen is the cost—all the economic activity the shopkeeper would have instead spurred had he not been forced to buy a new window.

  And because the shopkeeper would have preferred to spend the $50 elsewhere, the breaking of the window can only be considered a net loss. The glazier benefits from the shopkeeper’s loss, but the shopkeeper and therefore the overall economy are made poorer.

  How does this relate to the Biden-McConnell talking point? After all, isn’t the destruction happening far away in Ukraine and Gaza?

  It’s important not to get distracted by the act of destruction in Bastiat’s parable. The central element of his argument is not the broken window alone but the fact that the shopkeeper is forced to pay for a new one.

  When the American people are forced to pay for weapons and equipment to replace those sent to Ukraine, they lose out on all the economic activity that they would have preferred to partake in, just like the shopkeeper.

  And although, like the glazier, the five prime defense contractors benefit from the influx of tax dollars, the American people as a whole can only be made worse off. There is no growth, only a forced transfer of wealth to the weapons companies.

  We have so far been forced to pay for over $44 billion worth of weaponry for Ukraine and $3.3 billion per year in military aid to Israel. Now another $60 billion for Ukraine and $10 billion for Israel have been proposed. This spending would increase the burden that has already been forced on the American people. If Biden, McConnell, and their supporters think Americans have an obligation to shoulder that cost, they should at least have the decency not to pretend it’s making us more prosperous.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/04/2023 – 20:25

• Couple Steals Two Sculptures Worth $13,000 From A Carnival Cruise
  Couple Steals Two Sculptures Worth $13,000 From A Carnival Cruise

  In keeping with the stereotype that only the absolute classiest people in the world take cruises, a couple on a Carnival Cruise Line from Baltimore to Bermuda has been accused of stealing nearly $13,000 in sculptures.  

  Carnival’s ships feature “an ever-changing collection of fine art”, their website says. The company even conducts art auctions, with ABC News pointing out that the company’s marketing materials invite customers to “[s]ip some champagne, browse the gallery and bid on a piece to take home as a trip memento.”

  But now the FBI says two pieces worth $13,000 were taken by one couple…without them bidding on it. 

  According to ABC, in legal papers submitted this past Tuesday to a federal court in Baltimore, the FBI reveals that an art auctioneer aboard a ship stumbled upon the disappearance of two art pieces on Oct. 1, a day following the vessel’s return to Baltimore after a week’s voyage. 

  The absent artwork includes a Lucite sculpture valued at $6,200, crafted by the American artist Robert Wyland and titled “Kiss the Sea,” which showcases two sea turtles and is comparable in size to a small rucksack.

  

  The second piece, a marginally smaller work by American artist Marcus Glenn called “Tappin’ the Keys for the Love,” presents a man at a piano with a heart backdrop and has an estimated worth of $6,600, as stated by the FBI.

  Subsequent analysis of the ship’s security camera recordings by Carnival’s security team revealed footage of two individuals. Captured slightly after 2 a.m. a couple of days prior, these two are seen entering the art gallery with nothing in hand and departing shortly thereafter, clutching items resembling the absent artworks, the article says. 

  Following a deeper probe, court records indicate that the suspects are a trucking firm worker and his female partner. A Facebook scan by an FBI agent revealed a photo of the male suspect wearing attire matching that in the security footage. Upon receiving judicial consent, the FBI conducted searches at the suspects’ residences, leading to the recovery of the stolen artworks, as confirmed by a U.S. Attorney’s Office representative in Baltimore.

  While their names haven’t yet been released, the FBI is considering pressing federal charges pertaining to theft and transporting stolen items. The cruise line even jokes about the quality of its auctions on its website, writing they are far from the “room of too-serious old men, many wearing monocles, paying top-dollar for priceless antique works of art.”

  We can already see the couple’s defense now: “So, what’d ya expect us to do?”

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/04/2023 – 19:50

• Election Group Slapped With RICO Says It Can Prove Trump Won Georgia In 2020
  Election Group Slapped With RICO Says It Can Prove Trump Won Georgia In 2020

  Authored by Samantha Flom via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Former Black Voices for Trump leader Harrison Floyd’s legal team intends to prove his innocence of claims he unlawfully participated in an election subversion plot in Fulton County, Georgia, by showing that former President Donald Trump won the state’s 2020 presidential election.

  

  Mr. Floyd was charged on Aug. 14 alongside the 45th president and 17 other co-defendants with violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, conspiracy to commit solicitation of false statements and writings, and influencing witnesses.

  He was the only defendant to spend time in jail due to the indictment before he was released on bond on Aug. 30.

  “Your Honor, this case isn’t about whether you or I think that Donald Trump lost the election. It’s about what Mr. Floyd believed at the time,” noted Chris Kachouroff, one of Mr. Floyd’s defense attorneys, at a Nov. 3 hearing before Judge Scott McAfee.

  “It’s also [about] what the false statements are alleged to have been, and indeed, are they really false,” he said.

  Opening the Door

  The judge ordered the hearing in response to motions to quash three sweeping subpoenas Mr. Floyd’s legal team served to the office of Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the Fulton County Clerk of Courts, and the Fulton County Board of Elections.

  Materials the attorneys requested included the ballot images and envelopes for all absentee ballots cast in the 2020 general election, all absentee ballot application forms, reports from the Dominion voting machines used, and all laptops and poll pads used by election workers, along with other documents, files, and drives.

  Attorneys also requested all documents and recordings concerning the secretary of state’s post-election investigation into allegations of election fraud.

  “The state chose to open this door,” Mr. Kachouroff said. “It is a broad and sweeping complaint. They opened the door wide open for us to walk in and ask for these things.”

  The attorney noted that the 98-page indictment repeatedly asserts as fact that President Trump lost the 2020 election in Georgia, and the charges against Mr. Floyd are predicated on that claim. But if Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is wrong and President Trump actually won the election, then Mr. Floyd cannot be guilty of soliciting “false statements and writings” that conveyed as much.

  The indictment also maintains that Mr. Floyd and the other co-defendants were aware that President Trump lost the election and that their actions constituted an unlawful conspiracy to change the results in his favor.

  That assertion, Mr. Kachouroff said, would also be undermined by proof that the former president won or even just proof that the election’s outcome is uncertain. And the subpoenaed materials, he argued, are likely to contain that proof.

  “We could make that argument that he’s innocent no matter what happened,” he noted. “And, of course, we would. We’re defense attorneys; that’s what we do.

  “But at the end of the day, those are the possible options down the road that could arise. Right now, we believe we’re at Option 1, that President Trump indeed won the election, and we can prove it—with respect to Fulton County.”

  Pushback

  Mr. Raffensperger’s office, represented by Attorney Jackson Sharmon III, has argued that the broad scope of materials requested by the defense would place an “undue burden” on an entity that is not even a party in the case.

  Contesting the subpoena before the judge, Mr. Sharmon said the requested documents contain “little, if anything,” relevant to Mr. Floyd’s defense.

  “If the purpose is state of mind, his intent, the documents we would produce—which he didn’t know about, he didn’t have—are not going to have any effect on the determination of his intent at the time he allegedly undertook the acts that are in the indictment.”

  Mr. Sharmon also challenged the defense’s argument that proving President Trump won the election would necessarily erase the possibility that Mr. Floyd had criminal intent.

  “With all due respect, I don’t think that’s the case,” he said. “That’s not the way intent, in a criminal case, is adjudicated.”

  Meanwhile, attorneys for Fulton County said it could take months to produce the requested materials. And in terms of relevance, they pointed to Mr. Kachouroff’s admission that he could argue his client’s innocence even without the requested materials as evidence they weren’t needed.

  But for Mr. Kachouroff, the state’s arguments didn’t negate his client’s right to those materials.

  “Harrison Floyd is looking at between eight and 33 years. That’s his liberty interest. Courts take liberty interest very seriously so that liberty interest overcomes any burden the state has to be set back by a month or two or three.”

  By the end of the hearing, the three subpoenas were reduced to two as it was revealed that the Board of Elections did not possess any of the requested materials, which are held by the Clerk of Courts.

  The judge, expressing concern over the potential disclosure of voters’ personally identifiable information, said more information was needed to determine what exactly was being requested, the extent of the state’s burden in producing it, and whether a protective order was needed.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/04/2023 – 19:15

• Musk Reveals New AI Chatbot, Kicks Off 'Counter LLM' Movement Against 'Woke' OpenAI
  Musk Reveals New AI Chatbot, Kicks Off ‘Counter LLM’ Movement Against ‘Woke’ OpenAI

  Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence venture, xAI, is positioning itself as a competitor to OpenAI, which Musk helped establish in 2015 before eventually parting ways with it. xAI is rolling out its own large language model, just like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, featuring a new capability to scrape the ‘free speech’ platform X in real-time. 

  Early Friday morning, Musk posted, “Tomorrow, @xAI will release its first AI to a select group. In some important respects, it is the best that currently exists.” 

  Tomorrow, @xAI will release its first AI to a select group.

  In some important respects, it is the best that currently exists.

  — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 3, 2023

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

  Then, on Friday night, Musk wrote, “As soon as it’s out of early beta, xAI’s Grok system will be available to all X Premium+ subscribers.” 

  As soon as it’s out of early beta, xAI’s Grok system will be available to all X Premium+ subscribers

  — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 4, 2023

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

  Musk’s post reveals Grok is a model that answers questions conversationally and could be based on models similar to train ChatGPT and other text-generating models (such as Meta’s Llama 2).

  Here’s some of Musk’s humor:

  Grok has real-time access to info via the 𝕏 platform, which is a massive advantage over other models.

  It’s also based & loves sarcasm. I have no idea who could have guided it this way 🤷‍♂️ 🤣 pic.twitter.com/e5OwuGvZ3Z

  — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 4, 2023

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

  Details about Grok remain scarce, yet indications are that the wealthiest man in the world is initiating a ‘counter LLM’ movement that will challenge the already mass-available LLMs on the market, such as ChatGPT, which is super ‘woke’ and has Soviet-style censorship. 

  In April, Musk sat down with Tucker Carlson in an interview and discussed the need to develop his own LLM called TruthGPT, a “maximum truth-seeking AI that tries to understand the nature of the universe.”

  “I’m going to start something which you call TruthGPT or a maximum truth-seeking AI that tries to understand the nature of the universe. And I think this might be the best path to safety in the sense that an AI that cares about understanding the universe is unlikely to annihilate humans because we are an interesting part of the universe.”

  By July, Musk launched xAI. The company is led by the billionaire and former employees of OpenAI, DeepMind, Google Research, and Microsoft Research, as well as employees from Tesla and folks from the University of Toronto. 

  Musk has taken issue with OpenAI’s GPT in the past, expressing that the underlying model is super biased and “woke.” 

  “The overarching goal of xAI is to build a good [artificial general intelligence] with the overarching purpose of understanding the universe,” the billionaire has previously said, adding, “The safest way to build an AI is to make one that is maximally curious and truth-seeking.”

  In September, Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle, revealed that xAI had signed a contract to train its AI model on Oracle’s cloud. 

  On Thursday, Musk, speaking at the United Kingdom’s AI Safety Summit, warned AI is “one of the most disruptive forces in history.” 

  He told British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, “AI will be a force for good most likely, but the probability of it going bad is not zero percent.” 

  Musk then compared AI to a “magic genie” and explained that fairy tales with magic genies that grant wishes “don’t end well” and cause people to “be careful what you wish for.”

  To sum up, Musk has just kicked off the counter LLM movement against the censorship industrial complex’s current chatbots on the market. This is more evidence the parallel economy is gaining momentum. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/04/2023 – 18:40

• Game Over: US, European Officials Quietly Nudge Ukraine To Seek Peace
  Game Over: US, European Officials Quietly Nudge Ukraine To Seek Peace

  With the world’s attention squarely fixed on the Israel-Gaza war — while baseless hope for a Ukrainian expulsion of the Russian army has evaporated — US and European officials have started quietly conferring with Ukraine on potential concessions that could bring the war to an end, NBC News was first to report Friday evening.  

  These discussions aren’t about a new counteroffensive — they’re about what concessions Ukraine could live with pursuant to a peace agreement. Some of the conversations, which officials describe as delicate, happened during an October meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, an affiliation of more than 50 governments siding with Ukraine.   

  In eyebrow-raising comments to the The Economist this week, Ukraine’s top commander admitted there will be no breakthrough and the battlefield situation is in a stalemate. The New York Times characterized his remarks as “the first time a top Ukrainian commander said the fighting had reached an impasse.”

  In September, the Times itself splashed cold water on anyone who still believed Ukraine had any hope of pushing the Russian army out of eastern and southeastern Ukraine, much less Crimea. Its detailed analysis found that, in the wake of a Ukrainian counteroffensive, “Russia now controls nearly 200 square miles more territory in Ukraine compared with the start of the year.”  

  

  Russia’s territorial gains are close to matching the goals President Vladimir Putin outlined at the start of what he calls a “special military operation.” He said Russia sought to secure Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts (provinces), which he recognized as republics shortly before the invasion. Russian forces now control nearly all of those areas, which are together called the Donbas.

  Russia also controls most of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts, giving Russia a land bridge to the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014 after a Western-aided overthrow of a democratically elected president and the installation of an anti-Russia government in Kiev. Crimea and the eastern provinces of Ukraine have heavily ethnic-Russian populations. 

  The front lines have moved little in recent months. In anticipation of Ukraine’s highly-hyped 2023 counteroffensive, Russia was content to install formidable defensive fortifications and allow the Ukrainian army to degrade itself and achieve nothing. 

  In its match-up with a far larger country, Ukraine’s ability to refresh its military ranks is vanishing fast. “Manpower is at the top of the administration’s concerns right now,” an official told NBC. The West can keep sending them weapons, “but if they don’t have competent forces to use them it doesn’t do a lot of good.” Even the most optimistic western warmongers must acknowledge the coming winter guarantees Ukraine won’t accomplish anything for months. 

  

  In the wake of Ukraine’s costly and futile counteroffensive, Washington’s proxy war with Russia is facing strong headwinds at home: 

  • The war between Hamas and Israel has diverted public attention and sapped the war state’s ability to propagandize voters. Indeed, Biden’s Oval Office address appealing for aid for Ukraine and Israel was originally planned to focus solely on Ukraine, NBC reports. 

  • The US public’s pro-Ukraine fervor has cooled: A new Gallup poll found 41% say the US is doing too much for Ukraine — a big leap from the 29% who said that in June. Many Americans think that money should be used to improve conditions at home. 

  • A growing number of congressional Republicans have put away their rubber stamp for Ukraine aid, and have thus far thwarted Biden’s request for $61 billion in additional funding for the war. Biden’s ploy of a joint funding request that combines controversial Ukraine aid with Israel aid is in grave jeopardy, as House Republicans demand separate votes. 

  Washington’s blank-check support for Israel’s destruction of Gaza is further straining an already Ukraine-sapped American arsenal. Tens of thousands of artillery shells that had been earmarked for Ukraine are being redirected to the IDF. Even before Hamas attacked Israel, an increasingly severe shortage of conventional shells for the artillery-heavy war in Ukraine led Biden to give Zelensky toxic, depleted uranium shells, stirring an international outcry.    

  As for what it would take for Zelensky to surrender the international spotlight and agree to peace, we’re guessing a big deposit to a Swiss bank account would do just fine. However, officials are pondering some type of Western security guarantee that stops short of NATO membership. The specter of Ukraine become a NATO member played heavily in Moscow’s motivation for invading. The war has been a crisp illustration of Richard Sakwa’s brilliant assertion that “NATO exists to manage the risks created by its existence.”

  Just weeks after Russia’s 2022 invasion, Russia and Ukraine had reportedly tentatively agreed to a peace deal in which Russia would withdraw to an extent that it would still control portions of the Donbas, in exchange for Ukraine forswearing its NATO ambitions while having security deals with several states. Via a visit from then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the Western war machine, eager for a proxy war, seems to have pressured Zelensky to break off the talks. Months of misery ensued, with only the military-industrial complex and Ukraine’s aid-scraping bureaucrats better off for it. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/04/2023 – 18:15

• FBI = Following Biden's Instructions?
  FBI = Following Biden’s Instructions?

  Authored by James Bovard via JimBovard.com,

  Does “FBI” now stand for “Following Biden’s Instructions”? The FBI is doing backflips to boost Joe Biden’s re-election campaign. Unfortunately, federal courts don’t recognize law enforcement shenanigans as a violation of the Voting Rights Act.

  

  The FBI is categorizing Donald Trump’s supporters as terrorist suspects, according to a new report in Newsweek. The FBI created “a new category of extremists that it seeks to track and counter: Donald Trump’s army of MAGA followers,” Newsweek revealed. The FBI is relying on the same counterterrorism methods honed to fight al Qaeda to go after the incumbent president’s political opponents.

  Naturally, the latest Washington crusade against extremism has more malarkey than a White House summit. Federal bureaucrats heaved together a bunch of letters to contrive an ominous new acronym for the latest peril to domestic tranquility. The result: AGAAVE—“anti-government, anti-authority violent extremism”—which looks like a typo for a sugar substitute.

  Recently, the FBI vastly expanded the supposed AGAAVE peril by broadening suspicion from “furtherance of ideological agendas” to “furtherance of political and/or social agendas.” Anyone who has an agenda different from Team Biden’s could be AGAAVE’d for his own good. The great majority of the FBI’s “current ‘anti-government’ investigations are of Trump supporters,” William Arkin, a highly respected investigative journalist, reported in Newsweek.

  The FBI crackdown is following some of the most overheated political rhetoric of our era. Biden has denounced Trump supporters for “semi-fascism.” Biden tweeted last November, “Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans are a threat to the very soul of this country.”

  Biden’s Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall declared, “The use of violence to pursue political ends is a profound threat to our public safety and national security…it is a threat to our national identity, our values, our norms, our rule of law—our democracy.” And since Team Biden says that Trump supporters could be violent, suppressing them is the only way to protect “the will of the people” or whatever honorific is used for rigged election results.

  In June, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security issued a warning: “Sociopolitical developments—such as narratives of fraud in the recent general election, the emboldening impact of the violent breach of the U.S. Capitol, conditions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and conspiracy theories promoting violence—will almost certainly spur some domestic terrorists to try to engage in violence.”  In other words, alleging that there was election fraud in past elections can qualify a person as a terrorist suspect—and justify suppressing their political activity in subsequent elections.

  Biden’s FBI views Trump supporters as a deadly threat to democracy, thereby justifying subverting or crippling Trump supporters’ ability to oppose Biden and other Democrats.

  The FBI is required to have (or claim to have) solid information before launching a criminal investigation. But the bureau needs almost zero information to open an “assessment.” The FBI conducted more than 5,500 domestic-terrorism “assessments” in 2021, a 10-fold increase since 2017 and a 50-fold increase since 2013. “Assessments are the closest thing to domestic spying that exists in America and generally not talked about by the Bureau,” Arkin noted. The House Weaponization Subcommittee warned that  “the FBI appears to be complicit in artificially supporting the Administration’s political narrative” that domestic violent extremism is “the ‘greatest threat’ facing the United States.”

  Those assessments could prove perilous because the official demand for terrorists far exceeds the domestic supply. A top federal official told Newsweek last year, “We’ve become too prone to labeling anything we don’t like as extremism, and then any extremist as a terrorist.” “Trespassing plus thought crimes equals terrorism” is the Biden standard for prosecuting January 6 defendants.

  FBI whistleblower Steve Friend complained of current FBI leadership, “There is this belief that half the country are domestic terrorists and we can’t have a conversation with them. There is a fundamental belief that unless you are voicing what we agree…you are the enemy.”

  Did the Biden administration secretly want Newsweek to vindicate the fears of legions of Trump supporters? Perhaps those “assessments” are repeating a tactic used against Vietnam War protesters: FBI agents were encouraged to conduct frequent interviews with antiwar activists to “enhance the paranoia endemic in such circles” and “get the point across that there is an FBI agent behind every mailbox,” according to an FBI memo from that era.

  The more abusive the FBI becomes, the more outraged that Trump supporters sound, thereby justifying further FBI repression. That also makes it easier for Team Biden to portray Trump supporters as public menaces.

  Biden’s war on extremism could become a self-fulfilling prophecy that destroys American political legitimacy. An official in the Office of Director of National Intelligence lamented, “So we have the president increasing his own inflammatory rhetoric which leads Donald Trump and the Republicans to do the same”—and the media follow suit. Biden is exempt from official suspicion even when he denounced Republicans as fascists who want to destroy democracy. Yet if Republicans sound equally overheated, Biden’s FBI has pretexts to unleash the hounds.

  Is there any limit to the federal entrapment operations designed to spur headlines that make politicians applaud? The latest FBI crackdown echoes a DHS campaign that was leaked to the press in 2021. Federal policymakers launched a “legal work-around” to spy on and potentially entrap Americans who are “perpetuating the ‘narratives’ of concern,” CNN reported. The DHS plan would “allow the department to circumvent [constitutional and legal] limits” on surveillance of private citizens and groups. Federal agencies are prohibited from targeting individuals solely for First Amendment-protected speech and activities. But federal hirelings would be under no such restraint.

  Will the FBI’s interventions in the 2024 presidential election be even more brazen than its 2016 and 2020 stunts? Will the agency exploit its “assessments” to recruit knuckleheads to engage in another pre-election Keystone Kops plot to kidnap a governor, as it did in Michigan in 2020?

  The FBI has a sordid history of intervening in presidential elections since 1948—if not before. A 1976 Senate report on FBI abuses warned, “The American people need to be assured that never again will an agency of the government be permitted to conduct a secret war against those citizens it considers threats to the established order.” Unfortunately, Americans may not learn the damning details of another FBI “secret war” until long after the next election.

  Ironically, the Biden administration is vilifying anti-government opinions at the same time judges are exposing federal crimes. Federal court decisions in July and September condemned the Biden censorship regime—and those rulings were preceded by Supreme Court decisions striking down President Joe Biden’s student-loan-forgiveness scheme and vaccine mandates.

  But Team Biden still presumes anyone who suspects the feds are violating the Constitution is up to no good. In the same way that Biden based his 2020 election campaign on vilifying Charlottesville 2017 protests, so the Biden re-election campaign will vilify anyone who distrusts the feds. Regardless of the outcome, the 2024 election will be another boomtime for cynics.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/04/2023 – 18:05

• No Country Has A "Right to Exist"
  No Country Has A “Right to Exist”

  By Brian McGlinchey via starkrealities.substack.com

  In the weeks since 2,500 Hamas militants went on a murder and kidnapping rampage in southern Israel, a wave of pro-Palestinian demonstrations has erupted across the United States and around the world. These displays have only grown in size and number as Israel’s military responds by punishing the entire, densely-packed population of Gaza with a blockade on food, water and medicine, a devastating bombing campaign and now a ground invasion.

  While no mass protest is free of people with bigotry and amoral stances, proponents of Israel have been far too quick to accuse pro-Palestinian protesters of antisemitism. One of the most common of such false accusations rests on a false premise — namely, that it’s inherently antisemitic or genocidal to question Israel’s “right to exist.”

  That premise is false for a number of reasons, the most salient of which is this: No country has a “right to exist.”

  After all, what is a country — or, in more precise terminology, a state — other than a political arrangement? And why would any political arrangement be deemed as having “rights,” much less a supposed right to never be altered or cancelled?

  While definitions vary, Murray Rothbard best distilled the state in his classic long essay, “Anatomy of the State.” Rothbard wrote: “The state is that organization in society which attempts to maintain a monopoly of the use of force and violence in a given territorial area.”

  Whether the associated flag of the state in question has a Star of David, stars and stripes, or a hammer and sickle, the suggestion that it’s immoral to propose that such a monopoly be rearranged or replaced is preposterous on its face. Over the broad sweep of history, the norm is not states existing in perpetuity. Rather, history is the story of never-ending rearrangements of these many monopolies on the use of force and violence.

  

  Did the Soviet Union have a “right to exist”? What about Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia or the Ottoman Empire? Are we all culpably-silent bystanders to some kind of ongoing injustice as long as those bygone states are not reconstituted?

  Rather than having a right to exist, each state — from Israel to Ukraine to the United States — must have permission to exist. As expressed in the Declaration of Independence, “Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

  To embrace that fundamental principle is to acknowledge that the State of Israel — a political entity — can only justly continue imposing its monopoly on the use of force and violence if it has the consent of those it governs.

  And who does Israel govern? For all the talk of a two-state solution, and maps depicting the West Bank and Gaza as something somehow separate, the fact is that the State of Israel rules everything “between the river and the sea,” to invoke a contentious phrase we’ll revisit shortly.

  “Between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, one state controls the entry and exit of people and goods, oversees security, and has the capacity to impose its decisions, laws, and policies on millions of people without their consent,” wrote Michael Barnett, Nathan Brown, Marc Lynch and Shibley Telhami in Foreign Affairs. Their April essay presciently warned that “a storm is gathering in Israel and Palestine that demands an urgent response.”

  The population across that Israel-ruled territory includes 7.5 million Jews and 7.5 Arab Israelis and Palestinians, with each group subject to different treatment.

  

  West Bank Palestinians endure restrictions on their movements, from checkpoints to segregated highways. The State of Israel frequently demolishes Palestinian homes and businesses for lack of permits that are extraordinarily difficult to secure. Palestinians endure ongoing harassment and under-reported acts of vandalism, agricultural destruction and violence perpetrated by settlers who operate under the protection of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

  In neighborhoods such as East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah, Palestinians are frequently evicted from their homes under a complex law that perversely declares them to be “absentees” even if they’ve lived in their house for decades. In one infamous video of such an eviction, an obese Jewish settler tells a distraught Palestinian homeowner, “If I don’t steal it, someone else is gonna steal it.”

  Meanwhile, Gaza is rightly labelled “the world’s largest open-air prison.” Though Israel withdrew forces and settlers from the 25-mile long strip in 2005, it’s continued to control the territory from the outside, in a way that creates a miserable existence for 2 million inhabitants in one of the world’s most dense population centers.

  Controlling Gaza’s air, sea and land borders, the State of Israel imposes an ongoing, economic blockade that fluctuates in intensity. Individuals are only granted travel permits under narrow circumstances. Israel does not allow Gaza to operate an airport or seaport, and imports and exports via road are tightly restricted. Egypt has compounded the situation with its own restrictions and periodic border closures.

  The result is economic devastation: The pre-Oct 7 unemployment rate was over 46%, per capita income only about 25% of the West Bank’s level, and 65% of Gaza residents were below the poverty line.

  Given the reality of life for Palestinians in this de facto single state that includes Gaza and the West Bank, it’s understandable that many would call for an entirely new system of government between the river and the sea. As the Declaration of Independence asserts, when “any form of government becomes destructive” of the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, “it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government.”

  Intentionally using inflammatory language, Israel’s defenders often say that those who call for a new government are advocating the “destruction” of Israel.

  “Dissolution” would be more precise when discussing a government, but “destruction” serves their public relations goal of demonizing the opposition by connoting they’re bent on physical destruction.

  Israel supporters employ similarly flawed characterizations of an often-used Palestinian slogan that’s ubiquitous in the ongoing protests: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” It’s reasonable to interpret that as a call for the dissolution of the State of Israel, but those pushing back against pro-Palestinian voices regularly declare the slogan is nothing less than a call for genocide.

  While any slogan will mean different things to different people, this one has been used for decades by Palestinians seeking the same liberties as Israeli Jews throughout the entire territory ruled by the State of Israel.

  “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” – a call for Israel’s destruction – was chanted by thousands at a demonstration in Amsterdam today. https://t.co/fDShR0EvnG

  — ADL (@ADL) October 15, 2023

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

  Chief among their wishes is for the freedom of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza to return to what is now considered Israel proper. Some 700,000 Palestinians were either expelled or forced to flee that land when the State of Israel was instituted in 1948.

  Any intellectually honest appraisal of the situation in Israel must center on an acknowledgement that the two-state solution’s ship sailed long ago, thanks to relentless Jewish settlement of the West Bank having eliminated any possibility of a contiguous Palestinian state.

  Given the facts on the ground, a growing number of advocates inside and outside greater Israel are calling for a different one-state arrangement — one with a secular government securing equal rights for all it serves.

  Belying assertions that calling for the State of Israel to be replaced is antisemitic, those advocates include many Jews.

  To take one prominent example, abandoning his long-running defense of Israel, prominent American Jewish intellectual Peter Beinart embraced the idea in a milestone 2020 New York Times essay, “I No Longer Believe in a Jewish State.”

  Thanks to a cultivated mythology that falsely depicts Arab-Jew conflict as something intrinsic and eternal rather than something that largely bloomed in the 20th century, many Westerners can’t conceive of Jews and Muslims living peacefully in the same country.

  However, that was the condition in Palestine before the creation of the State of Israel — and it’s even the condition today in the Zionist state’s archenemy, Iran. There, the Middle East’s largest Jewish minority operates synagogues, enjoys kosher restaurants, runs hospitals and schools, and even has a reserved seat in the Iranian parliament.

  Western Governments Weaponize False Premises to Limit Speech

  It would be bad enough if references to a nonexistent “right to exist” and false accusations of genocidal intent were only used as intellectually bankrupt talking points. However, in a variety of countries, these falsehoods are alarmingly being hard-wired into government policies and used to curtail speech and the exchange of ideas.

  In Switzerland, police this month banned a planned protest simply because promotional messaging included “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which authorities declared an incitement to violence.

  Berlin police went further, declaring it illegal to speak the slogan and already arresting at least one man for doing so.

  Europe has long held the lead in the West’s race to authoritarian dystopia, but politicians like 2024 Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley are doing their best to help the United States catch up.

  Haley recently promised to “change the official federal definition of antisemitism to include denying Israel’s right to exist,” and to use that warped definition to cancel the federal tax exemption of any college that allows students or professors to freely argue for a different political order in what is now greater Israel.

  Those who support the State of Israel are free to present a case that it’s a just arrangement for the 7.5 million Jews and 7.5 million Palestinians “between the river and the sea.” However, painting those who demand a new arrangement as inherently immoral, genocidal or antisemitic is ignorant at best and maliciously misleading at worst.

  *  *  *

  Stark Realities undermines official narratives, demolishes conventional wisdom and exposes fundamental myths across the political spectrum. Read more and subscribe at starkrealities.substack.com 

  

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/04/2023 – 16:55

• Showtime: World's Largest Rocket Ready For 'Mid-November' Launch
  Showtime: World’s Largest Rocket Ready For ‘Mid-November’ Launch

  Elon Musk’s SpaceX announced on Friday that the most powerful rocket ever built, Starship, currently under review by the US Fish & Wildlife Service, could be ready for the second launch as soon as mid-November. 

  “The second flight test of a fully integrated Starship could launch as soon as mid-November, pending regulatory approval,” SpaceX wrote in a statement on its website. 

  The second flight test of a fully integrated Starship could launch as soon as mid-November, pending regulatory approval → https://t.co/pxgvgUeIFF pic.twitter.com/P40vOCaFaZ

  — SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 3, 2023

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

  This comes several days after the Federal Aviation Administration concluded a safety review focused on potential impacts on public health and property. The FAA’s report is part of a more comprehensive assessment required before the next launch. Currently, the Fish & Wildlife Service is still conducting an Endangered Species Act of 1973 review of the launch and has upwards of 135 days to issue an opinion. 

  “The consultation is still underway, so we don’t have any timeline updates,” Aubry Buzek, public affairs for the Fish and Wildlife Service in Texas, told Bloomberg via email. 

  There have been mounting concerns the US government under the Biden administration has weaponized federal agencies against the billionaire for his ‘free speech’ social media platform X. 

  Musk recently described the apparent ‘beef’ that the Biden administration has with him. In September, he told All-In Podcast host entrepreneur David Sacks:

  “…there does seem to be some significant increase in the weaponization of government and really sort of misuse of prosecutorial discretion in many areas… I think this is really a dangerous thing for there to be partisan politics with government agencies.”

  Musk continued:

   “I don’t think the whole administration has it out for me,” he added.

   “But I think there’s probably aspects of the administration… or aspects of interests aligned with President Biden who probably do not wish good things for me.”

  On Sept. 5, Musk said Starship was ready for launch. 

  “Starship is ready to launch, awaiting FAA license approval,” Musk wrote on X, sharing a video of world’s largest rocket at the SpaceX Starbase launch facility in south Texas. 

  Musk was somewhat optimistic in a recent interview where he said, “We think it will work, but we aren’t sure if it will work.” 

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/04/2023 – 16:20

• America's Immigration Daydream Is Coming To An End
  America’s Immigration Daydream Is Coming To An End

  Authored by Matthew Boose via American Greatness,

  The Atlantic, one of the most prestigious and reliably liberal publications in America, has a new article semi-frankly acknowledging the downsides of the last half century of unrestricted immigration.

  Author David Leonhardt, a regular columnist for the New York Times, confronts – or rather, politely circumambulates – the “unintended” consequences of the landmark 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, which fundamentally remade America’s immigration process by opening the floodgates to the Third World.

  

  Leonhardt focuses chiefly on the economic impact of mass immigration on working class wages and rising inequality between the poor and the middle class. There is nothing groundbreaking here, as any disciple of Patrick Buchanan (or anyone with a working understanding of supply and demand) could tell you. But it is always a little surprising to see common sense in the pages of a magazine like The Atlantic, even if it comes in the usual milquetoast packaging. Leonhardt even takes apart the quietly elitist “jobs Americans won’t do” talking point that liberals love: “Immigrants typically work in jobs that native-born Americans do not want at the wages that employers are offering. One reason that employers can offer such wages….is the availability of so many immigrant workers.”

  But one can only expect a respectable liberal writer to take things so far. Leonhardt tempers “the hard truth about immigration” with the usual sentimental mush about its intangible benefits. To quote Mary Poppins, a “spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down.”

  According to Leonhardt, the 1965 Act was flawed but nevertheless a “monumental achievement.” For who? For millions of newcomers, it undoubtedly changed life for the better.

  What about the American people? For them, it was a swindle of historic proportions.

  The 1965 immigration revolution was sold to the American people as a modest shift, as Leonhardt points out. But he omits a striking quote from famous liberal Ted Kennedy, who pledged the bill “will not upset the ethnic mix of our society.”

  In the end, the reform was a strike at the heart of democracy. The people were misled on the most political of questions – who gets to be part of our community? America entered the late 20th century as a prospering, majority-white country. In the span of a few generations, whites would become an untouchable minority. They now face the prospect of spending the remainder of their natural lives under hostile, one-party rule. The majority party, the Democrats, grows stronger, and more hostile to the nation’s historic majority, with each wave of foreigners. Under President Biden, this process of demographic replacement and marginalization has accelerated like never before.

  It was Kennedy’s brother John Kennedy who stamped the nation’s conscience with pablum about America being a “nation of immigrants.” President Johnson made that sappy vision into a reality. If the America of 1965 could see the effects that mass immigration would have in the ensuing decades, it is doubtful Johnson’s reform would have passed at all. At the time, a bare majority favored scrapping country quotas, and only 7 percent wanted immigration to increase, a preference that remains to this day (not that it appears to have influenced policymakers).

  Many Americans who grew up during the Kennedy years look back on the post-war boom as an idyllic dream. Their yearnings can’t be written off as mere nostalgia bias. Compared to the present, the early ‘60s must have been like paradise: the single breadwinner was the standard, the country had a real sense of identity, and people trusted their neighbors enough to leave doors unlocked. That’s all gone now. As a result of the monumental demographic change unleashed over the past half century, America is more divided than it has ever been since its greatest crisis in 1865. The country is Balkanizing, and politics have become radical and violent.

  Leonhardt is more concerned with how diversity can be exploited by the right than its actual disintegrating effects on society. To liberals, immigration can only be conceived as a problem (if ever) when framed in terms of class. But immigration is not only an economic question, as current events have shown. With the war in Israel, reality has come crashing into the daydream of multiracial utopia. America’s rapidly browning youth is sympathetic to Hamas. It is likely that some Atlantic readers are having doubts about immigration for the first time in their lives. The issue can be avoided for a while longer, but not forever.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/04/2023 – 15:45

• Mark Meadows Sued By Book Publisher After Testimony "Squarely Contradicts" 2020 Election Fraud Claims
  Mark Meadows Sued By Book Publisher After Testimony “Squarely Contradicts” 2020 Election Fraud Claims

  Former Trump Chief-of-Staff Mark Meadows is being sued by his book publisher, after his testimony before Congress contradicted claims made in his 2021 book, “The Chief’s Chief” – which he attested were true at the time he wrote them.

  

  “Meadows, the former White House Chief of Staff under President Donald J. Trump, promised and represented that ‘all statements contained in the Work are true and based on reasonable research for accuracy’ and that he ‘has not made any misrepresentations to the Publisher about the Work,’” alleged All Seasons Press in their suit against Meadows.

  In his book, Meadows insisted that President Trump was the true winner of the 2020 Presidential Election – which he said was “stolen” and “rigged” with assistance from “allies in the liberal media” who ignored “actual evidence of fraud,” according to the lawsuit.

  Meadows also says in the opening sentence to one chapter: “I KNEW HE DIDN’T LOSE.”

  Yet, Meadows testified to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s grand jury that Trump was being “dishonest” with voters when he claimed victory on election night. According to ABC News, Meadows admitted that Trump lost the election when questioned by prosecutors.

  “Meadows’ reported statements to the Special Prosecutor and/or his staff and his reported grand jury testimony squarely contradict the statements in his Book, one central theme of which is that President Trump was the true winner of the 2020 Presidential Election and that election was ‘stolen’ and ‘rigged’ with the help from ‘allies in the liberal media,’ who ignored ‘actual evidence of fraud,’” alleges All Seasons Press.

  The publisher is seeking a $350,000 clawback of Meadows’ advance, $600,000 in out-of-pocket damages, and at least $1 million for reputational damage suffered by the company (plus another $1 million for loss of expected profits) on sales of the book, which they claim have plummeted given Meadows’ involvement in several Jan. 6 investigations.

  The suit reveals a long and tense relationship between Meadows and his publisher, which has published a suite of books from conservative figures.

  In December 2021, All Seasons Press sent a letter to Meadows saying it would withhold the final of three $116,666 advance payments over concerns his book may contain false information. The suit also notes it planned to continue with publication “pending an investigation.”

  A few days later the company got a letter from attorney Blake Meadows, whom the suit says is Meadows’s son, demanding the final installment. –The Hill

  “Mr. Meadows is aware of the specious allegations that were published regarding a portion of the book which was taken out of context, and which have already been addressed by both Mr. Meadows and former President Trump in multiple press releases,” wrote Meadows’ son, Blake, to the company (according to the complaint).

  According to the publisher, they decided to move forward with the book “after conducting the appropriate due diligence and based upon repeated assurances from Meadows that facts in the Book were true,” and that “rumors circulated in the media” that Meadows might have flipped on Trump harmed their bottom line.

  “As a result, public interest in the Book, the truth of which was increasingly in doubt, precipitously declined, and ASP sold only approximately 60,000 of the 200,000 first printing of the Book,” the suit states.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/04/2023 – 15:10

• Newsom Rewrites Pandemic History
  Newsom Rewrites Pandemic History

  Authored by Leighton Woodhouse and Alex Gutentag via Public Substack,

  This week California Governor Gavin Newsom blatantly lied about his record on Covid-19.

  “I’m not consumed by what we did wrong,” Newsom said to Fox Los Angeles’ Elex Michaelson.

  “I’m consumed a little bit more by what we did right… There’s no large state that outperformed California, one of the top performing states, in terms of health, wealth, and education.”

  

  Newsom went on to say that California’s per capita Covid mortality was “substantially lower than places like Texas and Florida,” that the state’s economy fared better than that of other states, and that we saw less learning loss than Florida. All these statements are misleading at best. Newsom’s claims about California’s economy have already been debunked, and in age-adjusted Covid mortality, as many have pointed out, California and Florida fared about the same. What’s more, cumulative age-adjusted all-cause excess deaths have been higher in California than Florida since early 2020. 

  As for why schools were closed for so long, Newsom said it was because he gave school districts “local control.” Evidently, Newsom wants to claim both that he is not responsible for his own school policies, and that these policies were effective. Yet both of these claims are completely untrue, and Newsom’s failure on schools is a scandal of colossal proportions. 

  In 2020, Newsom’s Department of Health created color coded tiers that effectively prevented California schools from reopening. In 2021, statewide guidelines continued to shape restrictions. These guidelines were based on pseudoscience like a six foot rule that created a major barrier to reopening and was not proven to prevent Covid transmission. 

  While allowing private and charter schools to open and sending his own kids to in-person private school, Newsom never challenged the California teacher’s union to push for full public reopening. Only in March 2021, when the state was facing a lawsuit, and after basically every other state had reopened, did Newsom call for public schools to resume limited in-person classes. 

  To this day, Newsom insists that school closures and the state’s catastrophic learning loss were no big deal. Florida, he told Michaelson, “had more learning loss in every single category… These are facts.” But are they really?

  Newsom appears to be relying on a single 2022 test, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), to make this assertion, despite a mountain of evidence that contradicts it. Only a small sample of students in the country take the NAEP. In contrast, all students in grades 3 through 8 and 11 take California’s official state test, the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC). 

  While the 2022 NAEP, which only about 4,000 kids in the state took, made it appear that California’s learning loss was not so bad, the dismally low SBAC scores from 2022 showed that school closures had likely wiped out years of educational progress. This disparity strongly suggests there may have been a significant sampling bias in the NAEP, which is probable given that California’s chronic absence rate tripled statewide in the 2021-2022 school year. 

  Although the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) touted its supposed success on the NAEP, the district’s test results were essentially manipulated. In 2019, high-performing charter schools did not participate in LAUSD’s test, but in 2022 they did. Additionally, demographic changes between 2019 and 2022 may have been a factor, since the district’s enrollment fell by an alarming 10%. 

  Newsom and other California officials are cherry-picking the data and intentionally neglecting to analyze and address the complete picture of student learning loss. To avoid political repercussions, they are deliberately ignoring the majority of testing results as well as the many studies which show that remote instruction had a severe impact on learning. 

  Andrew Dean Ho, psychometrician and professor at Harvard Graduate School of Education, reviewed California’s test results as an expert witness in an ongoing lawsuit against the state.

  Wrote Ho in his testimony, “In my review of transcripts from depositions of state officials, I find numerous responses that indicate to me a lack of awareness of or interest in data that could enable accurate estimates of academic learning loss.”

  The state has abandoned its duty to assess all relevant data and may be concealing it.

  “Data currently exist in state repositories to answer questions about the magnitude of academic learning loss for jurisdictions and subgroups in the state of California, untapped,” wrote Ho. 

  Ho’s revealing testimony is corroborated by the fact that the Department of Education threatened to muzzle and retaliate against California researchers who planned to testify against the state. 

  As Newsom increasingly seems to be pursuing presidential ambitions, his Covid mistakes should come under greater scrutiny, especially as he remains intent on never admitting to them.

  In Newsom’s view, the only reason he’s had any criticism at all is because hindsight is 20/20.

  “We should acknowledge at the time we didn’t know what we didn’t know,” he told Michaelson.

  “And we’re experts, we’re geniuses in hindsight.”

  But California’s education failure is not just about 2020 and 2021 – it’s about the state’s refusal to examine the learning loss data to this day, and Newsom’s clear choice to prioritize his own political ambitions over his accountability to the children and families of his state. 

  Subscribers can read the full substack here…

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/04/2023 – 14:35

• Watch: Massive Airstrikes Level Large University In Gaza
  Watch: Massive Airstrikes Level Large University In Gaza

  Shocking footage is widely circulating showing what appears to be massive airstrikes on Al Azhar University in Gaza, which was first opened in 1991, and is among a handful of Palestinian campuses of high learning.

  Videos circulating show multiple large airstrikes utterly demolishing multiple university buildings, and it’s unclear if the buildings were occupied at the time or if there are casualties. Some pro-Israel pundits have claimed that the presence of large secondary explosions suggests Hamas was hiding large ammunition stores there, hence the follow-up detonations. Watch:

  lsraeli airstrikes destroy al-Azhar University in Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/Q6Ie1HIkK4

  — TIMES OF GAZA (@Timesofgaza) November 4, 2023

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

  But it’s also very evident that Israel’s warplanes are targeting Gaza’s large buildings and infrastructure as part of scorched earth tactics. 

  On Friday, Israel admitted to targeting ambulances near the Strip’s largest hospital, claiming that the ambulances were actually used by Hamas. The UN and other international bodies have condemned the attack as the death toll mounts and grisly images were widely shared online of bodies piled up in the aftermant.

  Politico describes of the attack:

  The Israeli army bombed a convoy of ambulances near the largest hospital in Gaza on Friday, an attack that “horrified” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

  The facility — Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City — is overcrowded with patients and serves as a refuge for some 20,000 displaced people, according to local health authorities.

  The attack resulted in 15 deaths and at least 60 wounded civilians, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS). In a statement, the PRCS said the convoy of five ambulances tried to transport casualties toward the Rafah border crossing, but was returning to the hospital because the road was blocked with rubble when it was targeted by two missiles.

  Meanwhile, a new report in Axios utilizing satellite imagery and data says in total 25% of all buildings in northern Gaza have been severely damaged or destroyed after nearly a month of airstrikes and fighting. 

  🇮🇱-🇵🇸
  Satellite analysis shows widespread destruction in #Gaza.
  Source-https://t.co/TXGOeSnMIW#Israel #Gaza_Now #GazaGenocide #HamasISIS #HamasTerrorrists #HamasisISIS #Hamas #Palestine #Lebanon #Nasrallah pic.twitter.com/TnfD2WIK7T

  — ConflictLive 🌐 (@conflict_live) November 4, 2023

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

  At this point more than 9,200 Palestinians have been killed, with an estimated half of these being women and children. 

  Israel has come under condemnation from several countries, especially of Arab states, for appearing to target fleeing civilian convoys even after urging people to flee to southern Gaza. Axios writes, “This analysis also confirms that Israel continues to strike southern Gaza, including areas along the main evacuation routes, even after urging civilians from the north to relocate there.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 11/04/2023 – 14:00

Digest powered by RSS Digest

• Why Target Date Funds Fail Investors: A $3 Trillion Delusion
  Why Target Date Funds Fail Investors: A $3 Trillion Delusion

  Authored by Michael Lebowitz via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,

  Morningstar estimates that as of 2022, there is nearly $3 trillion invested in target date mutual funds. Per Morningstar: Target date strategies remain the investment vehicle of choice for retirement savers.

  Whether retirement savers in target date funds know it or not, and we presume most don’t, they are mindlessly investing their wealth. The allocations between stocks and bonds in these funds are not based on risk or reward but solely on the calendar. Managing target date funds requires zero investment expertise, yet mutual fund and ETF managers rake in hundreds of millions of dollars a year in management fees.

  The volatile market environment helps us appreciate why target date funds are foolish.

  What Are Target Date Funds?

  • Barrons estimates that approximately 42% of all retirement plan dollars are in target date funds.

  • Per Investopedia, more than 75% of investors have some money in target date funds.

  • The Department of Labor claims that 70% of employers use target date funds as their default investment.

  Target Funds are passive mutual funds run by simple algorithms. To be frank, the word algorithm makes their investment process seem more complicated than it is.   

  The funds with the target dates furthest in the future are almost fully allocated to stocks with a minimal allocation to bonds. As each year passes, the funds slowly allocate away from stocks and toward bonds. The stock-bond targets for the funds are based solely on the target date.

  The graphic below, courtesy of Vanguard, the world’s largest manager of target date funds, shows the “glide path” of investment allocations based on age.

  

  Time dictates the funds’ allocation between stocks and bonds, not the traditional metrics investors use, like potential risks, rewards, and valuations.

  Do You Care About Expected Returns? 

  Target date fund investors, by default, must believe that stocks will outperform bonds over the long haul. While such is often true, it is far from accurate over shorter or medium-term periods. Further, such a longer-term approach misses incredible short- to medium-term opportunities in stocks and bonds. Accordingly, target fund investors are sometimes making poor investments, which may not align with their investment goals.

  To help appreciate these inherently flawed investment strategies, we ask two questions. In both questions, we ask you to allocate your retirement nest egg into A and B securities.

  Question 1: 

  Security A has an expected ten-year annualized total return of 6.00% with a likely range of returns of 0% to 12%. Security B has a guaranteed annualized return of 0.75%.

  Question 2:

  Security A has an expected ten-year annualized return of 2.50% with a likely range of returns from 7.00% to -4.50%. Security B has a guaranteed annualized return of 5.00%.

  If you favored A in the first question and B in the second, expected returns and risk probabilities matter to you.

  Question 1 is based on data from March 2020, when stock valuations cheapened considerably, and bond yields were among the lowest in U.S. history.

  Question 2 corresponds to the current investment environment for stocks and bonds.

  Questions 1 and 2 represent recent extremes of stock and bond return expectations. More importantly, they correspond to periods when target date stock and bond allocation percentages were likely inappropriate for a decent proportion of target date fund investors.

  What About Today?

  Let’s go into more detail on question 2 to better appreciate the current risk-reward framework for stocks and bonds. To repeat question 2:

  Security A (stocks) has an expected ten-year annualized return of 2.50% with a likely range of returns from 7.00% to -4.50%. Security B (bonds) has a guaranteed annualized return of 5.00%.

  Should a 2025 target date fund be heavily invested in bonds while a 2055 fund be almost solely invested in stocks in the current environment?  

  The easy way to answer is by studying the graph below. It shows every monthly instance of CAPE 10 stock valuations and the following ten-year return, including dividends. The green line shows the current ten-year UST yield (4.90%), and the blue line indicates the investment-grade corporate bond yield (6.45%).

  The current CAPE, as starred, is slightly over 30. The yellow box highlights each instance when CAPE was 30 or greater.

  

  The expected annualized total return on stocks for the next ten years is 2.35%, much lower than the returns on bonds. Of all the instances in which CAPE was greater than 30, only a few of them were followed by a ten-year period in which stock returns beat Treasury bond returns. The number dwindles to one when stocks are compared to investment-grade corporate bonds.

  Let’s take the analysis further and focus on maximum drawdowns when CAPE was greater than 30. The following graph shows the peak percentage drawdown from the month each CAPE valuation eclipsed 30. As it shows, skewing allocations toward bonds in environments like today allows you to preserve cash and take advantage of lower stock prices.

  

  Ten Year Forecasts Don’t Mean Ten Year Investments

  Bonds are much more likely to offer a better return over the next decade than stocks. However, and this is a big issue, markets change rapidly. In a year, we could be amid a recession with bond yields at 2% and equity valuations near normal. If so, profits on bonds should be taken, and a reallocation back toward stocks would likely be appropriate.

  Target date funds will not adjust for the lopsided return probabilities. Target-date funds are blind to risk and reward. Therefore, they are indifferent to what is in the best interest of their investors.

  Summary

  In the current environment, 25-year-olds and 75-year-olds should have increased allocations to bonds versus stocks. In target date fund terminology, the 2025 and 2050 funds should look much more alike than they do. The Vanguard 2050 fund holds under 10% of bonds and 90% of stocks. The Vanguard 2025 fund has approximately 45% of bonds and 55% of stocks.

  A blind formula dictates these percentages, not basic financial investment management rules.

  Investing for the long run is thoughtful. Investing without considering risks and rewards is idiotic.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/01/2023 – 15:20

• Joe Biden Snagged Another $40K In 'Laundered' Chinese Money From Brother's CEFC Payment: Comer
  Joe Biden Snagged Another $40K In ‘Laundered’ Chinese Money From Brother’s CEFC Payment: Comer

  Remember when Democrats insisted that Trump was compromised by Russia because of some alleged loan he had in the early 90’s according to ‘several sources with knowledge’ (who never materialized)?

  The same Democrats – and the same media, are of course dead silent over what’s now grown to $240,000 in laundered Chinese that ended up in Joe Biden’s pocket via his brother. We know, we know – huge shock.

  

  On Wednesday, the House Oversight Committee revealed that President Biden received $40,000 in Chinese funds which were “laundered” through his brother, James Biden, in a “complicated financial transaction” marked as a ‘loan,’ which took place just weeks after Hunter Biden threatened the Chinese with his father’s wrath in a July 30, 2017 text message to a CEFC China Energy employee.

  The alleged 2017 transfer from first brother James Biden to the future president involves the same business deal in which Joe Biden was called the “big guy” and penciled in for a 10% cut — and would be the first proven instance of the commander-in-chief getting a piece of his family’s foreign income.

  …

  The money ended up in Joe Biden’s bank account on Sept. 3, 2017, via a check labeled “loan repayment” from his younger brother, who partnered with Hunter in the venture. -NY Post

  “Remember when Joe Biden told the American people that his son didn’t make money in China?” asked Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) in a video posted to X. ““Well, not only did he lie about his son Hunter making money in China, but it also turns out that $40,000 in laundered China money landed in Joe Biden’s bank account in the form of a personal check.”

  pic.twitter.com/UGKwRHMxNP

  — Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) November 1, 2023

  pic.twitter.com/WKwuRzmYUy

  — Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) November 1, 2023

  “Even if this $40,000 check was a loan repayment from James Biden, it still shows how Joe benefited from his  family cashing in on his name — with money from China no less,” Comer continued.

  Bank records released this year by Comer show that CEFC — a since-defunct reputed cog in Beijing’s “Belt and Road” foreign influence campaign — paid Hunter and James Biden at least $6.1 million in 2017 and 2018 — about $1 million in March 2017 shortly after Biden left office as vice president and the remainder within 10 days of Hunter’s threat invoking his dad.

  A $5 million wire was sent on Aug. 8, 2017, to “Hudson West III, a joint venture established by Hunter Biden and CEFC associate Gongwen Dong,” a committee synopsis of the memo says. -NY Post

  “That same day, Hudson West III sent $400,000 to Owasco, P.C., an entity owned and controlled by Hunter Biden. On August 14, 2017, Hunter Biden wired $150,000 to Lion Hall Group, a company owned by President Biden’s brother James and sister-in-law Sara Biden,” the synopsis continues.

  “On August 28, 2017, Sara Biden withdrew $50,000 in cash from Lion Hall Group. Later the same day, she deposited it into her and James Biden’s personal checking account. On September 3, 2017, Sara Biden cut a check to Joe Biden for $40,000 for a ‘loan repayment.'”

  But hey, no more mean tweets!

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/01/2023 – 15:00

• The Party's Over: Atlanta Fed Slashes Q4 GDP Estimate From 2.3% To 1.2%
  The Party’s Over: Atlanta Fed Slashes Q4 GDP Estimate From 2.3% To 1.2%

  Remember when we mocked the BEA’s recent report that Q3 GDP had hit a scorching 4.9% (well above estimates) on the back of such laughably “growth” factors as surging inventories and government consumption…

  

  … and said prepare for Bidenomics to collapse in Q4?

  Well it just did, and not once but twice.

  First, it was the ISM Chair Tim Fiore who earlier today said that “the past relationship between the Manufacturing PMI and the overall economy indicates that the October reading (46.7 percent) corresponds to a change of minus-0.7 percent in real gross domestic product (GDP) on an annualized basis.”  Translation: the economy is already in contraction, which would hardly be a shock since Europe is also in contraction, China’s economy is imploding and the US will never decouple from the rest of the world.

  And now, it’s the same Atlanta Fed which last quarter stunned Wall Street with its 5%+ Q3 GDP estimates, and which just came out with its second Q4 GDP forecast which was a doozy: at 1.2% it was almost 50% below the Atlanta Fed’s first Q4 GDP estimate of 2.3%.

  Here are the details:

  The GDPNow model estimate for real GDP growth (seasonally adjusted annual rate) in the fourth quarter of 2023 is 1.2 percent on November 1, down from 2.3 percent on October 27.

  After this morning’s construction spending release from the US Census Bureau and the Manufacturing ISM Report On Business from the Institute for Supply Management, the nowcasts of fourth-quarter real personal consumption expenditures growth and fourth-quarter real gross private domestic investment growth decreased from 3.0 percent and -2.2 percent, respectively, to 1.5 percent and -2.8 percent, while the nowcast of the contribution of the change in real net exports to fourth-quarter real GDP growth increased from 0.11 percentage points to 0.22 percentage points.

  Bottom line: the Bidenomics trendline that was so laughably interrupted by the one-time, artificial, and debt-driven burst in Q3 GDP is back to normal…

  

  … and the ridiculous economic “boost” that Biden tried to represent as being the normal, is now gone. Next step: recession, rate cuts, more stimmies, and so on.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/01/2023 – 14:41

• Watch Live: Fed Chair Powell Tries Not To Break Anything
  Watch Live: Fed Chair Powell Tries Not To Break Anything

  No change in policy rates… as expected; and a barely-changed statement, mean all eyes will be on Fed Chair Powell for the nuance leaning hawkish or dovish.

  

  With money markets and many Fed officials believing that the Fed is done with rate-hikes, Powell will not want to rock the boat of the central bank “proceeding carefully” to let cumulative tightening continue to work through as inflation trends lower and the labor market rebalances.

  His recent comments at The Economic Club of New York suggested ‘satisfaction‘ with current policy settings… with the ubiquitous caveat that they are ‘data dependent’.

  Powell will be treading very carefully as, given the addition of the term “financial conditions” means anything less than the right amount of hawkishness will prompt the kind of reflexive gains in bonds and stocks that will reverse the tightening of financial conditions that he has been quietly comfortably allowing.

  

  Will Powell be asked about the messaging of that one word?

  addition of “financial” = Powell to Yellen: “stop spending like a drunken sailor”

  — zerohedge (@zerohedge) November 1, 2023

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

  One final point before he speaks: while most expect no surprises from the Fed, the market is uneasy about something with the implied-implied move in the S&P today is 0.89%, which would make it the highest implied move since May according to Goldman.

  

  What are they worried about?

  Watch Powell’s press conference live here (due to start at 1430ET):

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/01/2023 – 14:25

• Fed Remains 'Paused', Acknowledges Tightening Financial Conditions Are 'Doing Its Job'
  Fed Remains ‘Paused’, Acknowledges Tightening Financial Conditions Are ‘Doing Its Job’

  Tl;dr: The Fed kept rates unchanged, as expected but the addition of one word is key:

  “Tighter financial and credit conditions for households and businesses are likely to weigh on economic activity, hiring, and inflation.”

  Is that The Fed sending a message to Janet Yellen: “stop spending like drunken sailors.”

  *  *  *

  Since The Fed’s last statement and press conference on September 20th, the market’s movements (impacted by the ongoing chaos in Israel also) have been somewhat remarkable.

  Bitcoin has soared higher, stocks and bonds (the latter worse than the former) have both been hammered as gold and the dollar have rallied in unison…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  We note that Gold has been on quite a path in the last two months but is back  – again – at around the same levels as it has been for the last two FOMC meetings…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  Additionally, The Fed’s jawboning of “higher for longer” is increasingly being accepted by the rates market as the SOFR spreads for Dec 2023-2024 and 2023-2025 have surged since the last FOMC…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  Of particular note, we have seen financial conditions tighten significantly since the last FOMC (while at the same time, macro surprise data has improved marginally – not fallen apart)…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  Specifically, the period since the last FOMC brought some surprisingly strong readings on inflation and the economy more broadly. Here are some headline numbers:

  • Third-quarter GDP growth was a whopping 4.9%, higher than forecast and an a historic figure for the US, where growth tends to hover around 2%-3%

  • September payrolls were also strong, with employers adding 336,000 jobs, nearly double what economists had been expecting

  • A variety of inflation indicators cooled less than anticipated, or posted slight gains. The employment cost index, a broad and reliable indicator, ticked up 1.1% in the third quarter, a pace far above its pre-pandemic average of 0.7%.

  However, the last chart above is of increasing relevance as the narrative that “the market is doing The Fed’s job for it” continues to keep hopes alive that Powell and his pals are done (due to this dramatic tightening).

  For today, expectations are for no change (0.5% odds of a rate-hike priced-in), but the market remains more dovishly priced still than The Fed’s projections (at least until 2026)…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  The Fed statement is expected to be more or less identical to September’s.

  And so, what did we get?

  The Fed – as expected – left rates unchanged:

  • *FED HOLDS BENCHMARK RATE IN 5.25-5.5% TARGET RANGE

  The Fed leaves more hikes on the table:

  • *FED REPEATS IT WILL ASSESS EXTENT OF ADDITIONAL POLICY FIRMING

  And sure enough, as we noted above, The Fed likes the market doing its job for it, specifically adding reference to tighter “financial” conditions

  • “Tighter financial and credit conditions for households and businesses are likely to weigh on economic activity, hiring, and inflation.”

  The message is clear:

  addition of “financial” = Powell to Yellen: “stop spending like a drunken sailor”

  — zerohedge (@zerohedge) November 1, 2023

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

  The question we are left with is – what is the trigger for The Fed to not ‘leave the rate hike option’ on the table.

  Read the full redline below:

  

  Powell’s press conference is coming right up but we note that despite everything very much ‘as expected’, the market is uneasy and the implied-implied move in the S&P tomorrow is 0.89%, which would make it the highest implied move since May according to Goldman.

  Here’s what to expect (assume a ‘hold’)

  

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/01/2023 – 14:00

• Elon Musk Exposes How Soros 'Hijacked' US Cities Without Changing Any Laws
  Elon Musk Exposes How Soros ‘Hijacked’ US Cities Without Changing Any Laws

  Elon Musk appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast Tuesday and explained how leftists “completely controlled” Twitter and weaponized the social media platform against political opponents and anyone who disagreed with the official government narrative. The billionaire said Twitter was almost like Russian state media “Pravda.”

  “The degree to which Twitter was simply an arm of the government was not well understood by the public,” Musk said.

  He continued, “Republicans were suppressed at ten times the rate of Democrats. That’s because old Twitter was fundamentally controlled by the far-left.” 

  

  Far-left elites in Washington and Silicon Valley, along with ‘fact checkers’ (think tanks) and the FBI, were able to conduct mass censorship campaigns from within Twitter, that’s until Musk bought the social media company about one year ago. 

  In the conversation with Rogan, Musk then explains George Soros’ massive bet (now overseen by his son, Alexander Soros) on funding city and state district attorney elections nationwide. He said, “The value for money in local races is much higher than in national races – the lowest value for money is a presidential race.”

  “Soros realized you don’t actually need to change the laws – you just need to change how they’re enforced – if nobody chooses to enforce the law – or the laws differentially enforced – it’s like changing the laws,” Musk said. 

  Elon Musk explains how Soros hijacked our system without changing a single law: pic.twitter.com/D1eNsfyF9E

  — End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) October 31, 2023

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

  This leaves with a new interview from one Maryland sheriff, just outside of crime-ridden Baltimore City, in Wicomico County, who drops a truth bomb about radical progressive lawmakers in the state, some of whom have likely been funded by Soros, who purposely fail to enforce law and order and only embolden criminal. 

  “I’m in my 40th year of law enforcement, and I have never ever seen it this bad,” Sheriff Mike Lewis said.

  Lewis continued: “I’ve never seen a government so ingrained – and quite frankly complicit – in the criminal activity taking place in our nation.” 

  Man, you talk about tragic, listen to American patriot and Sheriff of Wicomico County, Maryland, Mike Lewis @WicoSheriff talk about what #BLM and open border Democrats have done to his state and our country! When is enough going to be enough? #TrumpWasRight #SaveAmerica!

  Law &… pic.twitter.com/nrAHdEOMTS

  — Ben Bergquam – Real America’s Voice (RAV-TV) News (@BenBergquam) October 31, 2023

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

  The sheriff is referring to all those Soros-backed candidates who won elections in Manhattan, Los Angeles, San Fransico, Portland, Baltimore, DC, New York, Philadelphia, Boston, St. Louis, and Chicago, that have transformed these areas into crime-ridden hellholes. 

  The term “apocalypse” in Greek translates to “revelation,” and this is precisely what Musk and the team behind the “Twitter Files” have offered the public. Their actions have disrupted the ‘matrix’ controlled by radical leftists with an agenda to install communism. 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/01/2023 – 13:45

• Schwab Announces Over 2,000 Layoffs To 'Maintain Competitive Edge'
  Schwab Announces Over 2,000 Layoffs To ‘Maintain Competitive Edge’

  Update (Wednesday): 

  A Charles Schwab spokesperson confirmed to Bloomberg that up to 6% of its 35,900-member workforce (or about 2,154 employees) were recently laid off. 

  “These were hard but necessary steps to ensure Schwab remains highly competitive, with industry-leading levels of efficiency, well into the future,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement, adding, “We worked diligently to ensure affected employees were treated with care and respect throughout this difficult process.”

  The cuts were first reported by The Wall Street Journal on Monday night (read the previous update below). 

  The last time Schwab went on a hiring – then firing spree was the Dot Com bubble. It appears the pattern is repeating. 

  

  According to the layoff tracker website Layoffs.FYI, hundreds of thousands of tech employees have been fired in the last two years. 

  

  The latest ADP print shows the labor market has slowed. 

  *   *   * 

  Charles Schwab, the largest publicly traded US brokerage firm, began laying off employees on Monday in an effort to streamline its business model by reducing expenses ahead of next year, which could be full of turbulence in financial markets. This comes as the market’s excitement in meme stocks, SPACs, IPOs, and crypto, which soared in 2020-21, has since plunged due to a rising interest rate environment. 

  The Wall Street Journal first revealed the Schwab layoffs on Monday night:

  Charles Schwab on Monday began laying off employees across the company.

  Schwab, the largest publicly traded US brokerage, didn’t disclose how many employees were affected in an internal message seen by The Wall Street Journal. Some remaining employees will have new jobs or managers, according to the message.

  In the message, CEO Walt Bettinger and President Rick Wurster said:

  “We know this has been a challenging year, and that today was hard. We also know the work needed to come through this change even stronger than before is just beginning.” 

  Perhaps trouble at Schwab comes as retail traders, badly bruised from holding worthless meme stocks, lost interest in financial markets this year. 

  

  Besides retail’s waning interest in markets, the company has been under scrutiny from shareholders about deposit flight driven by higher interest rates. 

  Schwab shares are down 40% since peaking at the $84 handle in March 2021. 

  

  In August, Schwab detailed in a regulatory filing about plans to slash its headcount and downsize corporate offices to reduce operating costs. These proposed cuts are expected to save the company $500 million annually. 

  The last time Schwab hired too many people was during the Dot Com bubble. We all know what happened next… 

  

  Rumors on the anonymous jobs forum Blind said the layoffs at Schwab include “lots of people in the company’s tech division.” 

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/01/2023 – 13:35

• Tulsi Gabbard: LGBTQ+ Activists At Pro-Palestine Marches "Don't Understand" Islamists Want To Kill Them
  Tulsi Gabbard: LGBTQ+ Activists At Pro-Palestine Marches “Don’t Understand” Islamists Want To Kill Them

  Authored by Steve Watson via Summit News,

  Former Democratic Representative Tusi Gabbard has called out the hypocrisy of LGBTQ+ activists attending pro-Palestine marches alongside radical Islamists who literally want gay and trans people to be murdered.

  

  Appearing on Laura Ingraham’s show Tuesday, Gabbard noted that “Democrats, they have called people like me an Islamophobe for many years just for speaking the truth about radical Islam. About the threat that this Islamism poses to the freedom and peace of security of the American people and people around the world.”

  Gabbard continued, “we are so concerned about Biden’s open borders and the fact that we have got millions of people coming in who are not vetted in any way, shape, or form who have not been checked.”

  Ingraham interjected, “they say you can’t call it a clash of civilisations, why not? It is a clash of civilizations. No women’s rights. No belief in pluralism. The dignity of the individual. Free expression. None of that. That’s not on the table.”

  The former Congresswoman replied, “And that is the hypocrisy of seeing these LGBTQIA activists out there holding and waving the trans flags combined with the Palestinian flag.”

  “That’s a new level of stupid,” Ingraham asserted.

  Gabbard replied, “They don’t know and understand what this Islamist ideology is, this radical Islam ideology where they actually want to kill people. They want to kill those people specifically.”

  Watch:

  https://video.foxnews.com/v/embed.js?id=6340261906112&w=466&h=263Watch the latest video at foxnews.com

  Related:

  *  *  *

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  In the age of mass Silicon Valley censorship It is crucial that we stay in touch. We need you to sign up for our free newsletter here. Support my sponsor – Summit Vitamins – super charge your health and well being.

  Also, we urgently need your financial support here.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/01/2023 – 13:25

• Israeli Army Suffers More Casualties As Hamas Publishes Video Showing Tanks Blown Up
  Israeli Army Suffers More Casualties As Hamas Publishes Video Showing Tanks Blown Up

  Update(1318ET): The Israeli death toll is rising, and Hamas has claimed to have ambushed and destroyed several tanks as they plunge deeper into Gaza City, also amid building to building searches for the hostages.

  15 Israeli soldiers have now been killed in the Gaza operation, the IDF has announced Wednesday, which in total marks 320 total troops killed since the Oct. 7th massacre (and with over 1,100 more Israeli and foreign civilians). 

  Hamas military wing publish scenes showing its members blowing up several Israeli tanks and vehicles south Zaitoun Neighborhood, Gaza city. pic.twitter.com/j2kslyqSv1

  — Younis Tirawi | يونس (@ytirawi) November 1, 2023

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

  Widely circulating footage shows Knesset members crying after a closed-door session (below), leading to speculation that Israeli troops could be sustaining higher than known casualty rates.

  But the emotional scene is reportedly due to a special viewing in parliament of newly compiled footage of the Oct.7 terror attacks, as The Times of Israel details: 

  A compilation of raw footage documenting Hamas’s grisly October 7 rampage through the western Negev was screened Wednesday for Knesset members. The 43-minute-long video was produced by the IDF Spokesperson’s Office and shows uncensored, difficult-to-watch videos, many taken from terrorists’ bodycams.

  After a request from Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana to the military, lawmakers were granted permission to hold a closed-door screening of the footage where recording and cellphones were not allowed.

  Ohana, speaking before the screening, said that he had arranged the event so that Israeli lawmakers would “know who and what we are facing,” and so that “we will all know how much our path in this war against this evil is justified,” according to sources familiar with the event.

  …More than 50 MKs were in attendance, and some broke down in tears, including Ra’am head Mansour Abbas, the Maariv news outlet reported.

  Knesset members were spotted crying after their session. IDF casualties mounting? pic.twitter.com/c7Uq4Q2Ys7

  — Mats Nilsson (@mazzenilsson) November 1, 2023

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  * * *

  The Israel Defense Forces has said it is in close quarters combat with Hamas as troops push further into Gaza, resulting in an announced Tuesday death toll of eleven. By early Wednesday that figure rose to 13 Israeli soldiers killed, after Israel’s defense minister warned of the “heavy toll” which would be paid by troops in the operation to eradicate Hamas.

  As the death toll among Gazans approaches 9,000, the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell has lashed out at Israel’s airstrikes and massive civilian casualties. Borrel says he is “appalled by the high number of casualties following the bombing by Israel of the Jabalia refugee camp.” Jabalia camp has reportedly been struck again, a day after the initial massive attack which had killed at least 52 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

  

  But Israel’s military said that its Jabalia strike had taken out a top Hamas commander and other Hamas officers, and said Israeli decision-makers took into account the harm to civilians in the densely populated urban area.

  On Wednesday Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed condolences for the IDF’s fallen soldiers along side other leaders. He said “We are in a tough war. This will be a long war. We have important achievements, but also painful losses.”

  According to more from his message: “We know that every one of our soldiers is an entire world. All of Israel embraces you, the families, from the bottom of our hearts. All of us are with you during this time of mourning. Our soldiers fell in a war where there was no justice, a war for our home,” he said. “I promise you, the citizens of Israel: we will complete the task – we will continue until victory.”

  IDF troops have begun the slow process of going door to door as they search for the missing Israeli and foreign hostages, which is up to 240, according to new military statements. Hamas has issued new statements claiming Israeli airstrikes killed a group of hostages. “Seven detainees were killed in the Jabalia massacre yesterday, including three holders of foreign passports,” said a Hamas statement issued from its military wing.

  IDF releases new footage of ground forces operating in the Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/mXQrHNaQXL

  — Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) November 1, 2023

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  But the “painful losses” are mounting in much greater numbers for the Palestinian side, and civilians are bearing the brunt of suffering. International outrage and pressure has mounted on Tel Aviv, which has voiced that has warned Gaza civilians they must move to the southern half of the Strip if they want to escape the bombs. According to a fresh Gaza health ministry update as republished in Al Jazeera:

  • The number of people killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza has gone up to 8,796, including 3,648 children and 2,290 women.
  • At least 22,219 people have been wounded.
  • There are 2,030 reports of people missing including 1,020 children buried under the rubble.
  • 130 paramedics and medical crew have been killed, 28 ambulances have been destroyed, and there have been more than 270 attacks on the healthcare system in Gaza.
  • 16 hospitals out of 35 are out of operation, and 51 out of 72 primary healthcare clinics have shut down.
  • In the occupied West Bank, 128 Palestinians have been killed and at least 1,980 have been wounded.

  There has meanwhile been a rare positive development on the humanitarian front. For the first time since the start of the war, foreigners and wounded Palestinians have been allowed to exit Gaza through the Rafah crossing into Egypt. 

  Some 500 foreign passport holders had reportedly been stuck at Rafah crossing for weeks since the start of the conflict after Oct.7. The area near the crossing had also been bombed by Israeli jets on several occasions. Ambulances have been observed Wednesday ferrying the wounded into Egypt. 

  Hundreds are foreign passport holders are also belatedly being let through, among them Americans. “At least five NGO workers who have been confirmed as Americans are listed as approved to cross on Wednesday but it remains to be seen how many of at least 400 American citizens the U.S. State Department says are stuck in Gaza will be able to cross in coming days,” CBS News reports. Some have lashed out at Washington over the lack of serious evacuation efforts in place for those dual nationals stuck in Gaza: 

  “They started letting foreigners out today but it’s not Americans because I guess we’re not as important as we thought,” Utah resident Susan Beseiso told CBS News on Wednesday.  

  “The American Embassy and the State Department haven’t called us since the last time we went to the border and got bombed four times. They haven’t been communicating with us or doing anything to get us out,” Beseiso said.

  “It’s like they’re holding us hostages — not Hamas holding us hostages — it’s the IDF soldiers, Egypt and America. They’re using us as a human shield in a way.”

  Finally, people are starting to exit the Gaza Strip into Egypt through the Rafah border crossing after delays upon delays pic.twitter.com/ufiSQN1ehc

  — John Hudson (@John_Hudson) November 1, 2023

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  The fresh evacuees are undergoing security checks on the Egyptian side. Among those exiting include Palestinians holding Austrian, Bulgarian, Indonesian, Japanese Jordanian, Italian, Greek, Australian and Czech citizenships, and many others. Various nationals working for several NGOs are also on the departure list.

  According to The Times of Israel, “A source briefed on the development told Reuters that the evacuations were agreed on in a deal mediated by Qatar between Egypt, Israel and Hamas in coordination with the US.”

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/01/2023 – 13:18

• Israel Rushes Warships To Red Sea After Yemeni Houthis Launch Ballistic Missile & Drones
  Israel Rushes Warships To Red Sea After Yemeni Houthis Launch Ballistic Missile & Drones

  Israel has rushed warships to the Red Sea, where US naval assets are also patrolling, after Yemen’s Houthis declared “war” earlier this week. The Houthis had also reportedly launched a ballistic missile at Israel, and released a video showing the launch. In total the Houthis are believed to have attempted three drone and missile attacks on Israel. One of the initial projectiles days ago had been intercepted by a US warship off Yemen, and another was stopped as follows: 

  The Israeli military on Tuesday used its Arrow missile defence system for the first time to intercept an “aerial threat” over the Red Sea, believed to have been a ballistic missile.

  

  According to newly released Israeli military images, Sa’ar-class corvettes are now patrolling near Eilat port in the Red Sea.

  They will be monitoring skies over the Red Sea and around Israel after the Yemeni rebel group widely seen as backed by Iran has vowed to “help the Palestinians to victory.”

  While apart from Gaza, Israel has been most focused on the Hezbollah threat on the northern border – having engaged in daily exchanges of fire with the militant group in southern Lebanon – the Yemeni action raises the specter of the situation spiraling into a broader regional war.

  Sporadic fire along the occupied Golan Heights, and Israel’s attacks south of Damascus, also raises the possibility of the Gaza war spilling into Syria. 

  The footage of ballistic and cruise missile launches, as well as kamikaze UAVs, by Yemeni Houthi rebels on Israeli territory has been published. pic.twitter.com/2VrZnTn7Zw

  — 301 Military (@301military) November 1, 2023

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  According to fresh reporting in The New York Times, the Houthis are already escalating their attacks on faraway Israel:

  Yemen’s Houthi militia claimed an attempted attack on southern Israel on Tuesday, saying it had launched a “large batch” of ballistic and cruise missiles as well as drones toward Israeli targets.

  The Iran-backed militia carried out the attempted assault in response to what it called “brutal Israeli-American aggression” in Gaza, the Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Sarea, said on the social media platform X. Mr. Sarea said the attack was the third operation conducted by the Houthis “in support of our persecuted brothers in Palestine,” and threatened further missile and drone assaults.

  #BREAKING: The IDF releases footage of Israeli Navy missile boats arriving in the area of the Red Sea after Iran-backed Houthi terrorists launched drones and missiles toward the area in an attempt to hit Israel. pic.twitter.com/BRdG0e4hiF

  — Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) November 1, 2023

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  The Houthis have been locked in a war with Saudi Arabia (and allies UAE & the US) since 2015. In 2014 the Shia rebel group overran the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, sparking the Saudi-UAE intervention to uphold the pro-Saudi government. Many tens of thousands have been killed over the last half-decade of fighting, with the country also on the brink of starvation. 

  Disagreement persists among analysts over whether the Houthis possess missiles that could effectively reach Israel.

  

  The US and Israel have long accused Tehran of shipping weapons to the Houthis. It’s believed that their surprisingly sophisticated missile arsenal comes from the Iranians, and these have been used to attack Saudi Arabia several times, including strikes on Saudi Aramco oil facilities.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/01/2023 – 13:05

• Estee Slaughter: Beauty Giant Implodes To 6 Year Low As Consumers Hit Brick Wall
  Estee Slaughter: Beauty Giant Implodes To 6 Year Low As Consumers Hit Brick Wall

  When we looked at the performance of consumer stocks last quarter, we found a not unexpected divergence between companies catering to lower income consumers, which have been hammered for much of 2023, and those targeting rich buyers, which – especially in the case of a handful of European luxury giants such as LVMH, Kering and Hermes  – had done tremendously well for much of the past year, making Bernard Arnault the richest man in the world, if not for long.

  Fast forwarding to today, while we have yet to hit rock bottom when it comes to lower income cohorts, it is becoming increasingly clear that the answer to our question from May, namely “did the luxury bubble just burst” is now a resounding yes as the following boom-to-bust chart of European luxury giants LVMH, Hermes and Kering shows.

  

  Today, the bursting of the luxury bubble took its latest casualty, Estée Lauder, whose already-battered shares plummeted even more, tumbling as much as 21%, their biggest one-day drop in history, after the beauty giant slashed its full-year outlook on troubles in China and the Middle East. The stock has lost almost half of its value in 2023 alone.

  

  As BBG notes, the owner of the MAC and Tom Ford brands has been “floundering in its crucial travel retail business in Asia due to weaker-than-expected demand.” The continued weakness in that channel, as well as an added drag from the Israel-Hamas war, show the beauty company has failed once again to get its footing, meaning it is likely to keep ceding market share to archrival L’Oréal.

  For the current fiscal year, Estée Lauder expects net sales in a range of negative 2% to positive 1% versus the prior year, while earnings are seen at $2.08 to $2.35 a share. In August, it had forecast net sales to increase between 5% to 7% and saw earnings of $3.43 to $3.70 a share.

  Estée Lauder said net sales in the most recent quarter fell 10%, in line with the downbeat outlook the company forecast in August (the only positive was that the company did a +6% in the Americas vs a Consensus -2%, although that too is about to reverse now that Americans are finally paying down their student loans, credit cards are maxed out and any “excess savings” are long gone).

  For the current quarter, the company now expects net sales to decrease between 9% to 11% versus a year ago and sees diluted net earnings between 47 cents and 57 cents a share. The potential risks from disruption in Israel and the Middle East are expected to have a dilutive impact of 8 cents. The company doesn’t break out what portion of revenue it generates in the region.

  “The big question, like last quarter, and the one before it, will be: ‘Is this the final cut?’” Bernstein analysts led by Callum Elliott wrote in a research note.

  Chief Executive Officer Fabrizio Freda said in a statement that the New York-based company lowered its fiscal 2024 outlook due to slower growth in prestige beauty in Asia travel retail and mainland China, as well as the risk of disruption to its business in Israel and elsewhere in the Middle East.

  Remarkably, even though Estée Lauder had already lowered expectations in the previous quarter – after already cutting its outlook several times in the past year leading to another near record price drop back in April – the market was still caught off-guard, sending the stock down the most on record. That’s raised concerns among investors that executives don’t have a good grip on what’s happening in their business.

  “We thought that this quarter could be the trough and did not expect another guidance cut,” RBC Capital Markets analyst Nik Modi wrote in a research note. “All the read thrus suggested China was weak, but we thought EL’s guidance last quarter accounted for the weakness. Clearly we were wrong.”

  On a call with analysts, CEO Freda said: “We expect calendar year 2023 to be the final and, frankly, painful post-Covid reset period for the company.”

  Good luck with that.

  Curiously, the cosmetic industry may be the one place where lower-income consumers are holding out better then their higher-income peers. Estée Lauder’s quarterly results are in contrast to competitor L’Oréal, which said late last month that sales were up 4.5% in the three months that ended on Sept. 30. While the French beauty giant – which sells more mass-market items under brands such as Maybelline New York and L’Oréal Paris – has also been hit by the slowdown in duty-free sales in China and South Korea, the business represents a much smaller portion of its revenue versus Estée Lauder.

  L’Oreal’s cheaper products have sold more briskly than items from its more expensive brands as inflation-weary consumers have become pickier. Estée Lauder, meanwhile, sells more higher-end products and on Wednesday cited the “slower-than-expected recovery of overall prestige beauty.”

  Which brings us to a key question: has the consumer finally hit a brick wall? While we are confident that recent results indeed confirm that consumers are virtually tapped out, a slightly more cheerful take comes from Goldman consumer trader Scott Feiler who tries to present today’s dismal results in a slightly better light.

  Here is his take on today’s earnings onslaught:

  • Bottom-Line Intact for 3Q: The magnitude of top-line upside has begun to slow, but companies have pretty continued to beat across the board on the EPS/EBITDA line for 3Q. Even the names with the biggest downward reactions this morning so far in the pre (Wayfair, EL, CCEP, GOOS) largely all beat EPS for this quarter.
  • Top-Line Upside is slowing though: While bottom-line remains intact (for 3Q at least), the top-line upside does appear to be harder to come by. See YUM, EAT, EL, GOOS etc for prints that largely saw in-line sales, even as EPS handily beat.
  • Restaurants remain a relatively bright spot in the US: YUM (+1.5% comp beat), FWRG (40 bps comp beat) and EAT (20 bps comp beat at Chili’s) are all “fine” still with still constructive commentary, even as traffic has slowed some.
  • China Unsurprisingly called out as weak: 2 of the biggest stock disappointments this morning are EL (called out incremental headwinds from a slower-than-expected recovery of overall prestige beauty in mainland China) and YUMC (said they observed softening consumer demand emerged in late September through October).
  • The 2 biggest single names in focus in our IB chats – EL and Wayfair.  
    • For EL, the guidance cut only 1 quarter in is well below any of the worst estimates we had heard. The only “positive” is the bulk of it was blamed on China (somewhat known) and the Middle East.  They did a +6% in the Americas vs a Consensus -2%, and so we think a focus on the 930AM call will be whether there were shipment benefits that helped that figure. Despite the better Americas and Jason’s note titled ““bottom perhaps finally found,” the overwhelming feedback continued to be negative this morning on lack of conviction in an EPS bottom.
    • For Wayfair, the stock dropped hard as soon as the release hit. A ton of inbounds from most asking why. Yes, revenues missed for 3Q but it was only a 1% miss vs consensus and the bogey, while margins beat by about 150 bps. The big concern here seems to be less about margins (most understand a beat was likely) and more about top-line, especially fears around 4Q. On the call, they spoke to QTD gross revenues running around flat. We think expectations were well below the consensus +5% for the full 4Q, so agree that the -10% move lower in the pre is a bit surprising. This is a shoot first, ask questions later type tape though.

  Needless to say, that is hardly the kind of tape one sees at the start of bull markets.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/01/2023 – 12:45

• House GOP Plan To Offset Israel Aid With IRS Funding Would Expand National Debt Via Reduced Enforcement: CBO
  House GOP Plan To Offset Israel Aid With IRS Funding Would Expand National Debt Via Reduced Enforcement: CBO

  A GOP plan to offset $14.3 billion in aid to Israel by reducing the IRS’s roughly $60 billion boost from the Inflation Reduction Act ($80 billion less negotiated cuts) would backfire and add around $30 billion to the national debt, because – according to both the CBO and the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), it would reduce the amount that the agency will be able to collect via audits.

  

  Israel, with GDP of almost half a trillion dollars and a debt-to-GDP ratio that is half of that of the United States, and a super-advanced military, still somehow needs $14.3 billion from US taxpayers in order to continue its extensive bombing campaign throughout Gaza following the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack.

  While the Senate uniparty has insisted on US aid for both Israel and Ukraine (with a smattering of border security funds to mollify the America First types), House Republicans want to separate the two amid pushback from the Freedom Caucus – and pay for Israel aid by reducing the aforementioned IRS funding.

  The CBO says it would decrease tax revenues by $26.7 billion, while the CFRB says it would add over $30 billion to the national debt.

  Of note, the amount Congress wants to send Israel is almost precisely the amount the Trump administration wanted to secure the southern US border, which Trump said Mexico would pay for indirectly via trade deals. Instead, we’re engaged in proxy wars on at least two fronts while more than five million illegal immigrants have crossed into the United States since Biden took office.

  

  “Paying for new spending by defunding tax enforcement is worse than not paying for it at all,” said CFRB President, Maya MacGuineas, adding “Instead of avoiding new borrowing, this plan doubles down on it.”

  According to Howard Gleckman, senior Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center fellow, said it was “pretty clear” that “cutting this kind of IRS funding would actually increase the deficit.”

  “Instead of being an offset, it would actually make matters worse,” he argued. “The general rule of thumb that the budget scorekeepers use is it’s about 2-to-1. So if you cut IRS funding [by $14 billion to $15 billion], you’re actually going to increase the deficit by about $30 billion.”

  Whose rule of thumb? Is there anything back that statement?

  A ‘non starter’ anyway

  The House is expected to vote on the proposed funding on Thursday, however Democrats say it’s a “non-starter” ion the Senate.

  “If Republicans had an ounce of shame they wouldn’t condition support for Israel and Ukraine on giveaways to wealthy tax cheats. Making aid to Israel and Ukraine dependent on gutting IRS enforcement funding is an absolute nonstarter,” said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), the Senate Finance Committee Chair in a Tuesday statement.

  Mittens echoes neocon refrain

  “I don’t think you reduce the number of IRS agents then expect that you’re going to get more tax revenue,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) told The Hill.

  “I think reducing agents means less tax revenue,” he continued.

  The Treasury Department said earlier this month that the U.S. borrowed $1.7 trillion in the one-year period ending in late September, a spike over the previous year that Biden officials partly attributed to low revenue.

  The U.S. is currently running a $33 trillion debt, which spiked above its trend line during the pandemic as the government expanded major tax credit programs for lower earners and sent out checks to families while the economy was shut down.

  As part of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) passed last year by Democrats, the IRS was given an additional $80 billion in funding over the subsequent 10 years. That allotment would have increased revenues by around $200 billion for a net deficit reduction of around $114 billion, according to a CBO analysis. –The Hill

  Some Senate Republicans have endorsed the House measure, but acknowledge that the budgetary impact could pose a challenge.

  “If you’re looking for a pay-for, which they clearly are, I think it’s as good as one as there could be,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND).

  “The challenge you’re gonna have is a CBO score.”

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/01/2023 – 12:25

• Khamenei Calls On Muslim World To 'Stop Oil Exports' To Israel
  Khamenei Calls On Muslim World To ‘Stop Oil Exports’ To Israel

  Via The Cradle,

  Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei spoke about the Gaza-Israel during a meeting with a group of students at the Imam Khomeini Hussainiyah in Tehran on Wednesday, chastising Gulf Arab states for their complicity in Israeli aggression.  

  “What Muslim states must insist on is the immediate cessation of [Israeli] crimes in Gaza. They must promptly stop the bombardment of Gaza and stop the export of oil and other commodities to the Zionist regime,” Khamenei stressed.  

  

  “Muslim states must not cooperate economically with the Zionist regime but denounce these catastrophes and crimes vociferously and without hesitation in all international forums,” he added.  

  Khamenei also highlighted that the ongoing war is “between truth and falsehood, between the power of faith and the power of arrogance.” He added: “Of course, the power of arrogance comes with military pressure, bombardment, as well as calamities and crimes, but the power of faith will overcome all of these by God’s grace.”

  Khamenei also mentioned that Gaza is a “human movement” whose influence spread outside of the Levant.  

  “[The people of Gaza managed to] move the human conscience […] look what is happening in the world; in western countries, in Britain, France, Italy, and various US states, people come in large crowds to the streets and chant slogans against Israel and the US itself,” Khamenei added.  

  “It was an absolute disgrace for them, which they can neither recover from nor justify,” Khamenei said. “The Muslim world should not forget that all through the critical issue of Gaza, the [parties] which stood against Islam and the oppressed Palestinian nation was [the US], France and Britain.” 

  #Iran’s leader: Bombardements against #Gaza must stop immediately and the ways for oil and food exports to #Israeli regime must be blocked by Muslim countries, and they need not to have economic cooperation with Zionist regime. All Muslim world must mobilize against the regime. pic.twitter.com/5U7Y56Ykdq

  — Iran Nuances (@IranNuances) November 1, 2023

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  Speaking about the movements in the west, Khamenei touched on those who are blaming Iran for the protests, mockingly saying that “we see a fool coming and saying that the gathering of people in England to support the Palestinian people is the work of Iran.” 

  During his talks with the students of Iran, he looked back at the role played during the 1979 takeover of the US embassy in Iran, saying, “The US was disgraced. This was the blow of the Iranian nation to the US.”

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/01/2023 – 12:05

• Pfizer To Shut Down Two Facilities Amid Major Cost Cuts
  Pfizer To Shut Down Two Facilities Amid Major Cost Cuts

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

  Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer confirmed it will be closing down two of its facilities in North Carolina amid a cost-cutting initiative after it revealed that sales of its COVID-19 vaccine and other products would see a drop.

  

  The company told multiple local media outlets that it would be closing its sites in Durham and Morrisville, saying the closures are part of an effort “to operate more efficiently and effectively.”

  “As part of this effort, Pfizer has decided to close the Kit Creek facility in Morrisville … and the Durham Clinical Manufacturing Facility,” the company said, according to the Triangle Business Journal. “Pfizer continues to operate its largest North Carolina facilities, including two in Sanford and one in Rocky Mount.”

  It’s not clear how many workers would be impacted or laid off. The Epoch Times has contacted the company for comment Monday.

  “All job-related decisions will be made with transparency, compassion, and respect, and in compliance with applicable laws,” Pfizer told the News & Observer publication. And any employee who is impacted by the closures will be offered a “generous separation package,” Pfizer told ABC11 TV, or will be given the chance to apply for another position.

  Morrisville Mayor T.J. Cawley suggested that some workers might be laid off, according to the paper. Multiple Pfizer employees who had worked at the two North Carolina facilities listed the hashtag OpenToWork on their LinkedIn profiles in recent days.

  “Overall, I think our area is pretty well buffered from the economic downtown,” the mayor said. “Talent will always move around from company to company. We have such a strong talent pool that companies will keep coming here.”

  Before the closures were confirmed by the company, a number of unnamed Pfizer workers complained on social media that they would be getting laid off soon amid the company’s cost-cutting scheme. Posts alleged that Pfizer officials held a live stream with thousands of workers to announce the cuts earlier in October.

  Pfizer told Newsweek about a week ago that “we updated our plans last Friday in this release” and that “we are prepared to launch an enterprise-wide cost improvement program aligned with the longer-term revenue projections for our business. Details of this program will be shared over the coming months and as part of the full-year guidance for 2024.” Other details were not provided.

  Under federal regulations, employers have to file what’s known as a WARN Notice 60 days before closing down a site that impacts at least 50 workers. As of Monday, Pfizer hasn’t filed a WARN Notice regarding layoffs, according to the News & Observer, citing the state’s Department of Commerce website.

  Pfizer Lowers Guidance

  About 12 million people, or around 3.6 percent of the population, have gotten one of the latest booster shots, said Dr. Mandy Cohen, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), last week.

  

  “I think we’re on track. Would I love to see more? Of course, that’s my job as CDC director is to want more,” she told Politico.

  Earlier this month, the drug giant released a report saying it would slash its profit and revenue estimates for a full year due to lower demand for COVID-19 products, including its mRNA vaccine and anti-viral drug Paxlovid.

  It now expects 2023 sales of $58–61 billion, down from previous forecasts of $67–70 billion, said a report released Oct. 13. It’s down “solely due to its COVID products,” according to the report.

  Sales of its COVID-19 vaccine will be about $2 billion lower than was previously forecast, the company said. It comes after the company’s updated COVID-19 booster was made available by U.S. federal regulators in September, although uptake of the latest shot appears to be slow, according to federal health data.

  At the same time, Pfizer reduced its guidance for Paxlovid, an antiviral drug that targets COVID-19, by approximately $7 billion.

  “We remain proud that our scientific breakthroughs played a significant role in getting the global health crisis under control,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement Friday. “As we gain additional clarity around vaccination and treatment rates for COVID, we will be better able to estimate the appropriate level of supply to meet demand.”

  “We are in the middle of the COVID fatigue. Nobody wants to speak about COVID,” Mr. Bourla also said during a call earlier this month, according to CNBC. “We have the big anti-vaccination rhetoric.”

  Over the past month or so, Pfizer’s stock has dropped about 10 percent, to just above $30 per share as of Monday morning. Rival pharma Moderna, which also produces an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, has seen its stock drop by more than 29 percent over the past month, to $72 per share as of Monday.

  Hospitalizations for COVID-19 consistently to drop over the past several weeks after rising somewhat during the summer, according to data posted weekly by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Emergency room visits and case numbers have also dropped, the data show.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/01/2023 – 11:25

• Tesla Wins Court Battles In U.S., China, Over Alleged Autopilot Fatalities
  Tesla Wins Court Battles In U.S., China, Over Alleged Autopilot Fatalities

  Tesla has won its battle in court over a fatal Autopilot crash that killed a California driver four years ago. 

  A jury in Riverside, California sided with Tesla in a lawsuit which blamed Tesla’s Autopilot for the fatality. Passengers who had survived the accident were suing for $400 million for the death of the driver, as well as physical injury and mental anguish, Bloomberg reported this week. 

  It took the jury four days of deliberation to come to its decision. 

  The month-long Riverside trial centered on Micah Lee, whose 2019 Model 3 crashed into a tree in Southern California. While plaintiffs claimed an Autopilot defect caused the crash, Tesla argued Lee had been drinking and offered no proof that Autopilot was engaged, Bloomberg reported.

  At the trial’s outset, Tesla’s attorneys blamed “classic human error” for the accident. They presented a video of passenger Molander stating that both she and Lee had consumed alcohol at Downtown Disney in Anaheim before the crash. 

  

  Brian Jazaeri, Tesla’s senior litigation director, commented: “The jury’s conclusion was the right one. There was no evidence of a defect in our Autopilot technology. Tesla’s cars are well-designed and making the roads safer every day.”

  Plaintiff counsel Jonathan Michaels commented: “It’s undeniable that a national lens is now focused on this pressing matter. Tesla, despite its stature, was pushed to its limits during the trial. The jury’s prolonged deliberation suggests that the verdict still casts a shadow of uncertainty.”

  Talking about how the vehicle malfunctioned during the crash and sent a “excessive steering wheel angle command”, Michaels told the jury: “We know it’s not possible for a driver to have done this. We know Autopilot went crazy. We know this is a manufacturing defect.”

  Tesla’s lawyer, Michael Carey, dismissed allegations of an Autopilot flaw as “hot air,” asserting that evidence shows the car’s steering was manually altered. Carey emphasized to the jury that while Tesla sympathizes with Molander and her son, the company bears no responsibility for the incident.

  Separately this week, according to Shanghai Securities News and cited by Bloomberg, a Chinese court also found that Tesla was not at fault in a November 5, 2022 accident that occurred in Chaozhou in Guangdong province, which injured three people. 

  Bloomberg noted the following remaining cases still pending regarding Tesla’s Autopilot:

  

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/01/2023 – 11:05

• US Sends 300 More Troops To Middle East, Raising Total To 1,200
  US Sends 300 More Troops To Middle East, Raising Total To 1,200

  Authored by Andrew Thornebrooke via The Epoch Times,

  The United States will deploy 300 additional troops to the Middle East following several new attacks on U.S. and Coalition forces in Iraq and Syria, the Pentagon has announced.

  

  The forces will deploy to undisclosed locations in the Middle East outside of Israel, Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters on Oct. 31.

  The move follows the deployment of 900 troops to the region last week.

  While many of the troops sent last week were operating in air defense elements, the 300 now deploying will primarily focus on support tasks including communications and explosive ordnance disposal, Gen. Ryder said.

  The troops are intended to help the United States prevent the Israel-Hamas War from expanding into a regional conflict, as well as to prevent further attacks on U.S. service members.

  “They are intended to support regional deterrence efforts and further bolster U.S. force protection capabilities,” Gen. Ryder said.

  New Attacks by Iran-Backed Groups

  Gen. Ryder said that there were 27 attacks on U.S. troops by Iran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria throughout October.

  “Right now, we’re tracking a total of 27 attacks,” Gen. Ryder said. “16 in Iraq, 11 in Syria.”

  The Pentagon has frequently claimed that the attacks are a separate issue from the ongoing Israel-Hamas War in Gaza, but Iran and the other groups involved have stated that they will increase their attacks on U.S. troops should Israel pursue a full-fledged invasion of Gaza.

  “I think it’s important to differentiate what Iranian proxies and Iran might be saying and the perspective that we bring to this,” Gen. Ryder said. “Our forces are in Iraq and Syria for one purpose, which is the enduring defeat of ISIS.”

  “This is separate and distinct from the situation in Israel, between Israel and Hamas.”

  The attacks in Iraq and Syria have resulted in wounds to at least 21 American service members, including 19 who were diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries. All have since returned to duty.

  In addition to the growing number of rocket and drone attacks on U.S. and Coalition bases, several medium-range cruise missiles were launched by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

  The USS Carney shot down four such missiles in the Red Sea on Oct. 19.

  Pentagon leadership said that the missiles were headed north, possibly towards Israel, but that they were shot down because they were deemed a threat to the vessel.

  “We cannot say for certain what these missiles and drones were targeting, but they were launched from Yemen heading north along the Red Sea, potentially toward targets in Israel,” Gen. Ryder said at the time.

  The United States launched two retaliatory strikes over the weekend on facilities in Syria associated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which the United States designates as a terror organization.

  The escalating conflict follows an unprecedented attack on Israel on Oct. 7, when Islamist terrorists murdered more than 1,400 Israelis, abducted women and children, and engaged in acts of torture.

  Experts have warned that the Hamas terrorist organization, which receives funding and training from Iran, seeks to unleash an international conflict that will encourage more violence against Israel and the United States.

  The Biden administration has said that it retains the right to retaliate against Iran at a time and in a manner of its own choosing.

  “We know that these groups are funded, trained, and sponsored by the Iranian government,” Gen. Ryder said. “And we hold the Iranian government responsible.”

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/01/2023 – 10:45

• WTI Holds Gains After Small Crude Build, Cushing Just Off 'Tank Bottoms'
  WTI Holds Gains After Small Crude Build, Cushing Just Off ‘Tank Bottoms’

  Oil prices surged overnight, recovering all of yesterday’s losses after EIA made substantial upward demand revisions in its monthly reports (again) to the highest in four years. This combined with renewed war premia amid continuing escalations in the middle east with further incursions by Israel into Gaza and threats from Iran calling for exports of oil and goods from Muslim nations to Israel to stop.

  On the bright side, some foreigners and Palestinians were allowed to leave Gaza for the first time since Israel began its ground invasion on Wednesday.

  Also on the bearish oil side, manufacturing in China, the world’s biggest oil importer, fell back into contraction last month.

  So what will this morning’s official inventory and production data show?

  API

  • Crude +1.35mm (+500k exp)

  • Cushing +375k

  • Gasoline -357k (-500k exp)

  • Distillates -2.48mm (-1.9mm exp)

  DOE

  • Crude +773k (+500k exp)

  • Cushing +272k

  • Gasoline +65k (-500k exp)

  • Distillates -792k (-1.9mm exp)

  Crude inventories rose – very marginally – for the second straight week and stocks at Cushing also rose (against de minimously). Distillates saw the only notable draw – 5th week in a row…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  The SPR was left untouched for the 4th week in a row…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  Cushing remains barely off tank bottoms…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  US Crude production was steady at record highs (13.2mm b/d) as the rig count trends lower…

  

  Source: Bloomberg

  WTI was hovering around $83 and leaked lower after the print…

  

  We note that today’s bounce in WTI occurred right the 100DMA…

  

  Additionally, oil options are tentatively pricing in a smaller risk of escalation in the Middle East as a result of the Gaza war.

  As Bloomberg reports, a rare so-called call skew emerged – and then became extreme – in oil options trading in the days after the war began. It meant traders were willing to pay more for protection against prices spiking than for insurance against a slump.

  

  But, as the chart shows, while the skew remains, it has reduced significantly – indicating less confidence that the war will spread/escalate.

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/01/2023 – 10:40

• US Job Openings Unexpectedly Rose For A Second Month To 9.6 Million, Beating Estimates
  US Job Openings Unexpectedly Rose For A Second Month To 9.6 Million, Beating Estimates

  After today’s below-estimate ADP report, and the disappointing Manufacturing ISM index where the employment number tumbled into contraction from 51.2 to 46.8 – the second lowest since the covid crash – all eyes were on the September JOLTS report for additional insight into Friday’s jobs report. However, those expecting a big outlier print were to be disappointed after the BLS reported that in September, the number of job openings rose modestly by 56K, from a 9.497MM August print (which of course was revised lower from the original 9.610MM number, which as a reminder was driven by a staggering – and goalseeked0 – 35% increase in professional and business services job openings) to 9.553MM…

  

  … above consensus estimates of a 9.4MM print.

  

  According to the BLS, job openings increased in accommodation and food services (+141,000) and in arts, entertainment, and recreation (+39,000); job openings decreased in other services (-124,000), federal government (-43,000), and information (-41,000).

  

  As for last month’s “surge” in professional services job openings, it looks like we are back to reality.

  

  The 2nd consecutive increase in the number of job openings meant that in September the number of job openings was 3.193 million more than the number of unemployed workers, the highest since June and reversing the last three months of normalization in the labor market.

  

  Curiously, despite the recent surge in job openings, the concurrent increase in unemployed workers (which in September rose to 6.36 million), meant that the number of job openings for every unemployed worker was virtually unchanged for the 3rd month at 1.50.

  

  And while the paradoxical continued increase in job openings at a time when even the ISM institute is saying that the latest Manufacturing print implied a -0.7% Q4 GDP, remained a head-scratcher one certainly could not see a similar euphoria in the other data points tracked by the JOLTS reported, starting with the number of quits, which dropped in September to 3.661 million, down from 3.663 million, and far below the quitting frenzy observed in late 2021/early 2022 when 4.5 million workers quit their jobs every month.

  

  Furthermore, while the DOL goalseeked job openings higher, it forgot to do the same to not only quits but also hires; in fact, hires rose a tiny 21K to 5.5871 million, also just barely above the lowest level since March 2021.

  

  And while we have previously discussed the chronic fabrication of job openings data by the BLS, which goes against all private surveys, we are confident that when the Biden admin finally falls and some enterprising forensic accountant digs to find out just where all these bullshit numbers came from, what they will find is some political hack at the BLS/DOL claiming that it’s not their fault, but rather that it’s the response rate. And indeed, as the BLS itself indicates, the response rate to most of its various labor (and other) surveys has collapsed in recent years, nothing is as bad as the JOLTS report where the actual response rate has tumbled to a record low 31%

  

  In other words, more than two thirds, or 70% of the final number of job openings, is estimated!

  And at a time when it is critical for Biden to still maintain the illusion that at least the labor market remains strong when everything else in Biden’s economy is crashing and burning (or soaring as is the case of inflation) we’ll let readers decide if the admin’s Labor Department is plugging the estimate gap with numbers that are stronger or weaker.

  As for the market, it appears to also have given up on any signaling information from JOLTS because unlike last month when yields spiked on the JOLTS report, today’s increase in job openings had exactly zero impact on rates, which dropped to session lows, focusing far more on the ugly ISM employment number and the ADP miss, while completely ignoring the JOLTS data.

  

   

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/01/2023 – 10:29

• Bankman-Fried Admits To Wining And Dining With Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, In Last Day Of Testimony
  Bankman-Fried Admits To Wining And Dining With Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, In Last Day Of Testimony

  The end to Sam Bankman-Fried’s time on the witness stand at his own trial was, to say the least, unceremonious.

  On the last day of his cross-examination, Tuesday, SBF testified that he was aware in 2020 that FTX’s customer funds were stored in a bank account managed by its affiliate, hedge fund Alameda Research, according to CNN. He also stated he doesn’t remember instructing Alameda staff to secure those funds.

  US Assistant Attorney Danielle Sassoon also pointed out SBF’s hobnobbing with the political elite and members of the Bahamian government, CNN noted. 

  In his testimony, Bankman-Fried said he dined with the prime minister of the island, as well as former U.S. President Bill Clinton and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.

  

  After FTX temporarily halted customer withdrawals during a liquidity crisis last November, he testified that he briefly reinstated withdrawals for Bahamian customers. SBF also stated that he doesn’t remember instructing Alameda staff to avoid using FTX customer deposits.

  Then, despite later finding out in fall 2022 that Alameda owed FTX $8 billion, no one was terminated as a result, he testified. 

  AUSA Sassoon: And that was you, at the event with the Bahamas Prime Minister, Katy Perry, Bill Clinton, Tony Blair and Orlando Bloom?
  SBF: Yup.
  AUSA: And you allowed the Bahamas PM to withdraw his funds?
  SBF: Another member of the government, I think

  — Inner City Press (@innercitypress) October 31, 2023

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

  Finally, on Tuesday, Mark Cohen, Bankman-Fried’s lawyer, allowed him to elaborate on the FTX-Alameda relationship. SBF stated that after stepping down as Alameda’s CEO, he reduced his involvement but remained engaged in its financial updates, venture investments, and crucial hedging decisions, which he viewed as vital for the firm’s survival.

  “I was essentially uninvolved with those core operations,” he claimed. 

  Judge Lewis Kaplan said at about lunchtime Tuesday: “That concludes the presentation of evidence in this case.”

  Closing arguments are slated for Wednesday.

   

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/01/2023 – 10:15

Digest powered by RSS Digest

• Polish Trucks Threaten To Block Border-Crossings With Ukraine
  Polish Trucks Threaten To Block Border-Crossings With Ukraine

  Via Remix News,

  Polish truckers believe that relaxed regulations towards non-EU registered HGVs have given Ukrainian companies the edge over Poles…

  

  Polish truckers are threatening to block all border crossings with Ukraine starting in November due to excessive competition after the liberalization of international transport between Ukraine and the European Union.

  From November, Polish truckers will initiate protests and blockades at the Ukrainian border crossings in a move that threatens to disrupt border traffic potentially until the end of the year.

  The announcement was made on social media by “Ukravtoprom,” the Association of Motor Vehicle Producers of Ukraine, citing the International Transport Association of Ukraine.

  “The protest action is planned for a period of two months. The reason for the protests is the excessive competition after the liberalization of international transport between Ukraine and EU countries,” the message read.

  Polish truckers argue that relaxed regulations towards non-EU registered HGVs have given Ukrainian companies the edge over Poles, experts from the International Transport Association of Ukraine revealed.

  …

  Read more here…

  Tyler Durden
  Wed, 11/01/2023 – 02:00

• The Writing’s On The Great Wall For A China Crash
  The Writing’s On The Great Wall For A China Crash

  Authored by James Gorrie via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  As the saying goes, if you want to know what’s really going on, follow the money. That catchphrase doesn’t just apply to foreign companies and investors backing out of China. It also applies to the Chinese economy.

  

  A No-Confidence Vote

  In the midst of widespread economic duress and growing social disruption, following the money trail shows how Chinese investors are voting with their wallets.

  Consumer spending is down, and the savings rate is up.

  Capital is flowing out of China any way it can, and it all amounts to a definite no-confidence vote for Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

  The CCP Tries to Hide the Facts

  In true CCP fashion, the state puts the blame for its failed policies on those who point them out. Anyone who mentions the crumbling economy, for example, is guilty of creating “financial stability.” Even though the CCP would consider prosecuting journalists and economists who report accurately about the falling employment numbers and the high debt levels that plague local governments, China’s worsening economic conditions are too dramatic and widespread to hide.

  Of course, financial stability isn’t threatened by people talking about it. It’s the CCP that’s destroying the economy. Even recent history shows that the less involved the Party is in the economy, the better it performs.

  The property market and the development sector are perfect examples, though not the only ones. Both continue to be heavily manipulated by the CCP, and both are hemorrhaging value, as financial ruin in flagship companies such as Evergrande and Country Garden contribute to deteriorating conditions in the wider economy. Completed projects that remain unsold are being demolished, work on existing projects is being halted, and other development plans are being canceled, even as the development companies owe billions to creditors.

  More Than a Cyclical Downturn

  The reality of what’s happening is starting to dawn on the Chinese. Many understand that the current trend is much more than a cyclical downturn, which is typical of capitalist economies. Growth in the second quarter of 2023 was reported to be only 0.8 percent. Still, that statistic is hardly trustworthy in a country that runs on graft and political favors and routinely fudges the numbers. The reported third-quarter gain of 4.9 percent is touted but not believable, given the real estate collapse, falling consumer spending, and lower exports.

  Going forward, as the CCP takes more control, a stagnant economy may be the best-case scenario. Jobs in property development, related industries, and manufacturing sectors are all struggling as foreign companies leave China’s shores.

  

  A Stagnating Middle Class

  Meanwhile, individual investors, mostly from the middle class—who put their life savings into properties that aren’t even built and likely won’t ever be built—are seeing their wealth evaporate before their eyes as valuations crater.

  This stagnation is primarily due to two factors: internal policies and external ones. Internally, an economy based on graft and corruption rather than one based on market signals—such as the price mechanism that allocates resources and assets where they’re most needed in the economy—can’t sustain itself. Thus, turning profitable private enterprises into debt-ridden state-owned enterprises, which is a euphemism for confiscation by the CCP, has destroyed entrepreneurship—the economic engine of China.

  Add to that the CCP’s fundamental shift from economic growth to internal security and stability. It’s a vicious cycle wherein more Party control results in less economic activity, financial duress, and civil discontent. The Party then doubles down on more state control and more oppression.

  In short, the Party is more concerned with maintaining its grip on power than it is with growing the economy or supporting the middle class.

  Companies Are Fleeing ‘Uninvestible’ China

  But there are external factors, or consequences, as well.

  Over the past year, the flight of Western manufacturers out of China has accelerated. American and European firms are seeing the writing on the wall. They see the world’s growing disenchantment with Beijing’s trade and foreign policies, with many anticipating a decline in economic stability and a greater degree of decoupling from China in the foreseeable future. As a result, they’re relocating their operations out of China to friendlier nations.

  ‘Friendshoring’ Making Things Worse

  This trend is known as “friendshoring.” In essence, countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia, India, and Mexico are capturing companies exiting China. They offer less political risk, friendlier trade policies, lower labor costs, and are closer to markets. Barring any major shifts in Chinese leadership, companies leaving China are unlikely to return, which is a growing economic and financial gap for the CCP to fill.

  Youth Unemployment Rate at Record High

  

  Other symptoms of the collapse are evident, such as the soaring unemployment rate for young people. It is now a reported 20 percent, but counting those who live with their parents for financial reasons, it’s likely approaching 50 percent. Underemployment makes that picture even worse, which is leading to an angry younger generation. Disaffected youth who see no good options for a better future can be a volatile force to reckon with.

  The Race to Exit Chinese Real Estate

  All of these reasons and others are why some wealthy Chinese have been selling their China properties as quickly as they can. They’re desperately trying to move their money out of China and invest abroad before the value of their Chinese real estate holdings loses even more value. They know the trajectory of the Chinese economy and want out.

  Many are buying real estate in Japan.

  It’s not just proximity attracting Chinese investors to Japanese real estate, although that is a significant factor. Another enticement is that owning real estate (or a profitable business) in Japan can lead to long-term or even permanent residency visas. That gives Chinese investors an easy way out of the country to avoid the coming meltdown, as well as avoiding the iron hand of the CCP.

  The “China miracle” is no more.

  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, 10/31/2023 – 23:45

• Gazans Face 'Daunting' Task Of Finding Water As Bombs Fall, Disease Spreading
  Gazans Face ‘Daunting’ Task Of Finding Water As Bombs Fall, Disease Spreading

  Via Middle East Eye,

  Weeks after Israel followed through with its threat to cut water supplies to Gaza, Palestinians living in the besieged territory are struggling to survive without the basic necessities. Residents of the area currently being bombarded by Israeli warplanes told Middle East Eye that obtaining water has become a “daily ordeal”, and they fear the spread of disease with a number of residents already dealing with stomach ailments and other illnesses.

  Israel cut off water supply to Gaza shortly after the October 7 attack by Hamas-led Palestinian fighters on southern Israel. During the attack, around 1,400 Israelis died and more than 220 were taken captive. At least 8,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s retaliation for the assault. Israeli authorities conditioned the resumption of water supplies on the return of the hostages, but has also attacked other means of water delivery and sewage treatment in the territory, such as desalination plants.

  

  “Our access to water, be it for drinking or cleaning, has diminished significantly. The quest for even a modest amount of fresh water has become a daily ordeal,” said Osama al-Baz, a displaced Palestinian in Gaza. Baz’s family were forced to leave their home in northern Gaza on October 13 after Israel warned civilians living there that they were not safe.

  They now live with friends in the south of the region, where they are part of a group of 20, including several elderly people and six young children. Calling Israel’s policies a form of “collective punishment”, Baz said getting “basic necessities such as water and food has become a daunting task”.

  “On the few occasions when water is available, we rush with buckets and containers, hoping to salvage what we can. Every chance to obtain water feels like it could be the last. “On the rare occasions when we do obtain water, we prioritize the needs of the most vulnerable among us: the elderly, the infirm, and the children,” he said.

  “There have been times when, out of sheer desperation, we consumed water that was clearly unfit for drinking for several days.” Baz explained that taking such risks with water exposed those in his group to illnesses, such as dehydration, stomach ailments and diarrhoea.

  Showers have become a “luxury” for Baz’s group and there is barely enough water to clean bathrooms.

  ‘Disease outbreak’

  Baz’s descriptions correspond with those of other Palestinians in the area. Tens of thousands from the northern areas of Gaza have moved south to comply with the Israeli army’s orders. The south of the territory remains an active warzone with frequent Israeli attacks on the area.

  Continued bombardment and consequent damage to infrastructure, coupled with the resource strain that has emerged from the mass displacement of Palestinians from northern Gaza, means there are already huge shortages that make it near impossible to carry out the basic functions of life.

  Wisam, a Gaza resident, told Middle East Eye that he had initially moved from Gaza City to the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in the south to seek refuge with relatives.

  “There was no water available, to the extent that going to the bathroom became a strenuous task. We had to bring water in a bucket to the bathroom, if we found any, and use the least amount possible. We force ourselves to avoid going to the bathroom as much as we can,” he said. “We bathe the children only, using the most meagre amounts of water,” Wisam added.

  

  His family then returned to Gaza City and specifically to Al-Quds Hospital, which Israel has repeatedly demanded the evacuation of. “The scene there was nothing short of harrowing,” Wisam said.

  “Clean water was a rarity, and basic sanitation seemed a distant memory. Hundreds of people were crammed into tight spaces, using communal bathrooms without adequate sanitation facilities. 

  “I fear that the hospital is turning into a hotspot for disease outbreaks, given the cramped conditions and dwindling supplies,” he added.

  ‘Scratching incessantly’

  Of course, journalists working on the ground in Gaza know first-hand the difficulties of getting water. Middle East Eye contributor Mohammed al-Hajjar described how Israeli attacks on water pumps had ensured the only water coming through was that which was tainted by sea water and pollution.

  Gaza’s residents had previously installed filters at these pumps so that a majority of impurities were removed for use besides drinking. “This water was okay for bathing or washing dishes, and you could use it for ablutions (wudhu), but it wasn’t really drinkable,” Hajjar said.

  “Now, with the filters non-operational and the pumps barely working, that dirty water is back in our homes.” The effects, Hajjar said, were immediate. 

  “My skin started showing inflammations, especially where I washed or performed ablutions. My children have the same reaction. It looks like mosquito bites but it isn’t. Washing our hair with this water results in intense itching, especially on the scalp and hands.

  “I’ve resorted to a moisturizing cream with an anasthetic for my children to stop them from scratching incessantly. My wife has the same issues. In fact, almost all of my family, 14 of us in total, suffer from this.”

  Hajjar said his wife was showing signs of illness including “fever and a yellowish tint to her skin”. Seeking medical help though was out of the question, as hospitals and clinics are stretched to their limits trying to save victims of Israel’s bombing campaign. “We’re trying to self-treat, we’re doing our best.” 

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/31/2023 – 23:25

• False Claims Haunt Family Of Woman Who Died On Jan. 6
  False Claims Haunt Family Of Woman Who Died On Jan. 6

  Authored by Joseph M. Hanneman via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours)

  Thirty-three months after their daughter Rosanne Boyland’s tragic death at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Bret and Cheryl Boyland feel new pain every time a media outlet publishes the false claim that their daughter died of a drug overdose.

  

  On Oct. 12, a prominent national newspaper wrote that Ms. Boyland “died of what was determined to be a methamphetamine overdose.”

  Within a day, that claim spread all over the internet, even appearing as a snippet on the website of the Merriam-Webster dictionary under the word “die.” A week later, the newspaper corrected the error, but the family said the damage was done—again.

  The article brought to the surface new pain for the Boylands, whose daughter died in Washington at age 34 after collapsing in the Lower West Terrace tunnel.

  News outlets have routinely claimed that Ms. Boyland died of a drug overdose.

  In April 2021, a popular news website’s headline blared “Capitol Rioter Rosanne Boyland Died of Drug Overdose, Not Trampling.” The same day, a prominent news magazine stated that Ms. Boyland “died as a result of a drug overdose.” A British tabloid used the same wording in its coverage.

  The official cause of death was listed as amphetamine toxicity from her prescription medication Adderall. The manner of death was an accident.

  The Boylands challenged the amphetamine finding, eventually hiring an independent forensic pathologist who said Ms. Boyland most likely died of compressional asphyxia, not from Adderall or illegal drugs.

  Getting anyone to listen has been a never-ending battle.

  “We knew from the early morning of January 7 that somehow the cause of death would be listed as drug-related,” Cheryl Boyland told The Epoch Times. “Both the medical examiner’s office and the detective said to expect a fentanyl overdose. We told them that was impossible, but they continued to insist on it.”

  The fentanyl theory was due to the presence of fluid in Ms. Boyland’s lungs, according to a Jan. 7, 2021, Metropolitan Police Department report. The theory was wrong, as toxicology tests would prove a few months later.

  Ms. Boyland didn’t use fentanyl or street drugs. She had battled addiction earlier in her life but had been clean and sober for five years when the Jan. 6, 2021, overdose accusations began.

  “For anyone like Rosanne or their family members who helped fight through addiction battles for years, to be falsely reported as dying of an overdose is about the worst slap in the face anyone could get,” Mr. Boyland told The Epoch Times. “To take it a step further and to see a lot of journalists say she died of a meth overdose is an even worse slap in the face.”

  Ms. Boyland had taken the prescription medication Adderall, a stimulant that’s used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, for 10 years without complication, her parents said.

  Adderall is used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; Ms. Boyland had taken the medication for 10 years without complications, her parents said. The stimulant is made up of four amphetamine salts.

  Methamphetamine—a highly addictive and potent stimulant—isn’t the same drug as Adderall.

  Meth is one of the most widely abused controlled substances in the United States. Its illegal use has driven a steep increase in overdose deaths over the past decade. Much of the illegal supply of meth comes from criminal gangs in Mexico, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

  When the District of Columbia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled that Ms. Boyland died of “acute amphetamine intoxication,” the Boylands challenged the conclusion, but their concerns were ignored by the medical examiner’s office, they said.

  The Boylands said that Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Francisco Diaz told them that the “results of the autopsy were not clear-cut” and that the only thing that they could “all agree upon” as a cause of death was Ms. Boyland’s prescription of Adderall.

  “We asked him to include the term ‘prescription’ because others would believe she died from a meth overdose,” Mrs. Boyland said.

  “He responded that everyone knows the difference between amphetamine and methamphetamine. Our family knew better.”

  

  Victory Over Addiction

  There was a time in Ms. Boyland’s life when she used heroin and crystal meth. Her parents said she worked very hard to get clean.

  “Rosanne spent a long time in treatment, trying to overcome her addictions,” Mrs. Boyland said. “She dedicated herself to helping others. Her friends have countless stories about her support during their trying times. Many of them relied on her to be strong.

  “During her memorial service, we emphasized that she did not relapse, not only for Rosanne’s reputation, but so that her friends wouldn’t give up and relapse.”

  The Boylands said their daughter would have taken her morning dose of Adderall at about 7 a.m. on Jan. 6, 2021.

  There’s no evidence that Ms. Boyland was ailing or impaired when she and her friend Justin Winchell attended President Donald Trump’s speech at the Ellipse or when they walked to the U.S. Capitol after 1 p.m. that day.

  A video clip of Ms. Boyland ascending the stairs from the Capitol’s West Plaza to the Lower West Terrace that afternoon showed her smiling from behind her American flag sunglasses. She didn’t appear ill.

  “It’s impossible for her to have taken her medication about 7 a.m., walk around fine all day long, then overdose in the late afternoon without taking any more medication,” Mrs. Boyland said. “The medical examiner’s office refused to answer us about that. The blood sample used for toxicology tests was taken from an area [of the body] known to give inaccurate results—probably deliberately.”

  The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) declined to comment on the issues that were raised by the Boylands.

  The department “does not release information or discuss cases with the media beyond the release of an official statement as to cause and manner of death, which was previously done in this case,” Rodney K. Adams, OCME chief counsel, wrote in a statement to The Epoch Times. “This is based on the District’s privacy statute and out of respect for the privacy of the survivors.”

  New Cause of Death

  In April 2022, the Boylands hired forensics consultant group Park Dietz & Associates to do a comprehensive review of the autopsy and its conclusions. A new autopsy wasn’t possible because Ms. Boyland’s body was cremated.

  A board-certified forensic pathologist from Park Dietz ruled out amphetamine intoxication as the proximate cause of death but said it might have been a secondary contributing factor.

  “There was no evidence of illicit drug use,” the forensic pathologist wrote. “The finding of amphetamine in her postmortem blood and gastric contents is consistent with her prescribed use of Adderall, which is a combination drug containing four amphetamine salts.”

  The concentration of amphetamine in Ms. Boyland’s blood was elevated, the doctor wrote, but other factors could explain this finding.

  “Ms. Boyland’s obesity may have potentiated the storage of the drug in her body tissues,” the pathologist wrote, “and blood from the inferior vena cava is not the optimal specimen for testing for amphetamines, which may be subject to postmortem redistribution.”

  The pathologist said Ms. Boyland’s cause of death was compressional asphyxia, “a situation in which pressure exerted on the chest or back of an individual impedes normal breathing and often leaves no diagnostic physical findings.”

  The pathologist said Ms. Boyland’s surroundings at the time of her collapse can’t be ignored.

  Police had deployed an unknown gas into the tunnel at about 4:20 p.m., two minutes after Ms. Boyland walked into the structure, security footage shows. Witnesses described a sensation of the oxygen being sucked out of the atmosphere. The crowd panicked and ran to escape the tunnel.

  

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/31/2023 – 23:05

• Judge Blocks Biden Administration From Damaging Razor Wire Along US–Mexico Border
  Judge Blocks Biden Administration From Damaging Razor Wire Along US–Mexico Border

  Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  The Biden administration must stop cutting and otherwise damaging razor wire that Texas has placed along the U.S.–Mexico border, a federal judge ruled on Oct. 30.

  

  U.S. officials mustn’t remove the wire or tamper with it, U.S. District Judge Alia Moses said as she entered a temporary restraining order.

  The exception is in cases of medical emergencies that would “most likely” result in serious bodily injury or death to a person, provided no “live-saving apparatus” is available, Judge Moses, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, wrote in her ruling.

  The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which includes border agents, told news outlets it doesn’t comment on pending litigation but would comply with the order.

  “Generally speaking, Border Patrol agents have a responsibility under federal law to take those who have crossed onto U.S. soil without authorization into custody for processing,” the agency said.

  Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, called the ruling “another win for Texas and our historic border mission.”

  The wire was put into place as the governor’s effort, called Operation Lone Star, to strengthen border security.

  “Biden created this crisis and has tried to block us at every turn. Attorney General Paxton and I are pushing back,” Mr. Abbott wrote on X.

  Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, another Republican, sued the Biden administration earlier in October for tampering with the barriers.

  The temporary order is in place until Nov. 13, unless the court extends it.

  The government is prohibited from removing the wire, concealing it, offering it to another person, selling it, and tampering with it.

  A hearing on the bid from Texas for a preliminary injunction is scheduled for Nov. 7.

  

  Damaging the Wire

  Mr. Paxton said in his complaint that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents were damaging the wire to allow thousands of illegal immigrants to enter Texas.

  “Federal agents not only cut Texas’s concertina wire, but also attach ropes or cables from the back of pickup trucks to ease aliens’ ability to illegally climb up the riverbank into Texas. And they regularly cut new openings in the wire fence, sometimes immediately after Texas officers have placed new wire to plug up gaps in fencing barriers,” Mr. Paxton said.

  Several days later, Texas officials asked for the temporary restraining order, pointing to how federal agents had used a forklift on Oct. 26 to hold up some of the wire so that a group of hundreds of immigrants could cross the border.

  “This brazen escalation by defendants is an affront not only to Texas, but also to this court, which already had pending before it a motion for a preliminary injunction,” the officials said. “This court should immediately grant a temporary restraining order to enjoin defendants from continuing to damage, destroy, or otherwise meddle with Texas’s concertina wire fence until the court can rule on the state’s preliminary-injunction motion. Alternatively, this court could simply grant a preliminary injunction in light of defendants’ willful misconduct.”

  In a notice to the court on Oct. 28, the officials said federal agents damaged another portion of the fence. Texas Military Department officer Roberto Ortiz Diaz attested to witnessing federal agents using a forklift to flatten the fence, letting dozens of illegal immigrants into Texas.

  “While the operator was flattening the concertina wire, I observed no medical emergencies among the migrant[s] crossing the river, and I am not aware of any reason for [CBP] agents to flatten the concertina wire other than to allow an easier entry path for migrants arriving in the United States,” Mr. Diaz said.

  Federal officials hadn’t yet responded to the various filings as of press time.

  

  Likely to Succeed

  Judge Moses said Texas was likely to succeed in its claim that federal officials violated a law that prevents people from trespassing to interfere with a person’s property.

  Texas has established that it owns the wires, she said. And multiple officials have said that they witnessed federal officials tamper with the barriers.

  “Third and finally, the plaintiff established that the defendants lacked permission to interfere with the wires,” she said.

  Judge Moses said that because she determined that Texas was likely to succeed in one of its claims, she need not analyze its other claims.

  The other claims include illegally exercising dominion over another’s private property and acting in excess of statutory jurisdiction.

  The case is Texas v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security et al. It’s being heard in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/31/2023 – 22:25

• 'Mystery' Blast Rocks One Of Russia's Largest Ammo Manufacturing Plants
  ‘Mystery’ Blast Rocks One Of Russia’s Largest Ammo Manufacturing Plants

  An explosion of unknown cause has rocked one of Russia’s largest ammunition manufacturing plants, according to officials in central Russia’s Perm region, which lies about 1,000km east of Moscow.

  “Windows and doors were broken [but] there are no victims, there is no threat to the populace,” a statement said. “The incident did not affect the plant’s production process.”

  ⚡️An explosion occurred at a military factory in Russia’s #Perm Krai.

  The incident took place at the building of the Solikamsk plant “Ural,” one of the largest military-industrial factories in Russia. They produce various military ammunition and explosives there. pic.twitter.com/q18ASsVWzw

  — KyivPost (@KyivPost) October 31, 2023

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  Throughout more than a year-and-a-half of war, there have been dozens of similar incidents at various Russian facilities ranging from military warehouses to oil facilities to electrical grid stations and energy pipelines.

  Both Ukrainian and US media have at times admitted some of these instances are part of a covert Ukrainian sabotage campaign with the assistance of Western intelligence. So naturally, when a new explosion happens, there’s an immediate question of whether it is connected to sabotage, or an industrial accident. 

  The new incident, resulting in apparent damage to the Solikamsk Plant Ural, is raising eyebrows also given it’s a facility under Russian defense giant Rostec: 

  Images shared on social media appeared to show a plume of smoke rising from the plant following the blast, but The Moscow Times could not independently verify the photos. 

  An unnamed local emergency official told the news website Podyom that the explosion did not cause a fire or impact work at the plant.

  “All in all, the situation is calm,” the official said. Solikamsk Plant Ural, part of the defense conglomerate Rostec, is one of Russia’s largest manufacturers of gunpowder and explosives.

  Earlier this month, at a time the globe’s attention has by and large been completely focused on events in Gaza, The Washington Post published a bombshell report openly admitting that the CIA is actively running covert ops inside Russia, which has included the killing of journalist and geopolitical commentator Darya Dugina.

  Russia is ramping up production capacity and building military plants across the country

  This is reported by journalists of the project “Schemes”. They produce and repair tactical and strategic airplanes, attack helicopters, as well as assemble drones and ammunition. pic.twitter.com/rNOSppljtB

  — NEXTA (@nexta_tv) October 26, 2023

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  The report stunningly laid out that as part of this shadow war, “The missions have involved elite teams of Ukrainian operatives drawn from directorates that were formed, trained, and equipped in close partnership with the CIA, according to current and former Ukrainian and US officials. Since 2015, the CIA has spent tens of millions of dollars to transform Ukraine’s Soviet-formed services into potent allies against Moscow, officials said.”

  Whether this latest blast is part of this covert ops program or not (perhaps just a ‘normal’ accident?), it will certainly be a plausible question in the minds of the Russians.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/31/2023 – 22:05

• Stroke Could Be Transmissible, Study Finds
  Stroke Could Be Transmissible, Study Finds

  Authored by George Citroner via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  For decades, stress shouldered the blame for painful stomach ulcers. But in 1982, doctors made a groundbreaking discovery: A specific type of bacteria was the real culprit.

  Now, scientists are peering through microscopes again, but this time, they are searching for evidence that suggests blood transfusions may contribute to strokes, a leading cause of death and long-term disability.

  

  Common Cause for Stroke May Be Transmissible via Blood

  A new study found that blood transfusions from donors who later developed multiple spontaneous brain bleeds were associated with a slightly higher risk of hemorrhagic stroke in recipients. This suggests a potential link between blood-borne factors and a type of stroke-causing blood vessel damage in the brain.

  Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is the second leading cause of spontaneous hemorrhagic stroke and is associated with deposits of defective beta-amyloid proteins in the walls of blood vessels in the brain, making them fragile and subject to rupture, leading to strokes and cognitive decline.

  Research recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found evidence that CAA exhibits “prion-like” transmissivity. Prion disease was previously associated with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly called mad cow disease, a brain disorder in cattle that can potentially be transmitted to humans through contaminated meat. There has been evidence that the condition can transmitted to people by pituitary hormones gathered from cadavers contaminated with amyloid-beta and tau proteins.

  Scientists theorized that blood transfusions may carry the same risk as exposure to contaminated meat.

  To test this theory, researchers conducted a cohort study using nationwide blood bank and health data from over 1 million patients in Sweden and Denmark aged 5 to 80. All had received a red blood cell transfusion between Jan. 1, 1970 (Sweden) or Jan. 1, 1980 (Denmark) and Dec. 31, 2017.

  The study found that patients transfused with blood from donors who later developed multiple spontaneous brain bleeds had a significantly higher risk of hemorrhagic stroke than those receiving blood from donors without bleeds.

  However, no increased stroke risk was seen in recipients of blood from donors who had just a single bleed after transfusion.

  The authors suggest these findings indicate a potential “transfusion-transmissible agent” may be associated with certain spontaneous strokes. They described the increased stroke risk of 2.3 percent in recipients of blood from multi-bleed donors as a “novel finding.”

  A Similar Association Found With Alzheimer’s

  Though not directly analyzed, the study found a similar increased dementia risk in blood recipients from donors who had a single stroke after donation.

  In an editorial accompanying the study, Dr. Steven Greenberg, professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, wrote the study’s methodology rigorously supports the findings.

  “Even a modest increase in hazard of future brain hemorrhages or dementia conferred by an uncommon—but as of now undetectable—donor trait would represent a substantial public health concern,” Dr. Greenberg wrote.

  This underscores the seriousness of undetected traits that could be transmitted through donors, highlighting the importance of identifying these factors to protect tens of millions of people. After all, someone in the United States needs blood every two seconds.

  How Bleeding in the Brain Is Treated

  Treatment depends on the type of injury to the brain, Dr. Theodore Strange, chair of medicine at Staten Island University Hospital, part of Northwell Health in New York, told The Epoch Times.

  If bleeding is from a fall causing a subdural hematoma, it can often be managed nonsurgically or with a simple burr hole procedure, he added. This is a procedure where tiny holes are drilled into the skull, and a rubber tube is inserted to drain the hematoma.

  However, bleeds from stroke or ruptured aneurysms are harder to control. “Although we can, as long as we can get to them early enough and do whatever it is that we can do to minimize the damage done by the bleed to the part of the brain,” Dr. Strange said.

  For cerebellar bleeds, where the bleeding is in the very back of the brain, surgical evacuation of the blood clot is typically needed before finding the cause, he noted. As with strokes, this is simpler for bleeds outside rather than inside the brain.

  Managing Risk Factors Only Hope for CAA: Expert

  Currently, no treatments stop CAA-related amyloid buildup in brain blood vessels. So prevention of bleeding events is crucial, Dr. Strange said.

  Reducing a patient’s risk of trauma, such as falls, which cause concussion and can start a bleed, is imperative.

  “Patients, as they get older, have a tendency to fall more,” Dr. Strange said, noting that medications that increase bleeding risk, including anticoagulants, aspirin, and ibuprofen, should be minimized “when appropriate.”

  Doctors must weigh the risks against the benefits of anticoagulants in patients with other conditions, he added.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/31/2023 – 21:45

• FBI Director Warns Threat Of Attacks By Hamas On American Soil Raised "To A Whole Other Level"
  FBI Director Warns Threat Of Attacks By Hamas On American Soil Raised “To A Whole Other Level”

  “The reality is that the terrorism threat has been elevated throughout 2023 but the ongoing war in the Middle East has raised the threat of an attack against Americans in the United States to a whole ‘nother level.”

  That is the scenario FBI Director Chris Wray led with during a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing today.

  Specifically, Wray warns Hamas terrorists may soon exploit tensions in the US to “conduct attacks here on our own soil” while also inspiring potential domestic extremists to do the same.

  “Here in the United States our most immediate concern is that violent extremists individuals or small groups will draw inspiration from the events in the Middle East to carry out attacks against Americans going about their daily lives.”

  “…cannot and do not discount the possibility that Hamas or another foreign terrorist organization May exploit the current conflict to conduct attacks here on our own soil.”

  Does this mean the feds are no longer focusing their Orwellian ire on conservative Christians as the “greatest threat” to America? Not quite. Wray noted very clearly that this threat from overseas is

  “…on top of the homegrown violent extremists and domestic violent extremist threat…”

  Watch Wray’s remarks in full below:

  Any attacks, whether perpetrated by actual Islamic terrorists, leftist activists or covert agencies serving “special interests” will likely be used as an excuse for more aggressive pressure on constitutional rights in the US. 

  Anyone who opposes such controls may also be labeled terrorists. 

  The sociopolitical dynamics of America are about to shift once again to an ugly place with uncertain outcomes.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/31/2023 – 21:25

• 29 Cities In Los Angeles Sue County Over Zero Bail Policy
  29 Cities In Los Angeles Sue County Over Zero Bail Policy

  Authored by Eric Lundrum via American Greatness,

  A lawsuit has been filed against Los Angeles County by 29 cities located within the county, challenging the county’s recently-implemented zero bail policy making it easier for criminals to be released back onto the streets.

  

  According to Just The News, the lawsuit states that the zero bail policy, which took effect on October 1st, does not “take into consideration the protection of the public, the safety of the victim, the seriousness of the offense charged, the previous criminal record of the defendant, and the probability of his or her appearing at the trial or hearing of the case.”

  The new policy declares that cash bail will still be required for those charged with assault, domestic battery, stalking, and violation of a protective order. Judicial review will be utilized for anyone charged with the crimes of human trafficking, sex with a minor, and battery on a peace officer.

  Meanwhile, all other crimes will see suspects cited and released immediately upon their arrest, and instead given court orders to appear for arraignment at a later date.

  Following the announcement of the lawsuit, Claire Simonich, a spokeswoman for Vera California, the state branch of left-wing criminal justice reform group Vera Institute of Justice, defended the zero bail policy by claiming, with no evidence, that it is a safe policy.

  “The opponents are not only drowning out the factual data on the policy, but the years of research on not just Los Angeles County but in areas across the country that show ending money bail and ensuring public safety go hand in hand,” Simonich claimed.

  “A similar version of the policy has been in effect on and off for the last three years in Los Angeles County. Violent crime and property crime effectively dropped or remained unchanged compared to the two years before the policy was in place.”

  Los Angeles County had previously implemented a similar zero bail policy during the Chinese Coronavirus pandemic, in an effort to reduce the prison populations and slow the spread of the virus throughout prison facilities.

  However, after briefly ending the COVID-era policy, Los Angeles County opted to re-implement a more permanent version due to what some activists called “dismal” conditions in pre-trial jails.

  

  Among those supporting the lawsuit against zero bail are Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna and Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Hatami, the latter of whom is challenging District Attorney George Gascon (D-Calif.) in the 2024 election.

  “Our communities have not been shy about telling us how nervous they are about this change,” said Sheriff Luna.

  “Crime victims who see offenders immediately released from custody are left with little confidence in the criminal justice system.”

  “The total number of cities now suing over LA County’s $0 bail policy has reached 29. All of us want a bail policy that is fair and just for every resident of LA County,” said Deputy DA Hatami.

  “That, however, should be done in collaboration with the 88 cities and their residents, victim groups and law enforcement agencies that are going to be directly affected by immediately releasing individuals who are arrested for crimes.”

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/31/2023 – 21:05

• "Pharmageddon" Strikes US Drugstores As 5,000 Workers Walk Off Job
  “Pharmageddon” Strikes US Drugstores As 5,000 Workers Walk Off Job

  Mostly non-unionized employees at CVS Health Corp. and Walgreens Boots Alliance drugstores have walked off the job in protest about harsh working conditions.

  Reuters said the three-day walkout of thousands of pharmacy workers began on Monday and has been dubbed “Pharmageddon” on various social media platforms, like X and Facebook. 

  The protest garnered support from the American Pharmacists Association, the largest advocacy group for pharmacy workers, which expressed: 

  APhA stands with every pharmacist who participated in the walkout today. The bottom line is that we support every pharmacist’s right to work in an environment with staffing that supports your ability to provide patient care. We know that these are steps you deem necessary in order to be heard by your employer.

  Reuters spoke with Shane Jerominski, an ex-Walgreens pharmacist and one of the organizers of the protest, who said it’s unclear how many stores are affected nationwide by the walkout. He noted at least 5,000 pharmacy workers are participating in the non-unionized labor action. 

  Workers at Walgreens and CVS have staged walkouts before. Several pharmacies in the US were closed in Arizona, Washington, Massachusetts, and Oregon in September and early October over labor action disputes. Walgreens told CNN the current labor action is only impacting operations “minimally.” 

  The Facebook page “The Accidental Pharmacist,” with its 122,000 followers – many of whom are pharmacists and technicians – has been actively sharing updates regarding the ongoing walkout.

  

  

  Drugstore disruptions? 

  

  

  This latest labor action comes as workers are getting record-breaking pay hikes thanks to strategic strikes, according to Bloomberg. 

  

  “We are seeing an incredible moment of worker power,” Acting US Labor Secretary Julie Su said in an interview. 

  Su said, “We said that essential workers matter, and now workers are saying, ‘Let’s really figure out what that looks like.'”

  The drugstore walkout shows a new labor movement emerges.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/31/2023 – 20:45

• Time Magazine's Stunning Reversal: Zelensky 'Deludes' Himself Into Thinking Ukraine Can Win
  Time Magazine’s Stunning Reversal: Zelensky ‘Deludes’ Himself Into Thinking Ukraine Can Win

  Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

  One of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s closest aides has told Time Magazine that the Ukrainian leader has deluded himself into thinking Ukraine can win an ultimate victory against Russia after the failed counteroffensive and amid waning support for the conflict in the West.

  The report said that despite the setbacks, Zelensky “does not intend to give up fighting or to sue for any kind of peace. On the contrary, his belief in Ukraine’s ultimate victory over Russia has hardened into a form that worries some of his advisers. It is immovable, verging on the messianic.”

  Stunning reversal. After naming him person of the year last year, Time magazine now calls Zelensky “deluded” (in the article), lonely, supportless, essentially framing him as a loser.

  I.e. The West is starting to understand they’ve lost in Ukraine and they’ll blame it on him. https://t.co/HGvfMryLwT

  — Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) October 31, 2023

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

  The aide said Zelensky “deludes himself,” adding, “We’re out of options. We’re not winning. But try telling him that.” The report said that the idea of negotiating peace or a temporary truce with Russia remains taboo to Zelensky.

  “For us it would mean leaving this wound open for future generations,” Zelensky told Time. “Maybe it will calm some people down inside our country, and outside, at least those who want to wrap things up at any price. But for me, that’s a problem, because we are left with this explosive force. We only delay its detonation.”

  A senior Ukrainian military officer told the magazine that the armed forces has had to second guess orders that came from Kyiv’s political leadership, including an order to capture the Donetsk city of Horlivka.

  “They don’t have the men or the weapons,” the officer said. “Where are the weapons? Where is the artillery? Where are the new recruits?”

  Ukraine is not just running low on weapons to fight the war but also manpower. One of Zelensky’s aides said even if Ukraine’s Western backers supplied all the arms they need, “we don’t have the men to use them.”

  The report also detailed the corruption in the Ukrainian government that led to Zelensky’s recent move to sack former Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov. The author of the Time story, Simon Shuster, said he naively thought a Ukrainian official would think twice before taking a bribe, but an adviser to Zelensky told him otherwise. “Simon, you’re mistaken,” the adviser said. “People are stealing like there’s no tomorrow.”

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/31/2023 – 20:25

• RFK Jr. Renews Plea For Secret Service Protection After Second Stalker Arrest
  RFK Jr. Renews Plea For Secret Service Protection After Second Stalker Arrest

  Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose father and uncle were assassinated over politics, has renewed his call for the Biden administration to provide him with Secret Service protection after a man was arrested twice in the same day for scaling the fence of Kennedy’s Los Angeles home on Oct. 25.

  

  Kennedy has been twice refused by DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

  “It’s not right for the President to provide protection to his family and political favorites while denying it to political rivals. During his first week as Attorney General, my father assembled all the DOJ’s senior prosecutors to tell them that he would not tolerate any politicization of law enforcement,” Kennedy wrote on X last week.

  President Biden displays a bust of my father in the oval office, but he seems to have forgotten this critical tenet of American democracy. During his administration, we’ve seen the wholesale corruption of federal law-enforcement agencies to censor criticism of White House…

  — Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) October 27, 2023

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  The incident comes roughly a month after an armed man posing as a US Marshall was arrested at a Los Angeles event.

  

  Kennedy made a third request for protection in an Oct. 25 letter to Mayorkas, detailing the September 15 incident, as well as the Oct. 25 incident involving a man named Jonathan Macht.

  Mr. Macht, 28, was arrested on the morning of Oct. 25 at Mr. Kennedy’s Los Angeles property after being detained by the candidate’s security detail. He climbed a fence and asked to see Mr. Kennedy, according to the LAPD.

  Authorities said the man was taken into custody at a nearby police station where he was cited for trespassing and then released. Police said he returned to Mr. Kennedy’s home and was arrested at 5:45 p.m. for violating a protective order. He is being held on $30,000 bail.

  Mr. Macht is known to the U.S. Secret Service and Mr. Kennedy’s security Gavin de Becker and Associates (GDBA), Mr. Kennedy’s campaign said.

  “GDBA had notified the Secret Service about this specific obsessed individual several times in recent months, and shared alarming communications he has sent to the candidate,” according to the press release. –Epoch Times

  “After being released from police custody, the man immediately returned to Kennedy’s residence and was arrested again. The candidate was home at the time of both arrests,” Kennedy’s campaign said in a statement.

  Not the norm…

  While the law dictates that all major presidential candidates and their spouses must be protected within 120 days of an election, history reveals that several have received Secret Service detail much further out than that – with Obama receiving it 551 days before an election, Trump and Ben Carson receiving it a year before the 2016 election (when Trump was a ‘joke’ candidate), and Ted Kennedy receiving it 410 days before the 1979 election.

  The 2024 election is currently 370 days away.

  5) Barack Obama was provided Secret Service protection 551 days before Election Day in 2007https://t.co/O1q4KEazOl

  — Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) July 29, 2023

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  7) Ted Kennedy was provided Secret Service protection 410 days before Election Day in 1979https://t.co/1QXvEqLG5D

  — Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) July 29, 2023

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  It doesn’t take too much tinfoil to conclude that Kennedy is being denied because it would legitimize his candidacy, splitting the Democrat vote, and handing the 2024 election to Donald Trump.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/31/2023 – 20:05

• "I Pray To God This Isn't World War III"
  “I Pray To God This Isn’t World War III”

  Submitted by QTR’s Fringe Finance

  If there’s one takeaway I have from witnessing the discourse over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it’s that nuance is an absolute necessity when discussing it, yet nobody seems able to exercise even a modicum of nuance while doing so.

  Because the issue is complex, polarizing, and demands reasoned thought, I’d like to start off my piece today by offering a sentiment that hopefully everyone can agree on: I pray to God that this isn’t the start of World War III.

  However, as the days over the last several weeks have gone by, I find there’s less and less to be optimistic about — and I’m not talking about as it relates to the stock market, I’m talking about as it relates to humanity.

  Like all problems stemming from deep threaded conflict and a necessity for complex, intellectual reasoning and compromise, I fear this one will only worsen until it reaches some type of point of no return.

  The scenes on Sunday of a mob at an airport in Dagestan, surrounding an airplane and reportedly searching for Jewish people arriving on a flight from Tel Aviv, were a new type of horrifying. It appears as simply a modern day pogrom.

  Putting aside the fact that many on social media just wrote off Dagestan as a fourth- or fifth-world country, thereby backhandedly justifying the behavior, the backdrop of a modern-looking airport stocked with state of the art commercial jets is enough to elicit comparisons to many airports we’ve all traveled through.

  And to me, the mob mentality taking place among those storming the airport, and eventually accosting passengers accused of being Jewish, seems like only a small step from the mob mentality we saw in U.S. cities during the protests and riots of 2020: there was no reason, there was no civility, and there were no dissenting voices.

  How many people have brushed off this occurrence, or other similar occurrences, thinking it could never happen in the United States or Europe? To me, it feels like we are on a hairpin trigger for exactly this type of senseless mob rule.

  

  There are millions of supporters of Palestine who only seek out peace, have only ever sought out peace, and want an end to all war. These are things I am always going to get behind. Absolutely nobody wants to see innocent civilians killed, and hopefully everybody knows that war is hell.

  But sadly, there is also a constituency of uneducated, virtue-signaling reactionaries, coupled with actual extremists, that have commingled with protesters seeking out peace and sullied much of the noble cause for many of those who support peace.

  Of course, as these fools will argue, Hamas “had their reasons” for carrying out the atrocious act of killing more than 1,000 Israelis, including innocent people at a music festival. The question isn’t whether or not they thought they were justified; the question is whether it is a morally sound undertaking to, before Israel even gets a chance to respond, tacitly bless Hamas’s actions by overlooking them and immediately protesting in support of Palestine.

  Other than the logical fallacy that people were protesting retaliation that hadn’t even happened yet, it’s also just tasteless. While the Middle East is one of the most polarizing conflicts in the world, think about why anybody would cheer on the death of innocents, anywhere. Maybe I’m just old fashioned, but I don’t even wish death upon my worst enemies.

  Next, think about the mindset of somebody living in the United States and tearing down photographs of kidnapped Israelis that have been plastered in public.

  

  Sure, one could make the argument that these posters, located 5,000 miles away from Israel, do little. Put that aside. How askew does one’s moral compass need to be to walk by and tear these photographs down? If, like many suggest, they do nothing, then leave them be. I already hear some 20 year old dorky white “activist” kid from the Villanova suburbs argue: “The mindset of those tearing down the flyers is that of people who feel as though they have a legitimate grudge!”

  Uh, yeah. And hey, Hamas also thinks they have a legitimate grudge. And so does Israel. But when are we going to realize that at some point this endless jihad joyride is going to have to end and we’re going to have to choose peace? And when are we going to realize that it’s easier to choose peace after years of no major conflict and not the day after over 1,000 innocent people are murdered?

  When are we going to realize that no matter how big of a grudge you think you have, the systematic targeting and killing of members of any ethnic group simply isn’t the answer?

  ---

  50% OFF ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS: Subscribe and get 50% off and no price hikes for as long as you wish to be a subscriber.

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  What worries me most is that there is a massive absence of nuance when discussing the situation. On Sunday, I commented on Twitter that the footage of the Dagestan airport mob was “horrifying.”

  Someone promptly responded by saying:

  “Interesting you haven’t said the same of the 4,000+ kids in Gaza who were murdered by F-35 fighter jets. Unsubscribed from your shitty podcast.”

  

  This is a perfect example of the thoughtless, reactionary, borderline-esque reasoning that causes conflicts like these to perpetuate. That Tweet is the reason I decided to write this piece: I knew such a complex issue couldn’t be discussed in 280 character quips.

  And of course I am not blessing the death of 4,000 kids in Gaza by calling the situation in Dagestan horrifying. Most people with basic reasoning skills would understand that. But that isn’t how the dialogue regarding this conflict is taking place, as this response shows. You are either for one side or the other, and there’s no in-between. This type of thoughtless polarization is only going to lead to more chaos, not resolution.

  For many “intellectuals” who have lived silver spoon lives in the very same Western world that Hamas hates (without ever experiencing the slightest inclination of discomfort or loss of security, let alone rocket attacks or a massacre of family members), the horrors of Hamas’s actions are completely justified.

  The self appointed “scholars who are committed to robust inquiry about the most challenging matters of our time” (vom) at Columbia University said over the weekend:

  “In our view, the student statement aims to recontextualize the events of October 7, 2023, pointing out that military operations and state violence did not begin that day, but rather it represented a military response by a people who had endured crushing and unrelenting state violence from an occupying power over many years.”

  A statement that was then beautifully summed up by my friend Nathan Anderson:

  “Columbia faculty saying Hamas’ October 7th rape and massacre of families and festival-goers represented a ‘military response’ to an occupation of Gaza that hasn’t existed since 2005.

  Has the value of an Ivy League education ever plummeted so quickly as it has this past month?”

  Elsewhere in the “Ivy League”, on a Cornell online forum late Sunday, there were calls to slit the throats of Jewish people, resulting in a lockdown on campus.

  To me, it’s simple: at some point, when both states go to their respective corners and there are years of peace, blame can be assigned regardless of history to the state that restarts the conflict in the meaningful way that Hamas just did. If Hamas hadn’t engaged in terrorism this month, we wouldn’t be talking about this conflict right now. End of story.

  Even more worrisome is that Russia has failed to condemn Hamas’s actions in any meaningful way.

  And to me, I can’t help but get the feeling that the entire world is once again dividing the way it did during World War II. On one side, you have the United States, Ukraine, Israel, and Europe – the West, and on the other, you have Russia, China, India, and most of the rest of the Middle East. The entire world feels more divided than it has in recent memory.

  Several years ago, this was a trend that I only noticed taking place economically. Now, the rubber has met the road, and it feels as though it is starting to take place militarily. With two major conflicts now taking place on the global stage, I feel as though we are one catalyst—perhaps China trying to take Taiwan—away from a Third World War. Let’s hope to God that I’m wrong, and that I’m simply paranoid.

  Amidst this global volatility and confusion, the United States feels as though it is still struggling to maintain its economic and financial gravitas on a global stage. We continue to run what can only be described as abusive fiscal and monetary policy. The nations opposite us are openly challenging the U.S. dollar — and U.S. policy — while hoarding gold.

  Our own country seems more divided and confused than ever. Ivy League universities have been turning out students who have openly and actively made attempts to justify Hamas’s recent actions. The institutions that were supposed to ensure that students had a bedrock of reason and morality have instead been instilling an entire generation with entitlement and what can only be described as a warped sense of reality.

  As Bret Weinstein said in 2019, universities and students have lost their way because ideas that would have never cut the mustard 20 or 30 years ago at U.S. colleges and institutions have been given an affirmative action of sorts, all because people in the United States are afraid to, for lack of better words, call out bullshit when they see it, as we don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings. Weinstein makes the point perfectly here:

  And so not only do we have an increasingly bifurcated world, with multiple conflicts that all require critical thinking and nuance that we are no longer capable of deploying, we have an entire generation of people in the United States that are so entitled, confused, and narcissistic that they are literally exercising zero reason in choosing the causes they support.

  For example, there’s a large constituency of the LGBTQ community (or whatever it’s called today) that is coming out and throwing their support behind Palestine and Hamas. You’ll notice, however, that none of these supporters are buying plane tickets and making their way to the Middle East to show support, because, of course, their interest is strictly in feigning support for causes that would result in their death, but not actually succumbing to risking their lives. Odd how that works.

  We have angry far left 20-something-year-old college students in the United States, in between unknowingly serving their corporate overlords on trips to their local Starbucks and making TikTok videos on their iPhones assembled with slave labor, publicly calling for the killing of Jewish people. Ironically, they are partaking in these protests because the United States allows for free speech and the freedom to live their life however they choose. I think everybody that wants to wave a Hamas flag in the United States (yes, they waving Hamas flags at some protests, and not Palestine ones) should be required to go and live in the Middle East for a couple of weeks and see exactly how their lifestyle compares to the lifestyle that they are “fighting” for.

  

  There’s definitely a moral equivalency when it comes to senseless killing. I stand with all the people who do not want to see innocent civilians killed, no matter where they are around the globe. I don’t subscribe to the notion that an eye for an eye makes sense. Rather, as the old adage goes, I believe that the whole world will wind up blind. But after years of relative peace, when one group murders over 1,000 innocent civilians of another group, jumping up in arms about the victim retaliating before it ever even takes place is an ugly look.

  Sadly, it appears to me that many people in the United States protesting in support of Palestine, in the days after Hamas committed these atrocities, are part and parcel with a larger group of people who simply deem themselves activists and don’t realize there is not a moral equivalency in how both sides see the world. These “activists” pride themselves on fighting for any cause, regardless of how much sense it actually makes.

  It is the same lack of logic and flawed thinking that has me worried that the Middle Eastern conflict will continue to spread, not just among the governments of other countries, but among the citizens in other countries as well. Watching the Dagestan airport video, I understand that it is unlikely something like that would happen in the United States. But bearing that in mind, I think there has never been a time in recent history where the conditions have been ripe enough for it to actually take place.

  While it’s no secret that the right side of the aisle in the United States has had their fair share of disagreement and confusion over the last month, I simply have no idea how any Democrats believe that they’re going to be able to retain the support of the Jewish community heading into the next election. Even The Nation has had enough.

  

  The breeding ground for the horrifically flawed and extremely troubling “woke” ideology, which is actively justifying the actions of Hamas while condemning any response from Israel, all sprang from the fertile ground of the far left. This is not a political rant, but I simply can’t imagine any Jewish person voting for the party that chose to stand with Palestine after the massacre of 1,200+ innocent people and well before Israel ever even had a chance to retaliate.

  I’m not the biggest Sam Harris fan, but he nails the nuance here in this 13 minute video (and here is another version that’s similar, but not as up to date):

  It is, of course, true that we in the West have been on the wrong side of these dichotomies in the past. Most Western armies, including Israel’s, have at one time or another been guilty of war crimes. And if you go back far enough, all of human conflict was just a litany of war crimes. You don’t have to go back all that far, in fact, to find large pockets of Western culture that were morally indistinguishable from what we now see in much of the Muslim world.

  If you have any doubt about this, study the photos of white mobs celebrating the lynchings that occurred in the American South in the first half of the 20th century. Here, seemingly whole towns—thousands of men, women, and children—turned out as though for a carnival to watch some young man or woman be tortured to death and then strung up on a tree or lamppost for all to see…

  …The point, of course, is that if we recognize the monstrosities of the past, we should recognize the monstrosities of the present and acknowledge that at this moment in human history, not every group has the same ethical norms governing its use of violence, for whatever reason.

  When I step outside and walk the streets of Philadelphia, I see many of these confused people protesting for both sides. To me, I don’t see people fighting for causes; I see broken individuals incapable of being at peace with their sense of self, which, to me, is where true calm, respect for others, and peace comes from.

  I also look around and see tons of level-headed, rational-minded individuals who I know are, in fact, capable of critical thinking about the issue and genuinely do seek peace. But it’s not these people I’m worried about. It is the radicalization of a small group of people that can set off a chain of events like we are seeing now: one reactionary decision after another, which spirals endlessly until one large, decisive end.

  Domestically, ask yourself: which group is more likely to do that, Jews or Jihadists?

  Regardless, in this case, the only thing I hope and pray for is that the terminus this conflict is eventually heading for doesn’t wind up being World War III.

  Can we at least all agree on that?

  

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  QTR’s Disclaimer: 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 not been fact checked and are the opinions of their authors. 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. Also, I just straight up get shit wrong a lot. I mention it twice because it’s that important.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/31/2023 – 19:45

• US Crude Production Breaks Records As Shale Drives All Growth In Global Oil Supply Over Past Decade
  US Crude Production Breaks Records As Shale Drives All Growth In Global Oil Supply Over Past Decade

  With core OPEC+ cartel members Russia and Saudi Arabia doing everything in their power to throttle oil output and push the price of oil higher, the US is again emerging as not only a thorn in OPEC’s side but as the marginal producer of world oil. According to EIA data, US crude oil production hit an all-time high in August, as production surpassed pre-covid levels.

  US field production of crude oil reached 404.6 million barrels during the month of August, new EIA data showed, for an average of 13.05 million barrels per day, breaking the previous record US drillers set in July of 401.73 million barrels. Compared to this time last year, U.S. production is up by a total of 33 million barrels for the month. Remarkably production hit all time highs even as the number of rotary US oil rigs has slumped in the past year. How is this possible? We answer that question below.

  

  Increases in production were seen in PADDs 1, 2, 3, and 4, with the largest percentage increase in production seen in PADD 4, which comprises Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming. The largest actual increase was seen in PADD 2, which includes North Dakota, Illinois, and Kentucky, among other states.

  Crude production in Texas in August – home to a large portion of the Permian Basin and where Exxon will soon be undisputed energy king after its merger with Pioneer closes –  rose from 173.775 million barrels to 174.562 million barrels.

  Despite the record-breaking production levels seen in August, inventories of crude oil in the United States are estimated to be within 3 million barrels of where it began the year.

  The new record in crude production in the United States comes shortly after U.S. supermajor ExxonMobil spent $60B on purchasing another Permian player, Pioneer Natural Resources, although most oil companies in the United States have chosen fiscal restraint resulting in a slow and steady increase in output versus the no holds barred investment strategies during previous boom cycles.

  What is perhaps more remarkable is that in a recent report (available to pro subscribers) from Goldman commodity analyst Daan Dtruyven, the bank found that “the US has driven all the growth in global oil supply over the past decade and the past year, and the Permian basin has driven all growth in US crude supply since early 2020.”

  

  US supply has also grown faster than expected. According to Goldman, US liquids supply is on track to exceed IEA expectations for the 13th consecutive year, except for 2016 and 2020. That said, the 2022 and 2023 forecast errors will likely be smaller than before the pandemic, and US total liquids supply has been roughly flat since June.

  

  Furthermore, the US remains the key short-term marginal oil producer, where flexible short-cycle private producers sit high on the global cost curve.

  

  So is the US falling in the overproduction trap that marked much of the 2010s and which led to the defaulting of dozens of junk debt-funded US energy producers, and sharply oil prices?

  According to Goldman, the answer is no as crude output growth in the Permian has slowed from 1mb/d in 2019 to 0.5mb/d year-over-year in September given the drop in the rig count, and the stabilizing well productivity trend.

  

  However, Permian output is still edging up because of rises in the number of drilled wells per rig and well length. In other words, the Permian new well output per rig is still trending higher because of:

  1. A rise in the number of drilled wells per rig given progress in multi-well pad technology
  2. A structural rise in the average lateral well length to 10,000 feet(Exhibit 9)
  3. A boost to output per rig through a composition effect arising from the larger drop in less productive private rigs (“high grading”). The output per rig in 2022 was nearly 2.5 times greater for public rigs than for private rigs since public firms account for over 60% of production, but under 40% of rigs (Exhibit 10).

  

  This is important because the lack of well productivity growth (which reflects an offset between deteriorating rock quality and improving technology) suggest that Permian output growth will slow further. In fact, the emergence of the Permian as the world’s key oil market variable may explain why Exxon recently purchased Pioneer: the new supergiant will have every opportunity to turn oil output in the US on (or off) as only it sees fit.

  Finally, a question that Wall Street would love answered: are US producers still capital disciplined?

  Goldman’s answer, “yes, three pieces of evidence show that the US upstream sector remains capital disciplined.”

  • First, US public independent firms are sticking to the moderate single digit growth targets they announced in 2020-2021. As Exhibit 11 shows, we expect crude production growth by the independent US E&Ps under GS coverage to slow from around 235kb/d (or 7%) in 2023 to 135kb/d (4%) in 2024, and just around 90kb/d (2.5%) in 2025. That companies continue to guide to slower growth despite the 2022H1 and the summer 2023 upswing in prices is the essence of capital discipline, and the main driver of the reduction in supply elasticity. These lower growth targets reflect investors’ scarring 2014-2020 experience when excessive growth depressed returns, and growing concerns about inventory quality.

  

  • Second, reinvestment rates—capex as a share of operating cash flow—of public producers remain in a 40-60% range, well below the historical average (Exhibit 12, left panel). The 2022-2023 pickup in capex reflects that the 2020-2021 levels were likely unsustainably low, and the boost to nominal capex measures from rapid cost inflation (Exhibit 12, right panel).
  • Third, broader capital allocation strategies of public E&Ps remain focused on limiting leverage and returning cash to shareholders (see Appendix Exhibit 18). To illustrate further, equity (rather than debt) is now typically used to fund acquisitions (as for ExxonMobil-Pioneer).

  

  Much more in the full Goldman report available to pro subscribers.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/31/2023 – 19:25

• CA Funding LGBTQ+ Group Fighting Parental Notification
  CA Funding LGBTQ+ Group Fighting Parental Notification

  Authored by Susan Crabtree via RealClear Wire,

  Over the summer, when a Southern California school board opposed a new state-determined social studies curriculum that included a bio of slain gay rights activist Harvey Milk, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a threatening tweet calling out the school board president by name.

  “This isn’t Texas or Florida. In the Golden State, our kids have the freedom to learn,” Newsom tweeted. “Congrats Mr. Komrosky you have our attention. Stay tuned.”

  

  Newsom followed up the vague warning with a far more tangible one. In a subsequent statement, the governor labeled the board’s reluctance to accept the curricula an act of “hate” and announced a $1.5 million fine for what he described as a “willful violation of the law.” He also threatened a lawsuit and a state Justice Department civil rights investigation. 

  “Demagogues who whitewash history, censor books, and perpetuate prejudice must never succeed,” Newsom added. “Hate doesn’t belong in our classrooms, and because of the board’s majority’s antics, Temecula has a civil rights investigation to answer for.”

  Komrosky and other members of the school board for the Temecula Valley Unified School District were concerned about Milk’s well-documented relationship with a 16-year-old boy when he was in his 30s. He and other board members labeled Milk a “pedophile” and didn’t want his bio included in a supplemental curriculum for certain grade levels. 

  After Newsom’s threat of legal action, the school board began to waver. Komrosky called an emergency Friday meeting that stretched late into the night and partially backed down, agreeing to accept the textbooks but putting off a decision on the 4th-grade lessons on civil rights, including the gay rights movement, until the board and parents could review it further.

  The confrontation spurred weeks of headlines, with members of the LGBTQ+ community praising the governor’s actions while parents’ rights groups bemoaned the top-down threats from the highest level of state government. 

  The Democrat-controlled state legislature last month passed a bill that would legalize hefty state fines for school boards that reject state-determined curricula and other state policies. The state attorney general also sued a different school district in Chino for requiring parents to be notified when their children begin identifying as a different gender in California public schools.

  In mid-October, a judge sided, at least temporarily, with the state, and granted a preliminary injunction against the parent notification policy until he makes a final decision.

  Over the last several months, the school board clashes have fueled a series of protests and rallies at the state Capitol in which parents, students, pastors, and school board members have accused the Newsom administration and the state legislature of keeping secrets from parents and undermining their ability to care for and oversee their children.

  On the other side of the debate are Newsom, Attorney General Rob Bonta, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, and members of the LGBTQ+ community who argue that the school boards are trying to ban textbooks teaching diversity. They also assert that students in the state public elementary schools who are changing their gender have a right to privacy from their parents who could try to stop them from transitioning – or worse – use physical force as punishment for doing so.

  Amid the furor on both sides of the school board controversies, in late August, Newsom announced the latest round of grants to support an effort to combat hate crimes against transgender, Muslim, and black people after the attorney general’s office found a 20% increase in such crimes across the state in 2022.

  Among the taxpayer-funded grants is $630,000 to Equality California, an LGBTQ+ group fighting alongside Thurmond against school boards’ parental notification policies and their ability to object to diversity-oriented curricula.

  Over the last four years, the state has provided $400 million in federal grants to fund security measures for faith-based organizations and other nonprofits, and $196 million in grants to local organizations focused on preventing hate crimes and supporting survivors. The funding is taking place as the state is running a $31.5 billion budget deficit, up from $22.5 billion projected in January.

  The state recently awarded this year’s nearly $91.5 million in “Stop the Hate” grants to more than 170 community groups after at least two disturbing incidents that police say were motivated by anti-LGBTQ+ views and racism.

  In August, a San Bernardino store owner was murdered after an argument over a rainbow “pride” flag hanging outside her store, and an Oakland elementary school was evacuated after receiving a bomb threat that police said was racially motivated.

  Newsom last week also approved $10 million in funds to boost the presence of police at synagogues, mosques, and other places of worship as tensions have flared over the possibility of local violence stemming from the Israel-Hamas war.

  Allowing all places of worship to receive the funds to boost security appears even-handed and proactive at a time of rising tensions and threat levels.

  But the “Stop the Hate” grant to Equality California has sparked criticism from opponents that Newsom is inappropriately using state taxpayer funds to assist the top LBGTQ+ organization fighting parents over school board policies.

  According to the California Department of Social Services, which issued the grants, the grants “may” fund various services and programs, including those providing mental health and legal services for victims and their families. The website also says funds could go to prevention services, including “arts and cultural work, youth development, senior safety and escort programs, safety planning, training and cross-racial alliance work.”

  Equality California has been at the center of the fight for protecting children’s right to change genders without their parents’ knowledge in public schools across the state. The group has fiercely opposed the parental rights movement, labeling it homophobic and transphobic, and argues that notifying parents amounts to “forcibly outing” gender-transitioning children, which could lead to physical or emotional harm for these young people who already experience higher rates of depression, mental health, self-harm, and suicide than their peers.

  Equality California staff have attended school board meetings and appeared alongside Thurmond as he answers questions from the press. The group’s staffers were among pro-LGBTQ+ advocates whom a Chino school board removed from a meeting along with Thurmond after he spoke against a proposed district policy that would require schools to inform parents if their students were changing their pronouns or asking to use different gendered facilities.

  Because money is fungible, and the grant can help offset costs for the organization’s other work, parental rights advocates have argued that the grant is inappropriately boosting the group’s lobbying efforts opposing parental rights policies at local school boards.

  According to its 2021 tax filings with the IRS, the most recent available, Equality California Institute spent more than $400,000 on lobbying the state legislature and received nearly $6 million in revenue for that year alone.

  Carl DeMaio, a conservative radio talk show host in California who is gay, was the first to take issue with the Equality California grant in a post on his website, arguing that it was one of several designed to give a financial edge to left-leaning groups, such as Equality California, that actively engage in politics by endorsing candidates and other political activities.

  For instance, the group endorsed Thurmond’s reelection last year, lauding him for “personally intervening” in a school board fight in Chino and working “diligently alongside Equality California to counter the attacks against our trans and gender-nonconforming youth, in particular, and we could not ask for a better ally and champion for all California students.” It’s unclear if that endorsement came directly from the Institute or another part of Equality California’s nonprofit organization.

  “There’s nothing wrong with these far-left groups engaging in political advocacy. It’s their First Amendment right, but not with my tax dollars,” DeMaio told RealClearPolitics. “This is the oldest scam going on in California politics right now. It’s the utilization of taxpayer money to subsidize Democrat and left-wing political organizations.”

  “If the National Rifle Association or the Cato Institute or the Heritage Foundation were receiving taxpayer money, the left and the media would be lighting their hair on fire, but here in California, you have political groups getting money from the government, and no one bats an eye,” he added.  

  Equality California spokesman Jorge Reyes Salinas says the Institute does not engage in political work, as DeMaio alleges, and stressed that the entire grant is devoted to supporting the state’s “Stop the Hate” program.

  “Equality California Institute’s Stop the Hate program is a tool to ensure that LGBTQ+ Californians know about and have access to culturally responsive resources on hate crimes and bystander intervention,” he said in a statement to RCP. “Through outreach and partnerships, this program aims to advance education on how to curb the sharp increase in anti-LGBTQ hate crimes in California.”

  Newsom’s office did not respond to RCP’s inquiries about the grant.

  Lance Christensen, a former state legislative staffer who ran for California superintendent of schools as a Republican last year, now serves as the vice president of education policy and government at the conservative California Policy Center. The Center is one of the main groups backing the parental rights policies in school boards across the state. 

  Christensen argues that the deck is heavily stacked against his side because parents are already fighting the deep-pocketed teacher unions who back many of the policies parents’ rights groups have tried to fight, including extended COVID school shutdowns that kept students in virtual learning longer than many other states.

  On top of that, the leaders of Equality California, which is more ideologically aligned with the Democrats who run the state, “feel like it’s their right and duty to extract money from taxpayers to help amplify their views,” he argued.

  “The fact of the matter is, most parents are well aware of the positions these groups have,” he said. “They just aren’t aware that their tax dollars are going to subsidize these activities.” 

  Equality California has backed a raft of pro-LGBTQ+ bills that Newsom signed into law in late September, including several measures the governor’s office has said are designed to “better support vulnerable youth.” Among the new laws is one that would require courts to keep all petitions for a change of gender identity in public documents, including those filed by minors, confidential. 

  The group also strongly backed the Transgender, Gender-Diverse and Intersex Youth Empowerment Act, which would have required judges to consider whether parents have affirmed the gender identity of their children in custody disputes.

  While Newsom said he shares the commitment to advance transgender rights, he vetoed that bill in mid-September, arguing that it would inappropriately change legal standards for another branch of government.

  Susan Crabtree is RealClearPolitics’ White House/national political correspondent.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/31/2023 – 19:05

• Real Estate Brokerages Zillow, RedFin Tumble After Jury Finds Realtors Conspired To Keep Commissions High
  Real Estate Brokerages Zillow, RedFin Tumble After Jury Finds Realtors Conspired To Keep Commissions High

  Real estate brokerages such as Zillow, RedFin, ReMex and others tumbled after a federal jury found the National Association of Realtors and large residential brokerages such as HomeServices of America and Keller Williams, liable for about $1.8 billion in damages after determining they conspired to keep commissions for home sales artificially high.

  Under antitrust rules, the presiding judge could triple the damages verdict, which would total more than $5 billion. The plaintiffs also have asked the judge to order changes to how the industry operates.

  The verdict came in the first of two major antitrust lawsuits that target decades-old industry practices and argue that unlawful industry practices have left consumers unable to lower their costs even though internet-era innovations have allowed many buyers to find homes themselves online. The two-week trial involved claims by home sellers in several Midwestern states; they sought to drive down commissions and change the way agents are compensated.

  Two brokerages, HomeServices of America and Keller Williams Realty, were also defendants in the case. Two others, Anywhere Real Estate and Re/Max Holdings, settled before trial and agreed to pay almost $140 million combined.

  Announced in a packed Kansas City courtroom, the verdict came after just a few hours of jury deliberations. The case was brought by home sellers in several Midwestern states. Their lawyers hugged and shook hands as the verdict was announced.

  According to the WSJ, the verdict “could lead to industrywide upheaval by changing decades-old rules that have helped lock in commission rates even as home prices have skyrocketed—which has allowed real-estate agents to collect ever-larger sums.”

  It comes in the first of two antitrust lawsuits arguing that unlawful industry practices have left consumers unable to lower their costs even though internet-era innovations have allowed many buyers to find homes themselves online.

  For several years NAR has been fending off accusations by US antitrust officials and private litigants that it has conspired to keep home-sale costs high in the face of major technological upheavals. This verdict is by far the group’s biggest setback yet. An NAR spokesman said, “This matter is not close to being final as we will appeal the jury’s verdict.”

  HomeServices of America, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, said it intends to appeal. “Today’s decision means that buyers will face even more obstacles in an already challenging real estate market and sellers will have a harder time realizing the value of their homes,” a company spokeswoman said. Keller Williams said it is considering an appeal.

  Under the current system, sellers pay their own agent a commission — typically 5% to 6% of a home’s selling price — which is in turn shared with the buyer’s agent. Over the course of the trial, plaintiffs’ attorneys argued this model has suppressed competition by making it difficult for buyers and sellers to negotiate for lower rates.

  “NAR and corporate real-estate companies have had a stranglehold on real-estate commissions for too long,” plaintiffs’ lawyer Michael Ketchmark said outside of the courtroom.

  The news sent real-estate brokerage stocks tumbling: Redfin and Zillow both plunged as much as 10% before recovering some losses. Traditiona broker Re/Max was down 3%.

  

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/31/2023 – 18:45

• Bachelors Of Advocacy: The Rise Of Activism Over Academics In US Higher Education
  Bachelors Of Advocacy: The Rise Of Activism Over Academics In US Higher Education

  Authored by Jonathan Turley,

  Below is my column in The Hill on the rise of advocacy courses and degrees in higher education. Activism has always been a valued part of our colleges and universities. Indeed, many departments have long incorporated advocacy subjects in their course of study, including in law schools. My concern is the degree to which advocacy is now overwhelming academics in some of these programs.

  It is often hard to tell the difference between advocacy groups and advocacy programs in these universities.

  For some schools, a new B.A. model – a Bachelors of Advocacy – is emerging in higher education.

  

  Here is the column:

  “Field trip for an extra 5 points.” The offer to students at the University of California-Berkeley sounded like a typical offer for students to go to a special exhibit at a museum or lecture at an institute. The “field trip” referenced by graduate assistant Victoria Huynh was joining a protest “against settler-colonial occupation of Gaza.”

  This extra credit offer is all too typical of higher education today, where advocacy is now being taught as if it were a course of study. After an outcry, the school solved the problem by ordering “a number of options for extra credit, not just one.”

  Many advocacy-based classes have course descriptions that sound analytical and clinical. The UC Davis course “Asian American Communities and Race Relations,” for instance, states that it covers “race relations and the commonalities and differences between Asian Americans and other race and ethnic groups.” However, the assignments and lectures often reflect a political viewpoint that students are expected to mimic if they want to excel in the class.

  In this course, a screen shot showed that the class would discuss “Palestinian history in relation to class concepts like colonialism, imperialism, and Third World solidarity.” It is clear enough that “the solidarity” cannot extend to Israel.

  Advocacy has increasingly displaced academics in higher education. Activism now permeates higher education as social justice becomes the touchstone for many departments. Today protests rather than Plato are more likely to be the concentration of many students.

  Even journalism students are now sometimes told to drop “objectivity” and “leave neutrality behind.” Former executive editor for The Washington Post Leonard Downie Jr. explained that “pursuing objectivity can lead to false balance or misleading ‘bothsidesism’ in covering stories about race, the treatment of women, LGBTQ+ rights, income inequality, climate change and many other subjects.”

  Advocacy has long been part of graduate programs like law and social work, where students are trained to represent the interests of clients or other individuals. But now, advocacy and activism itself is being offered as a general course for students in place of education. Where protests were once defiant demonstrations held in the university yard, they are now a course of study in classrooms led by academic activists.

  For example, Arizona State University offers a BA program entirely on “community advocacy and social policy” that focuses on “historically under-served individuals, families and communities.” Students “complete courses in two core areas: diversity and oppressed populations and social issues and interventions.”

  Many schools offer “advocacy and social justice studies.” At the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, students are offered the opportunity to “study social justice with distinguished instructors from a wide range of academic departments, from Afro-American Studies to Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies.”

  Camden County College offers a diversity and social justice degree based on the advocacy work of the Black Lives Matter movement and the COVID-19 pandemic, which “revealed the depth of social inequality and its life-or-death consequences.” Others offer “a certificate of proficiency in social justice and an A.S. degree in Human Services, Social Justice Advocacy.”

  These courses offer far left-faculty platforms to proselytize and politicize. It is often confined to one side of the political spectrum and occurs now on every level of our educational system. In academic departments, future primary and secondary teachers are taught that “teaching is a political act” that allows them to instill political and social values in their young pupils. Those students can then attend college and get degrees in activism and advocacy.

  In New York,  1.1 million students were excused by the Department of Education to leave their classes to march against climate change. It seems doubtful that the same accommodation would be allowed for countervailing conservative causes like pro-life marches or demonstrations in favor of gun rights.

  These courses dovetail with faculties that have moved radically to the left, with many faculty using their courses to espouse political viewpoints more than educate. The clear message to students is that they are expected to express the same views in their own analysis.

  One professor erased any pretense and directly required students to contribute to her advocacy group as part of their training. In the meantime, conservative faculty find themselves censored or suspended for engaging in unpopular speech or attending controversial rallies.

  Universities as a whole have largely purged their ranks of Republicans and conservatives over the last few decades. A new survey conducted by the Harvard Crimson shows that more than three-quarters of Harvard Arts and Sciences and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences faculty respondents identify as “liberal” or “very liberal.” Only 2.5 percent identified as “conservative,” and only 0.4 percent as “very conservative.”

  Another study by Georgetown University’s Kevin Tobia and MIT’s Eric Martinez found that only 9 percent of law school professors identify as conservative at the top 50 law schools.

  In these departments with advocacy and social justice components, diversity of thought runs from the left to the far left.

  Some of these faculty advocates can teach by example. At the University of California, Santa Barbara, feminist studies associate professor Mireille Miller-Young physically assaulted pro-life advocates and tore down their display. She later pleaded guilty to criminal assault, but the university refused to fire or discipline her.

  Other professors continue to engage in violence or destruction in front of students in order to block pro-life or other views from being expressed on campuses.

  The same blind rage was shown after the massacre of Israelis by Hamas this month as faculty rallied students to denounce Israel. UC Davis Professor (and undergraduate adviser) Jemma Decristo posted social media threats against the faculty and the families of those supporting Israel as possible targets. Decristo wrote: “one group of ppl we have easy access to in the U.S. is all these zionist journalists who spread propaganda and misinformation…they have houses w addresses, kids in school, they can fear their bosses, but they should fear us more.” This threatening language was accompanied by pictures of a knife and an axe, followed by three drops of blood.

  The university eventually denounced Decristo’s violent, threatening comments, but it had no prior qualms about the professor teaching American studies to UC Davis students. She is part of the radical chic — the far left professors who have populated departments for years.

  The emphasis on advocacy at the expense of education has also contributed to the increasing hostility toward opposing views on campus. These professors and students often show little tolerance for others’ views and “advocate” by canceling or silencing other views as “harmful.”

  Many of us encourage political activism and engagement of our students. They need to bring their passion and voices to the debates today over issues ranging from abortion to the environment to wars.

  We have long benefited from intellectual activists in our country, but they were intellectuals first and activists second. They were thought-leaders who used classic education to advance societal change.

  As jobs and markets become more competitive, we are not doing these students any favors as we crank out thousands with few skills beyond staging demonstrations.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/31/2023 – 18:25

• Reports Say China Scrubbed Israel From Online Maps
  Reports Say China Scrubbed Israel From Online Maps

  China’s scathing criticisms of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, where the death toll has surpassed 8,500 mostly civilians, have grown of late – but this week escalated to a new precedent. 

  The Wall Street Journal has confirmed internet users’ deepening suspicions that the country of Israel has disappeared from several online maps after the ‘mistake’ began to gain increased attention. “Internet users in China are expressing bewilderment that the name Israel doesn’t appear on leading online digital maps from Baidu and Alibaba, an ambiguity that matches Beijing’s vague diplomacy in the region and contrasts with its attentiveness to maps generally,” WSJ writes Tuesday. But some pundits have said the claim is misleading, stressing that many Chinese maps don’t label “disputed areas” by default.  

  

  The internationally recognized borders of the Israeli state are also missing. The report says that Israel may have gone ‘missing’ on the popular maps since the start of the Oct.7 conflict and Israel’s subsequent bombing campaign on Gaza. 

  But as WSJ also points out, neither major Chinese company has publicly acknowledged the missing country information:

  The same is true with online maps produced by Alibaba’s Amap, where even small nations like Luxembourg are clearly marked. Neither company responded to questions on Monday. It is unclear whether the development is new, though it has been discussed by Chinese internet users since war broke out.

  China’s government has over the years cried foul and levied fines over maps published elsewhere online, such as on hotel websites, for failing to strictly adhere to Beijing’s territorial claims, like leaving off a nine-dotted line stretching around the South China Sea that isn’t internationally recognized.

  Indeed this could be a subtle game of ‘retaliation’ for when Western sources publish maps which Beijing vehemently disagrees with, such as depicting Taiwan as independent from the Chinese mainland.

  Israel has disappeared from China’s online maps – The Wall Street Journal

  Users have noticed that the country’s name does not appear on online digital maps provided by companies such as Baidu and Alibaba. They show Israel’s recognized borders, Palestinian territories, and key… pic.twitter.com/HgCqkkW9Uh

  — NEXTA (@nexta_tv) October 31, 2023

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

  Additionally, China has increasingly aligned its foreign policy with the Global South in recent months, and the Gaza crisis is a further demonstration of this trend.

  In statements from the foreign ministry, Chinese officials have consistently highlighted Israel’s bombing of Gazan civilians, instead of focusing on denunciations of the Oct.7 terror attack by Hamas (as the US and much of the West has done). “Every country has the right to self-defense, but every country should abide by international humanitarian law and protect the safety of civilians,” FM Wang Yi told his Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen a week ago.

  And then there’s this provocative tweet from the Chinese embassy in France, rejecting Western claims of “genocide” against Uyghurs in Xinjiang, while highlighting that Gaza lies in ruins…

  Sans titre. pic.twitter.com/JolIpmyZbA

  — Ambassade de Chine en France (@AmbassadeChine) October 30, 2023

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

  “As long as [any resolution] is conducive to peace, China will firmly support it; as long as [any resolution] is conducive to Palestinian-Israeli reconciliation, China will do its best,” Wang had said. It will be interesting to see what becomes of the clearly deteriorating Israel-China relations by the end of this current crisis. 

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/31/2023 – 18:05

• Sen. Josh Hawley To Introduce Bill Reversing Citizens United
  Sen. Josh Hawley To Introduce Bill Reversing Citizens United

  Authored by Philip Wegmann via RealClearPolitics.com,

  More than a decade ago, President Obama scolded the Supreme Court for reversing “a century of law” and opening “the floodgates for special interest” to “spend without limit in our elections.”

  

  It was during the State of the Union, and while the former president qualified his criticism by offering “all due deference to the separation of powers,” Justice Samuel Alito was caught on camera muttering an objection.

  Seated in the front of the House of Representatives, Alito seemed to say, “Not true.”

  Meanwhile, Chief Justice John Roberts, who had employed a young lawyer from Missouri just two years prior, didn’t move a muscle.

  Sen. Josh Hawley told RealClearPolitics that the episode “predates me,” but on the substance of the question, the senior Republican senator from Missouri, the same young lawyer who once clerked for Roberts on the high court, sides with Obama, not the conservative justices.

  Albeit for very different reasons.

  “I am an originalist,” he said in a Monday interview, “and I don’t think you can make an originalist case for business corporations being treated like individuals when it comes to the right to political speech.”

  Thirteen years removed from that exchange between Obama and the justices, Hawley plans to introduce legislation that would gut Citizens United v. FEC, RCP is first to report.

  “My goal is to get corporate money out of our politics,” he said.

  His aim is to stop “corporate influence” from “controlling our elections.”

  This kind of rhetoric is not unusual. But it usually comes from Democrats.

  President Biden pledged to overturn Citizens United and bring to heal the Super PACs that shower politicians with the kind of unlimited anonymous donations known colloquially as “dark money.” His closest ally in this effort: Progressive Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, who blames the decision for turning America into “an oligarchy” where billionaires “buy elections.”

  And now this coalition includes at least one Republican. Hawley blames Citizens United for giving corporations free rein to “sink their teeth” into the American political process.

  The Hawley legislation would ban publicly traded corporations from making independent expenditures and giving to Super PACs while prohibiting them from cutting political ads or engaging in “other electioneering communications.” Ironically, however, it would not stop the conservative group that upended modern election law. Citizens United is itself a non-profit and, therefore, wouldn’t be affected.

  The bill likely has little chance of making it to the president’s desk. Similar proposals have died in committee. All the same, the legislation represents the latest fissure between the Grand Old Party and the corporations. As the Republican realignment continues, on this issue, Hawley hammers the wedge.

  “Let’s get one thing straight,” Hawley bellowed this summer, “Corporations are not people.”

  The crowd, this one gathered in Washington for the social conservative Faith and Freedom Coalition summit, barely stirred.

  But then they erupted when the populist senator continued, “I’ve got news for these woke corporations: We are not going to surrender this nation to the cultural Marxists in the C-suite.”

  Would Hawley still seek to muzzle corporations if the content of their speech was different, though? “Well, actions do have consequences,” the senator replied.

  Bad trade deals, monopolies over everyday pharmaceuticals, and offshore industries – Hawley blames all of this on Wall Street getting involved in politics, saying that politically connected corporations “have been in favor of almost everything that has been devastating for us.” Beyond economics, he added, “what’s new in the last two or three years” is those same corporations “now want to dictate voting laws in the states” and “now want to dictate rules on biological men playing women’s sports.”

  For example, Coca-Cola and Delta Airlines, two of the biggest employers in Georgia, publicly oppose that state’s efforts to tighten voter registration requirements in the wake of the 2020 election. Another example is the dark money donors who provided $145 million to pro-Biden groups that year, helping pave his way to the White House and dwarfing the $28.4 million spent on behalf of Donald Trump.

  “That is not a reason in-and-of-itself to get the Constitution right,” Hawley cautions, however. While the senator insists that Democrats benefit disproportionately from dark money, he argued that “this isn’t a game that is good for anybody” and “most importantly, the voters don’t benefit from it.”

  This is consistent with the general disposition of the senator who once wrote an adoring biography of Teddy Roosevelt. It is also an evolution from a politician who welcomed the endorsement and cashed the checks of Citizens United during his first campaign. Hawley does not dispute the development.

  A closer examination of the history, he said, “looking back at how the Founders thought of corporations” reveals that the earliest Americans “were deeply skeptical of the corporate form.” On the jurisprudence question, he added, “I just don’t think that history supports the outcome that the Court ultimately got to there.”

  More recent history can be found in the conservative opinion pages of the Wall Street Journal. Reflecting the view of that editorial board, Bradley Smith, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, celebrated the anniversary of Citizens United in 2020, writing that “the ruling has empowered small-dollar donors and political outsiders, not corporations.” The donor who writes a check from the kitchen table, the former FEC chair argued, is now king in American politics, not the Super PAC.

  Hawley suggests that those who doubt the power of corporate dollars in politics visit Capitol Hill. “I’ve seen it with my own eyes,” he said before pointing to TikTok, the Chinese-owned social media company.

  “A year ago, we were talking about a nationwide ban on TikTok. I was able to get one passed at the federal level last December,” he said.

  “Today, it is difficult to get even my most ardent anti-tech partners to talk about this because TikTok has gone out and spent incredible sums of money to get influence on both sides of the aisle.”

  According to federal disclosures, TikTok and its parent company spent more than $13 million on lobbying the federal government in the last four years. A spokesman for the company declined to address this when RCP requested comment.

  Increasingly, Hawley is more likely to echo T.R. than Ronald Reagan. He notes how Roosevelt warned against “the malefactors of great wealth” and speaks admirably of his wars with the railroads. The senator also points to scandals of the past, like the Teapot Dome Scandal, as a prologue for modern malfeasance.

  “Not a lot has changed in the last century. They would do that today, if they could get away with it,” Hawley said of disparate corporate actors from Silicon Valley to Wall Street without naming anyone in particular.

  “And who knows,” he added, “maybe they are.”

  Republicans who once felt at ease among corporate power are increasingly skeptical. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy publicly divorced the Chamber of Commerce this year. Ohio Sen. JD Vance is currently at war with the railroads over safety regulations. Businessman-turned-presidential-candidate Vivek Ramaswamy seemed to rebuke the ghost of Reagan during the August primary debate.

  And last month, Hawley landed well to the left of the White House, but only slightly to the right of the likes of Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, when he proposed capping the annual percentage rate of credit cards at 18%.

  The Hawley project then can perhaps be best described as an effort to export traditional conservative skepticism of big government to the realm of big corporations. “What we find, and what lawsuits like the Missouri v. Biden case exposed, is that big corporations and big government work hand in hand,” he said referencing the federal case that found the White House lobbied social media companies to remove content critical of the administration.

  “I would just say to my conservative friends, listen, there is no reason we should want to empower these mega-corporations, who are already in bed and colluding with the government, and give them control over our elections and over our speech,” Hawley said.

  It remains to be seen whether Republicans will listen, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. He celebrated the initial action by the Supreme Court.

  “For too long, some in this country have been deprived of full participation in the political process,” McConnell said in a statement when the conservative court handed down Citizens United, celebrating the decision as “an important step” in “restoring the First Amendment rights of these groups.”

  A decade later, McConnell added, “My warning to corporate America is to stay out of politics.”

  As the Washington Post reported at the time, the Republican leader included a qualification during a local news conference.

  “I’m not talking about political contributions,” he said.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/31/2023 – 17:45

Digest powered by RSS Digest

• Freak Accident? Hockey Player Sidekicks Opponent In The Throat And Kills Him During Game
  Freak Accident? Hockey Player Sidekicks Opponent In The Throat And Kills Him During Game

  Controversy has erupted over the death of American hockey player Adam Johnson, who was struck in the neck and killed by another player’s ice skate in the second period of a Challenge Cup match against the Sheffield Steelers on Saturday in Sheffield, England.  Fans and players alike are divided over whether or not Canadian player Matt Petgrave deliberately used a sidekick maneuver, stabbing Johnson in the throat with his ice skate.  

  South Yorkshire Police are now investigating the gruesome incident, which left Matt Johnson’s blood all over the Utilita Arena.  Below is the game footage at normal speed:

  Warning – Graphic

  I’ve never played hockey but I’m confused as to why this guys leg kicked up in the air like this?

  Was this a dirty play?

  The skate to the throat hit his artery which ended up taking his life.

  RIP Adam Johnson!

  pic.twitter.com/PjXM8XvAt0

  — Derrick Evans (@Evans4WV) October 30, 2023

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

  The following footage shows Matt Petgrave’s kick in slow motion:

  JUST IN: Police are investigating the death of hockey player Adam Johnson after he got slashed in the neck by opposing team member Matt Petgrave’s skate.

  Online social media users are split on whether the kick was intentional or an accident.

  It is currently not completely clear… pic.twitter.com/7kJRFzPilr

  — Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) October 30, 2023

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

  Below is the now deceased Adam Johnson:

  

  And Matt Petgrave…

  

  The mainstream media is already resoundingly describing the incident as a “freak accident.”  In fact, many news outlets are refusing to use Matt Petgrave’s name or show his face in their coverage.  However, NHL rules (along with leagues around the world) do not allow for players to kick a hockey puck in the air, and they are strict about kicking other players.  Kicking results in an immediate match penalty of the player along with ejection from the game pending a review of their player status.  Hockey players consistently train to avoid major penalties, which is why these kinds of “accidents” are incredibly rare. 

  There are only 23 reported incidents of hockey players dying on the ice worldwide since 1905.  Most of these deaths occurred before safety rules and equipment became standard.  The NHL only has one reported on ice death in its history.

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/31/2023 – 02:45

• Escobar: Iran-Russia Set A Western Trap In Palestine
  Escobar: Iran-Russia Set A Western Trap In Palestine

  Authored by Pepe Escobar via The Cradle,

  The only country that could possibly distract the west from Ukraine is Israel. But the US and its allies are walking into an existential trap if they think a West Asian victory will be more easily won than a European one…

  

  The Russia-Iran strategic partnership – with China in the wings – is laying an elaborate, Sun Tzu-tinged trap for the Hegemon in West Asia. 

  Apart from Israel, there is no entity on the planet capable of switching the focus, in a flash, away from the west’s spectacular debacle in Ukraine. 

  The warmongers in charge of US foreign policy, not exactly Bismarckian stalwarts, believe that if Project Ukraine is unattainable, Project Final Solution in Palestine could instead be a – ethnic cleansing – cakewalk. 

  A more plausible scenario, though is that Iran-Russia – and the new “axis of evil” Russia-China-Iran – have all it takes to drag the Hegemon into a second quagmire. It’s all about using the enemy’s own, discombobulated flip-flapping to unbalance him and disorient him to oblivion.

  The White House’s wishful thinking that the Forever Wars in Ukraine and Israel are inscribed in the same lofty “democracy” drive and essential to US national interests, has already backfired – even among American public opinion. 

  That does not prevent cries and whispers along the Beltway revealing Israel-allied US neocons increasing the tempo to provoke Iran – via a proverbial false flag that would lead to an American attack. That Armageddon scenario neatly fits Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s biblical psychopathy. 

  Vassals would be forced to meekly comply. NATO heads of state have made a beeline to visit Israel to demonstrate their unconditional support for Tel Aviv – including Greece’s Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, Britain’s Rishi Sunak, Germany’s Olaf Scholz, the senile lodger at the White House, and France’s Emmanuel Macron. 

  Avenging the Arab “century of humiliation” 

  So far, Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah has shown extraordinary restraint by not taking any bait. Hezbollah supports the Palestinian resistance as a whole – and until a few years back, had serious issues with Hamas, with which it clashed in Syria. Hamas, incidentally, while partially funded by Iran, is not run by Iran. As much as Tehran supports the Palestinian cause, Palestinian resistance groups make their own decisions. 

  The big news is that all these issues are now dissolving. Both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) went to Lebanon to visit Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah in person this week. That spells out unity of purpose – or what the region’s Axis of Resistance calls the “Unity of Fronts.”   

  Even more eye-opening was Hamas’ visit to Moscow this week, which was met with impotent Israeli fury. The Hamas delegation was headed by a member of its Politburo, Abu Marzouk. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri came especially from Tehran and met two of Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov’s key deputies, Sergei Ryabkov and Mikhail Galuzin.  

  That spells out Hamas, Iran, and Russia negotiating at the same table. 

  Hamas has called on the millions of Palestinians in the diaspora, as well as the whole Arab world and all lands of Islam, to unite. Slowly but surely, a pattern may be discerned: could the Arab world – and great swathes of Islam – be on the verge of significantly uniting to avenge their own “century of humiliation” – much as the Chinese did after WWII with Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping? 

  Beijing, via its sophisticated diplomacy, is certainly hinting at it to key players, even before the ground-breaking, Russia-China brokered Iran-Saudi rapprochement was struck earlier this year. 

  That by itself won’t thwart the perpetual US neocon obsession to bomb critical infrastructure in Iran. Worth less than zero when it comes to military science, these neocons ignore how Iranian retaliation would – accurately – target each and every US base in Iraq and Syria, with the Persian Gulf an open case. 

  Peerless Russian military analyst Andrei Martyanov has shown what could happen to those expensive American iron bathtubs in the Eastern Mediterranean in case of an Israeli-threatened attack on Iran.   

  Moreover, there are at least 1,000 US troops in northern Syria stealing the country’s oil – which would also become an instant target. 

  Ali Fadavi, IRGC’s deputy commander-in-chief, cut to the chase: “We have technologies in the military field that no one knows about, and the Americans will know about them when we use them.”

  Cue to Iranian hypersonic Fattah missiles – cousins to the Khinzal and the DF-27 – traveling at Mach 15, and able to reach any target in Israel in 400 seconds.  

  And add to it sophisticated Russian electronic warfare (EW). As confirmed in Moscow six months ago, when it comes to military interconnection, the Iranians told the Russians at the same table, “whatever you need, just ask.” The same applies vice-versa, because the mutual enemy is one and the same.

  It’s all about the Strait of Hormuz 

  The heart of the matter in any Russian-Iran strategy is the Strait of Hormuz, through which transits at least 20 percent of the world’s oil (nearly 17 million barrels a day) plus 18 percent of liquified natural gas (LNG), which amounts to at least 3.5 billion cubic feet a day.  

  Iran is able to block the Strait of Hormuz in a flash. For starters, that would be some sort of poetic justice retribution for Israel aiming to gobble up, illegally, all the multibillion-dollar natural gas discovered offshore Gaza: this is, incidentally, one of the absolutely key reasons for the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. 

  Yet the real deal will be to bring down the Wall Street-engineered $618 trillion derivative structure, as confirmed for years by analysts at Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, as well as independent Persian Gulf energy traders. 

  So when push comes to shove – and way beyond the defense of Palestine and in a scenario of Total War – not only Russia-Iran but key players of the Arab world about to become members of BRICS 11 – such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE – do have what it takes to bring down the US financial system anytime they choose.  

  As an old school Deep State higher up, now in business in Central Europe, stresses:

  “The Islamic nations have the economic advantage. They can blow up the international financial system by cutting off the oil. They do not have to fire a single shot. Iran and Saudi Arabia are allying together. The 2008 crisis took 29 trillion dollars to solve but this one, should it happen, could not be solved even with 100 trillion dollars of fiat instruments.”

  As Persian Gulf traders told me, one possible scenario is OPEC starting to sanction Europe, first from Kuwait and then spreading from one OPEC country to another and to all countries that are treating the Muslim world as enemies and war fodder. 

  Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has already warned that oil to western markets could be put off because of what Israel is perpetrating in Gaza. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has already called, on the record, for a total oil and gas embargo by Islamic countries against nations – essentially NATO vassals – that support Israel.

  So Christian Zionists in the US allied with neocon asset Netanyahu threatening to attack Iran have the potential to pull down the entire world financial system.

  Forever War on Syria, remixed  

  Under the current volcano, the Russia-China strategic partnership has been extremely cautious. To the outside world, their mutual official position is to refuse to side with either Palestine or Israel; call for a ceasefire on humanitarian grounds; call for a two-state solution; and respect international law. All their initiatives at the UN have been duly sabotaged by the Hegemon. 

  As it stands, Washington has refused the green light for the Israeli ground invasion of Gaza. The main reason is the immediate US priority: buy some time to expand the war to Syria, “accused” of being the key transit point for Iranian weapons to Hezbollah. That also doubles as re-opening the same old war front against Russia. 

  There are no illusions in Moscow. The intel apparatus knows well that Israeli Mossad agents have been advising Kiev while Tel Aviv was supplying weapons to Ukraine under serious US pressure.  That infuriated the siloviki, and may have constituted a fatal Israeli mistake.

  The neocons, for their part, never stop. They are advancing a parallel threat: if Hezbollah attacks Israel with something else than a few sparse rockets – and that simply won’t happen – the Hmeimim Russian Air Base in Latakia will be “eliminated” as a “warning” to Iran.

  This does not even qualify as children playing in the sandbox. After the serial Israeli attacks on the civilian Damascus and Aleppo airports, Moscow did not even blink before offering its Hmeimim facilities to Syria – complete with clearance for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) cargo flights, according to some Russian intel sources. Netanyahu will not exactly harbor a death wish by bombing a fully A2/AD (anti-access/area denial) Russian Air Base.  

  Moscow also clearly sees what those expensive American iron bathtubs in the Eastern Mediterranean might be up to. The response has been swift: Mig-31Ks are patrolling neutral air space over the Black Sea 24/7, equipped with hypersonic Khinzals, which would take only six minutes to visit the Mediterranean.   

  Amidst all this neocon-drenched madness, with the Pentagon deploying a formidable array of weaponry plus “undisclosed” assets to the Eastern Mediterranean, whether the target is Hezbollah, Syria, Iran, Russia, or all of the above, both China and North Korea – part of the new American-concocted “axis of evil” – have indicated they will not be mere bystanders. 

  The Chinese Navy is for all practical purposes shielding Iran from a distance. Yet even more forceful has been a statement by Premier Li Qiang – something unusually blunt and rare in Chinese diplomacy: 

  “China will continue to firmly support Iran in safeguarding its national sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national dignity, and will strongly oppose any external forces interfering in Iran’s internal affairs.”

  Never forget that China and Iran are linked by a comprehensive strategic partnership. Meanwhile, Russian Premier Mikhail Mishustin has reinforced the Russia-Iran strategic partnership in a meeting with Iran’s First Vice-President Mohammad Mokhber.

  Remember those rice eaters from Korea 

  Pro-Iran militias across the Axis of Resistance, are keeping a carefully tempered degree of confrontation against Israel, close to guerrilla hit-and-run. They won’t be engaged in massive attacks yet. But all bets are off if Israel invades Gaza. It’s clear the Arab world, for all its massive internal contradictions, will simply not tolerate the civilian massacre. 

  Bluntly, at the current incendiary juncture, the Hegemon has found the offramp from its Project Ukraine humiliation. They erroneously believe that the same old Forever War rekindled in West Asia can be “modulated” at will. And if two wars turn into an immense political albatross, as they will, what else is new? They will simply start a new war in the “Indo-Pacific.” 

  None of that fools Russia-Iran and their ice-cold monitoring of the flipping and flapping Hegemon every step of the way. It’s enlightening to remember what Malcolm X was already predicting in 1964:

  “Some rice eaters ran him out of Korea. Yes, they ran him out of Korea. Rice eaters with nothing but gym shoes, and a rifle, and a bowl of rice took him and his tanks and his napalm, and all that other action he’s supposed to have and ran him across the Yalu. Why? Cause the day that he can win on the ground has passed.” 

  Tyler Durden
  Tue, 10/31/2023 – 02:00

• Decoding The Taxil Hoax: Part 2
  Decoding The Taxil Hoax: Part 2

  Authored by ‘Mr. E’ via bombthrower.com,

  Follow Mr. E on Substack and Twitter!

  In the previous post we discovered that the true identity of Lucifer is Aphrodite, and what’s considered ‘Satanism’ or ‘Luciferian’ are the more extreme forms of worship of this goddess. Now it’s time to explore just what that is, how long it’s been going on, and what it means for us in the present.

  

  For decades now, the world has been confronted with horrifying stories of ritual child sexual abuse, murder, cannibalism, elite pedophilia, and more. In the last decade we’ve had transgenderism shoved in our faces from every direction and made into a protected and privileged class. In some cases, disobeying the ludicrous demands of trans activists is now being met with arrest and police harassment. Groups are even lobbying to pass bills making the misgendering of trans people a crime punishable by massive fines and even jailtime.

  What does ritual abuse and the exaltation of transgenderism have in common, and what do either of these things have to do with the goddess of lust and fertility? In this report you’re going to find out the ugly, depraved truth behind the Canaanites, a group of people who have worked for millennia to keep humanity in chains and have been far more successful than most will ever admit.

  Let’s examine the practices of goddess worship, region by region, and see for ourselves what went on in ancient times, and what apparently continues today.

  Mediterranean

  In Greece, several more themes emerged in the worship of Aphrodite and Adonis. For instance, it appears Adonis was bi-sexual, loving not only Aphrodite and Persephone, but also Apollo. He played the typical male role when with females and would adopt female behaviors when with males.

  This crossing of gender roles gets even more extreme with Aphrodite. In Cyprus, an island with both Greeks and Phoenicians living on it, a version of Aphrodite emerged called Aphroditus. This was Aprhodite in every sense except that ‘it’ had a penis and sometimes a beard! Later this god (dess?) became Hermaphroditus, a child she produced with Hermes, another of her lovers. Hermaphroditus was born a male but was fused with Salmacis, a nymph who lusted after him and wanted to be united forever. Another child Aphrodite produced with Hermes was Priapus, a male with an oversized and permanent erection. In the story of Tiresias, we find Aphrodite exhibiting the power to change mortals into the opposite sex.

  

  While in Greece, the worship of Aphrodite never got more extreme than orgies and some doves being sacrificed in her name, things get a little more interesting in ancient Egypt. Their analog for the goddess was Hathor, and it appears her worship included the occasional orgy on drugs. The Turin Erotic Papyrus illustrates one of these events; people engaged in all sorts of sex acts while under the influence of the blue water lily. This lily contains an alkaloid that metabolizes in to apomorphine, a drug used today to treat erectile dysfunction and can cause persistent erections (priapism) in men. It also induces a euphoric state, with heightened sociability.

  The papyrus dates to the 20^th dynasty of Egypt, but use of the blue water lily appears to have been popularized in the 18^th dynasty. King Tut was buried with a great many of these, and it just so happens that this is the dynasty that took over Egypt right after the Hyksos expulsion. The Hyksos were a tribe of Canaanites that conquered Lower Egypt and possibly introduced these drugged out orgies during their rule from the 15^th to 17^th dynasties. The Egyptians described them as “bloodthirsty”, and we will soon see why. After being introduced to the lily and its psychoactive powers, its use spread throughout Canaan and even into Mesopotamia.

  

  Speaking of Canaan, it’s appropriate now to look at these people and just what they got up to in their worship of the goddess, because it’s quite relevant to what we see in elite society today. As already mentioned, their name for the goddess of lust and sexuality was Astarte, in Northern Syria it was Atargatis, and in Carthage it was Tanit. It’s in the Canaanite culture that we find ritual child sacrifice, a practice that extended to their colonies in Carthage and throughout the Mediterranean. This was done on an almost industrial scale, with special cemeteries called tophets being discovered with tens of thousands of urns filled with the burned remains of murdered infants and sometimes the animals that were sacrificed alongside them.

  They practiced ritual rape as well. When girls reached a certain age, they were taken to the temple of Astarte to be raped by a man who paid the temple handsomely for that privilege. After this rite of passage, the girl was told she had been blessed, and was sent back home.

  Also of importance was their celebration of transgenderism. The priesthoods of these goddesses, in order to reach the highest levels of their order, would ritually castrate themselves, dress as women, and take on women’s tasks.

  These depraved practices were not the exclusive domain of the Canaanites, either. The worship of this goddess is found further eastwards.

  Mesopotamia

  Arriving in the Fertile Crescent, we find that this goddess was worshipped under the names Inanna by the Sumerians, and Ishtar by the Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians. We find yet more evidence of the sexual depravity practiced by the Canaanites.

  In Sumer, Inanna’s consort was Dumuzid, whom the Hebrews called Tammuz. Every year, the Sumerian King would perform the Hieros gamos, a sex ritual commemorating the marriage of Inanna and Dumuzid, in view of the public with one of the priestesses of Inanna. The ritual is described in a sexually explicit hymn preserved on a cylinder seal at the National Museum of Iraq. She would “bathe her loins” in preparation for the King and declare “O my holy thighs!” as they proceeded in the act together. The priests of Inanna, known as the Gala, underwent a transformation into females, taking on their traditional roles, and engaging in sodomy.

  

  Herodotus also tells us of a Babylonian custom that required every woman to deliver herself to the temple of Ishtar where she will be placed among the other women, while a line of men walk by to inspect them. The first man to offer her any sum of money must be accepted, and she must go with him to be raped. Herodotus goes on to say that this ordeal is over quickly for beautiful women, but the comely ones sometimes remain for years waiting for their turn to be defiled. A similar custom also took place in Cyprus.

  Pontic-Caspian Steppe

  Heading north into the Pontic-Caspian Steppe, where today we find Ukraine, Western Russia, and Kazakhstan, we find the ancient nomadic equestrians, the Thracians. They had many religious practices involving their divine lovers, including ritual orgies, human sacrifice, and transgenderism.

  Many of these customs were replicated by the Scythians who co-existed with the Thracians during the first millennium BC. The Scythians even practiced ritual cannibalism, and their highest and most powerful aristocracy was known as the Enaree. This was an orgiastic cult devoted to their snake-legged goddess of sex, Artimpasa. Like Aphroditus, this goddess was often pictured with a beard.

  These priests were effeminate and androgynous. They performed women’s work, spoke, and dressed like women, and potentially even castrated themselves as part of their “transformation” into women. They may even have been sodomized by other men in sex rituals while pretending to be women.

  Early in their history the Scythians invaded Canaan and sacked the temple of Astarte in Ascalon. The transgenderism of the Enaree was assumed to be a curse from the goddess who, as mentioned in the case of Tiresias, has the power to change men into women.

  A similar transgender priesthood, known as the Galli, existed in Phrygia and were devotees of their own version of the goddess, Cybele and her castrated partner Attis.

  

  A less ancient people of this area were the Khazars and by all accounts they continued many of the same practices as the Thracians and Scythians. Their religion was called Tengrism, which included shamanistic practices while dressed up like an animal.

  

  The Khazarians are rumored to have converted to Judaism in the 10^th century CE, and some evidence does exist in support of that. This is, however, a contentious matter and camps on both sides continue to dispute whether this actually took place.

  

  Nevertheless, the 1972 Surrealist Party, held by Baroness Marie-Hélène de Rothschild and her husband Guy at the Chateau de Ferrières, appears to have echoed many Khazarian cultural practices.

  Abrahamic Era

  Is it any wonder why, in the Bible, God warns the Israelites to never deal with or mix with Canaanites. Here’s but one of many quotes:

  And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them [Canaanites] before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them: Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly. – Deuteronomy 7:2-4

  Furthermore, the Bible warns of infiltrators not only into Christianity, but also into Judaism:

  For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ … Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities … Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core … These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever … And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage. – The Book of Jude

  

  Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. – Revelation 3:9

  Just who are these infiltrators that Enoch prophesied about? We must consult the Book of Enoch for that answer:

  And Uriel said to me: ‘Here shall stand the angels who have connected themselves with women, and their spirits assuming many different forms are defiling mankind and shall lead them astray into sacrificing to demons as gods, here shall they stand, till the day of the great judgement in which they shall be judged till they are made an end of. – Enoch 19:1-2

  A complete reading of the Book of the Watchers, in Enoch, reveals he’s talking about the Nephilim, children of the Fallen Watchers, angels who rebelled against God along with Satan; a thieving, murderous group of cannibals that also drank blood. In other sections of the Bible, it makes the connection between the Nephilim and Canaanites.

  Aside from Jude, we have further evidence of the Canaanite infiltration into Christianity and the practice of their depraved rituals. Consider this passage about the sect of Borborites, who allegedly engaged in ritual orgies:

  But even though one of them should accidentally implant the seed of his natural emission prematurely and the woman becomes pregnant, listen to a more dreadful thing that such people venture to do. They extract the fetus at the stage which is appropriate for their enterprise, take this aborted infant, and cut it up in a trough with a pestle. And they mix honey, pepper, and certain other perfumes and spices with it to keep from getting sick, and then all the revellers in this herd of swine and dogs assemble, and each eats a piece of the child with his fingers. And now, after this cannibalism, they pray to God and say, “We were not mocked by the archon of lust, but have gathered the brother’s blunder up!” And this, if you please, is their idea of the “perfect Passover.” – Epiphanius, Panarion, Chapter 26.5.4

  This is not even the full extent of Canaanite influence over the ancient world, a whole book would be needed for that, but there is one last thing worth mentioning. DNA studies performed on the nearly 3,000 year-old Paracas skulls of Peru reveal they came from Syria – making these Canaanites the earliest transatlantic voyagers known, nearly two millennia before the Vikings. Should it be a surprise, then, that we also find human sacrifice, cannibalism, and ritual sex in Mesoamerica?

  This discussion wouldn’t be complete without addressing the Catholic eucharist, either. For what more perfect evidence of the corruption of Christianity is there but the practice of eating the flesh and drinking the blood of a man-God? This is a very serious matter, as the doctrine of transubstantiation mandates that Catholics truly believe this is an act of cannibalism. Furthermore, spitting it out is known as ‘host desecration’, a sin so egregious that only the Pope himself can forgive the offender, or excommunicate them.

  

  I would also be remiss to not mention the recent case of a “Gay Orgy” being organized by Catholic Priests in Poland that went horribly wrong. The event involved a male prostitute and “potency pills,” just like the drugged up Canaanite orgies of old, and ended with emergency services being called to tend to a man that had collapsed unconscious on the floor.

  Present Day

  These cult activities manifest today in many ways. Aside from the global phenomenon of ritual child abuse already mentioned, take the example set by Harry Hay. He was an LGBT activist, staunch defender of pedophilia, and acolyte of Aleister Crowley and his sex magick. Hay glorified promiscuous sex and sodomy as a path to spiritual enlightenment. The drugged orgies of old are now taking place as ‘chemsex’, a meth-fueled anal sex marathon. Satanic gay men and transgender women are found everywhere in the US government now. Rape, torture, murder, and cannibalism are being celebrated in art, most notably by Marina Abramovic who also hosts ‘Spirit Cooking’ sessions and parties with cakes shaped as people, that are chopped up and eaten.

  

  Can all this help explain recent events in the middle east? Consider the fact that Gaza was originally part of the Philistine States, separate from the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah. If the Zionists of today were truly seeking a restoration of the original Hebrew Kingdoms, they would have no interest in Gaza, or Ashkelon for that matter. The Philistines, today’s Palestinians, were not one of the nations the Israelites were told to displace in the Bible. In fact, Genesis 21 and 26 recount two separate treaties Abraham and Isaac made with them.

  

  The only thing that could explain the Zionists lust for the Gaza strip is that they are not, in fact, being led by Jewish sentiment, but Canaanite. The Philistine States are a part of Canaan, and the Philistines seem to have immigrated there from the Aegean Sea shortly after the Late Bronze Age Collapse, when the Canaanite societies would have been economically weakened.

  

  Canaan is the lands extending across the entire eastern Mediterranean coast, from just south of Gaza, all the way to northern Syria. If the government of Israel were being run by Canaanites, their incessant conflicts with Lebanon and Syria now make perfect sense. They’re trying to re-establish Canaan, not the Hebrew Kingdoms described in the Bible.

  

  This was not even being done in secret not too long ago. In 1939 a movement was founded by Palestinian Jews with the express purpose of re-creating Canaan. A group of Lebanese Nationalists also got involved in their own efforts to bring back this ancient national identity. In fact, it was recently discovered that the Lebanese people share 90% of their DNA with the ancient Canaanites. Culturally or not, Canaanites continue to exist to this very day.

  Conclusion

  Returning full circle to my article about the Taxil hoax, we can see that his fabrication includes many elements of truth. Practitioners of this depraved form of goddess worship do indeed engage in the very same activities he leveled at the Masons. Thus, this hoax served as a wonderful device to project this cult’s misdeeds onto other parties.

  It should be remembered that Pope Leo XIII’s only complaint about Freemasons was that they were successfully advancing the idea of separation between Church and State, something enshrined in the First Amendment of the US Constitution. This Pope was, in a very real way, anti-American. He narcissistically saw anything that could diminish his control of nations around the world as ‘Satanic’ and wanted to rouse a reactionary movement against the principles of the Enlightenment that were spreading rapidly through Western society.

  By a long and persevering labor, they endeavor to bring about this result – namely, that the teaching office and authority of the Church may become of no account in the civil State; and for this same reason they declare to the people and contend that Church and State ought to be altogether disunited. By this means they reject from the laws and from the commonwealth the wholesome influence of the Catholic religion; and they consequently imagine that States ought to be constituted without any regard for the laws and precepts of the Church. – Pope Leo XIII, Humanum Genus, Section 13.

  I highly recommend reading The Apocalypse of Yajnavalkya for more information about this cult. Nothing else I’ve ever read more completely explores their history and activities. It tells you in detail exactly where these people originated and why they have such a seething hatred for the rest of humanity. This has been going on for far longer than most can presently imagine.

  

  Nothing worthy of God is to be found in the acts of this demented group. They take their most base, animal desires and make rituals out of satisfying these urges. Rituals that can irreparably harm their non-consenting victims, leading them into lives of substance abuse, prostitution, depression, dissociative identity disorder, and other mental health issues.

  We aren’t living in a world besieged by “the Joos” or “duh Freemasons”, it’s a nameless gang of marauding Canaanites and those they’ve tricked into adopting their ways by promises of wealth, power, and influence. It’s been a few thousand years and now is the time to unmask these traitors to humanity and pull the rug out from underneath them, permanently.

  Related Posts

  The Greatest Hoax of All Time

  Decoding the Taxil Hoax: Part 1

  Subscribe to the Bombthrower mailing list to get these posts as they come out, and follow Mr. E via his Substack and Twitter.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/30/2023 – 23:55

• Yen & UST Yields Tumble After BoJ's Mixed Messages, But…
  Yen & UST Yields Tumble After BoJ’s Mixed Messages, But…

  The market was well prepared for action from the Bank of Japan (BoJ) tonight after Nikkei reported the central bank’s intent to consider another tweak to its yield curve control (YCC) policy.

  Having moved from 0.25% to 0.5%, then to 1%, the Nikkei report prompted speculation that the central bank would raise the limit again, rather than abandoning YCC altogether, as JGB yields have traded up close to the 1% limit in recent days.

  The report noted that “the second framework tweak in three months appears to have been deemed necessary as 10-year yields are approaching 1% amid a backdrop of rising U.S. rates” and added that the “BOJ is also likely to more flexibly conduct its JGB purchase operations… This, along with a more flexible cap on 10-year yields, is aimed at deterring speculators from targeting the upper limit and sparing the BOJ the need to buy droves of JGBs to keep rates under 1%.”

  

  However, consensus is that BoJ will stand pat as historically the BoJ has paid less attention to market expectations than, say, the Fed.

  If USDJPY was anything to go by, it was starting to remove the odds of a BoJ YCC adjustment, as JPY weakened back from earlier gains on the Nikkei report…

  

  As we detailed earlier, no matter what the BOJ does today, the decision is sure to move markets.

  A policy hold could spur yen selling.

  There’s a good chance, though, that a sharp move beyond 150 against the dollar would invite intervention by Japan’s authorities to defend the currency.

  A tweak to the YCC parameters, such as lifting the 10-yield yield ceiling to 1.5%, could support the yen.

  But any strengthening would probably be limited to at most about 145 against the greenback, given the upward tug on the dollar from relatively high US yields.

  Additionally, The BoJ is expected to raise its inflation forecasts for both this fiscal year and next. This would likely bring Japan’s key inflation above 2% for three straight years, which of course leads to the question of why the BOJ still needs to continue with the current stimulus policy given its side-effects.

  So what will they do…

  Meanwhile at the BOJ… pic.twitter.com/rwyJGCG8qD

  — zerohedge (@zerohedge) September 27, 2023

  Well, earlier today, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was asked in parliament ahead of the decision whether the BOJ’s ultra-easy policy was weakening the yen and causing price rises. Kishida, whose approval rating just hit a record low dur to soaring inflation, said central bank policy aims to achieve and maintain stable prices. He added that the government should coordinate with the BOJ on macroeconomic policies.

  And while the BoJ has released a policy statement at 12:06pm Tokyo time on the average since the introduction of yield curve control in 2016, today the BoJ released its statement at 12: 27pm Tokyo time (exactly one standard deviation late to its norm) and kept rates unchanged:

  BoJ maintains NIRP at -0.10% and 10yr JGB yield target at 0% but makes what was formerly a hard cap of 1% on yields into a reference range of 100bps up or down, vs the previous target of 50bps, thus making YCC even more flexible. The BoJ also says:

  • Will regard upper bound of 1% for 10yr JGB yield as reference in market ops.

  • Decision on YCC was made by 8-1 vote with Nakamura the dissenter.

  • Decides to make YCC more flexible.

  • Japan’s inflation outlook is overshooting but due largely to prolonged rises in import costs.

  • Will guide market operations nimbly.

  The most important changes of these is the BOJ’s description of the 1% rate as “a reference”, which sounds similar to the July 28 BoJ meeting, when Governor Kazuo Ueda made his first surprise move by maintaining the 10y yield target at 0% but said its 0.5% ceiling was a reference point and not a rigid limit. Back then, the BoJ offered to buy bonds at 1% and the JGB 10y yield was up 0.15% over the following week.

  Likely, the BoJ would allow 10y bond yields to creep higher with potential rinban operations risk if the 10y bond yields advance higher much too quickly.

  Additionally, the BOJ has also decided to abandon its daily fixed-rate bond-buying operations, its major tool for impacting rates, citing the “large side effects” it might entail. The BoJ also raised its economic growth but more importantly, its inflation forecasts…

  

  … which means that all else equal, Kishida’s approval rating is about to become even worse!

  

  This is mainly due to the prolonged effects of a pass-through to consumer prices of cost increases led by the past rise in import prices and the recent rise in crude oil prices. Toward the end of the projection period, the Bank expects that underlying CPI inflation will increase gradually toward achieving the price stability target of 2 percent, while this increase needs to be accompanied by an intensified virtuous cycle between wages and prices.

  Still confused? here is the BOJ’s trademark “explainer” for what today’s decision means. The bottom line is that the 1.00% cap is officially gone and instead the BOJ will allow 10Y rates to rise above the former hard limit at which point it may or may not engage in “nimble market operations.”

  

  The initial reaction to the BoJ’s moves implied a less hawkish than expected statement, prompting JPY weakness, breaking back above 150/USD…

  

  JGB yields tumbled back…

  

  And so did 10Y UST yields…

  

  However, as UBS trading desk explains:

  My interpretation of the changes are that the previous YCC target of 0% +/-50bp was the loose target, allowing 10y JGB yields up to 1%, where it would conduct daily fixed-rate purchases if needed.

  Now the operations will not necessarily be at 1.00%: “The bank will determine the offer rate for fixed rate purchase operations each time, taking account of market rates and other factors.”

  Effectively the BoJ has raised the yield cap without saying where it is – still trying to let the markets find the natural balance of supply and demand whilst keeping a lid on bond vol

  So nothing would surprise us more than to wake up in the morning and see all this reversed.

  Finally, Bloomberg’s Gearoid Reidy asked a fascinating question: does the BOJ actually want to control the yield curve?

  The statement says:

  “It is appropriate for the Bank to increase the flexibility in the conduct of yield-curve control, so that long-term interest rates will be formed smoothly in financial markets in response to future developments.”

  That’s just… the market, surely? Where is the control? Does YCC even effectively exist anymore?

  How long  until the market realizes that Japan’s legendary YCC no longer actually exists?

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/30/2023 – 23:40

• Georgia Couple Helps Police Scam The Gold-Scammers
  Georgia Couple Helps Police Scam The Gold-Scammers

  Via SchiffGold.com,

  A Georgia couple nearly lost more than $186,000 in a gold scam. But they ended up turning the tables and scamming the scammers.

  

  It all started with a pop-up on the Perry, Georgia, couple’s computer warning the machine was infected with a virus.

  The couple called the help number provided.

  That was their first mistake.

  The scammer on the other end warned that the virus may have compromised their bank account and helpfully connected them with their bank’s fraud department.

  This was the couple’s second mistake.

  They should have hung up and called the bank’s fraud department directly.

  The person the scammer connected them with was, of course, just another scammer. This individual confirmed that their account had been compromised, saying there were pending suspicious transactions.

  The couple was then passed along to a third scammer pretending to be from the Federal Trade Commission.

  This individual even emailed phony documents to “confirm” his identity.

  The fake federal agent told the couple the best way to protect their money was to take the $185,916 from the compromised account and buy bars of gold.

  The scammer told the couple an undercover FTC agent would come to their home, pick up the gold, and take it to Washington D.C. Once verified, the couple would receive a check for the full amount.

  As implausible as this may sound to you and me, the couple bought the story and went as far as to purchase 1 kilogram Royal Canadian Mint gold bars from a dealer in Texas.

  But at some point, the couple grew suspicious and called the police.

  The case ended up on the desk of Perry Police Department Detective Sgt. J.I. “Ike” Wilcox,’ and he hatched a plan to scam the scammers. He dubbed it “Operation Goldfinger.”

  It just so happened that Wilcox is an expert on fraud and teaches courses on how to avoid it.

  “A lot of times that demographic is more vulnerable because technology has evolved so much during their lifetime,” Wilcox told the Macon Telegraph.

  The police had the gold shipment rerouted back to the dealer.

  The couple received a full refund. But with the help of police, the husband and wife strung the scammers along, telling them the gold was on the way. Sure enough, the scammers arranged to have a courier come to the couple’s home to pick up the gold.

  When the SUV showed up, police arrested the driver, Gurdev Singh, 31, of Stockton, California. He faces numerous charges, including criminal attempt to commit theft by deception and exploitation of elder persons.

  “I could safely describe his reaction as genuine surprise,” Wilcox said.

  According to the Telegraph, the investigation remains open and detectives are trying to track down others involved in the scam.

  According to the US Department of Justice, in 2021, cyber-related crimes stole more than $140 million from victims in Georgia alone.

  The lesson is to always be on guard. If something feels fishy, it probably is.

  There are thousands of unscrupulous people out there trying to rip you off. And some of them aren’t criminals.

  There are a lot of shady businesses out there looking for ways to take advantage of you.

  You can learn more about gold scams and how to avoid getting ripped off in our free report, Classic Gold Scams. Click the link below to download the free report!

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/30/2023 – 23:00

• Bidenomics: Typical US Family Would Pay $9,100 To Comply With 'Dream House' Climate Wish List
  Bidenomics: Typical US Family Would Pay $9,100 To Comply With ‘Dream House’ Climate Wish List

  The Biden administration’s war on fossil fuels would cost the average American household more than $9,100 per year, according to a consumer watchdog.

  The Alliance for Consumers took an infographic from the Biden White House titled “Biden’s Dream Home,” which proposes new energy standards for various appliances, including air conditioners, stoves, washing machines, while the Department of Energy’s so-called Unified List of appliances includes microwave ovens, dehumidifiers and pool pumps.

  “Welcome to Biden’s Dream House, where the American dream just got significantly more expensive,” the group wrote on X.

  

  According to the consumer watchdog, gas furnace efficiency standards which will “significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions” for residences (according to the DOE), will cost consumers an estimated $494 additional on average, while dishwasher efficiency standards will cost somewhere between $50 and $400 to comply with, because the proposed rules will lead to drainage problems and clogging.

  

  The rules targeting air conditioning units will cost around $1,100 to comply with.

  This year, the Department of Energy (DOE), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Department of Transportation (DOT) have announced a range of proposed rules that will make household appliances more expensive and, as some experts contend, are designed to force Americans to give up their current appliances.

  For example, under the DOE’s proposed natural gas stove rule, an estimated 90 percent of gas stoves would have to be redesigned, with reduced performance and raise the upfront cost of stove products by around $32 million per year. –Epoch Times

  New rules for water heaters will cost consumers an average of $2,800 more, while everything from ceiling fans, washing machines and light bulbs will also add to that $9,100 total.

  But wait, there’s more — you must see the less effective laundry room and garage!

  After you’ve spent $4,500+ to “upgrade” your living room and kitchen, hopefully you’ve got another $4,500 laying around to replace your washing machine, water heater and car! pic.twitter.com/0sS6Mg3pDK

  — Alliance For Consumers (@for_consumers) October 26, 2023

  “It’s just spreading to more and more appliances. It seems that almost everything that plugs in or fires up around the house is either subject to a pending regulation or soon will be,”  Ben Lieberman, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, told Fox News.

  “Consumers aren’t going to like any of it. These rules are almost always bad for consumers for the simple reason that they restrict consumer choice.”

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

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/30/2023 – 22:40

• Leaked Document Shows Israeli Govt 'Option' To Ethnically Cleanse Gaza
  Leaked Document Shows Israeli Govt ‘Option’ To Ethnically Cleanse Gaza

  Via The Cradle,

  Israeli culture magazine Mekovit on Saturday published a leaked document issued by Israel’s Ministry of Intelligence recommending the occupation of Gaza and total transfer of its 2.3 million inhabitants to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.

  The document, issued on October 13, identifies a plan to transfer all residents of the Gaza Strip to North Sinai as the preferred option among three alternatives regarding the future of the Palestinians in Gaza at the end of the current war between Israel and the Hamas-led Palestinian resistance.

  

  The document recommends that Israel evacuate the Gazan population to Sinai during the war, establish tent cities and new cities in northern Sinai to accommodate the deported population, and then create a closed security zone stretching several kilometers inside Egypt. The deported Palestinians would not be allowed to return to any areas near the Israeli border.

  The existence of the document does not necessarily indicate that its recommendations are being implemented by Israel’s security establishment. The Ministry of Intelligence, headed by Gila Gamliel of the Likud party, does not control any of Israel’s intelligence agencies, but independently prepares studies and policy papers, which are distributed for consideration by the government and its security bodies.

  However, recent statements by Israeli government officials and actions by the Israeli army in Gaza suggest the plan is indeed being implemented. Since October 7, Israeli officials have repeatedly issued warnings to Palestinians to move to southern Gaza in advance of a looming ground invasion. 

  Israel has imposed a total siege on Gaza, cutting off food, water, fuel, and electricity. The siege, combined with intense Israeli bombing that has killed over 8,000 Palestinians, the majority women and children, threatens to make Gaza uninhabitable. 

  An official at the Ministry of Intelligence confirmed that the ten-page document is authentic but “was not supposed to reach the media,” Mekovit noted. According to a right-wing activist, the document from the Ministry of Intelligence was leaked by a member of Likud.

  Leaking the document was an attempt to find out whether “the public in Israel is ready to accept ideas of a transfer from Gaza.” The document unequivocally and explicitly recommends carrying out a transfer of civilians from Gaza as the desired outcome of the war.

  Hebrew-language media outlet @mekomit has published Israeli Ministry of Intelligence documents recommending mass expulsion of the entire Gaza population into the Sinai Desert

  It’s consistent with how Israel’s operation has been conducted so far

  Here’s an English translation pic.twitter.com/VGvz2uh3Lv

  — Michael Tracey (@mtracey) October 30, 2023

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

  The transfer plan is divided into several phases: in the first phase, the population in Gaza must be forced to move to southern Gaza, while Israeli air strikes will focus on targets in northern Gaza. In the second phase, the Israeli army’s ground entry into Gaza will begin, which will lead to the occupation of the entire strip, from north to south, and the “cleansing of the underground bunkers from Hamas fighters.”

  At the same time as the Gaza Strip is occupied, the citizens of Gaza will move to Egyptian territory and will be prevented from returning permanently. “It is important to leave the traffic lanes towards the south usable, to allow the evacuation of the civilian population towards Rafah,” the document states.

  The document recommends beginning a dedicated campaign that will “motivate” Gazans “to agree to the plan,” and make them give up their land. Gazan should be convinced that “Allah made sure that you lost this land because of the leadership of Hamas – there is no choice but to move to another place with the help of Your Muslim brothers,” the document reads.

  Further, the plan states the government must launch a public relations campaign that will promote the transfer program to western states in a way that does not promote hostility to Israel or damage its reputation. The deportation of the population from Gaza must be presented as a necessary humanitarian measure to receive international support. Such a deportation could be justified if it will lead to “fewer casualties among the civilian population compared to the expected number of casualties if they remain,” the document says.

  The document also states that the US should be leveraged to pressure Egypt to take in the residents of Gaza, and to encourage other European countries, and in particular Greece, Spain and Canada, to help take in and settle the refugees who will be evacuated from Gaza. 

  Finally, the document claims that if the population of Gaza remains, there will be “many Arab deaths” during the expected occupation of Gaza by the Israeli army, and this will damage Israel’s international image even more than the deportation of the population. For all these reasons, the recommendation of the Ministry of Intelligence is to promote the transfer of all Palestinians in Gaza to Sinai permanently.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/30/2023 – 22:20

• Krispy Kreme Downgraded On Prospect Of Waning Doughnut Demand As 'GLP-1 Fever' Sweeps America
  Krispy Kreme Downgraded On Prospect Of Waning Doughnut Demand As ‘GLP-1 Fever’ Sweeps America

  America’s anti-obesity craze, courtesy of GLP-1-based weight-loss drugs such as Wegovy and Mounjaro made by Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, continues to gain momentum as yet another Wall Street bank loses faith in obese consumers. 

  Wall Street is losing faith in Fat Americans.

  Truist Securities downgraded Krispy Kreme saying it has a difficult time recommending the stock until the impact of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs becomes more apparent.

  — zerohedge (@zerohedge) October 30, 2023

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  On Monday, Truist Securities downgraded doughnut chain Krispy Kreme Inc. from “buy” to “hold” and slashed the price target from $20 to $13, citing GLP-1 trends. 

  Analysts led by Bill Chappell told investors:

  “We believe the stocks will be stuck in a holding pattern at best with strong potential for additional multiple contraction as the initial impact of GLP-1 use becomes more apparent. To be clear, we have NO IDEA what the impact of GLP-1s will be on overall food consumption, but we believe it is way too early in the cycle for anyone to have an accurate estimate.”

  Chappell said he needs more evidence to gauge the overall GLP-1 impacts on overall food consumption. He noted if GLP-1 impacts worked through Krispy Kreme and its peers in the third quarter – there would be enough data to forecast 2024-25 trends. 

  Chappell warned that GLP-1 overhang will weigh shares down for the next six to 12 months, “if not longer.” 

  He added: 

  “We believe the stocks will be stuck in a holding pattern at best with strong potential for additional multiple contraction as the initial impact of GLP-1 use becomes more apparent.” 

  Shares of Krispy Kreme fell as much as 3.6% in early New York trade, but most losses were recovered by early afternoon. Shares are up 24% on the year but remain around record lows. 

  

  Another problem for the doughnut chain is that top-line growth resulted from increased pricing during Covid. According to Chappell, this trend will “only feed into the GLP-1 narrative as pricing benefits recede and overall sales growth decelerates in the next few quarters.”

  We told readers 2.5 months ago about the emerging “food revolution” as the food industrial-complex has been too lazy to adapt to the shifting winds of an increasing number of Americans using GLP-1 drugs. 

  In late July, a shift occurred as investors started to offload companies with potential downstream risks related to obesity drugs, as indicated by the Goldman Sachs Global HLC GLP Risk index. Concurrently, investors piled into Goldman’s GLP-1 Obesity drug basket to capitalize on slimming down Americans. 

  

  A recent Morgan Stanley presentation (available to pro subs) found the most bull case for the GLP-1 drugs could result in a 1.7% reduction (vs baseline) in calories consumed by Americans. 

  

  Not surprisingly, MS found a more pronounced impact on certain food categories among those on the weight-loss drugs.

  

  Also, the biggest losers appear to be fast food and pizza restaurants…

  

  … confections, cookies, and salty snacks…

  

  Expanding on MS’ report is Bank of America analyst Geoff Meacham (available to pro subs), who reveals the downstream effects of the obesity drug will impact the apparel industry as “eventual weight loss in the broader population could spur a wardrobe replacement cycle.” 

  Meacham said that an adoption rate of 38 million individuals using weight-loss drugs (midpoint of BofA’s estimated 2030 TAM) combined with the assumption of buying new clothing could result in $50 billion of new apparel spending. 

  

  Walmart has already voiced concern about seeing an impact on shopping demand from people taking the diabetes drug Ozempic, Wegovy, and other appetite-suppressing medications. 

  Banks are still evaluating the downstream effects of GLP-1 impacts that could be more clear in the next several quarters. 

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/30/2023 – 22:00

• Texas Reclaims Island From Mexican Cartels In Fight To Secure Border
  Texas Reclaims Island From Mexican Cartels In Fight To Secure Border

  Authored by J.M. Phelps via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  

  In the fight against Mexican cartels, Texas law enforcement recently took control of a dangerous island used by human traffickers.

  The Epoch Times spoke to Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, who identified Fronton Island as possibly “the most violent part” of the Texas–Mexico border. Belonging to Texas, Fronton Island is an island in the Rio Grande River. According to the General Land Office, “Fronton Island has been a hot spot for drug and human trafficking and dangerous cartel activity in the past couple of months.”

  Ms. Buckingham further described the island as “a law enforcement-free refuge, one where cartels went for refuge when they needed it.” On Sept. 7, she issued a letter to the Texas Department of Public Safety, authorizing law enforcement access to the state-owned 170-acre island.

  On an island where fully automatic weapons were once being fired regularly at night, as two violent cartels fought over its control, she said, “Law enforcement set foot on the island for the first time on Monday [Oct. 2].”

  Ms. Buckingham cannot speak to the details of the operation, but said the island has been reclaimed by an elite force of Texas Rangers. “Clearing the island and taking away [the cartel’s] shelter, they are finding caches of weapons and more than I can’t speak fully about,” she added.

  With a Texas flag planted on the island, Ms. Buckingham considers the operation a win against illegal immigration, drug trafficking, and human trafficking—but the scope of the problem exceeds this single region.

  “Texas is still getting flooded with illegal immigrants,” she said. “We’re seeing millions and millions of folks coming across the border.”

  To put this in perspective, she said, “The New York mayor is complaining about thousands of people coming [into his city], while Eagle Pass [in Texas] expects far more than that.” The numbers of migrants Eagle Pass has to brace for is “the equivalent of 2.7 million people illegally coming to New York every week.” In addition, she said, “these are not just family units, but a whole lot of young, military-aged males.”

  “Recent surges of illegal immigrants are setting new records for crossing the border,” she said. “There are numerous videos circulating online showing thousands of people literally storming across the border,” she added. “This is literally an invasion.”

  For those actually being processed by Border Patrol to enter the country, she said, their earliest court date to begin a legal process for their entry into the country would be the year 2027. “With a court date years in the future like this, many will just disappear,” she said.

  Streaming Across the Border

  According to Ms. Buckingham, “nearly everybody who comes who comes across the border has a wristband that indicates which cartel they belong to.”

  “Everyone who comes across is owned by somebody, so you’re basically seeing the largest increase in slavery that this world has ever seen,” she said. “Many are now obligated to the drug trade or the human trafficking trade because the cartels are controlling who crosses the border.”

  “With enough fentanyl across our border to kill every man, woman, and child in the United States, this has to stop,” she said, adding that “Texas is doing everything we possibly can to get this stopped.”

  One of the things Texas is doing is “creating a criminal record for the people who come across and break our laws so that they’re easily identifiable,” she said. “Because of [President Joe] Biden’s policies, what we’re seeing right now is a lot of criminals who simply get turned back around to their country to turn around again and walk back across the border.”

  “While Texas is fighting on every front and will continue to fight,” she said, “people need to seriously think about who they’re voting for in Congress and for president, because we need people who will enforce policies that stop illegal immigration, and the trafficking of drugs and people into our great country.”

  In September alone, Border Patrol encountered a record 269,735 migrants at the border; 218,763 of whom were attempting to illegally enter the country. In fiscal year 2023, a record 169 people on the terror watch list were apprehended, and more than 25,500 pounds of fentanyl was seized at the border.

  The White House and Department of Homeland Security did not return requests for comment.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/30/2023 – 21:40

• Salesforce CEO Demands Return Of 'Law And Order' Across Crime-Ridden San Fran
  Salesforce CEO Demands Return Of ‘Law And Order’ Across Crime-Ridden San Fran

  Marc Benioff, the CEO of Salesforce, San Francisco’s largest employer and anchor tenant in the city’s tallest skyscraper, urged progressive leaders in City Hall on Sunday night to reverse course on defunding the police. He advocates to “refund” the police force after defunding policies sparked a metro area-wide surge in violent crime. This call from Benioff, alongside others, suggests a growing separation from previously ‘woke’ policies. However, these calls to reverse disastrous progressive policies could be too late. 

  On Sunday evening, Benioff posted on X, “San Francisco must REFUND the Police not continue to DEFUND the Police. Our SFPD and Sheriffs are the key to a safe and clean San Francisco every day. SFPD must be returned to >2000 officers within 18 months from <1400 where it has been allowed to fall, and the police force must be fully empowered to enforce ALL laws." 

  He continued, “Compensate ALL city employees to recruit the best officers in the country. Reward and recognize them for hiring the absolute best now. San Francisco Police Academy must be expanded for hiring surge. All laws must be fully enforced. Police must be fully funded. The DA’s office must prosecute to the fullest level of the law. Return Safety to retail business and residential properties NOW. DISTRICT BY DISTRICT – Police officers need to be enabled to protect assigned districts and rewarded & measured for their effectiveness. Metrics for effectiveness need to be clearly defined and transparent. Let’s institute a Neighborhood Policing model in San Francisco, safety District by District. We can and must do more now with our police force.”

  San Francisco must REFUND the Police not continue to DEFUND the Police. Our SFPD and Sheriffs are the key to a safe and clean San Francisco every day. SFPD must be returned to >2000 officers within 18 months from <1400 where it has been allowed to fall, and the police force…

  — Marc Benioff (@Benioff) October 29, 2023

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  And, of course, Elon Musk, whose X headquarters is based in the crime-ridden metro area, responded to Benioff’s post: “We must also grant law enforcement officers the respect and honor that they deserve. Every profession has flawed individuals, but it was deeply wrong to condemn all police officers, after they risked their lives to keep us safe, for the sins of the few.”

  We must also grant law enforcement officers the respect and honor that they deserve.

  Every profession has flawed individuals, but it was deeply wrong to condemn all police officers, after they risked their lives to keep us safe, for the sins of the few.

  — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 30, 2023

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  Musk has warned San Francisco’s downtown feels “post-apocalyptic” … 

  San Francisco is on track to set a record for fatal drug overdoses this year, and the intersection of Seventh and Market Streets at U.N. Plaza has become an epicenter of the drug crisis—and a physical representation of the political battles playing out at City Hall. (1/12) pic.twitter.com/YV6DiPuj9x

  — The San Francisco Standard (@sfstandard) October 27, 2023

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  The homeless man who had been advertising free fentanyl across from a San Francisco public school has been charged with battery and creating a public nuisance, according to District Attorney Brooke Jenkins. https://t.co/fPlsMk7oUd

  — San Francisco Chronicle (@sfchronicle) October 27, 2023

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  A woman bathing herself by using a fire hydrant in San Francisco. Her private parts exposed. San Francisco is so disgusting, we need new mayor and police chief. Incompetent leadership led to this. pic.twitter.com/JFU7tg3DJw

  — Asian Crime Report (@activeasian) October 29, 2023

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  While the #USA government spends billions on wars, #SanFrancisco poor have organised themselves into crime rings to survive. pic.twitter.com/5HH5h8Dr58

  — Kamal Perera (@KamalPe69257601) October 28, 2023

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  Microsoft to vacate 50,000 square feet of office space in San Francisco as tech-xodus continues amid drug and crime ‘doom loop’https://t.co/WVtpgj0Wxs

  — Stalingrad & Poorski (@Stalingrad_Poor) October 24, 2023

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  I am a self taught citizen journalist who has been documenting the chaos happening in San Francisco for years. My X account is literally a database of information. A living testimony of survival. pic.twitter.com/0srJhMB52j

  — World Peace Movement (@darren_stallcup) October 25, 2023

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  The backfiring of policies recently forced Democrat Mayor London Breed to reverse course on her defunding the police initiatives. She has requested more funding for police, a move to attract businesses back to the downtown area.

  Benioff has previously warned about the metro area’s collapsing commercial real estate market, warning that the downtown area is “never going back to the way it was” in pre-Covid times.

  No more kneeling for the mayor?

  

  … and across the nation, who could’ve seen this coming? 

  Blue cities face severe police shortages as violent crime explodes. 

  X users responded to Benioff’s post: 

  Where were you 2 years ago on this? How obvious.

  — Tbarton (@SLMHTEXA) October 30, 2023

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  Seeing major CEOs like @Benioff do a complete 180° on their prior support of Black Lives Matter criminal justice reforms is very encouraging. It was never racist to punish repeat violent offenders, sometimes officers have to use force as many offenders are extremely violent.

  — Adam Lowisz (@AdamLowisz) October 30, 2023

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  The woke are awaking. How much money did SalesForce donate to BLM?

  — Joel Wolh (@joelwolh) October 30, 2023

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  Give @Benioff credit. He backed mistakes, & now he is fixing things.
  –
  Good

  — Mark Simon (@MarkSimonHK) October 30, 2023

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  … 

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/30/2023 – 21:20

• Biden Throws $45 Billion In Federal Funds To Convert Offices Into Homes
  Biden Throws $45 Billion In Federal Funds To Convert Offices Into Homes

  Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

  Questions abound. Assume you can convert offices into homes, who wants to live in them? Is a tear-down cheaper?

  

  To ease the housing crisis, White House Opens $45 Billion in Federal Funds to Convert Offices Into Homes

  Taking aim at the nation’s housing crisis, the White House kicked off a multiagency push on Friday to help real-estate developers convert more office buildings emptied by the pandemic into affordable housing.

  The initiative aims to harness $35 billion in low-cost loans already available through the Transportation Department to fund housing developments near transit hubs, folding the initiative into the Biden administration’s clean-energy push.

  It also opens up additional funding sources and tax incentives and offers a new guide to 20 federal programs that developers can tap and that offers technical assistance in what can be tricky and expensive conversions.

  A third part of the program will see the federal government draw up a public list of buildings it owns that could be made available for sale to help bolster development.

  The federal government owns about 1,500 office buildings nationally and had leases on almost 200 million square feet of additional space as of April, according to Barclays analysts, who said in a recent report that much of that office space was underused.

  Questions Abound

  Also consider San Francisco’s push to turn office buildings into homes hinges on this simple idea

  “Hope is not a strategy,” said Nick Romito, co-founder and CEO of VTS, a leasing and asset-management data company. “The hope that if you convert it, they will come —well, a lot depends on where that building is.”

  While New York City’s downtown financial district is home to a number of successful office-to-residential conversions, it also takes a vibrant neighborhood, with bustling cafés, grocery stores and more.

  “That is not the same for San Francisco,” Romito said. “The infrastructure and the cost of converting a building — that’s part of it,” he said. “But I’d be more concerned about, even if you can convert it, who wants to live there?”

  “What’s cheaper?” Romito said. “Is it cheaper to add amenities in maybe a zombie building, add a floor or two, to create a better experience? Or is it cheaper to knock the entire building down, rebuild something else, and pray to God you lease it?”

  Warren Wachsberger, CEO of Aecom Capital, a subsidiary of Aecom ACM, said revamping old office buildings isn’t that simple. “Less than 1% of all apartment units underway, being built nationally, are office-to-residential conversions, despite everybody’s love affair with them,” Wachsberger said, speaking from Los Angeles.

  “Many buildings probably won’t work,” Wachsberger said, observing that thick, concrete office floorplates often need to be drilled through and plumbing and heating systems overhauled, with local building codes adding to the headache.

  “It’s a lot easier and cheaper to demolish it and start over from scratch,” he said. “That means buying buildings essentially at the cost of land.”

  Wachsberger said hopes for an expansion of an office-to-residential conversion effort in Los Angeles in the 2000s likely hinge on incentives for developers and the buildings being in places where people wanted to work, eat, live and shop. “Until that’s able to come back, it’s difficult to create the vibrancy that was there prepandemic,” he said.

  Simple Idea

  I had to read that article twice to find the simple idea mentioned in the headline. The article never really explained. But I believe It’s in that last paragraph above: Incentives and free money from governments.

  With enough subsidies, developers will try nearly anything. Then when the projects fail, the developers ask for more money.

  Clean Energy Question

  What the heck does this have to do with clean energy?

  The answer is clearly nothing. Nonetheless, $45 billion is siphoned from the Biden administration’s clean-energy push.

  The government has 1,500 office buildings nationally and leases on almost 200 million square feet of additional space that it does not need. Instead of canceling leases and selling the real estate, it’s going to convert them into clean energy spaces.

  Biden’s Green Energy Inflation Reduction Act Needs a Big Bailout Already

  Please note Biden’s Green Energy Inflation Reduction Act Needs a Big Bailout Already

  Surprise, surprise. Subsidies were not enough to make Biden’s energy projects profitable.

  The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) includes hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies for green energy, yet now renewable developers want utility rate-payers in New York and other states to bail them out.

  According to a report late last month by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (Nyserda), large offshore wind developers are asking for an average 48% price adjustment in their contracts to cover rising costs. The Alliance for Clean Energy NY is also requesting an average 64% price increase on 86 solar and wind projects.

  What Will This Office to Apartment Conversion Ultimately Cost?

  Supposedly, this office conversion idea will only cost $45 billion.

  I assume it will eventually cost $450 billion minimum by the time Biden finishes. He is guaranteed to add subsidized low income, clean energy, free electric heat, and free child care into the mix.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/30/2023 – 21:00

• Watch: COVID Authoritarians Want Forgiveness – Here's Why They Don't Deserve It
  Watch: COVID Authoritarians Want Forgiveness – Here’s Why They Don’t Deserve It

  Do authoritarians deserve a chance to be treated with grace and forgiveness?  The question is circulating regularly these days in the wake of the complete failure of covid pandemic response and the victory of the anti-mandate movement.  The answer relies on a series of counter-questions based on logic and predictable outcomes.  It’s the kind of discussion that covid cultists don’t want to have; they just want everyone to forget because they now have something to lose politically  

  Scott Galloway, Professor at the NYU Stern School of Business and member of the World Economic Forum’s “Global Leaders Of Tomorrow” list, is one of the cultists that now wants to be given a free pass as he debates the issue on Real Time with Bill Maher.

  “I was on the board of my kids’ school during COVID. I wanted a harsher lockdown policy. In retrospect: I was wrong. The damage to kids of keeping them out of school longer was greater than the risk. But here’s the bottom line: We were doing our best. But let’s give a little… pic.twitter.com/8Vt2NujNKl

  — Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) October 28, 2023

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  The question that we need to ask Galloway is:  How forgiving was he when confronted with people who opposed his authoritarianism?  Galloway was rabidly pro-mandate.  He consistently called for harsher punishments for people refusing to comply and he demanded that the unvaccinated be treated as second tier citizens banned from places of business.  As he argued in his blog titled ‘Half Of America Has Its Head Up Its Ass. It’s Time For A Vaccine Mandate’:

  “Enough already. Federal law should require any citizen who wants to cash a government check, use public transport, or enter a place of business to show proof of vaccination…”

  Galloway cited the ever present inflated CDC data on covid deaths in America as the justification for his authoritarian position.  Of course, data was available not long after the spread of covid indicating that the Infection Fatality Rate of the virus was a tiny 0.23% and that 99.8% of the population (including the unvaccinated) had nothing to fear.  Not only that, but the CDC has recently and quietly published information showing that around 95% of people who died with covid also had one or more comorbidities and 75% had at least four – Meaning, if you did not have multiple comorbidities your chances of dying from covid were incredibly small.   

  Do Galloway and those like him deserve a clean slate?  No, they don’t, and here’s why…

  No Apologies

  We hear many covid authoritarians talk about forgiveness but very few of them actually apologize for their behavior.  Galloway calls for “grace”, perhaps trying to appeal to the Christian notion of “turning the other cheek.”  He admits he was wrong on the mandates (because the data forces him to), but he doesn’t actually apologize for his behavior.  In fact, he excuses his behavior and the behavior of leftist politicians as them doing the best they could do given the imperfect information they had at the time.  This is a common tactic of misdirection.

  

  As noted above, within months of covid becoming active in the US, the data was already available showing that the virus was not a legitimate threat.  So the claim that their information was “the best they had at the time” does not hold water.  There was more than enough evidence to warrant opposition to unconstitutional policies (frankly, even if covid had been more deadly it doesn’t justify violations of the Bill of Rights).  Millions of Americans tried to explain the truth to those panicking over covid, and they chose not to listen, calling us “selfish conspiracy theorists.” 

  But the greatest trespasses were among those analysts and “influencers” who used covid as an opportunity for political gain, knowing that there was information that debunked government and media spin.  The worst people are those that have no intention of making amends because they plan to try again.  People who do wrong and refuse to give a legitimate apology are the kinds of people that are likely to commit similar offenses in the future.   

  Mad With Power

  The covidians were primarily from the left side of the political spectrum and wherever leftists were most concentrated is where the most egregious violations of liberty took place.  The political left went absolutely mad with power, with a large number of Democrats supporting Orwellian controls to punish people refusing to submit to the mandates. 

  

  There were calls to fine the unvaccinated, imprison people who question the vaccine, put the vaccinated on home lockdown and even take away their children.  In some states, like New York, there was active legislation put forward to create detention facilities for people that did not comply (covid camps).  That is some serious Stalinist behavior and we are still waiting for it to be addressed and for certain political leaders to be punished.  

  As the old saying goes: “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”  We have now seen the character of the political left.  We have seen the character of people like Galloway, and they have been found untrustworthy.

  It Can And Will Happen Again

  The covid event was really a litmus test for authoritarian tendencies in the US.  At least half the public failed that test miserably.  We may not see another pandemic agenda in our lifetimes, but that doesn’t really matter.  There will be many other opportunities in the future for ignorant people and sociopathic people to act out on their darker impulses.  It is important to make a note of how the individuals around us behave when they think it’s safe to be evil, and we must remember who they are.  These are not people that should be given “grace” or trust down the road when the next crisis strikes; they have shown themselves to be unworthy of that.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/30/2023 – 20:40

• "The Pessimistic Tone On Conference Calls Is Striking": US Stocks Are Facing Falling Profit Forecasts
  “The Pessimistic Tone On Conference Calls Is Striking”: US Stocks Are Facing Falling Profit Forecasts

  By Sagarika Jaisanghani, Bloomberg markets live reporter and analyst

  A deteriorating outlook for corporate earnings offers little support for the S&P 500 reeling from its worst October since 2018.

  While data from Bloomberg Intelligence show US firms are on pace to report a surprise increase in third-quarter earnings, forecasts for future quarters have been marked down as companies warned of tepid demand and an uncertain macroeconomic outlook. Deutsche Bank Group AG said analysts’ estimates for the fourth quarter have been cut by a “more than typical” 1.9% since the start of the reporting season.

  Profit estimates for the next 12 months for the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index — which weights companies equally rather than by market value, a move that pares the influence of the technology behemoths — have come down 1.8% since the start of October, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

  

  “The pessimistic tone” on post-earnings conference calls “is striking,” said Lori Calvasina, head of US equity strategy at RBC Capital Markets LLC. The magnitude of downward revisions in 2023 and 2024 forecasts means the season so far hasn’t been “enough to get the US equity market out of its recent malaise,” she wrote in a note.

  US stocks have slumped this month in their worst October performance in six years, hurt by a surge in bond yields and renewed geopolitical concerns. A disappointing showing from technology giants including Google parent Alphabet Inc. and Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc. has also weighed on sentiment. The S&P 500 confirmed a technical correction on Friday after slumping 10% from its July peak.

  Morgan Stanley strategist Michael Wilson — among the most bearish voices on Wall Street — said profit expectations are still “too high for the fourth quarter and 2024, even in an economy that’s performing well.” The strategist said the odds of a rally in the fourth quarter were much lower given “narrowing breadth, cautious factor leadership, falling earnings revisions and fading consumer and business confidence.”

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/30/2023 – 20:20

• 60 Million Americans Under Freeze Alerts As Powerful Arctic Blast Crashes Temps Nationwide
  60 Million Americans Under Freeze Alerts As Powerful Arctic Blast Crashes Temps Nationwide

  As highlighted in last week’s article (view here), temperatures across the Lower 48 are diving as a cold blast pours in from Canada. These bone-chilling temperatures come just in time for Halloween. About 250 million Americans are feeling below-average temperatures, while 60 million will be under frost or freeze alerts.

  According to private weather forecaster BAMWX, the cold air invasion has already begun:

  A lot of record cold lows on the table to start out November. 20s all the way down to Central Texas with temperatures 15 – 20F below normal.

  

  We first called for a major Halloween cold front 2 weeks ago and it is here. 

  

  Fox Weather said the cold blast will affect more than “250 million Americans from coast to coast,” while 60 million Americans, from Big Bend of Texas to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, will be under cold weather alerts. 

  

  Meteorologist Beau Dodson said the worst cold weather will be on Wednesday morning. He showed on a map where “new record low temperatures will be possible.” 

  

   “Temperatures plunged across Texas now more than 30°F below normal for Oct 30th. Overall the Lower 48 is an astounding 13°F below normal,” meteorologist Ryan Maue said. 

  

  This is wild! 

  

  … and this. 

  You won’t hear it from our political leaders or the mainstream media, but 2023 has been a year where record cold weather temperatures have fallen on every continent, says David Craig. https://t.co/jsmVqLJTN3

  — Toby Young (@toadmeister) October 29, 2023

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  Bloomberg data shows the cold shot will be short-lived. However, Lower 48 temps are expected to drop again by mid-month. 

  

  Recall it feels like just yesterday when corporate media was pushing climate misinformation by attempting to persuade the public that Earth was recklessly spiraling into a boiling crisis. 

  

  Also, remember, NOAA had to run far away from lying corporate media about the “hottest day ever.” At the same time, 1,600 scientists around the world signed a declaration declaring there was no climate emergency. 

  We penned several notes that an El Nino winter could leave some parts of the Lower 48 with a cold and snowy winter: 

  • The ‘Brrr’ Is Coming Back
  • What Does Strong El Niño Mean For Winter Activity Across US?
  • US Meteorologist Warns: “Winter This Year Going To Be Very Different” As El Nino Ramps Up

  New snow forecasts for the Mid-Alantic show a snowy winter from DC to NYC. 

  

  But-but-but corporate media said the Earth is boiling… 

  Time to buy a snowmobile?

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/30/2023 – 20:00

• Is Bitcoin Deflationary? And What To Expect Next?
  Is Bitcoin Deflationary? And What To Expect Next?

  Submitted by Seth Chalnick (@seth_oshi),

  Inspired by this ZeroHedge article about the Cantillon Effect, a friend asked me today if I follow how Bitcoin is perceived as “deflationary”?

  This came within the context of a broader discussion about “fiscal dominance” as it relates to market-breaking events imploding in real-time.

  

  My response follows…

  Excellent article explaining the Cantillon effect… i.e. how those closest to the printing presses benefit not just disproportionately, but at the expense of everyone else.

  And who can blame them? Centralization leads to more centralization, as oligopolies across different verticals align incentives to play ball. It is, in fact, probable that most of us complaining today would also quietly accept a multibillion dollar payout, if it “just meant that” innocent citizens halfway around the world would die as a result. Especially if plausible deniability couldn’t directly link it back. Especially if we could justify it as a “greater good”. Not saying we would, but its pretty fucking clear as day that others would… and that this is also how the world has always worked, since arguably before man first harnessed the power to create a surplus.

  But life has a funny way of balancing out. See guillotines, viruses, and schoolyard bully resolution for reference.

  In my opinion, Bitcoin gets misclassified as “deflationary” because people conflate theorical (cyclical?) price declines with an eventual fixed supply of money. Basically they take fiscal (Keynesian) and/or Monetary (Friedman) and/or MMT (idiotic) square peg world views, based on their own malincentives or fears, and rationalize them into round holes screaming FUD (fear/uncertainty/doubt) to justify the status quo and cognitive dissonance.

  Bitcoin will actually continue to be “inflationary” until the year 2140, when the last bitcoin will have been mined.

  That’s 117 years away.

  What Bitcoin actually is… is disinflationary… because people are incentivized to save it rather than spend it, and to make sound investments with it, rather than foolishly levered ones, and to build generational low-time-preference projects, like bridges, universities, infrastructure, cathedrals, artwork, etc… versus spending FIAT now on high-time-preference items, because it will be worth less (worthless?) in the future, such that gambling, fast food, leverage, and immediate gratification get drawn like moths to the lights of extreme celebrity, cancel culture, debauchery, depravity, etc.

  Look at all the historical great civilizations. Most of everything meaningful was built during gold standard periods. Bitcoin is popularly viewed as having an erratic valuation, something that moves quickly and beyond our control. In periods where gold was not messed with it became stable. That is, until its derivatives became corrupted. Which is perhaps a tendency of human nature itself, but not inevitable.

  Bitcoin is currently undergoing an adoption phase, quite similar but opposite to the Cantillon effect. Those in early, who can withstand the wild swings, will benefit disproportionately, outperforming every other asset class. But it will inevitably settle down. And it will subsume or at least check and balance FIAT/CBDC. And it may very well lead to a gold 2.0 standard. Because it is better than gold in every way (except industrial use). And it is notably more defensible than gold from derivative dilution… because gold has no open source distributed ledger.

  Bitcoin is in fact slightly deflationary, in that people can lose their private keys to their bitcoin holdings, and lose it forever, thereby making the rest of the pool more valuable. But this is a small fraction, and will decrease over time, as bitcoin education increases, and custody solutions simplify. This happened a lot in the beginning, because people didn’t know what they were sitting on. Now that its valuable, people either safeguard it or get scared away from it altogether.

  Circling back to why it gets a bad rep as deflationary… the primary reason is because the masters of the universe cannot inflate it. They can’t print it. They can’t finance wars with it. They can’t steal its citizens’ life force with it. They can’t hide behind the justification of “saving the world from depression” during the next financial crises. Case in point… compare 2008 banking crisis with the SBF blowout. 2008 was “fixed” by inflating the bubble of the next generation to grotesque proportions. SBF got exposed for the ponzi he was, and what, 5 months later, we’re within $5k price pre-crisis?

  Everyone talks about the Great Depression and how we “learned our lessons” to avoid it. Compare the Great Depression with the lesser known depression of 1920-1921. 1920 was the single most deflationary year we ever had. It was extremely painful. Shit burned. And then the economy roared back. What we “learned” was how to more efficiently transfer wealth to the rich. That, and to use war as a vehicle for stealing other people’s lives, possessions, and future life force.

  In the end, Bitcoin offers a way to vote with your feet, a parallel system that doesn’t care about your feelings, that will reward those who see its inevitability, that has rules with no rulers, that is incorruptible and beyond the scope of governmental control.

  Personally, as geopolitics implode, markets dislocate, and the financial world starts to break… I have never been more bullish or higher conviction on Bitcoin:

  • The ponzis washed out

  • ETF approval will not only infuse billions in capital, but more importantly, blast a positive feedback loop of credibility onto the world stage

  • The next “Halving” starts in about 6 months, which mathematically cuts the new supply creation by 50% every four years, which if past is prologue, will start the next bull run

  • The next bull run will ramp up in tandem with the next presidential election shit show, and at least two 2nd-tier candidates potentially representing the tying vote are very much pro-bitcoin

  • The FACT that I introduced three years ago… namely that the US Dollar has LOST its world reserve currency status… will slowly, painfully, begrudgingly… make its way into the American zeitgeist… and Bitcoin will be taken seriously as a vehicle for flight to quality. Smart money (i.e. Larry Fink, Blackrock) is already calling it that.

  Now ask yourself… is it more likely:

  • That spending on social services, military, and debt service repayment will increase or decrease?

  • That rates remain high enough for longer (if not higher) or decrease all the way back to 1%, which is what it would take to keep the ponzi alive?

  • That investors will demand more interest, or accept less interest, on the money they loan the US, now that our currency is debasing at an ever faster pace?

  • That other countries will sell or buy US treasuries to insulate themselves from potential sanctions, and while we head into dollar weakness?

  • That investors will buy Bitcoin, a .5t market cap with no sustainable derivative market, or Gold, a 10t market cap with artificial price cap, opaque ledger, and difficulty safeguarding?

  • That a material number of the world’s 50 million millionaires will want at least 1 bitcoin?

    • Which is problematic… because there are only ~19 million bitcoins minted. Guess what happens to the price when they do start competing… in a market where 85% of supply has not changed hands… EVEN DURING THE SBF DEBACLE.

  When the world was down on TikTok and the mob tried to lynch it. Why didn’t they? Because they couldn’t. Try messing around with bitcoin and finding out. When only five people have cell phones, they have cute walky-talkies. When third-world villagers have them, the network changes the world. Get ready for Bitcoin’s network.

  Bitcoin is a vote against Davos. Against the Uniparty. Against the Fed. Against censorship, high-timepreference, depravity, cancel culture, vaccines, the war machine, pronouns, gun control, and everyone who doesn’t surf.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/30/2023 – 19:40

• Soros-Backed Activist District Attorney Gets Robbed – Becomes Victim Of Her Own System
  Soros-Backed Activist District Attorney Gets Robbed – Becomes Victim Of Her Own System

  Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price is no stranger to controversy.  She raised eyebrows after she received at least $130,000 from George Soros during her failed 2018 election bid, then won in 2022 on a campaign of radical criminal reforms for the Oakland area.  Her primary position?  That minorities are disproportionately targeted by law enforcement and the criminal court system and that “equity” policies would stop the rising crime rate.

  Price has made headlines in the past for various suspect behaviors and decisions.  Not long after taking office she hired her boyfriend, Antwon Cloird, to her office as a “senior program specialist” with a six-figure income.  She then tried to interfere in a triple-murder-for-hire case, creating a plea deal for the defendant and reducing his sentence down to a maximum of 15 years even though he was eligible for 75 years.  The presiding judge blocked Price’s plea deal, but dropped two charges.  Price accused the judge of bias and said he should no longer be allowed to preside over criminal cases.     

  Pamela Price’s methods have so far been a disaster for the Bay Area.  Skyrocketing crime (41% increase in burglaries and 20% increase in robberies) has led to Alameda residents demanding a recall of the far-left activist DA.  Alameda and the surrounding metro area does not report full violent crime data and will not provide such information to the FBI until 2024-2025.  Violent crime rates are estimated to have risen at least 20%.  Residents say Price’s soft-on-crime antics are making things far worse for the community and costing innocent lives.  

  Ironically, Price has become a victim of her own policies.  The DA had her car broken into and was robbed this week, items including a laptop were taken; the break-in happened in broad daylight at 3pm at 27th Street and Telegraph Avenue, near the Alameda County Family Justice facility.  When Price attempted to call police to investigate the crime, she waited an hour for a response, then was forced to file a report online.  Lack of adequate law enforcement presence and the refusal to prosecute, often based on race, have been cited as the biggest catalysts for the Bay Area’s swift social and economic decline.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/30/2023 – 19:20

• The Counterculture Everyone Forgot
  The Counterculture Everyone Forgot

  Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,

  Rather than mocking the Counterculture, we would benefit from re-acquiring its values that favored frugality and the ownership of skills, work, enterprise and land.

  Mention the Counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s, and the memory stored in popular culture is of drug-dazed, half-naked hippies dancing to rock music. There was a slice of that, to be sure, but there was much more that’s largely been forgotten:

  The Counterculture was primarily a response to the meaningless debt-dependent consumerism that had already taken hold of our society and economy. The core values of the Counterculture Everyone Forgot were:

  1. Learning how to make and repair things oneself

  2. Frugality

  3. Rejection of debt

  I submit that the value of these life precepts will become increasingly visible and necessary. As I’ve explained before, reliance on debt incentivizes the most destructive and unsustainable traits of human nature: choosing the painless, sacrifice-free option of pushing costs into the future, the removal of any incentive to become more productive and efficient, and the optimization of the illusion that the future will painlessly be able to not just service the current mountain of debt but an entire mountain range of debt that will pile up as our borrowing increases.

  The emptiness and meaningless of consumerism has reached levels which are now actively destroying our health, as I laid out in gory detail in The Profitable Destruction of Americans’ Health. The optimization of maximizing profit via monopoly/cartel profiteering, planned obsolescence and shrinflation (getting less while paying more) has stripped products and services of durability, so everything we buy is on a conveyor belt to the Landfill–the perfection of our Waste Is Growth Landfill Economy.

  This conveyor belt of squandered wealth looks sustainable as long as debt can skyrocket at near-zero rates of interest. But those days are gone, never to return. Borrowing more money now costs money, and so long after the unrepairable, low-quality gew-gaw is rotting away in the landfill, the debt used to purchase it lives on, eating the borrower alive.

  The secular bible of the Counterculture was the Whole Earth Catalog, a collection of quality American-manufactured tools and products designed for durability and productive use. In other words, things that aren’t consumed, they’re used to generate value. This concept has largely been lost: human beings are not productive beings, we’re consumers, whose very identity anf existence flows from buying more of everything: I shop, therefore I am.

  The depravity of borrowing money to squander on things of questionable or temporary value was visible 60 years ago, and the depravity will soon consume all those who believe this system is sustainable. What’s the opposite of a depraved dependence on debt to buy stuff of questionable or temporary value? Buying tools with cash and learning how to use them to create value for oneself, one’s household and one’s community, and consume / share / sell what one produces.

  The Counterculture questioned the value of debt and consumerism, and sought to return to the bedrock skills and values of the pre-debt/consumerism era. These included frugality–waste not, want not–in service of saving up and paying cash for everything rather than borrowing money, and in reducing dependence on the exploitive system of labor, where one sells their time (i.e. their life) for the dubious benefits of a wage.

  The favored Counterculture alternative was to own your own work, own your own tools and own your own land. And by “own” we mean “own free and clear,” i.e. zero debt.

  One of the more popular books of the Counterculture era was How to Live on Nothing (1/1/71), an exaggeration of course, but nonetheless it offered a practical guide to spending as little as possible, for it was understood that frugality equals freedom and debt equals servitude.

  In my own work, I’ve strived to offer alternatives to piling up debt / servitude. My book Get a Job, Build a Real Career describes an alternative to accepting a lifetime of debt /servitude for a university degree of questionable value–learn how to accredit yourself.

  My book Self-Reliance in the 21st Century lays out a framework for increasing self-reliance by reducing exposure to systemic fragilities and vulnerabilities, and assembling real-world skills and assets rather than pile up more debt or depending on a government funded by debt.

  Our first house was a micro-house constructed with hand tools as there was no electrical service onsite. Those who know how can do quite a bit with a sharp handsaw and other basic tools. A few years later, when we were 26 years of age, we built a “real house” ourselves, subcontracting the electrical and plumbing asd required by local building codes. We took out a local bank loan for $5,000 to finish the house and paid it off in less than two years. (In today’s money, that’s $17,500.) Then the house was ours, free and clear.

  Frugality in service of saving and paying cash for durable value really is freedom. So is knowing how to do things so you don’t have to pay others to do what you could have done yourself.

  Rather than mocking the Counterculture, we would benefit from re-acquiring its values that favored frugality and self-reliance, the ownership of skills, work, enterprise and land, sharing knowledge with others and a rejection of debt as needless servitude.

  These values don’t disappear with financial success, for they are the bedrock of financial success. Here are my work slippers and my dress slippers, for going out into the world looking my best:

  

  *  *  *

  My new book is now available at a 10% discount ($8.95 ebook, $18 print): Self-Reliance in the 21st Century. Read the first chapter for free (PDF)

  Become a $1/month patron of my work via patreon.com.

  Subscribe to my Substack for free

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/30/2023 – 19:00

• Tucker And Farage: Why Aren't Muslim Countries Taking Muslim Refugees?
  Tucker And Farage: Why Aren’t Muslim Countries Taking Muslim Refugees?

  Tucker Carlson sat down with former UK politician Nigel Farage to discuss where refugees from current conflicts in the Middle East should go, considering that there will be “hundreds of thousands, possibly millions” of them in the coming weeks, months and years.

  

  Carlson posited a scenario in which Israel is asked to take in refugees who hate them.

  “So if you were to suggest ‘well why isn’t Israel take them in, it’s their War’, the response you would get would be… ‘that’s insane these people are dangerous.'”

  Likewise, a country with Christian roots such as the United States – which feels it should try to help people, should remember that “the duty of any government its primary duty is the Integrity of its own country and its citizens,” Carlson continued.

  Carlson then observes that there’s a distinct lack of voices calling for countries with booming economies, such as China, to bear the refugee load. Why instead are Christian countries, historically bastions of refuge, the only ones saddled with this “obligation”?

  “It’s interesting that no one ever says well China’s got the fastest-growing economy in the world they have an obligation to take in millions of refugees,” he said.

  Farage noted the UK’s “great history in the UK of taking refugees,” noting that “they did very, very well in Commerce, Finance, the military in our country,” in terms of persecuted groups that the country has taken in throughout history.

  But juxtapose this with the recent waves of refugees, and a disturbing pattern emerges. A significant number of these refugees, especially from regions like Gaza, are potential sympathizers of extremist groups like Hamas. Given the spate of extremist-driven incidents in the West, particularly in the UK, one can’t help but wonder: are Western countries knowingly or unknowingly sowing the seeds of their own societal unrest?

  “So if you take any significant number from Gaza into our country, you will have a significant percentage of Hamas sympathizers and supporters among them,” said Carlson.

  To which Farage replied: “And if anyone should take them Tucker, shouldn’t it be the Egyptians? Shouldn’t it be the Saudis? Shouldn’t it be their co-religionists in that part of the world? And how interesting that Saudi Arabia didn’t take a single person from Syria because they were worried of the impact it would have on Saudi Society. Right. And the same goes for Egypt.”

  Marxism and ‘conservative cowardice.’

  According to Farage, “We have allowed the virus of Marxism to take hold in our countries,” noting how Britain and the United States are being indoctrinated with a toxic blend of guilt over their colonial pasts, allegations of institutional racism, and a host of other divisive narratives. All the while, conservative voices, which could counter this downward spiral, remain silenced by a spineless media establishment.

  “Conservative cowardice through politics and media has led to so very much of this,” he continued.

  Watch:

  Ep. 35 Start another war, send millions more anti-Western refugees to the West. Starting to notice a pattern? pic.twitter.com/93dQaVfbNF

  — Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) October 30, 2023

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

   

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/30/2023 – 18:38

• Biden Policies Delivered $50-$60 Billion To Iran
  Biden Policies Delivered $50-$60 Billion To Iran

  By Adam Andrzejewski of Open the Books Substack

  By making concessions to the Mullahs who operate the world’s largest state sponsor of terror, the Biden Administration has directly or indirectly pumped more than $50 billion into their coffers enabling untold violence and international destabilization, threatening our our allies and implicating our energy supply chain – just as the Administration also instituted unprecedented handcuffs on U.S. energy independence.

  It allowed the sale of Iranian oil worth approximately $40 billion.

  It allowed the sale of electricity to Iraq, bringing in an estimated $10 billion to the regime.

  Most recently, it released another $6 billion to Iran in Iranian cash. Fortunately for all, the current custodian of that cash, Qatar, has agreed to hold onto those payouts for now.

  Despite universal opprobrium and hard sanctions on Iran, Yale University and The Johns Hopkins University have partnered with Iranian entities for research in country since 2013 on the U.S. taxpayer’s dime. Both universities hold massive endowments and don’t need the taxpayer’s help. Furthermore, both were recently criticized for not rebuking the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel.

  KEY BACKGROUND

  Iranian Oil: The Mullahs increased oil exports by about 1.5 million barrels a day during Biden’s presidency according to The Committee to Unleash Prosperity founded by the economists Stephen Moore, Lawrence Kudlow, Arthur Laffer, and Steve Forbes:

  “This has put roughly $40 billion more into the coffers of the Iranian government,” according to the committee’s investigation.

  Loosening Iranian oil sanctions accompanied decline in domestic U.S. oil production by some 700 million barrels a year, thanks to the administrations resolute anti-fossil fuel polices.

  The Wall Street Journal wrote, “there’s no question the U.S. decision to ease enforcement of oil sanctions against Iran has aided Israel’s enemies.”

  By not enforcing oil sanctions, cash flowed to Tehran, which then had billions more to fund Hamas, Hezbollah and other terrorist groups.

  The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, reports Iran’s oil production jumped more than ten-percent from 2.6 million barrels a day in April, to 3 million in August.

  Richard Goldberg of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies points out that not enforcing Iranian oil sanctions also helps China: Iran’s oil increased production can’t be accomplished by sanction evasion alone.

  “That number likely reflects a policy of non-enforcement of sanctions,” Goldberg said. “With the administration pursuing so-called ‘de-escalation’ policies with both Iran and China simultaneously, tacitly approving increased Iranian oil exports to China is one way the White House can offer concessions to both regimes.”

  Reuters reported on the increased OPEC output: “Iran, which has been boosting supply despite U.S. sanctions, also pumped more, with output hitting the highest level since 2018.” That’s the year Washington re-imposed sanctions.

  Iranian electricity: Earlier this year, Iraq made another $10 billion in frozen assets available to pay for natural gas that Iraq buys from Iran.

  U.S. sanctions prevent Iraq from paying Iran directly for the gas, and Tehran had cut supplies, plunging already electricity-starved Iraq into blackouts. That lead to an Iraqi plan to barter with Iran, sending its oil as payment for Tehran’s natural gas.

  $6 billion in unfrozen Iranian assets: The Wall Street Journal news side published an exclusive on October 8th, that since August, Iran helped plot the Hamas attack on Israel.

  It’s impossible to miss that this took places as the Biden Administration unfroze $6 billion in disputed Iranian funds.

  In the communique announcing the accord, the U.S. agreed to release five Iranians held in the U.S. and the $6 billion, in exchange for freeing five U.S. citizens illegally held in Tehran. For the Mullahcracy, crime pays — they got their guys and the money.

  The funds at issue had been in South Korea. The money was transferred to Doha, Qatar, along with a fig leaf suggesting they will be expended only for “humanitarian” spending, such as food and medicine. Obviously, $6 billion for food and medicine frees up another $6 billion for terror and violence.

  As The Hill said, “Iran has access to $6 billion that it did not have access to three months ago.”

  Secretary of State Antony Blinken insists the money wasn’t used to attack Israel.

  “Not a single dollar from that account has actually been spent to date,” Blinken said. “It’s very carefully and closely regulated by the Treasury Department to make sure that it’s only used for food, for medicine, for medical equipment.”

  Somehow, the Biden Administration, which is expert in spending other people’s money, simply cannot understand the $6 billion boost it gave to terrorists.

  U.S. federal grants spent in Iran: Our auditors at OpenTheBooks.com searched the federal checkbook for direct payments to entities in Iran and found that U.S. agencies have funded American universities doing work in Iran with Iranian institutions.

  It’s unclear how this partnership happens when U.S. sanctions are in place.

  From 2016 to 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services gave Johns Hopkins University $538,000 in the form of a mental health research grant for a project the university did in conjunction with Tehran Medical Science University – a subdivision of the Iranian government.

  The description states a contract

  “will cover effort for Dr. Larry Wissow [Johns Hopkins] to have the role of co-pi of the grant. Activities will include weekly meetings with Dr. Mojtaba the other co-pi and with Dr. Sharifi, the leader of the Iranian research team, to oversee the ongoing conduct of the project. Dr. Wissow will have primary responsibility for drafting analysis plans and for creating the de-identified data set that will be deposited with NIMH. He will also participate in drafting and submitting manuscripts developed from the study data.”

  For perspective on its spending, Johns Hopkins’ spokeswoman Jill Rosen pointed to the university’s position of leading the nation in research spending for the 43rd consecutive year, with $3.2 billion spent in FY 2021.

  The National Science Foundation also funded $17,000 for Yale University to do doctoral dissertation research in Iran.

  Both universities have large endowments — $40.7 billion for Yale, and about $8 billion for Johns Hopkins — and Yale, among other Ivy League schools, is being criticized for not rebuking the Hamas invasion of Israel. 

  TROUBLING INTEL

  U.S. officials won’t say that Iran “gave the green light” to Hamas to attack Israel, as reported in The Wall Street Journal, or otherwise was directly involved in the planning or funding of the Oct. 7 attack.

  But U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in an October 10th White House press briefing:

  “Iran is complicit in this attack in a broad sense because they have provided the lion’s share of the funding for the military wing of Hamas, they have provided training, they have provided capabilities, they have provided support, and they have had engagement and contact with Hamas over years and years. And all of that has played a role in contributing to what we have seen.”

  Sullivan continued, “Now, as to the question of whether Iran knew about this attack in advance or helped plan or direct this attack, we do not — as of the moment I’m standing here at the podium — have confirmation of that.”

  According to unclassified U.S. documents,

  ‘‘Iran has historically provided up to $100 million annually in combined support to Palestinian terrorist groups, including Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command.’’

  The U.S. knows Iran funds Hamas. Therefore: Freeing up $6 billion in a cash-for-hostages deal, trading $10 billion from Iraq for natural gas, or increasing Iranian oil output and revenues by $40 billion means America gave Iran billions in leeway it could use to empower Hamas, and indeed Iran’s entire terror network, to the detriment of our allies.

  CRUCIAL QUOTE

  ​​ “We know that there were meetings in Syria and in Lebanon with other leaders of the terror armies that surround Israel, so obviously it’s easy to understand that they tried to coordinate,” said Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations. “The proxies of Iran in our region, they tried to be coordinated as much as possible with Iran.”

  ADDITIONAL READING:

  • Biden Pays, Rockets Fly: Administration Sent $1 Billion In Palestinian Aid After Trump’s Freeze | OpenTheBooks.Substack.com | October 17, 2023

  • Biden Reversed Trump’s Foreign Aid Freeze To Expand Palestinian Funding—$6.3 Billion Since 1953 | Forbes | Adam Andrzejewski | May 2021

  • U.S. Resumption of Foreign Aid To The Palestinians | Congressional Research Service | April 2021

  • Mortar And Rocket Attacks Against Israel By Date | The Jewish Virtual Library, A Project of AICE | 2001 to the Present

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/30/2023 – 18:20

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• The Veil Of Silence Over Excess Deaths
  The Veil Of Silence Over Excess Deaths

  Authored by Sonia Elijah via the Brownstone Institute,

  Around the world, there has been a deafening silence over excess deaths from governments and the mainstream media, who not so long ago were quite fixated on the daily death toll for Covid. 

  

  On October 20th, a 30-minute adjourned debate (20 rejections later) on excess deaths in the UK House of Commons was finally secured by Andrew Bridgen, MP for North West Leicestershire and member of the Reclaim Party. 

  Bridgen began his speech to the sound of erupting cheers from the full, upper public gallery, in stark contrast to the almost empty chamber below. 

  Where were the hundreds of MPs who would normally sit shoulder to shoulder in the chamber? It appears, an increase in deaths of their constituents was not a pressing issue for them on that Friday afternoon. 

  We’ve experienced more excess deaths since July 2021 than in the whole of 2020, unlike the pandemic, however, these deaths are not disproportionately of the old, in other words, the excess deaths are striking down people in the prime of life but no-one seems to care. I fear history will not judge this house kindly. 

  Strikingly, excess deaths have been seen across all age groups, which Bridgen pointed out during his speech.

  The graph below shows the pooled weekly total number of deaths for all ages, from 27 participating countries: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Germany (Berlin), Germany (Hesse), Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK (England), UK (Northern Ireland), UK (Scotland), and UK (Wales).

  

  According to the British Medical Journal, ‘Excess deaths are calculated as the difference between current numbers of deaths and those in a baseline year, and the excess can differ depending on the baseline and methodology used.’ 

  This important point on how excess can differ depending on the baseline used, was raised by Bridgen.

  ONS Manipulating the Data, Again

  Bridgen explained:

  ‘To understand if there is an ‘excess’ by definition, you need to estimate how many deaths would have been expected. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) used 2015-2019 as a baseline…Unforgivably, the UK ONS (Office for National Statistics) have included deaths in 2021, as part of their baseline calculation for expected deaths- as if there was anything normal about the deaths in 2021- by exaggerating the number of deaths expected, the number of excess deaths can be minimized. 

  Why would the ONS want do that?’

  My early 2022 interview with Norman Fenton, professor of Risk Information Management at Queen Mary, University of London, revealed how the ONS had also been manipulating the data on deaths involving Covid-19 by vaccination status. 

  Fenton coauthored a paper analysing the ONS report: ‘Deaths involving COVID-19 by vaccination status, England: deaths occurring between 2 January and 24 September 2021.’ 

  The paper concluded that the ONS was guilty of ‘systematic miscategorisation of vaccine status’ and that the COVID-19 vaccines did not reduce all-cause mortality, but rather produced genuine spikes in all-cause mortality shortly after vaccination.

  The Backlog of Unregistered Deaths

  Bridgen went on to highlight a critical failure in how data on deaths are being collected.

  ‘There is a total failure to collect (never mind publish) data on deaths that are referred for investigation to the coroner. Why does this matter? A referral means that it can be many months and given the backlog, many years, before a death is formally registered. Needing to investigate a cause of death is fair enough. Failing to record when the death happened, is not. Because of this problem, we actually have no idea how many people died in 2021, even now. The problem is greatest for the younger age groups, where a higher proportion of deaths are investigated. This data failure is unacceptable.’

  Excess Deaths in the Younger Age Groups

  My investigative report into child deaths following Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA vaccine revealed there was an increase in deaths in the 0-14 age group, around the time the mRNA vaccine was authorised in children, 12-15 years of age.

  

  

  

  Bridgen drew attention to the fact that in a judicial review on a decision to vaccinate younger children, the ONS shockingly refused in court to give anonymised details (which they admitted was statistically significant) on the increase in excess deaths observed in the second half of 2021, for young adolescent males. Bridgen made the point that potentially even more excess deaths would have been observed, if those referred to the coroner had been included.

  Excess Deaths Observed in Heavily Vaccinated Countries

  In August 2023, fifteen EU Member States that recorded excess deaths, the highest rates were observed in Ireland (21.1 percent), Malta (16.9 percent), Portugal (12.7 percent) and the Netherlands (9.4 percent), according to Eurostat. It should be noted that, as of January 2023, Portugal had the highest COVID-19 vaccination rate in Europe having administered 272.78 doses per 100 people in the country, while Malta had administered 258.49 doses per 100. 

  Increase in Cardiac Arrests

  Bridgen, brought attention to the fact that Dr Clare Craig, diagnostic pathologist and co-chair of HART, was the first to highlight the increase in cardiac arrest calls after the vaccine rollout in May 2021.

  Bridgen stated:

  ‘Ambulance data for England provides another clue. Ambulance calls for life-threatening emergencies were running at a steady 2,000 calls per day until the vaccine rollout. From then they rose to 2,500 daily, and  calls have stayed at that level since.’

  

  Category 1: An immediate response to a life-threatening condition, such as cardiac or respiratory arrest. 

  The Anomalies of the Pfizer Clinical Trial

  Bridgen shared the fact that:

  Four participants in the vaccine group of the Pfizer trial died from cardiac arrest compared to only one in the placebo group. Overall there were 21 deaths in the vaccine group up to March 2021, compared to 17 in the placebo group. There were serious anomalies about the reporting of deaths in this trial, with the deaths in the vaccine group taking much longer to report than those in the placebo group. That is highly suggestive of a significant bias in what was supposed to be a blinded trial.

  An Israeli study clearly showed an increase in cardiac hospital attendances among 18-39 year olds that correlated with vaccination not covid. 

  Australia, the Perfect Control Group

  Bridgen explained that Australia had almost no covid when vaccines were introduced making it the perfect control group. 

  The state of South Australia had only had 1,000 cases of covid in total across the whole population by December 2021, before omicron arrived. What was the impact of vaccination there? For 15-44 year olds, there were historically around 1,300 emergency cardiac presentations a month. With the vaccine roll-out to the under 50s, this rocketed reaching 2,172 cases in November 2021 in this age group alone, which was 67% more than usual.

  Overall there were 17,900 South Australians who had a cardiac emergency in 2021 compared to 13,250 in 2018, a 35% increase. The vaccine must clearly be the No.1 suspect in this, and it cannot be dismissed as a coincidence. Australian mortality has increased from early 2021 and that increase is due to cardiac deaths.

  How the Regulators Have Failed

  The regulators also missed the fact that in the Pfizer trial the vaccine was made for the trial participants in a highly controlled environment, in stark contrast to the manufacturing process used for the public – which was based on completely different technology. Just over 200 participants were given the same product that was given to the public, but not only was the data from these people never compared to those in the trial for efficacy and safety, but the MHRA has admitted that it dropped the requirement to provide this data. That means there was never a trial on the Pfizer product actually rolled out to the public, and that product has never even been compared to the product that was actually trialled.

  The vaccine mass production processes use vats of Escherichia Coli and presents a risk of contamination with DNA from the bacteria, as well as bacterial cell walls, which can cause dangerous reactions. This is not theoretical; there is now sound evidence that has been replicated by several labs across the world that the mRNA vaccines were contaminated by significant amounts of DNA which far exceeded the usual permissible levels. Given that this DNA is enclosed in a lipid nanoparticle delivery system, it is arguable that even the permissible levels would have been too high. These lipid nanoparticles are known to enter every organ of the body. As well as this potentially causing some of the acute adverse reactions that have been seen, there is a serious risk of this foreign bacterial DNA inserting itself into human DNA. Will anyone investigate? No they won’t.

  The BBC’s Role

  How ironic that the BBC has chosen to remain utterly silent on the issue of excess deaths, despite its ardent daily coverage of the Covid death toll. 

  In regards to vaccine injuries, the BBC took a far more proactive role. The public broadcaster took it upon itself to collaborate with Facebook to take down the online pages of Covid-19 vaccine injury groups, by drawing attention to the fact that these groups used carrot emojis to circumvent Big Tech censors. 

  

  Many viewers of Bridgen’s speech took to social media to draw attention to the fact that the BBC also took it upon itself to plaster the debate with its own captions, in an attempt to contradict what the MP was saying. 

  One caption read: The NHS says COVID-19 vaccines used in the UK are safe and the best protection from getting seriously ill with the disease.

  What is interesting is that Bridgen did not mention vaccines and autism during his debate but this did not stop the BBC from inserting the caption below.

  ‘NHS guidance states vaccines do not cause autism, there is no evidence of a link between MMR vaccine and autism.’

  

  It must be noted that the BBC helms the Trusted News Initiative (an alliance of Big Tech and the mainstream media) set up in 2019 to combat ‘anti-vax misinformation’ in real-time. Therefore, its collaboration with Facebook to censor stories on vaccine harms; the lack of any coverage on excess deaths and the more recent captioning of Bridgen’s speech – shows just how effectively it has executed that role. 

  In Conclusion

  Bridgen closed the debate by stating the following:

  The experimental covid-19 vaccines are not safe and are not effective. Despite there being only limited interest in the Chamber from colleagues—I am very grateful to those who have attended—we can see from the Public Gallery that there is considerable public interest. I implore all Members of the House, those who are present and those who are not, to support calls for a three-hour debate on this important issue. Mr Deputy Speaker, this might be the first debate on excess deaths in our Parliament—indeed, it might be the first debate on excess deaths in the world—but, very sadly, I promise you it will not be the last.

  Republshed from the author’s Substack

  Sonia Elijah has a background in Economics. She’s a former BBC researcher and now works as an investigative journalist.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 10/30/2023 – 02:00

• Malone: The White House Is Controlled By The Medical-Industrial Complex
  Malone: The White House Is Controlled By The Medical-Industrial Complex

  Authored by Robert Malone via Substack,

  A bit of knowledge about “public health” can be a dangerous thing when financially conflicted partisans control the executive branch…

  

  Last February, the serving White House (WH) Chief of Staff (COS) quietly resigned, and a new one was ushered in. But a comparison of the outgoing and incoming WH Chief of Staff demonstrates striking similarities. A careful reading of the bios of Biden’s two chief of staff picks reveals a disturbing trend. Both choices appear consistent with – first and foremost – the capture of both the “health”-related administrative state and the levers of the Biden administration itself by the pharmaceutical-medical industrial complex.

  Why is this important? Because the WH Chief of Staff is the most critical political appointee of the President, and functionally serves as the head of the Executive Office of the President of the United States in addition to being a cabinet position. The position is widely considered the most important and powerful job in the Executive branch of the US Government, next to the sitting POTUS.

  In the case of a feeble or incapacitated president, the WH Chief of Staff essentially acts in place of the President. Given the ascendency of the power of the Executive Branch and its permanent Administrative State bureaucracy over the judicial and legislative branches, this appointed position functionally runs the country.

  The job entails:

  • “Selecting senior White House staffers and supervising their offices’ activities;

  • Managing and designing the overall structure of the White House staff system;

  • Control the flow of people into the Oval Office;

  • Manage the flow of information to and decisions from the Resolute Desk (with the White House staff secretary);

  • Directing, managing and overseeing all policy development;

  • Protecting the political interests of the president;

  • Negotiating legislation and appropriating funds with United States Congress leaders, Cabinet secretaries, and extra-governmental political groups to implement the president’s agenda; and

  • Advise on any and usually various issues set by the president.

  • The firing of senior staff members.” (wiki)

  The Chief of Staff is essentially given the keys to the White House. This position clearly has much more power than the Vice-president, and yet the job is not only an unelected one, but it is also not confirmed by the Senate.

  Why do I assert that Biden’s choices for WH COS demonstrate the functional capture of the White House by the pharmaceutical-medical industrial complex?

  Biden’s first Chief of Staff was Ron Klain. He was Biden’s Chief of Staff when he was vice-president under Biden. During that time, he initially transitioned from managing the allocation of stimulus funds to becoming the Ebola response coordination under Obama. The Ebola response was an “all-hands” government effort, due to a case of Ebola actually occurring on American soil, and the risk that this particular variant might become able to infect via the respiratory tract (thanks to fearporn primarily promoted by Dr. Osterholm).

  Prior to and after Obama’s presidency, Mr. Klain was the executive vice president for Revolution, an investment firm that invested in several healthcare companies, such as BrainScope, Everyday Health and Extend Health. “Extend Health” is now renamed “One Exchange” and is a leading provider of health care solutions for Medicare-eligible individuals.

  After his time in the Obama White House, Klain also became an external advisor for the Skoll Foundation, whose website lists as a main strategic priority the strengthening of global health systems and presenting pandemics. He held this position until his selection to serve as WH Chief of Staff under Biden.

  Ron Klain has worked at high levels in the Clinton, Obama and now Biden’s White House administration. His time in the White House has been punctuated by stints in the corporate world. Hence, he has see-sawed between government and industry, at the highest levels – leveraging both for power, influence and money. By serving in various White House administrations in unelected positions which do not need confirmation by the Senate, he has avoided having to publicly disclose conflicts of interest.

  During his tenure in Biden’s White House, Klain pursued a vaccine-only strategy and directed White House messaging relating to this policy including that horrible White House statement saying the vaccinated have ‘done the right thing’ and the unvaccinated are ‘looking at a winter of severe illness and death for you and your families’. Adding insult to injury, Klain is the one that asserted that ‘The truth is the truth’ – remember that as Chief of Staff, Klain was directly responsible for “Directing, managing and overseeing all policy development”.

  

  The real “truth” of this whole situation is that the leadership of the Obama Ebola response team from 2014 was brought in to form the core of Biden’s White House operational management team, as documented in a November 2020 Politico article, just a week or two of Biden having “won” the election:

  Klain is one of a number of people Biden has tapped for his administration whose views on battling a health crisis were shaped by what happened in 2014. At an event in Wilmington, Del. last week, Biden highlighted how his just-announced pick for Homeland Security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, helped combat Ebola and Zika as part of the Obama administration. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, his pick for UN ambassador, “was our top State Department official in charge of Africa policy during the Ebola crisis,” Biden noted. And the former vice president praised Jake Sullivan, who served as his national security adviser during much of the Ebola outbreak, for “helping me develop our Covid-19 strategy”…

  .But many of the public health, communication and government mobilization lessons Klain and his team learned then are not only applicable now; they’re also at the core of Biden’s plan for tackling the pandemic when he takes office in January.

  Homeland Security Director Alejandro Mayorkas worked with Klain from 2001 to 2009 at the O’Melveny law firm. Which is interesting because this where Klain has now returned to the firm as a partner.

  This is how one arm of the government has become completely captured by the pharmaceutical-medical industrial complex via prior “public health emergency” response teams. The clear fact is that the Biden White House was only interested in a vaccine solution, despite the established fact that public health research long ago determined that a vaccine for a rapidly evolving respiratory virus would never succeed. People in the White House must have known this but disregarded that knowledge because either 1) they were corrupted, 2) they were deep in the mass formation psychosis and group think, or 3) they functioned as incompetent useful tools for others.

  I know that I personally spoke with Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s Chief of Staff in 2021 about these issues and had assurances that they would discuss the issues with a vaccine approach with the White House. That was the last I heard from them. This all leads me to believe that the resulting amazingly dysfunctional “public health” response was more about their own interests in making money and expanding political power than in developing an actual response that made sense.

  My experience working in the Ebola response on 2014 re-enforced a very different lesson than that of the Biden White House COVID policies. That is that vaccines would never be the answer to an ongoing outbreak. That medical counter measures must include a response that listens to hands-on physicians tinkering to find medical counter measures. That the generic, FDA approved medicines that have worked in the past for early treatments will work in the future. They are the first line of defense. Furthermore, non-respiratory infectious diseases versus respiratory infectious diseases will be very different from each other, in terms of public health responses. And finally, that the US intelligence community is deeply embedded in the bureaucracy that sets “public health” policies, particularly during infectious disease outbreaks, and works hand-in-glove with Bill Gates, WHO leadership, US State Department, and the giants of the BioPharmaceutical industry. Ron Klain’s White House called for an all-of-government response focused on vaccines and that is what they got (all of government meaning DHS, HHS, DoD, Department of State and CIA/IC). This response was developed and operationalized for Klain by Jeff Zients, who was President Biden’s COVID czar. Which brings us to Klain’s replacement.

  Let’s now focus our attention on the professional biography of the new Chief of Staff, Jeff Zients. Although Zients is purported to not have any “public health experience,” the truth is that he has spent his entire career milking the government out of money for his own medical-industrial complex investment funds. He has worked to continuously spin the revolving door between his businesses in the medical-industrial complex and the government- all to the benefit of public health, of course .

  Zients comes from an extremely wealthy family, who played a pivotal role in “health care services” since the 1990s. His father is known to have “helped” outsource veteran’s healthcare services to private industry way back when.

  Jeff Zients joined The Advisory Board Corp in 1992, where he helped “build a research company focused on “providing best practices research and host[ing] seminars for 2,500 health care industry members, including hospitals, insurers, pharmaceutical companies, and biotech firms.”  The Advisory Board achieved astounding financial success and became one of the “pillars of Washington society”.

  During the presidency of Barack Obama, Zients served as director of the National Economic Council from 2014 to 2017. He was also acting director of the Office of Management and Budget in 2010. He then led the emergency effort to fix Obama care after the troubled launch.

  During his tenure as director of the National Economic Council, Zients’ investment firm, Portfolio Logic – founded in 2003, settled a a multimillion-dollar suit with the Justice Department over allegations that its subsidiary health care firm committed Medicare and Medicaid fraud.  Portfolio Logic LLC was and is an investment firm initially focused on health care and business services. Portfolio Logic’s current valuation is around $182 million and it appears that Portfolio Logic is still privately held by Zients and his family, although information about Portfolio Logic has mostly been scrubbed from the Internet.

  

  While leading the Obamacare (ACA) roll-out, Zients also had an ownership position in PSA Healthcare. Which the Obama White house determined was not a conflict of interest.

  The “American Prospect” writes of Zients:

  Zients was a leader in implementing many of the Obama administration’s most pro-corporate policies. Zients owes his entire public-policy career to his corporate worldview and connections, which have remained strikingly consistent for over a decade—exactly in keeping with his pre-government history.

  In fact, a Fox News article documents that the Wikipedia page for Biden’s chief of staff was scrubbed to hide many of his corporate past dealings. This includes deleting the details in 2020 relating to Zients’ positions at Bain & Company, Portfolio Logic and Facebook. Although his Wiki page now mentions that Zients was CEO of Cranemere up until his leave in 2020, it does not mention that Cranemere Healthcare Services works in the healthcare ecosystem. As he is apparently still on leave from Cranemere, one can assume that he will resume his 1.6 million US Dollar compensation package per year from Cranemere upon leaving the White House.

  Jeffrey Zients’ is considered one of the wealthiest members of the Biden administration, and most of this money was inherited or made while working in the medical-industrial complex, which includes vast profits from the privatization of health-care and billing.

  Zients was part of Biden’s transition team and then started working for the Biden WH as his COVID czar. During this period, he was considered a “special government employee,” and so could continue with his private sector employment and was exempted from filing the public financial disclosures that normal staff must complete. Again, Zients formulated the vaccine only public health policy, including the mandate policies. He alone spoke to major Airline CEOs to insist on vaccine mandates.

  In January 2023, Zients became Biden’s Chief of Staff. Remember, that the position of Chief of Staff is the most important position next to the President. In this capacity, it appears that he has maintained the operational capture by the pharmaceutical-medical industrial complex of the executive branch of government initiated under Obama in the context of enacting and implementing the “Affordable Care Act”, ergo – the White House and President Biden.

  As Biden has proven to be a fragile and weak president, many believe that this has allowed Zients to seize the reins of executive power. Zients past history predicts that he will use this to further his own financial interests, which clearly represent a significant financial conflict of interest.

  The revolving door just doesn’t stop spinning, and it all seems to revolve most efficiently around Zients, the pharmaceutical-medical industrial complex and now future pandemic responses. Talk about the foxes in the hen house!

  

  Do not get distracted, 2024 looms large.

  *  *  *

  Who is Robert Malone is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 10/29/2023 – 23:30

• CVS Stores In DC Resort To Framed Photos Of Toilet Paper
  CVS Stores In DC Resort To Framed Photos Of Toilet Paper

  While Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser tries to restore ‘law and order‘ to the nation’s Capitol, local CVS stores aren’t waiting around – and have resorted to displaying photos of products on their shelves instead of the actual items themselves.

  

  Several tweets have been circulating, showing empty shelves aside from the framed photographs of toilet paper and other items, the National Pulse reports.

  This is from the CVS on H Street in Washington DC.

  Due to the out-of-control theft, they have now put away almost all their items and just have photographs of what is in stock.

  You press the button and the sales associate gets you what you need.

  I was in Barcelona, Spain a few… pic.twitter.com/jOif99w77d

  — Joey Mannarino (@JoeyMannarinoUS) October 27, 2023

  Another DC CVS, in Columbia Heights, has placed items in locked cages.

  Another CVS location in D.C.’s Columbia Heights has placed many items behind locked cages, the aisles of empty shelves decorated with profane graffiti. Crime in the American capital has reached crisis levels. Violent crime is up 41 percent over last year – the city has seen a 33 percent increase in homicides and a 70 percent increase in robberies. According to D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department theft is up 21 percent, with 10,673 incidents reported so far in 2023. Motor vehicle theft has seen a 101 percent increase compared to 2022. -National Pulse

  I checked out the Columbia Heights CVS for myself the other weekend. pic.twitter.com/1fMIlIrjV5

  — John Fubka (@JohnFubka) October 26, 2023

  https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jshttps://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsOver the last month, DC’s homicide rate hit its highest level in 20 years, while auto thefts have more than doubled over the past year.

  “At a time when we’re dealing with historically low staffing levels, these amendments seek to make some common-sense changes recognizing the operational concerns our officers see every day, while also supporting police accountability and public safety,” said Mayor Muriel Bowser, who introduced legislation last week aimed at addressing crime trends, including organized retail thefts.

  During a Congressional hearing on violence two weeks ago, House Republicans criticized a “soft” on crime approach.

  “The crime we are seeing just a few blocks from this building is unprecedented,” said Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), who chairs the Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance. 

  “The man who is in charge of prosecuting the criminals has abandoned his responsibilities, that’s Matthew Graves,” Biggs continued, referring to the US Attorney for DC.

  For comparison, here is how other countries are able to live. https://t.co/5ANVszYlC2

  — Joey Mannarino (@JoeyMannarinoUS) October 27, 2023

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  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 10/29/2023 – 23:00

• Beijing Gets Going With Nine Weeks Left For 2023
  Beijing Gets Going With Nine Weeks Left For 2023

  By Charlie Zhu and Helen Sun, Bloomberg markets live reporters and strategists

  Three things we learned last week:

  1. China’s top leadership is finally making a concerted effort to get the economy and external relations back on track. A rare move to raise the budget deficit mid-year, along with President Xi Jinping’s unprecedented visit to the central bank, underscored a sense of urgency among policymakers to support growth.

  For starters, a plan to sell 1 trillion yuan ($137 billion) of sovereign debt over the last nine weeks of the year may finally be the bazooka many investors have been asking for earlier.

  Beijing’s diplomatic moves also provided cause for some optimism. Xi sat down with California’s Gavin Newsom, the first time he met a US state governor in more than six years. Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s US trip has also paved the way for a leaders’ meeting next month.

  The world’s two largest economies rebuilt communication lines on the economic and financial front. Two working groups which involve officials from the central banks, treasury departments, securities regulators held their first meetings last week respectively.

  China also invited US officials to a defense forum to be held this week. While thorny issues remain for the two, these developments help Beijing create a more stable geopolitical environment that serves as a precondition to woo back foreign investors.

  The benchmark CSI 300 Index posted the biggest weekly gain in two months. Foreign investors showed up via the northbound stock connect, buying for two consecutive days, the first time since early August.

  

  2. Those are of course not silver bullets for China’s challenges. Among them, an ongoing property crisis comes on top of the list. With former top developer Country Garden Holdings Co. deemed to be in default on a dollar bond, recent weakness in China Vanke Co. and Gemdale Corp.’s notes spurs concerns that the sector is still deep in the doldrums.

  Economic growth may drop below 3% in 2024 if the real-estate slowdown deepens, according to S&P Global Rating. Its base-case scenario is for growth rate to slow to 4.4%, down from Beijing’s targeted 5% this year.

  A series of arrests across industries, an investigation into Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Group — the biggest private employer — along with the removal of Li Shangfu as defense minister without explanation, again shook the confidence of foreign companies.

  The recent reaction from market participants to earlier stimulus measures bear resemblance to the Tacitus Trap, Ken Cheung, Mizuho Bank Ltd.’s chief Asia FX strategist, wrote in a note, referring to a political theory where a government fails to win approval even for the right policies.

  While building confidence in the economy will require time, adopting more timely and targeted policies to address socio-economic issues can help mitigate the risk of falling into the trap, and enhance the effectiveness of the economic stimulus, Cheung said.

  3. China’s slowdown and financial risks are rippling through other markets and global businesses. Falling Chinese stocks are placing as much as $71 billion of structured products in South Korea at risk when they mature next year.

  Meanwhile, Standard Chartered Plc’s profit missed estimates in the third quarter, as the lender took a $186 million charge on Chinese real estate and an impairment of $700 million on China Bohai Bank. Nomura Holdings Inc. is overhauling its local business after losses there snowballed.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 10/29/2023 – 22:30

• Hiking 401k Contributions Can Now Boost College Aid, Thanks To FAFSA Change
  Hiking 401k Contributions Can Now Boost College Aid, Thanks To FAFSA Change

  Thanks to new federal rules, boosting your pre-tax contributions to 401(k) and similar retirement plans may now increase your child’s access to federal financial aid. Another change makes grandparent-owned 529 plans more beneficial. 

  Pre-tax contributions are ones that aren’t exposed to current-year federal income taxation, but instead are taxed when withdrawn. They differ from Roth contributions, which are taxed in the current year but can be withdrawn tax-free in your retirement. 

  Until now, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) asked parents to input their pre-tax retirement-plan contributions. The calculations then added that money back to arrive at the parents’ total income, which in turn increased the amount those parents were assumed to have available to pay for college, and thus reduced the child’s eligibility for aid.  

  

  The revised FAFSA form, which is geared toward simpler calculations driven by data on income tax returns, won’t ask you about those retirement contributions, which means the more pre-tax money you add to your 401(k) or similar account, the higher your child’s chance of qualifying for federal handouts. 

  For 2023, the 401(k) maximum is annual contribution $22,500, or $30,000 if you’re 50 or older at the end of the calendar year. Note the FAFSA uses data from two years before the academic year you’re seeking aid for. Thus, 401(k) contributions you make in 2023 will effect the FAFSA math for the 2025-26 school year. 

  Debuting in December the new form will no longer use the term Expected Family Contribution, which caused confusion about its meaning. Instead, the key number will be a formula-driven Student Aid Index. 

  Because there are other numbers at play in the aid calculation, jacking up your contributions doesn’t guarantee you’ll get a FAFSA benefit. “This change will have the biggest impact on middle-income households that make around $100,000 a year,” reports the Wall Street Journal’s Oyin Adedoyin, citing financial advisors. 

  In another wrinkle, 529 plans owned by someone other than a student or the student’s parent won’t be included in the asset calculations, even if the student is the beneficiary. That puts generous grandparents and other relatives in a better position to help out.

  You can even add your own money to that 529 — but you better have high confidence in the account owner’s intentions. You should also ponder a scenario where that third-party 529 owner predeceases your college student. If no successor owner is named, the account might go through probate and end up in the hands of someone who’d prefer using the money to buy a new car.  

  Not all the FAFSA changes will make receiving aid easier:

  • The “sibling discount” — which previously cut applicants a break in situations where two kids are in college simultaneously — is vanishing. 
  • Parents will have to start reporting the value of small businesses they own. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 10/29/2023 – 21:35

• David Hogg Now Blames "White Woman In Suburbs" For Gun Violence
  David Hogg Now Blames “White Woman In Suburbs” For Gun Violence

  Anti-gunner and now ‘Harvard-educated’ David Hogg believes just because he went to an elite university (a university that is sympathetic to Hamas), he is the voice of reason when it comes to the Second Amendment. 

  The confused Gen-Zer’s latest post on X now shifts the blame of gun violence from ‘it’s the gun’ to ‘it’s white women in the suburbs’: 

   “We will never end gun violence until white woman in the suburbs stop voting for the republicans who are endangering our schools and communities by flooding them with guns.” 

  We will never end gun violence until white woman in the suburbs stop voting for the republicans who are endangering our schools and communities by flooding them with guns.

  — David Hogg 🟧 (@davidhogg111) October 27, 2023

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

  Hogg is not ready for this conversation, as his bigotry against white women in the suburbs is uncalled for as a recent poll from NYPost, citing Wallet Hub data, shows murder rates in Democratic areas, including Memphis, Tennesse; New Orleans, Louisana; Richmond, Virginia; Washington, DC; and Detroit, Michigan, with soft-on-crime policies, are surging. 

  

  Instead of being sexist, Hogg might want to step foot in an imploding Democrat metro area, and there are many to choose from, such as Detroit and or Baltimore, where failed progressive policies, such as ‘defunding the police’ have descended these metro areas into a collapsing-state. 

  As for those white women in suburbia (in fact, any woman of any race) – they have a God-given right to use reasonable force, including deadly force, to protect their families and themselves against an intruder in their home – especially since the average police response time in suburbia can be ten minutes or more. 

  Just remember, Harvard-elite Hogg, as well as anti-gun groups Giffords and Everytown, some of which are funded by billionaires, want to disarm law-abiding citizens – at a time their Democrat friends across major metro areas are implementing disastrous policies that have sparked crime waves nationwide. 

  

  Hogg’s idiotic comments aren’t fooling average folks:

  let’s look at where the violence is being committed

  — Garand Thumb (@GarandThumb1) October 27, 2023

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  Wow, we just went from “It’s the guns” to “It’s the white women in suburbs”…that escalated quickly.

  — 🎵The Roaming Bandit(s)🎵 (@roamingbandits) October 27, 2023

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  Stupid white women wanting to be allowed to protect themselves. Bigots.

  — The Dank Knight 🦇 (@capeandcowell) October 27, 2023

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  My Mom is a white woman “living in the suburbs” who called the police last year because she saw someone messing around behind her home at night.

  It took 14 minutes for the police to arrive, but she wasn’t scared.

  She sat in her rocking chair with a AR-15 in her lap, ready to…

  — Snoop Bailey (@realsnoopbailey) October 27, 2023

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  Yeah, yeah.

  Everything is women’s fault.

  Find a new tune to play, fella, cos this one is fucking DONE.

  — Billy Bragg (@Serena_Partrick) October 28, 2023

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  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 10/29/2023 – 20:25

• Breakthrough Study 'Infects' Animals With Human Alzheimer’s Through Microbiome
  Breakthrough Study ‘Infects’ Animals With Human Alzheimer’s Through Microbiome

  Authored by Amy Denney via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Researchers recently discovered that they could give young, healthy animals Alzheimer’s disease by transferring the gut microbiome of human subjects with Alzheimer’s into germ-free rats.

  

  Published on Oct. 18 in Brain, the findings solidify that the microbiome—the collection of bacteria, viruses, and fungi that live mostly in the colon—has a role in the development of Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia, affecting 6.7 million Americans.

  “This study represents an important step forward in our understanding of the disease, confirming that the makeup of our gut microbiota has a causal role in the development of the disease,” King’s College London neuroscience professor Sandrine Thuret, one of the study’s senior authors, said in a statement.

  Our intestines are home to trillions of these microscopic bugs, which mostly live in symbiosis with the human body. Many factors, including antibiotics, glyphosate, medications, and stress, have been proven to kill beneficial microorganisms and cause an imbalance often referred to as dysbiosis.

  Exactly what causes the microbial shift in people with Alzheimer’s disease is unclear.

  “Bigger picture, it is likely that no one factor, food or lifestyle change will, on its own, reduce the risk of developing cognitive decline as we age,” Percy Griffin, Alzheimer’s Association director of scientific engagement, said in a statement to The Epoch Times.

  “Although this work is intriguing, it is still very preliminary. Larger studies in animal models, and then in humans, are required to make generalizations on what can be done in this area to reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s.”

  Transferring Impairments

  There were 69 healthy control subjects and 64 Alzheimer’s patients in the study. Patients with Alzheimer’s had a higher abundance of inflammation-promoting bacteria in fecal samples, and these changes were associated with their cognitive status. Those traits were then found through a battery of behavior tests in only the rats that were given transplants from Alzheimer’s patients.

  “The memory tests we investigated rely on the growth of new nerve cells in the hippocampus region of the brain. We saw that animals with gut bacteria from people with Alzheimer’s produced fewer new nerve cells and had impaired memory,” lead author professor Yvonne Nolan said.

  Alzheimer’s disease’s link to the microbiome has already been explored in recent studies, although it’s been largely unclear whether the disease caused the dysbiosis or if—as this research indicates—alterations in the intestinal community cause symptoms of dementia.

  Mr. Griffin, who holds a doctorate in molecular cell biology from Washington University in St. Louis, noted that studies in rats don’t always indicate that similar findings will occur in the human body. To build credibility, the research needs to be replicated, he said.

  “This is an interesting study that adds to our growing understanding of how the bacteria in the gut may contribute to risk for Alzheimer’s disease. But this study is in rats, and rats are not people,” he said. “That said, these findings demonstrate a possible role for gut bacteria in affecting the areas of the brain that are (a) associated with memory and (b) involved in Alzheimer’s disease.”

  Presymptomatic Identification of Disease

  However, dysregulation of the microbiome could give early insights into disease, which has long been associated with systemic inflammation.

  “Understanding the role of gut microbes during prodromal–or early stage—dementia, before the potential onset of symptoms may open avenues for new therapy development, or even individualized intervention,” Ms. Nolan said. “People with Alzheimer’s are typically diagnosed at or after the onset of cognitive symptoms, which may be too late, at least for current therapeutic approaches.”

  A study in Cell Death and Differentiation in 2019 found that impaired neurogenesis is a biomarker for Alzheimer’s. Neurogenesis is the continued development of neurons that occurs in two parts of the adult brain, including the hippocampus, which is responsible for learning and memory.

  “Remarkably, it has been recently described that neurogenesis persists in cognitively healthy people until the end of life, but drops off dramatically as AD [Alzheimer’s disease] pathology takes hold,” the study reads.

  New research is showing that neurogenesis impairment begins before amyloid-plaque formation, the clumping of protein pieces found in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. Taken together, neurogenesis and the microbiome offer evidence that suggests that the disease can be identified in stages in which its development could be halted before symptoms set in.

  Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of dementia, which is marked by memory loss and other cognitive disabilities that interfere with daily life. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, 1 in 3 people are likely to develop Alzheimer’s.

  “Alzheimer’s is an insidious condition that there is yet no effective treatment for,” Ms. Thuret said. “This collaborative research has laid the groundwork for future research into this area, and my hope is that it will lead to potential advances in therapeutic interventions.”

  What’s Influencing the Microbiome?

  The microbiome is a key area of Alzheimer’s research worldwide due to its vulnerability to lifestyle and environmental factors.

  The Alzheimer’s Association is leading the U.S. POINTER study, which finished recruitment in March and is expected to begin reporting results in 2025. The two-year clinical trial is evaluating whether lifestyle interventions that simultaneously target many risk factors can protect cognitive function in older adults who are at increased risk for cognitive decline.

  “All of our body systems are interconnected, and it is important to understand how they work together to impact the risk and resilience against Alzheimer’s,” Mr. Griffin said. “For ongoing and overall good health, people should speak to their doctors about their digestive health and ways to keep it operating healthfully, such as drinking enough water and eating enough dietary fiber.”

  He’s hopeful that the POINTER study will help determine a sustainable, community-based lifestyle intervention recipe to reduce the risk of developing cognitive decline as we age.

  It’s the kind of work that some organizations have already been doing, even without studies that fill in the blanks of causation with Alzheimer’s disease.

  Dr. Dale Bredesen has been reversing symptoms with a research-based protocol. Sharp Again Naturally offers programs that address nutrition and create a healthy gut microbiome to help participants preserve and improve their brain health.

  The new study is hopeful, according to the board chair of Sharp Again Naturally, Steve Ledvina, who’s also a certified health and wellness coach and the founder of Knowing Alz.

  “This exciting study extends the evidence for the strong connection between the gut microbiome and the brain and suggests poor gut health has a causal role in Alzheimer’s symptoms,” Mr. Ledvina wrote in an email to The Epoch Times. “For individuals, it emphasizes that intentionally maintaining or healing our guts and promoting a healthier gut microbiome is essential to keeping our brains healthy.”

  He said potential causes of poor gut health include excessive sugar or alcohol consumption, antibiotics or other gut-disrupting medicines, and stress.

  “We can promote our gut health by eating prebiotic fiber in vegetables like asparagus and artichoke hearts and probiotics like sauerkraut, kimchi, and low-sugar kombucha,” Mr. Ledvina said.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 10/29/2023 – 19:50

• Gold's About To Have Its Day: Jim Grant Warns No One's Prepared For "Higher Yields For Much, Much, Much Longer"
  Gold’s About To Have Its Day: Jim Grant Warns No One’s Prepared For “Higher Yields For Much, Much, Much Longer”

  Authored by Christoph Gisiger via TheMarket.ch,

  The world is experiencing a historic surge in interest rates. Jim Grant, editor of «Grant’s Interest Rate Observer», believes the turmoil could be the beginning of a multi-decade bear market in bonds.

  In this in-depth interview, he explains what the risks are – and where opportunities arise.

  

  The spike was unexpected: In the US, the yield on 10-year treasuries is rising rapidly toward 5%, the highest level since 2007. From Europe to Japan to Australia, long-term interest rates are also trending upward almost everywhere in the world. There is much speculation about the causes. What is clear, however, is that this shock will not be without consequences.

  «It raises the interesting possibility that we are embarked on a new bond bear market,» says Jim Grant, editor of the iconic investment bulletin «Grant’s Interest Rate Observer». «Bonds are unusual in the world of financial assets as their prices historically tend to trend in generation-length intervals; something we don’t see so much in stocks or commodities», he adds.

  In this in-depth interview with The Market NZZ, which has been lightly edited for length and clarity, the seasoned expert on financial history explains what persistently higher interest rates could mean for investors, what risks are associated with this new environment and where long-term opportunities arise.

  «I think gold ought not to trade as an inflation hedge, but as an investment in monetary disorder of which we surely have enough in the world»: Jim Grant.

  Mr. Grant, «Grant’s Interest Rate Observer» is celebrating its 40th anniversary. What are you currently observing in connection with the massive surge in interest rates that the financial markets are experiencing?

  Well, we certainly have something to observe. It’s been a long time, so I would say a couple of things. One is that the movement from interest rates bordering on nothing to interest rates knocking on the door of normal – that speed of rise – is something we have rarely, if ever, seen before. It’s like a car going from 0 to 60 mph in four seconds. So this is a very rapid and, one might conjecture, a very disruptive rise because it has been so fast.

  How can this turmoil in the bond market be put into historical perspective?

  It raises the interesting possibility that we are embarked on a new bond bear market. Bonds are unusual in the world of financial assets as their prices historically tend to trend in generation-length intervals; something we don’t see so much in stocks or commodities.

  How did such generational cycles play out in the past?

  In the United States, bond yields fell from around the end of the Civil War for 35 years to the end of the 19th century. Then, they rose very gradually for 20 years, whereupon they fell again from around 1921 to 1946. Next, the great post-war bond bear market began, taking yields all the way up to 15% in 1981. After that, the great bond bull market started that took yields down to 1% in 2021. Of course, in Europe and Japan yields on shorter-dated securities fell even well below zero, to the tune of $16 trillion of securities were priced to yield less than nothing.

  What can be derived from this for today’s environment?

  Going back about 150 years, there has been a succession of bond bull and bear markets, each one at least 20 years in length. So perhaps since 2021 we have begun a lengthy excursion to the upside in yields – and if that’s the case, the catch phrase ought to be not «yields for longer», but «yields for much, much, much longer». Then again, nothing says this exercise in pattern recognition necessarily guarantees any future outcome. But for what it is worth, this is one way to frame this most violent and dramatic rise in bond yields.

  Why do you think a new cycle may have begun in the bond market?

  Here’s one way to think about it: In 1981, President Reagan saw that the air traffic controllers’ union was threatening to strike. So he warned them not to strike, arguing it’s against the public and it’s illegal. The air traffic controllers struck anyway, so Reagan fired them all and brought in new ones. That was about the time when interest rates peaked. It was a marker of the times. Back then, we didn’t know that this was the end of a 45-year bond bear market. It was a symbolic end: President Reagan broke this important union. It was a change; it was like commodity prices breaking in 1980.

  And what does this have to do with the current situation?

  Fast forward to today, another President, Joe Biden, goes out to Detroit. He walks the picket line in solidarity with the strikers of the auto union, encouraging them: «Hang in there, you got it!» To me, that is another sign of the times, another kind of omen. So it might just be that we are embarked on rates much, much, much higher for much, much, much longer. And, it might just be that we are embarked on not just a cycle of inflation but an age of inflation.

  So should we expect further tremors in the bond market?

  We’ve just talked about how fast this bond bear market we’re hypothesizing about has been to date. But we haven’t talked about the tempo. For instance, at the beginning of the previous bond bear market in 1964, it took ten years for the yield on long-dated treasuries to go from 2¼% to 3¼%. So nothing says that the current rate of speed is going to continue. As a matter of fact, it can’t continue because otherwise rates would need three digits to write them down. So based on form, on the historical precedent, the tempo is going to be very measured at times. In other words, it might just be that for a certain time, the bond market won’t be very dramatic at all. Yet, it won’t go back to 2%, which will be good for some people, not good for others, but in any case, very different from what we’ve seen over the last four decades.

  What are the consequences of this fundamental change for investments?

  During the course of not one investment career, but rather one and a half investment careers, the whole world has become accustomed to interest rates basically only going in one direction. Of course, there was plenty of volatility along the way, but persistent, if not continuous declines in rates have been the norm for the careers and investment minds of most living human beings. Consequently, expectations are deeply embedded in our collective psyche that rates do one thing, which is to decline. Yet here we are, observing them go up. So it’s no wonder that many people don’t exactly want to believe it. It’s highly irregular, and not at all in the way of our collective experience going back many, many years.

  So how will this change the environment for investment?

  During the great protracted bond bull market beginning in 1981, bonds and stocks could reliably be expected to move inversely from one another: Stocks would go up, bonds down, and vice versa. As a result, bonds provided a nice hedge or cushion to one’s equity exposure. That was the case for a long time, and it was especially attractive when bonds were yielding something. Indeed, long-dated treasuries yielded 14% as recently as 1984, and as much as 10% as recently as 1987. So for many of the past forty years, bonds not only provided a portfolio balance, but also delivered a substantial measure of interest income along the way.

  And today?

  This advantageous arrangement ended, or at least became much less advantageous, during the long period of zero percent rates and QE: Bonds yielded very little and might have provided some cushion, if stocks decline. But there was no great interest income for a long time from one’s bond position. Today however, there is a possibility that bonds and stocks could decline at the same time, as was the case for many years in the last bond bear market, beginning in the late Sixties and continuing into the early Eighties. So correlations could change. The popular 60/40 portfolio could deliver disappointing returns, rather than persistently attractive ones – and that too would be a big change in the investment weather.

  That’s not exactly an uplifting outlook.

  This is not to say that in a time of persistently rising yields, there aren’t some distinct advantages from the saver’s, the long-term investor’s point of view. One of the classics of fixed income investing is a book called «Inside the Yield Book» by Martin Leibowitz and Sidney Homer. It came out at a time when yields were printed and bound in books, before the digital era, the Bloomberg era. Chapter one of the 1972 edition of «Inside the Yield Book» is entitled «Interest on Interest». It describes the arithmetic of a bond investor investing semi-annual coupons at rising rates of interest, pointing out that interest on interest for long periods can contribute as much as one half of the total return. It points out further that in times of rising yields, the yield to maturity is going to be higher than the yield at which you purchased the bond because you will be investing not at the coupon rate, but at ever increasing rates.

  How exactly does this compounding effect work?

  Let’s say, you buy a 6% bond maturing in thirty years. In a bond bull market with continually declining interest rates, you reinvested that 6% coupon in ever lower rates and thereby ever lower returns. So the yield to maturity was not 6%, but something less than that. Now, imagine you purchase that same security today in an environment with persistently, if not continuously rising rates over the next thirty or forty years. The rate you earn on that coupon won’t be 6%. It’s likely to be something higher, and therefore your yield to maturity is going to be better than 6%.

  So a bear market in bonds also brings benefits?

  Indeed. For investors, it opens up another new vista to come: opportunities for interest on interest. Of course, this does not apply to people who need coupon income to pay their rent and buy their groceries. But for savers, for pension funds, for sovereign wealth funds, for people who are in the business of reinvesting their interest income this is a not-disadvantageous thing, this bond bear market. But again, to re-emphasize: This is all hypothetical, I don’t want to sound like some cocksure dogmatic prophet, which I assure you I am not.

  But let’s assume you are correct in your thesis on the future development of interest rates. In principle, do bonds therefore offer an attractive alternative to equities in the portfolio?

  Yes, what is old will be new again. Bonds really earn something besides nothing or less than nothing which was the case for a long time. But as mentioned earlier, it’s going to take some time getting used to it. So far, the stock market pretends not to notice. This seems surprising. As we point out in a recent issue of «Grant’s», the volatility of the bond market is very elevated, whereas the volatility of the stock market is very subdued. So you have to ask yourself: How can complacency reign in junior securities, when anxiety is the mood in the market of senior securities? This doesn’t make intuitive sense.

  Where could the pressure of rising rates cause major problems?

  I suspect that this most sudden and even violent lurch higher in interest rates is going to test financial structures that came into being during the period of very low nominal interest rates. Think of what all came into being, when money was proverbially free from 2010 to 2021: Cryptocurrencies flourished, dito venture capital and private equity. There were no constraints on sovereign debt issuance, so public credit was expanded dramatically. Interest expense seemed to be forever minimal and not worrisome because, after all, rates would never rise. To some degree, the entire world was capitalized on the expectation of extremely low interest rates.

  And how do things look now?

  All that has changed, but not in the expectations yet. I think people are still trying to deal with the shock of the perception of the possibility of much higher rates for a long time. Not every company has had to refinance so far, not every private equity company has met a hostile reception in the credit markets, and not every country has had to face the consequences of a potentially ruinously high national invoice for interest expense. All this is still in the making. So I’m not so quick to believe that this rise in rates, as dramatic as it has been, is going to be solitary or helpful just to savers. No, I think it’s a much, much deeper phenomenon and we’ll learn more about it in the coming fiscal quarters and years. That’s for sure.

  With the crisis facing British pension funds and the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, we have already seen two situations with major turmoil. Do you expect further stress in the system?

  Who knows, but the protracted selloff in US treasuries is properly raising concerns that the March regional banking crisis never ended but only took the summer off. All-time low interest rates beguiled, seduced and even coerced people into doing things they would not have done perhaps except for interest rates that were not the product of the marketplace but rather the product of the models of the central bankers of the world. The problem with 4%, 5% and 6% interest rates today is not 4%, 5% and 6% on their face. The real problem is the preceding regime of zero percent rates, and the debt accumulation that those rates fostered and brought into being.

  Then again, interest rates could also fall again. Or to put it another way: What are the specific forces that could foster a long bear market in bonds?

  One cause might be an embedded, what they call, structural inflation. If inflation is part of the times, the spirit of the age, that could be one driver. Another cause could be a deterioration of public credit. For a long time, the United States has been in the privileged position of being the one and only superpower and the issuer of the one and only reserve currency of the world. But in its humanity, America is not so very different from other countries.

  What do you mean by that?

  Essentially, the privilege of consuming much more than you produce is sort of the poisoned chalice gift of a reserve currency. It’s like saying: All right, you can pay your bills in your currency you alone can produce and the world will accept it because of your evident strength and enterprise and power. If Uganda, Britain, Singapore or even Switzerland was given this privilege, I imagine any other country would have done the same. But what we have done in America is that we brought up immense net international debts and very large domestic sovereign debts. So altogether a lot of debts, financed with the dollar which – as we convinced ourselves – is kind of the Coca-Cola or Microsoft of monetary world brands. That’s a very seductive thing to have come to believe.

  So the dollar as the world’s reserve currency is proving to be a curse?

  When we speak about the troubles in public credit, that’s another way of saying there are more bonds on offer than are demanded at prevailing rates of interest. The United States has been downgraded by Standard & Poors’ and by Fitch, and Moody’s maybe would prefer to do the same. America is a Triple-A country in many respects. The Statue of Liberty, the Declaration of Independence, you can’t downgrade those. It’s part of the whole business model of this country, and it’s a pretty good business model. But financially speaking, we have taken advantage of these things; the things that make America truly what it is – not the financial gimmicks that make us more encumbered than we ought to be.

  Nevertheless, the US economy is doing remarkably well by international comparisons. This is despite the fact that virtually everyone had feared that the economy would cool down significantly as a result of rising interest rates.

  I thought that combination of an inverted yield curve and the contraction of monetary growth together were pretty strong signals of a pending recession. So again, it turns out there are no surefire indicators. But obviously, a recession will come at some time, and I think it will have its origins in the unhealthy capital structures caused by the suppression of interest rates and the distortion that suppression has brought about over the course of more than a decade. To me, that’s going to be the proximate cause of the next financial difficulties, being part and parcel of the next recession.

  What is the best way to navigate this environment as a European investor based in Zurich, for example?

  I would think that you would continue to look at companies in a company-by-company way. However, you would not be ignorant of the fact that the spread between the American equity market cap and the market cap of the rest of the world is at a record high. So everyone owns America already, and has been well paid for that. But it’s a big world, and there might be opportunities elsewhere as well as in America.

  Where else do you spot attractive opportunities for investments?

  Here’s a question: When you’re looking around for a currency, if you want to hold money in some form, are you really sure you want to hold it in dollars, or in competing fiat currencies? In this regard, I might have mentioned gold once or twice before in our previous conversations. So I would say to the gnomes of Zurich: Don’t forget what got you here! Don’t turn your little backs on gold. But seriously, I think that gold is going to have its day. It really has not had its day yet, as I see it.

  Gold has experienced a strong surge in recent weeks. What speaks for further gains?

  I think gold ought not to trade as an inflation hedge, but as an investment in monetary disorder of which we surely have enough in the world. So it’s a question of getting people interested in the problem, and then in the solution. If you want to go back and look at the long cycles, it might just be that the fifty odd years since the end of Bretton Woods and the end of the dollar’s convertibility to gold, that that cycle is ending. It might be that paper money in the historians’ retro perspective views will seem to have been a failure and that the world is going to charge back on unconstrained central bank credit creation and unconstrained sovereign borrowing. Maybe, that’s one way to look at it. It’s the way I tend to look at these things: longer-term, historical trends – and fifty years in the history of money is about the blink of an eye.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 10/29/2023 – 18:40

• The Influence Of Influencers Is Rising… Except In China
  The Influence Of Influencers Is Rising… Except In China

  Most people trust the opinion of their social circle when making purchasing decisions.

  But, as Statista’s Katharina Buchholz reports, data from Statista Consumer Insights shows many also trust the friendly people who freely share their lives with us on social media and at least feel like our acquaintances: influencers.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  Influencers currently yield the biggest power over people’s purchasing decisions in Brazil, China and India, according to the survey which is representative of the countries’ online populations.

  While influencers’ sway has only become larger in Brazil and India, it has recently decreased in China, but stayed on a high level nonetheless.

  In most other countries, the trend to follow influencers’ lead when deciding on a purchase gained traction.

  Denmark and Japan were among the countries paying influencers little mind, even though their following was growing in these nations also.

  Among Europeans, Italians were most “under the influence”, at 24 percent saying in 2023 that they had made a purchase because a celebrity or influencer advertised the product.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 10/29/2023 – 18:05

• Jack Smith's War On Free Speech: AG Garland Should Rein In His Special Counsel
  Jack Smith’s War On Free Speech: AG Garland Should Rein In His Special Counsel

  Authored by Jonathan Turley,

  Below is my column in The Messenger on the renewed effort of Special Counsel Jack Smith to gag former President Donald Trump.

  At the same time, Judge Arthur Engoron has repeatedly fined Trump for his public statements about the New York fraud case. Engoron declared this week “Anybody can run for president. I am going to protect my staff.”

  There is widespread support for barring attacks on court staff and Trump did attack the Court’s clerk in a prior posting. However, most of his comments have been directed at Engoron and his alleged hostility toward Trump. Where to draw this line is the subject of this column. In my view, criticism of the case, the court, and the prosecutor should be treated as protected speech.

  

  Here is the column:

  In 2016, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion overturning a conviction that the Department of Justice (DOJ) had seemed willing to secure at whatever cost to the rule of law. The case involved the prosecution of former governor Bob McDonnell (R-Va.), and the lead DOJ prosecutor was now-special counsel Jack Smith. The court dismissed the “tawdry tales” offered by the DOJ and declared that it was far more concerned with the damage that Smith was causing to the legal system with his virtually limitless interpretation of criminality.

  The rebuke came to mind this week as Smith continued his unrelenting effort to gag former president Donald Trump before the 2024 election. Some of us have previously denounced the gag order issued by U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan as unconstitutional, but even that order was more limited than what Smith had demanded.

  Even the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a leading critic of Trump, has come out against Smith’s efforts as an attack on the First Amendment.

  Undeterred, Smith now wants to reinstate and expand the gag on Trump, citing Trump’s comments about his former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, who reportedly has been given an immunity deal by Smith. (Meadows’ lawyer disputes those reports.)

  Smith wants to bar Trump from criticizing any witnesses as well as the prosecution and the court. That would include criticisms of former Vice President Mike Pence, currently one of his opponents for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, on his allegations linked to the earlier election.[Update: after this column ran, Pence withdrew from the presidential campaign]

  Of course, gagging Trump will not materially affect the jury pool in the case. The Smith prosecutions are one of the biggest issues in this election. Moreover, it will not protect potential witnesses from withering criticism in the middle of an election that could turn on the public view of these cases.

  Indeed, Smith has insisted on trying Trump before the election but now also wants to prevent him from speaking fully about the case before the election. Trump alone would be gagged, even as other politicians and pundits debate the merits of the cases and the countervailing allegations of the weaponization of the criminal justice system.

  The prior order issued by Judge Chutkan is shockingly vague and overbroad. It bars Trump from “targeting” Smith or his staff or potential witnesses or the “substance of their testimony.” It leaves an undefined and uncertain line as Trump campaigns on what he (and millions of citizens) view as the abuse of the criminal justice system to target President Biden’s main political opponent.

  Smith would add to the scope and ambiguity of the order in his latest motion. He is arguing that the court should “modify the defendant’s conditions of release … by clarifying that the existing condition barring communication with witnesses about the facts of the case includes indirect messages to witnesses made publicly on social media or in speeches.”

  Consider that for a moment: Smith would treat comments about witnesses, such as Meadows or Pence, as an effort to communicate with a witness.

  Thus, Smith continues to litigate with a sense of utter abandon, showing his signature lack of concern for the implications of his legal arguments. It is the type of blind purpose that leads — as it did in the McDonnell case — to a unanimous ruling against you on an otherwise divided Supreme Court.

  Ironically, it calls for a level of self-restraint that the trial court itself failed to show in the past. In sentencing a rioter in 2022, Judge Chutkan said that January 6 defendants “were there in fealty, in loyalty, to one man — not to the Constitution.” She added that it was “a blind loyalty to one person who, by the way, remains free to this day.”

  Despite clearly indicating with her comment that she believed Trump should be jailed (long before he was indicted), Chutkan has refused to recuse herself in this trial.

  The lack of restraint shown by Smith only magnifies the lack of leadership from Attorney General Merrick Garland. The attorney general has repeatedly said that he would give the special counsel full authority and independence. However, that would not ordinarily mean that the attorney general would reduce himself to a mere pedestrian in this process.

  This is an example of the ever-shrinking profile of Garland at the Justice Department. He has often told Congress that his knowledge of controversies is limited to what he has read in press accounts. Even beyond the special counsel’s investigations, he seems as proactive as a ficus plant.

  Yet, this new gag motion presents a far more serious cost to Garland’s passive role at the department. Smith is taking a hatchet to the First Amendment in these motions. In doing so, he is fueling anger over the perception of a weaponized criminal justice system.

  Smith’s deafening attacks on free speech are matched equally by Garland’s utter silence. The attorney general seems to believe that removing himself entirely from these investigations is more important than guaranteeing that his department does not become the enemy of core constitutional rights.

  As Smith seems intent on inviting another unanimous Supreme Court opinion against his department, Garland may want to consider voicing a modicum of concern over the cost to free speech in Smith’s efforts to gag Donald Trump.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 10/29/2023 – 17:30

• Attacks On US Bases In Syria Continue Unhindered After Pentagon's Friday Airstrikes
  Attacks On US Bases In Syria Continue Unhindered After Pentagon’s Friday Airstrikes

  Attacks on US military outposts in Iraq and Syria have continued over the weekend. Al-Mayadeen news and other regional outlets have reported that there have been several attacks by Iran-backed militias on Saturday and Sunday. Russian media has also reported on the fresh attacks, calling recent Pentagon airstrikes on Syria an “unsuccessful bid to deter the militias.”

  A statement by a coalition of Shia paramilitary groups said, “The Mujahideen of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq targeted the American occupation base in Al-Tanf, Syria, with two drones, which directly hit their targets.” They carried out the attack from just across the Iraq border into Syria.

  

  Reports say separately that the al-Shaddadi base in eastern Syria was also hit with two drones, and al-Omar base and oil field was struck. The latter was reportedly attacked a mere hours after the US airstrikes.

  Al-Mayadeen had says ago cited a statement from the Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades which said the group is willing to fight “a war of attrition against the enemy that will extend for years.”

  In the early hours of Friday, the US had sent fighter jets to attack multiple locations of Iran-linked paramilitaries in Syria. The Associated Press summarized the action based on US official statements as follows:

  Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said Friday that the strikes near Boukamal by F-16 and F-15 fighter aircraft targeted a weapons storage facility and ammunition storage facility used by the IRGC and affiliated groups. “Both facilities were destroyed,” he said. “We currently assess there were no casualties in the strikes.”

  “These precision self-defense strikes are a response to a series of ongoing and mostly unsuccessful attacks against US personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed militia groups,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in the aftermath. 

  “Iran wants to hide its hand and deny its role in these attacks against our forces. We will not let them. If attacks by Iran’s proxies against US forces continue, we will not hesitate to take further necessary measures to protect our people,” he added. 

  Iraqi Shia militias have released a video of them launching a suicide drone toward a U.S. military base.

  A Palestinian flag is showed on the drone before it is launched.

  More than 20 U.S. soldiers have been wounded in recent attacks on military bases in Syria and Iraq. pic.twitter.com/OB7VHDGsyb

  — Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) October 28, 2023

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

  But given the rocket and drone attacks have continued into the weekend, it’s become clear that these US strikes didn’t have the desired deterrent effect. 

  US spy plane fights along the eastern Mediterranean, including stepped up drone activity, have increased in relation to Israel’s ongoing ground assault on Gaza.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 10/29/2023 – 16:55

• Cocky Runner Sprints From 172nd To 5th Place After Competing As A Girl
  Cocky Runner Sprints From 172nd To 5th Place After Competing As A Girl

  Authored by Jackson Elliott via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Former cross country runner Teagan Ewings feels a bit bewildered watching her sister, Teanne, run at high school meets.

  

  That’s because Teanne Ewings has to run against a boy who identifies as a girl.

  “When I was in high school, even the thought of a transgender athlete being in my race was not even on my radar,” 21-year-old Teagan Ewings told The Epoch Times.

  But much has changed in school sports.

  Even just a year ago, a 16-year-old cross-country runner from Maine Coast Waldorf School (MCWS), ran as a boy.

  He placed 172nd in the state men’s cross country during his freshman year.

  But then he grew his short hair out and transitioned to women’s cross country. Now, his running times allow him to be considered one of the state’s top girl runners.

  In a meet on Oct. 5, he won the 5K (3.1 mile) race with a time of 18:09, beating the second-place girl, Emma Young, by 66 seconds.

  As of Sept. 26, he ranked fifth in the state among all women and third among the state’s small-school athletes, according to online rankings by Maine track and cross country time website MileSplit.

  Teanne Ewings ranks second overall and second in the state’s division for small-school athletes.

  

  The Epoch Times attempted to contact the male runner, but his Instagram is private. His profile picture shows a crying child, along with the Pride flag and transgender pride flag.

  The Epoch Times contacted MCWS but received no comment by publication time.

  The Maine Principals Association (MPA) emailed The Epoch Times a statement that state law requires them to include him in women’s sports.

  “The Maine Principals’ Association is committed to working with schools across the entire state to ensure that Maine State Law is followed,” the MPA’s statement reads.

  “The state of Maine recently enacted laws that explicitly prohibit ‘Unlawful educational discrimination in schools based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, a physical or mental disability, ancestry, national origin, race, color, or religion.'”

  Teagan Ewings said her sister’s peers are divided about whether a boy who identifies as a girl should participate in women’s cross country.

  Some girls told her sister to “run faster” and said sports are all about having fun, she  said.

  “They just want everyone to have fun, and everybody can do what they want.”

  End of Women’s Sports?

  Other women see the inclusion of boys as the end of women’s sports.

  “There’s just not going to be female sports anymore,” Teagan Ewings said. “It’ll just be male sports and then males pretending to be females.”

  Local parent Cathy Ross has concerns about this, too.

  High school boys have far better running times than women, she said.

  “There’s a handful of us moms who have seen our daughters work like crazy,” she said. “These are kids who run over 40 miles a week. Sometimes, at the height of their season, they give up their Saturdays, so that they can travel two-and-a-half hours to a meet far away.”

  After all of the effort and sacrifice, losing to a man is “crushing” for the girls, Ms. Ross said.

  

  Currently, the young male beats the girls he runs against by two minutes. He’s several inches taller than the girls he competes with.

  Scientific studies show male hips give men a more efficient running stride than women. Testosterone also allows men to build more muscle than women.

  Basically, biology means that he has a larger heart, more leg muscle, larger lungs, and stronger bones than the girls he competes with, Ms. Ross said.

  Allowing him into women’s sports amounts to Maine giving a special privilege to a man over every girl in the state, she said.

  “I don’t understand why the gender identity of one individual, and trying to validate that, is seen as far more important than the hard work and the efforts and the need to compete fairly and honestly and to achieve success for girls,” Ms. Ross said.

  More Male Physical Advantages

  Katherine Collins has a son and daughter in cross country, she said.

  The female-identifying runner “is going to get faster because he’s getting older,” she said. “All he did was grow his hair out and put braids in his hair. I mean, that’s all he did. He didn’t have to prove anything” to be allowed to compete as a girl.

  No matter how much training they endure and dedication girls bring, it’s not enough to beat the testosterone advantage, Ms. Collins said.

  “The fastest boys’ 5K time in Maine is more than two minutes faster than the fastest girls,” she said. “There’s just no comparison.”

  Friends have confessed to her that their daughters don’t want to compete anymore because they know they’ll lose, she said.

  And she’s frustrated hearing “people say, ‘Oh, well, they should just work harder,'” she said. “It’s impossible. It’s physiologically impossible.”

  

  Letting men enter women’s sports likely will cost a generation of children their shot at competitive athletics, said Marshi Smith, a former NCAA women’s swimming champion,

  “How many girls are going to be sacrificed in the meantime?” she asked rhetorically during an interview with The Epoch Times.

  “My daughter is 7 right now. In 10 years, that will be her entire childhood athletic career.”

  For some female students in Maine, the male runner’s victories will rob them of accolades that could affect their college applications, Ms. Collins said.

  “If you’re applying to college and you say that you’re nationally ranked or a state champion, that is a big deal,” said Ms. Collins.

  So his inclusion is a “slap in the face” to female athletes, Ms. Collins said.

  “The MPA doesn’t care about girls,” she said. “They don’t care about women.”

  Rules Allowing Men Versus Women

  Parents in Maine opposed to allowing a boy to compete as a girl have few options to change the situation, Maine parental rights advocate Shawn McBreairty told The Epoch Times.

  But parents can file complaints with their local school district citing Title IX, the landmark U.S. law meant to bring equity between men and women in most facets of education, Mr. McBreairty suggested.

  If that doesn’t change things, they can consider filing lawsuits, he said.

  Although the boy didn’t crack the top 100 of Maine’s male runners, he’s one of the best “female” runners in the state, Mr. McBreairty said.

  The MPA’s handbook includes the word “gender” 39 times and the word “transgender” nine times.

  “The MPA supports student-athletes regardless of their gender identity or expression,” the handbook reads. “The MPA also recognizes that high school sports teams have traditionally been binary [single sex] and believes that it is important to continue to offer single-sex interscholastic athletic teams in order to ensure equal athletic opportunities for girls.”

  The handbook also states that “most high school-aged boys have a distinct athletic advantage” over girls.

  The MPA’s Gender Identity Equity Committee (GIE) can decline a request for cross-sex competition—when a boy who identifies as a girl asks to compete with girls—if members are convinced the student is only pretending to be transgender, the handbook reads.

  The GIE committee makes this decision under a long list of criteria.

  Some criteria involve physical traits like height, weight, previous athletic performance, and whether a student has passed puberty.

  Other criteria include whether the student has consistently identified as transgender, whether a student has already changed their gender identity in school records, and what sports the student plans to do.

  However, no test can determine if someone is transgender because “gender identity is an internal identification and experience,” according to guidelines from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH).

  The MPA handbook also states that the committee can decline a student’s request to play on opposite-sex teams if the student would gain an “unfair athletic advantage or pose an unacceptable risk of physical injury to other student-athletes.”

  Parents wonder how the current case, in which one participant jumped more than 100 places up in ranking when switching to compete as a girl, can be within the bounds of fairness by the MPA’s standards.

  “They’re acknowledging that boys have an athletic advantage,” Ms. Ross said.

  “Basically, they don’t intend to do anything about it.“

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 10/29/2023 – 16:20

• Wider War Will Bring Inevitable Attempts At Martial Law In America
  Wider War Will Bring Inevitable Attempts At Martial Law In America

  Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us,

  Not long ago at the height of fear over the global pandemic the US underwent a change that many people argued would never happen. For years I have heard people say that authoritarian controls in America are “tinfoil hat conspiracy theory” and doom mongering – All the prepping, all the talk of community organizing, all the guns and the gear and the training were for nothing.

  Then…the covid agenda hit like a freight train.

  

  Our constitutional rights were no longer set in stone, but mere guidelines that government officials could bend or break in the name of “public health safety.” Laws no longer had to be passed through a series of checks and balances; mandates could be implemented as if they were laws without public oversight and enforced unilaterally.

  There was talk (primarily among Democrats) of severe punishments for people who refused the pointless covid vaccines. They wanted vaccine passports, they wanted prison time for those that spoke publicly against the vax, they wanted people’s jobs taken away, they wanted their children taken away, and there were even plans to build covid detention centers to segregate and lock up “vax deniers.”

  It boggles the mind, but this was serious debate within the US and it was all triggered in the span of a year. Nearly half the country was willing to abandon the Bill of Rights over a virus with a survival rate of 99.8%. The conspiracy theorists were right all along; our freedoms rest on a razor’s edge and preparing to survive and fight for those freedoms is perfectly rational.

  Luckily, the covid agenda failed. The mandates were ultimately blocked by red states and in many rural areas they were barely enforced at all. Biden’s vaccine passport attempt was stopped cold by the Supreme Court, but I have long believed that the Supreme Court made this decision exactly because of the level of public resistance.  They knew if they pressed the issue, civil war was on the table.

  Medical authoritarianism collapsed because conservatives and independents were not onboard and they could not be shamed into compliance.

  But what happens when there is a crisis that DOES scare conservatives? What happens when the political right perceives a true threat? Does freedom then become untenable?

  Viruses frighten progressives (most things frighten progressives), but what frightens conservatives?

  Well, it’s not a hard fast rule, but generally speaking conservatives are most disturbed by the threat of invasion. Ask any conservative if they were worried about covid or worried about the crisis on the southern border during the pandemic and the vast majority of them would say the border without hesitation. Conservatives fear cultural infiltration and co-option, they fear the steady and deliberate whittling away of their American heritage and by extension their freedoms by alien impostors. And, they fear the certain blitzkrieg of the US by organized terrorism should the borders remain open.

  The question is, are they willing to assuage their fears by sacrificing the very freedoms they want to protect?

  In 2001 after 9/11, the conservative movement was a much different animal than it is today. This was pre-Ron Paul and pre-Libertarian influence. The Neo-cons ruled the roost and had far reaching power over public perception, making the push for the dismissal of constitutional rights unprecedented. The Patriot Act mentality was widespread and the thirst for war was palpable. I have seen conservatives stray from the Bill of Rights in the past in the name of fighting against a possible invasion.  I remember this vividly.

  Today, the elements in play are not the same as 2001. Anyone who argues otherwise was likely a child during the 9/11 era or has a skewed understanding of the changes that have taken place among conservatives since those days. The Ron Paul movement changed a lot for the better, but primarily within the conservative constituency. Regular people changed their thinking on what it means to trade liberty for security. The GOP? It’s a pipe dream to think we could ever completely change the GOP.  At least covid proved we have allies at the state and local level

  The real problem is in the old guard of Neo-cons still influencing the path of the Republican Party. These are people who happily ally with Democrats behind the scenes, they have close ties to establishment elites and their loyalty rests in the hands of globalists. If the globalists want war, then the Neo-cons want war and they will do anything to get it, including create it. That’s how it works.

  And this time around I think they’re going to get what they want. The Ukraine event failed to lure Americans into supporting direct intervention (a majority of Americans don’t even support funding for Ukraine), but Israel is another matter. There are very old and tribal implications than pull on the souls of conservatives when it comes to the conflicts in the Middle East. There are religious factors, yes, but I suspect this is overblown by critics who think evangelicals are running the show. This is not reality.

  The Christian mandate has nowhere near the same influence it did back in 2001. In fact, churches have become so weak that they are now being overtaken by LGBT infiltration and trans activism. This never would have been tolerated 20 years ago – They would have tarred and feathered such activists back then. If this sort of thing is being allowed to happen right in our backyards today then you can be damn sure that religion is not the driving force for war overseas.

  No, when it comes to Israel and the implications of war the concern is once again rooted in cultural erasure. To be fair, it’s not a paranoid delusion.  Western culture is in fact being systematically dismantled and mass immigration is a part of that agenda. It’s also true that Islamic ideology is completely incompatible with western beliefs including the concept of individualism. Muslim systems are authoritarian in nature, that is what Sharia Law is.

  So, when conservatives see the potential for the fall of Israel they associate this with the fall of the west, and they will seek to stop it if they can. Beyond Israel is the concern that an invasion of Muslim extremists is already well underway in the US with open border policies becoming the norm under Joe Biden. And here is where the trap is set…

  Martial law in the US would only ever work if a majority of conservatives support it. This is a fact. Without our backing martial law will fail, just as the covid mandates failed. Keep in mind, Biden and his globalist friends have used every possible tactic to make martial law an inevitability. Economic instability and stagflation have created a spike in violent crime and looting. Mass illegal migration is dragging down state welfare systems and is creating a trend of cultural dilution. Open borders have allowed any number of possible foreign hostiles into the US.

  In the midst of war the government desire to control information and public discourse will be at its apex.  However, as we have seen during covid and the Ukraine war, they have not proven effective at accomplishing this.  As long as the internet is in place it does not matter what kind of algorithms Big Tech applies to stifle the truth, the truth still finds a way.  This means that the establishment will have to pursue extreme measures that could only be achieved within a martial law environment.  I see this situation going one of two ways if the current geopolitical trend continues…

  Option A:

  A multi-front war breaks out in the Middle East including nations like Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Yemen. Israel faces serious failure. The US is dragged into the war, or, Israel uses its nuclear arsenal to destroy the resources (including populations) of enemy nations, leading to the possible involvement of China and Russia, and thus, the US is still dragged in.

  Riots and terror attacks become a regular occurrence in the US, not just initiated by Muslim extremist infiltrators but also leftists who have attached themselves to the cause.

  A draft is initiated which conservatives support in the hopes that it will help dissolve the riots. The draft will sink millions of weak, soft zennials (including women) into a bloody quagmire that they have no capacity to adapt to.  Draft protests and riots become the norm, pushing conservatives to support even stricter enforcement.

  Finally, martial law is announced, but the soldiers used on American soil to “protect us” from riots and terrorists will be primarily foreign nationals – Illegal migrants given an easy shot at citizenry if they join the military and put the boot down on dissenters, which they will gladly do because they have no cultural attachment to America or Americans. At this stage the constitution will essentially die.

  Option B:

  The war expands and Israel faces imminent destruction. Biden commits US naval forces to the fight along with ground troops, primarily Special Forces. He then calls for full deployment of US ground forces to the region, but in this scenario the majority of conservatives do not support the action, just as they did not support deployment to Ukraine.

  Biden tries to implement a draft in order to force the momentum. Conservatives refuse to comply or allow their children to be sent to die in a foreign conflict. On this one issue, conservatives and leftists actually agree, even if it is for completely different reasons. The country is then hit with an endless series of terror attacks, each one presented as a reason why the public must back the war. Each attack is cheered by the leftist activists as an act of “decolonization.”

  Conservatives see this ploy for what it is and still refuse to support the war, taking an “America First” position. Why fight overseas when it’s America that’s under duress?

  Biden still attempts martial law. He offers automatic citizenship to illegal immigrants if they serve in the military and uses some of these troops as an occupation presence at home. Leftists don’t want to fight in the Middle East, but they do like to see migrants given easy citizenship and power. They defend the measure – They figure if the migrants fill the ranks of the military maybe they won’t be drafted.

  Conservatives rebel, America enters either balkanization or civil war, or both. Patriots are accused of helping the enemies of the United States and are also labeled terrorists. From this point on, anything could happen.

  I believe the Israeli trigger may be bigger than covid in terms of the potential global disaster and global tyranny that could unfold. If it continues to escalate and turns into a multi-regional conflict the chances of the fight coming back to America are high. Not just in terms of terrorism, but also in terms of civil unrest and war on our doorstep. If we support the war, martial law is a certainty. If we don’t support the war, martial law will be attempted but at least there are scenarios where it could fail.

  I would argue that the only thing that will save America at this stage is the growth of the America First movement.

  When we talk about America First, this includes not just American security but also American freedoms.

  There is NO REASON why we can’t have both. If conservatives (and independents) get lured into WWIII, it will be the end.

  *  *  *

  If you would like to support the work that Alt-Market does while also receiving content on advanced tactics for defeating the globalist agenda, subscribe to our exclusive newsletter The Wild Bunch Dispatch.  Learn more about it HERE.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 10/29/2023 – 16:01

• Watch: Muslim Rioters Storm Airport, Surround Rumored Flight From Israel, In Southern Russia
  Watch: Muslim Rioters Storm Airport, Surround Rumored Flight From Israel, In Southern Russia

  There are shocking and surreal scenes coming out of the southern Russian Republic of Dagestan, after word spread that a flight from Tel Aviv was set to land at its international airport.

  Rumors that a flight full of Israeli Jews was set to land triggered Muslim mobs to raid the airport, where they broke past barriers and even at one point stormed the airstrip in search of Jews.

  In #Dagestan, a crowd stormed the building of Makhachkala airport in search of Jews from a flight from Tel Aviv. pic.twitter.com/TaBvakBKIE

  — NEXTA (@nexta_tv) October 29, 2023

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

  “A flight from Israel to the Russian Republic of Dagestan earlier today was forced to divert from its intended destination in the capital of Makhachkala after pro-Palestinians protesters stormed the airport, seeking to attack the Israeli arrivals, according to multiple reports,” Times of Israel (TOI) described of the chaotic scene.

  Several videos have emerged showing angry rioters yelling “Allahu Akbar” while seeking to intercept offboarding passengers from the Israeli flight. 

  A Russian Pilot telling Passengers on a Plane at Makhachkala International Airport in Dagestan to not attempt to Open any of the Doors due to the Rioters on the Tarmac which are trying to enter the Aircraft. pic.twitter.com/lwTW0Zg3V6

  — OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) October 29, 2023

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

  It appears police or security personnel were nowhere in sight as the mob, reportedly mainly made up of Palestinians who live in Dagestan, rampaged through the terminal.

  “Dagestan’s population is overwhelmingly Muslim,” TOI noted. “According to Channel 12, the crowd was apparently largely made up of Palestinian expats.”

  The flight from Tel Aviv either diverted or took off after briefly landing. There are reports that the mob tried to break into a plane on the tarmac. Some reports say that the aircraft which was surrounded was full of Russian citizens.

  Some of them tried to storm the plane, per Izvestia https://t.co/js5uaaYkSg pic.twitter.com/bwJuMGH57g

  — max seddon (@maxseddon) October 29, 2023

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

  Regional media said the group went so far as to begin checking the IDs of travelers exiting the airport by car: 

  Some of the signs held by demonstrators read “Child killers have no place in Dagestan” and “We are against Jewish refugees.”

  The independent Medizona news website reported that the demonstration was prompted by calls spread on the Telegram messaging app earlier on Sunday to block a plane scheduled to arrive directly from the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.  

  According to local media, some of the demonstrators were stopping cars outside Makhachkala’s airport to check the personal identification documents of drivers and passengers as they searched for Israeli citizens among the motorists. 

  The flight from Tel Aviv landed at 7:17 p.m. local time, according to the airport’s website, after which the protesters stormed into the airport, breaking past security and running onto the tarmac.

  One group of people who ran onto the airport’s tarmac surrounded a plane and jumped onto one of its wings, the pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia reported.

  A plane from Israel lands in Dagestan:

  The voice of the flight-attendant: Return into the plane immediately! https://t.co/ADzRxxwqMu pic.twitter.com/6g3IEAAiJf

  — Russian Market (@runews) October 29, 2023

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

  The FT’s Moscow correspondent Max Seddon wrote of one video, “Remarkable to see security forces in Russia standing by for so long. By now, according to Baza, police in Makhachkala have chased them off the runway and outside the airport, where they are now protesting.”

  The Dagestan airport was forced to temporarily close as the military and police belatedly tried to gain control of the situation and restore order. Per regional N12 News:

  “Security official: the event in [Dagestan] is not over yet. A relatively small number of Israelis and Jews are isolated and secured at the airport. We are working for them to take off from there for an onward flight to Moscow as soon as the conditions allow.”

  When word spread that a plane from Tel Aviv was landing in Dagestan, Russia, a mob stormed the airport in what can only be described as a modern-day pogrom. pic.twitter.com/1G6phfdraz

  — Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) October 29, 2023

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

  Some observers are speculating that security forces essentially turned a blind eye and allowed the disturbing scene to happen.

  It is indeed remarkable that given the typical high security nature of international airports, the mob so easily breached all security checkpoints and overwhelmed both the terminal and tarmac.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 10/29/2023 – 15:55

• The Specter Of Hyperinflation Looms Over The Economy
  The Specter Of Hyperinflation Looms Over The Economy

  Authored by Michael Matulef via The Mises Institute,

  The threat of hyperinflation has haunted fiat money economies throughout history. Although past empires crumbled under the weight of unrestrained money printing, modern bankers at the Federal Reserve assure us that today’s financial system is immune to such a fate. Austrian business cycle theory, however, reveals that current economic stimulation may be propelling us toward a crisis of catastrophic proportions: a crack-up boom that marks the dramatic end of this boom-and-bust cycle. When a central bank expands the money supply to reinflate bubbles, it destroys the currency’s purchasing power. This endgame, in which the monetary system crumbles beneath a weak economy, represents the ultimate failure of interventionism.

  Once the public expects prices to keep rising, hyperinflation becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

  

  The Expanding Boom-and-Bust Cycle Ends in a Crack-Up Boom

  To comprehend the precarious state of America’s monetary system, we must first review the boom-and-bust cycle as formulated by Ludwig von Mises and the Austrian school. The Austrians observed that the artificial suppression of interest rates by a central bank initiates an unsustainable economic boom by promoting malinvestment. Pushing rates below natural market levels sends a distorted signal to businesses that long-term capital investment is more profitable than the economy can actually support. In the euphoric boom phase, jobs multiply and GDP grows with investment. But the investments lack economic merit, so the house of cards eventually collapses.

  With the liquidation of malinvestments, the bust phase emerges: unemployment soars, output contracts, and a recession begins. Since the investments were built on quicksand, they must unwind. Each failed business further curtails consumer spending, rippling the bust through the economy. But rather than letting liquidation and market corrections occur, policymakers add stimulus, setting up a larger bubble and more painful bust down the line.

  At this point, people panic and exchange currency for real assets before rapid devaluation consumes their savings. As the crack-up boom picks up steam, the demand for money plummets while prices of real goods skyrocket, leading to hyperinflation. This psychological shift marks the event horizon where monetary policy is rendered impotent. Mises describes the nature of this crisis:

  This phenomenon was, in the great European inflations of the ’20s, called flight into real goods (Flucht in die Sachwerte) or crack-up boom (Katastrophenhausse). The mathematical economists are at a loss to comprehend the causal relation between the increase in the quantity of money and what they call “velocity of circulation.”

  The characteristic mark of the phenomenon is that the increase in the quantity of money causes a fall in the demand for money. The tendency toward a fall in purchasing power as generated by the increased supply of money is intensified by the general propensity to restrict cash holdings which it brings about. Eventually a point is reached where the prices at which people would be prepared to part with “real” goods discount to such an extent the expected progress in the fall of purchasing power that nobody has a sufficient amount of cash at hand to pay them.

  The monetary system breaks down; all transactions in the money concerned cease; a panic makes its purchasing power vanish altogether. People return either to barter or to the use of another kind of money.

  The crack-up brings the unsustainable, debt-fueled boom to a catastrophic end. Personal savings are wiped out along with the monetary system’s credibility. Society becomes less stable as the populace loses faith in institutions and scrambles for resources. The economy finds its ultimate bottom not in recession but in the total decay of the currency itself.

  The Facade of Stability

  Today, deficits balloon out of control as a result of efforts to sustain demand. Rather than allowing healthy corrections, the Fed piles on monetary stimulus at the first signs of financial crisis. Like an addict, the economy needs increasingly larger doses to maintain the status quo. But this trajectory of interventionism cannot persist forever without severe consequences: the Faustian bargain of trading long-term stability for short-term gain will backfire catastrophically.

  With each intervention, the Fed suppresses market corrections, inflates asset bubbles, and encourages high-risk debt. This constant flood of stimulus promotes moral hazard as it optimizes the economy for speculation while curtailing organic productivity. How much longer can this monetary dance along the precipice of hyperinflation continue before the dollar plunges into the abyss?

  Despite the veneer of stability, individuals sense that the economy rests on a precarious foundation of debt and deceit. They intuitively grasp that capitalism has metamorphosed into a cronyism that disproportionately rewards those with political connections in an amalgamation of concentrated power, unrestrained money creation, and escalating inequality.

  The Mirage of Reform

  Hoping for a return to monetary and fiscal restraint may prove naively optimistic. Exercising prudence would require immense political courage and social responsibility, qualities rarely exhibited in politics. Politicians face overwhelming incentives to maintain short-term stability through stimulus, spending, and low rates. And restructuring programs with enormous and unfunded liabilities like Medicare and Social Security would spur public backlash, even if it was fiscally prudent.

  After decades of excess, the economy is addicted to perpetual stimulus and deficit spending. The prevailing social mindset assumes that unending, debt-fueled growth is the natural state of affairs. With little political will for discipline, reform may depend on a crisis to force change. In the meantime, politicians, paralyzed by the status quo, are unlikely to make the difficult choices that could preempt such a crisis.

  It is all but inevitable that central banks will continue expanding the money supply to delay the day of reckoning and preserve the facade until the inevitable hyperinflationary crack-up boom, although the sheer weight of debt alone may produce this outcome. Promises of reform have been made, only to go unfulfilled. In order to prevent disaster, we must fundamentally rethink our monetary and fiscal policies against the temptations of short-term political gain. To quote Ayn Rand:

  Just as a man can evade reality and act on the blind whim of any given moment, but can achieve nothing save progressive self-destruction—so a society can evade reality and establish a system ruled by the blind whims of its members or its leader, by the majority gang of any given moment, by the current demagogue or by a permanent dictator. But such a society can achieve nothing save the rule of brute force and a state of progressive self-destruction.

  The Erosion of Centralized Control

  A crack-up boom would erode the power of the federal government: with a dramatic fall in the currency’s purchasing power, the administration’s ability to fund programs and institutions would deteriorate, the Treasury would go bankrupt, and the government would have to either massively downsize or attempt to fund operations by printing even more money. Along with the value of the promissory notes, trust in centralized authority would evaporate.

  With the federal government weakened and desperate, power would naturally shift back to individuals and their local communities. When faced with harsh economic realities, communities depend on themselves rather than flailing national policy. Individuals and communities should strengthen their local networks to weather the coming storm, increasing local involvement and forging bonds of cooperation. Joining area organizations and neighborhood groups can foster mutually beneficial relationships and support systems, invaluable resources for when the currency buckles. With shared purpose, communities enhance their capacity to withstand the crisis.

  Equally vital are the practical skills and knowledge that can provide real value to others when centralized systems fray. Pursuing expertise in food production, energy generation, medicine, engineering, and other technical fields equips people to meet local needs. In these ways, proactive societies can cultivate the true source of lasting wealth: strong social webs and skilled human capital. Global forces are beyond local influence, but strong communities retain some control over their destiny, even in hyperinflation’s wake.

  Praxeological reflection, the methodology of Austrian economics, can expose the unsound foundations that stretch currencies to their breaking point. It cannot foresee when hyperinflation will arrive, but it can point to the causes and guide human action toward stability and prosperity.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 10/29/2023 – 15:30

• Desperate Gazans Raid UN Food Warehouses As Norway, France Condemn 'Disproportionate' Israeli Attacks
  Desperate Gazans Raid UN Food Warehouses As Norway, France Condemn ‘Disproportionate’ Israeli Attacks

  After three week under Israeli siege and a bombing campaign which has been unprecedented in its intensity, Gazans are getting increasingly desperate. The Strip is almost completely enveloped in darkness, also with communications cut, which happened Friday, and the United Nations is now warning of a total breakdown in civic order.

  UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza has said that thousands of Palestinians have broken into several of its warehouses in the Strip, raiding wheat, flour, and hygiene stores – among other basic necessities stored there.

  

  “This is a worrying sign that civil order is starting to break down after three weeks of war and a tight siege,” UNRWA director Thomas White told press agencies. 

  UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has also in fresh Sunday statements called the crisis a “nightmare” and again urged a ceasefire. “The situation in Gaza is growing more desperate by the hour. I regret that instead of a critically needed humanitarian pause, supported by the international community, Israel has intensified its military operations.”

  Over the weekend the Gazan death toll surpassed 8,000 – with Gaza’s Health Ministry saying that most of these are women and young people. The Biden administration, which has repeatedly affirmed that it “stands with Israel”, has also said that it doesn’t trust casualty figures being issued by Hamas or Palestinian sources.

  There are reports that communications were restored to much of the Gaza Strip as of Sunday, possibly the result of growing international pressure on the Israelis. Ten more aid trucks have also reportedly crossed from Egypt on Sunday.

  According to Al Jazeera, “The Israeli military said on Sunday it had struck more than 450 targets over the past 24 hours, including Hamas command centres, observation posts and antitank missile launching positions. It said more ground forces were sent into Gaza overnight.” The Israeli ground offensive has continued expanding, with The Guardian observing, “Under the cover of strikes and artillery, Israeli ground troops have begun moving into the north of the strip in Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun in what the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, described as the “second stage” of the war triggered by Hamas.”

  As we continue to expand our ground operations in northern Gaza:

  🔴IAF aircraft, guided by IDF troops, struck Hamas structures.
  🔴Anti-tank missile launch posts & observation posts were struck.
  🔴Multiple terrorists were eliminated. pic.twitter.com/XMwKPKGZ1R

  — Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 29, 2023

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  IDF troops have been seen reaching a point some two miles into Gaza:

  Israeli troops appear to have advanced over two miles into Gaza, according to a CNN analysis of video published by an Israeli media outlet. 

  The troops in the video, taken on Saturday, are seen putting an Israeli flag on a Gaza resort hotel’s roof. CNN geolocated the video to an area just over two miles from the Gaza-Israeli border.

  “Soldiers of the 52 Battalion of the 401 Brigade are waving the Israeli flag in the heart of Gaza, by the beach,” a soldier is heard saying in the video, taken several miles north of central Gaza City. “We will not forgive nor forget, and we’ll not stop until the victory.”

  Palestinian sources are also saying another major hospital, which is treating hundreds of patients and giving shelter to over 10,000, has come under attack:

  Israeli airstrikes have “caused extensive damage to hospital departments and exposed residents and patients to suffocation” at the Al-Quds Hospital, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said Sunday.

  The aid organization accused Israel of “deliberately” launching the airstrikes “directly next to Al-Quds Hospital, with the aim of forcing the medical staff, displaced people, and patients to evacuate the hospital.”

  Major bulldozing and tank operations have been observed on the beach in Gaza…

  Israeli Defence Forces over the last few hours continued to strike and kill terrorists in the Gaza Strip. IDF soldiers operating adjacent to the Erez Crossing identified a number of terrorists exiting the shaft of a tunnel in the Gaza Strip. Following the identification, the… pic.twitter.com/EKGA69Vvdo

  — Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) October 29, 2023

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  A statement cited in The Times of Israel described:

  The IDF says troops killed a number of Hamas gunmen who opened fire at the ground forces in the Strip, and other terrorists identified on the beach in Gaza, near the southern Israel community of Zikim.

  Hamas and the IDF have continued to exchange gunfire, but the status of forces on either said remains unknown and for the moment lost in the fog of war. At this point, if either suffers significant casualties, they are unlikely to make it publicly known.

  

  Meanwhile, the intensifying crisis for Palestinian civilians has not only led to massive street protests in various nations, particularly in Europe, but has resulted in rare criticism aimed at Israel from leading Western nations. The French government has issued scathing criticism of “unacceptable” Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank:

  More than 100 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the outbreak of war in the Gaza Strip earlier this month, mostly during raids by Israeli forces or attacks by settlers, according to the Ramallah-based health ministry.

  “France strongly condemns the settler attacks that have led to the deaths of several Palestinian civilians over the past few days in Qusra and Sawiya, as well as the forced departure of several communities,” said a foreign ministry statement.

  And Norway too has condemned what it says is a massive and “disproportionate” response and death toll among Palestinians in the wake of the Oct.7 Hamas terror attack which killed 1,400 people. “International law stipulates that [the reaction] must be proportionate. Civilians must be taken into account, and humanitarian law is very clear on this. I think this limit has been largely exceeded,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store aid in a public broadcast radio interview.

  “Almost half of the thousands of people killed are children,” he stressed. “Israel has the right to defend itself, and I recognize that it is very difficult to defend against attacks from an area as densely populated as Gaza,” Store said. “Rockets are still being fired from Gaza into Israel, and we condemn this.”

  Israeli flag flies inside Gaza for first time since 2005pic.twitter.com/uc0sJrNyXW

  — Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) October 29, 2023

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  Even the White House has begun to urge caution, with national security advisor Jake Sullivan telling the Sunday shows that even though Hamas used civilians as “human shields” – it’s still ultimately Israel’s responsibility to avoid hitting them.

  “They’re putting rockets and other terrorist infrastructure in civilian areas. That creates an added burden for the Israeli Defense Forces,” he said. “But it does not lessen their responsibility to distinguish between terrorists and innocent civilians and to protect the lives of innocent civilians as they conduct this military operation.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 10/29/2023 – 15:05

• Kendi's Critical Race Theory Is A Failed Marxist Doctrine
  Kendi’s Critical Race Theory Is A Failed Marxist Doctrine

  Authored by David Brady Jr via The Mises Institute,

  Ibram X. Kendi, the controversial author of How to Be an Antiracist, has been revealed as not only a hustler of horrid ideas but also a poor businessman. Kendi was appointed the head and founder of Boston University’s Center for Antiracist Research in 2020 following the aptly named “summer of love,” which saw riots in most major cities over calls for “racial justice.”

  

  Now, Boston University is committing mass layoffs of employees, as the Center has lost the $43 million that was donated to it at its opening. There have also been several complaints about management practices. The Center is laying off much of its staff as it switches to a new model that it hopes will keep it alive. It is another profound case of fiat academia being inefficient and unproductive, as well as peddling half-baked half-dead ideas.

  Kendi is not an original thinker so much as a wannabe-philosopher who repaints bunk ideas to drum up societal conflict.

  Kendi’s general philosophical thesis could be summed up simply as “Everyone is racist, and that extends to all of society. History can be understood as a white supremacist culture getting better at hiding its underlying racism.”

  Kendi and other critical race theorists theorize that, throughout history, so-called advancements in the welfare of racial minorities are merely a white supremacist culture’s success at better hiding its racism. One can summarize it best with a quote from the thriller The Usual Suspects: “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.”

  The devil, for Kendi, would be “white supremacy” in culture. Every so-called advancement—from the outlawing of slavery to the end of Jim Crow laws—is simply this devil getting better at hiding itself.

  This is not an original idea on Kendi’s part in any respect. One can trace these ideas back to the philosophical ancestor to critical race theory: Karl Marx. When one analyzes critical race theory, it becomes abundantly clear that it is a portrayal of Marxist conflict and power theory but with the dimensions of race applied rather than class. Rather than the bourgeoise class oppressing the proletariat, it is the white class oppressing the nonwhite classes of society.

  A fundamental aspect of Marxist theory is that of the substructure, or base, and the superstructures of society. Marx posited that the fundamental relations in society are economic ones, between the working class and the exploitive capitalist class. The base creates the superstructure, which includes art, politics, religion, and other social relations that supposedly exist to reinforce the base. This is where Marx’s famed line “Religion is the opiate of the masses” comes from. Religion, as an aspect of the superstructure, exists to draw eyes away from the social relations that matter in the minds of Marxists.

  The critical race theory about the “white supremacy inherent in culture” is much the same. The base for the theorists is race relations. These theorists believe that the oppressive white class has constructed society to necessarily maintain a power dynamic over the nonwhite classes. Political achievements, no matter how much they may benefit racial minorities, belong as part of the superstructure, and thus they must be some protective shell over the true social dynamics.

  The Emancipation Proclamation, for example, would be seen as a means of preserving the base of society. Any and all political results short of revolution against the base are simply adaptations of the superstructure to protect the base. Kendi’s ideology ultimately becomes a revolutionary one. There cannot be a true advancement against “white supremacist culture” unless there is a true revolution, according to the critical race theorists.

  Kendi posits that the solution to racism is “antiracism,” or active discrimination against the “oppressor class.” This reeks of Joseph Stalin’s extermination of the kulaks or of Maoist reeducation. Mao Zedong’s goals may be the most aligned to the goals of Kendi. “Diversity, equity, and inclusion” seminars, taught for much the same reasons as Kendi’s “antiracism,” reek of Maoist struggle sessions.

  The modern kulaks of Kendi’s Marxist revolution are the “white supremacists.” According to Kendi, discrimination is needed to overthrow the base structure. The ideas of Kendi and the critical race theorists boil down to Marxist power dynamics, with a mixture of gnosticism and postmodernism. It is violent egalitarian ideology that attempts to paint history under one dynamic. It turns out that history is far more complex than that.

  So, one should not be surprised at the squandering of millions of dollars by Kendi and his “antiracist” center. Marx has been repudiated by economists, philosophers, and history itself. All the critical race theorists seek to do is repaint Marxist power dynamics under a new lens. There is no sound backing to their ideas so it is no wonder they continue to fail, even in academia.

  Kendi laments in a March 23 article: “The traditional construct of the intellectual has produced and reinforced bigoted ideas of group hierarchy—the most anti-intellectual constructs existing. But this framing is crumbling, leading to the crisis of the intellectual.”

  Marxism can be best understood as the unproductive of society demanding a place at the top of a new hierarchy.

  They prey upon the productive members of society and redistribute the success of others to themselves through violent revolution. It is an ideology of envy and failure. Kendi is one such unproductive citizen, one who would have no reinforcement in any sane “marketplace of ideas.” It is no wonder at all that he has failed even in fiat academia.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 10/29/2023 – 14:00

• Visualizing The Key Investment Theme Of Each Decade (1950-Today)
  Visualizing The Key Investment Theme Of Each Decade (1950-Today)

  Over modern history, a key investment theme has broadly characterized each decade.

  In each case, a particular asset class, sector, or region captivated investors for an extended period, driving returns and outperforming the rest of the market.

  In the graphic below, Visual Capitalist’s Dorothy Neufeld shows 70 years of key investment themes, based on analysis from Ruchir Sharma of Morgan Stanley Investment Management via NS Capital.

  

  Investment Themes by Decade

  These decade-defining themes are often the product of a confluence of factors, including the macroeconomic environment, geopolitics, monetary policy, or other structural shifts like technological disruption.

  Here are the central investment themes since the 1950s, each with at least 400% cumulative returns over each period:

  

  *Price change for gold and oil, represented as an average. **Equity market performance of Brazil, Russia, India, China and oil prices, represented as an average.

  The 1950s saw a boom in European stocks during the post-war recovery. This was fueled by significant investment from corporations and governments as Europe became more integrated.

  Then in the 1960s, investors poured into blue chip stocks in the “Nifty Fifty” including Johnson & Johnson, Disney, and Coca-Cola. The main premise was that these strong franchises would deliver high returns over the long run. During the 1973-1974 bear market, shares cratered.

  As oil skyrocketed from $3.35 to $32.50 through the 1970s amid production and output cuts, commodities dominated, along with emerging economy exporters of oil and gold.

  Later, through the 1980s, Japanese stocks dramatically increased. In 1989, the Tokyo Stock Exchange made up 41% of all global equities. It had eclipsed the value of the U.S. equity market just two years earlier.

  In part owing to strong U.S. economic growth, American tech stocks flourished through the 1990s. While many high-flying tech stocks were wiped out during the crash in 2000, some still remain today. Qualcomm, which jumped 2,620% in 1999, is a multi-billion dollar semiconductor company. Amazon and Cisco were other survivors of this era.

  Pivoting from growth assets, investors returned to commodities and emerging markets over the 2000s, this time with BRIC economies—Brazil, Russia, India, and China. The 2010s saw the rise of FAANG stocks as tech proliferated across countless industries.

  The Next Decade Ahead

  Given how each decade seems to be defined by a key investment theme, Sharma suggests that it won’t be another driven defined by American stocks.

  The disconnect between the size of U.S. equity markets, at 43% of the global share, and its economic output, which is 26% of the world’s total, is one reason driving a new shift.

  Another factor is stark differences in valuations. Today, the U.S. stock market compared to the rest of the world is at its highest relative level in 100 years, suggesting it is overvalued and primed for a shift.

  Whether global stocks gain a greater global equity market share—to become a key investment cycle of this decade—remains an open question.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 10/29/2023 – 13:25

• DOJ Corroborated Information From FBI Source Who Provided Biden Bribery Allegations: Official
  DOJ Corroborated Information From FBI Source Who Provided Biden Bribery Allegations: Official

  Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  U.S. Department of Justice officials corroborated some of the information an FBI source provided to the bureau on allegations that then-presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, were bribed, a former official who worked on the case said in newly reviewed testimony.

  “We did corroborate certain things” from the source, Scott Brady, the former U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, told a U.S. House of Representatives panel on Oct. 23.

  

  Members of Congress obtained and released over the summer a copy of the summary from FBI agents who spoke with the source, with the source conveying comments from Burisma executives concerning the Bidens.

  Among them was the claim that it cost $5 million to pay one Biden and $5 million to pay another Biden.

  Mr. Biden worked for Burisma, a Ukrainian firm, for years while President Biden was vice president, including in 2016. That’s the year the discussion involving bribery took place, the source told the FBI in 2020.

  Mr. Brady, appointed under President Donald Trump in 2017, told members this week he was tasked by superiors to accept and vet Ukraine-related information sent to or gathered by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), which includes the FBI.

  “We were to assess the credibility of information and anything that we felt was credible or had indicia of credibility, we were then to provide to the offices that had predicated grand jury investigations that were ongoing,” Mr. Brady, who was asked to resign by President Biden after he took office, told the House panel.

  Lack of Communication

  After working to corroborate some of the information from the interview summary, Mr. Brady said his team passed the summary and the work they’d done to multiple offices, including the U.S. attorney’s office for the District of Delaware.

  That office is headed by U.S. Attorney David Weiss, another Trump appointee. Mr. Weiss has for years been investigating Mr. Biden for intentional tax avoidance and other crimes.

  Mr. Brady’s team briefed Mr. Weiss’ team in October 2020 on the summary, known as an FD-1023.

  “What we were doing was, as a part of the briefing, giving them the investigative steps that we had taken within our limited ability to corroborate the information that the [source] had provided us, and we informed them that we felt that the 1023 had indicia of credibility sufficient to merit further investigation,” Mr. Brady said. “And so that’s what we communicated to them.”

  Neither Mr. Weiss’ office nor any of the other U.S. attorney’s offices who received the 1023 from Mr. Brady’s team reached back out about the document, according to Mr. Brady.

  He said there was “both a skepticism of the information that we were developing, that we had received, and skepticism and then weariness of that information” from Mr. Weiss and Mr. Weiss’ team.

  “I don’t want to speculate as to why, but I know that there was no information sharing back to us about what they were—or very limited. And, at one point, the communication between our offices was so constricted that we had to provide written questions to the investigative team in Delaware, almost in the form of interrogatories, and receive written answers back,” Mr. Brady said.

  That was not normal, he added.

  Mr. Weiss’ office declined to comment.

  Ukraine Funding

  The FBI source was reinterviewed in 2020 by the FBI at the request of Mr. Brady, who wanted more details about the allegations regarding the Bidens. The summary that resulted was ultimately obtained and released by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.).

  The document showed the source traveled to Ukraine and spoke with top Burisma executives, including owner Mykola Zlochevsky. The source said executives said Burisma hired Mr. Biden “to protect [the company], through his dad, from all kinds of problems” and that Mr. Biden would take care of problems “through his dad.”

  Ukraine’s president ultimately ousted Viktor Shokin, the prosecutor who was investigating Burisma, at the behest of President Biden.

  “I said, ‘We’re leaving in six hours. If the prosecutor’s not fired, you’re not getting the money,'” President Biden said at a public event in 2018, relaying the interaction about a $1 billion loan guarantee he threatened to withhold. “Well, son of a [expletive]. He got fired.”

  The FBI has largely declined to comment on the substance of the document but said previously the summary was part of a “sensitive investigation” and should not have been released to the public.

  The transcripts of the recent congressional interviews with Mr. Brady and U.S. Attorney E. Martin Estrada, appointed by President Biden, were obtained and reviewed by The Epoch Times.

  In his interview, Mr. Estrada confirmed IRS whistleblower accounts and said he rejected Mr. Weiss’ request to partner to prosecute Mr. Biden in California.

  Mr. Estrada also said that he believed several attorneys with Mr. Weiss’ office were able to bring charges in his district, the Central District of California, and that he offered office space and administrative support if they did.

  Mr. Biden was ultimately charged with tax and firearm crimes in Delaware. He has not been charged in California or Washington, another district where the Biden-appointed U.S. attorney turned down a request from Mr. Weiss to partner.

  Mr. Weiss earlier this year was made special counsel as he continues investigating Mr. Biden. Both Mr. Weiss and Attorney General Merrick Garland, appointed under President Biden, have been unable to explain why he needed to be made special counsel if he already had what they described as the “ultimate authority” to bring charges against the target.

  Mark Tapscott contributed to this report.

  Tyler Durden
  Sun, 10/29/2023 – 12:50